Written questions by Obese-Jecty.

With reference to recommendation 22 of the Strategic Defence Review 2025, what progress he has made on strengthening Europe’s collective industrial base.

The UK recently launched its Defence Industrial Strategy (DIS) which reaffirms our belief that close cooperation with our European allies is essential. We remain clear that, in order to effectively deter and defence against increased aggression, we need to strengthen our shared defence industrial base to ensure Europe is able to secure the critical capabilities needed at the necessary speed, scale and value for money. As part of these efforts, we have set out our ambition to explore the potential for enhanced cooperation through the EU’s SAFE instrument. We have also re-set our bilateral relationships with France, helping to strengthen the European complex weapons industrial base through Lancaster House 2.0, and with Germany, strengthening the land combat industrial sector, through the Trinity House agreement. While the new UK-Norway defence partnership, including the Type 26 procurement, will sustain 4.000 jobs in the UK.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential need for additional financial support to local authorities to offset revenue losses during the equalisation process of Council Tax rates.

Council tax is managed by local authorities, who decide what level of council tax they wish to set. There is an established system for the locally-led harmonisation of council tax levels across the restructured local authority area, no later than the start of the eighth year after reorganisation. The Government will continue to set referendum principles each year and any authority which sets a council tax increase above the principles must have it approved by voters.The government is committed to ensuring that funding is targeted effectively at the places and services that need it most and allocated in a way that empowers local leaders to deliver against local priorities. This includes committing to multi-year allocations for each council through the upcoming 2026-27 Local Government Finance Settlement (LGFS) and moving to a more up-to-date assessment of each council’s needs and resources.

With reference to page 27 of the National Security Strategy 2025, CP 1338, published on 24 June 2025, how his Department plans to allocate funding to help tackle biological (a) incidents, (b) accidents and (c) attacks.

The Network of Biosecurity Centres will strengthen and formalise the strong existing collaborations between the UK Health Security Agency, the Animal and Plant Health Agency and the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory. It will ensure we are better prepared for a crisis, can respond more effectively when an incident does happen, and deliver a more holistic, One Health and National Security approach to biological research.The Network will support the Centres’ development and operation, with investment in the laboratory facilities of more than £1bn over the next four years to ensure we have the capabilities we need. Initial steps will include agreeing collaboration priorities, such as operation standards and skills development.The Cabinet Office oversees implementation of the UK Biological Security Strategy. That includes ensuring we have the capabilities across government to protect the public from a spectrum of biological risks, no matter how they occur and no matter who or what they affect. Funding to tackle specific biological risks is based on the UK ‘Lead Government Department (LGD)’ model. Designated LGDs are responsible for leading work to identify serious risks, and ensuring that the right planning, response and recovery arrangements are in place - including the prioritisation of departmental spending to ensure the right capabilities are in place to mitigate risks, within allocated budgets. The UK Biological Security Strategy is clear that a thriving life sciences sector is key to our biological security. The government has committed £380 million to engineering biology and £2bn to life sciences over the spending review period. At the publication of the UK Biological Security Strategy in June 2023, we committed to update Parliament annually on the progress made to implement the Strategy. The government published its first UK Biosecurity Strategy Implementation report in July 2025, which sets out the range of short term commitments delivered. The report is available here.

With reference to the transparency data entitled 29 September 2024: Asylum Transformation Programme Accounting Officer Assessment summary, published on 5 June 2025, what her definition is of an outcome focussed customer journey.

Outcome focussed customer journey’ is terminology used within the Asylum Transformation Programme’s strategic objectives. The objective describes the programmes intent to streamline the end-to-end journey of claimants by delivering a number of interventions to enhance and improve the current system. Examples of these interventions have included AI tooling to assist decision makers with processing asylum claims, automation of the system for booking asylum interviews, and the introduction of a new online portal for Legal Representatives to share key case information with the Home Office.

With reference to page 27 of the National Security Strategy 2025, CP 1338, published on 24 June 2025, when he plans to publish the report on the biological security strategy.

The Network of Biosecurity Centres will strengthen and formalise the strong existing collaborations between the UK Health Security Agency, the Animal and Plant Health Agency and the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory. It will ensure we are better prepared for a crisis, can respond more effectively when an incident does happen, and deliver a more holistic, One Health and National Security approach to biological research.The Network will support the Centres’ development and operation, with investment in the laboratory facilities of more than £1bn over the next four years to ensure we have the capabilities we need. Initial steps will include agreeing collaboration priorities, such as operation standards and skills development.The Cabinet Office oversees implementation of the UK Biological Security Strategy. That includes ensuring we have the capabilities across government to protect the public from a spectrum of biological risks, no matter how they occur and no matter who or what they affect. Funding to tackle specific biological risks is based on the UK ‘Lead Government Department (LGD)’ model. Designated LGDs are responsible for leading work to identify serious risks, and ensuring that the right planning, response and recovery arrangements are in place - including the prioritisation of departmental spending to ensure the right capabilities are in place to mitigate risks, within allocated budgets. The UK Biological Security Strategy is clear that a thriving life sciences sector is key to our biological security. The government has committed £380 million to engineering biology and £2bn to life sciences over the spending review period. At the publication of the UK Biological Security Strategy in June 2023, we committed to update Parliament annually on the progress made to implement the Strategy. The government published its first UK Biosecurity Strategy Implementation report in July 2025, which sets out the range of short term commitments delivered. The report is available here.

With reference to page 34 of the National Security Strategy 2025, CP 1338, published on 24 June 2025, what the themes will be of each of the next three six-monthly foreign and security policy dialogues.

The Government pledged in its manifesto to pursue a new relationship with the EU to strengthen European security, support growth and reinforce NATO. The recently released Strategic Defence Review (SDR) further reiterates this commitment and recognises that international partnerships are crucial for the UK’s security and prosperity. The Government delivered on this commitment at the UK-EU Summit on 19 May where we agreed a new and ambitious Security and Defence Partnership (SDP). Implementation of the SDP is a joint effort with the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office and is progressing. Since May, my Rt Hon Friend, Defence Secretary John Healey has held discussions with the European Commissioner for Defence and Space, Andrius Kubilius, where they discussed their ambition to explore the potential for enhanced UK-EU cooperation under SAFE. In October, the Foreign Secretary and the Defence Secretary will both meet with the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, Kaja Kallas, for the first UK/EU foreign and security policy dialogue under the SDP. In addition, Ministers and officials from across Government have held consultations with their EU counterparts on a range of issues, including but not limited to, tackling irregular migration and hybrid threats. We continue to work with EU counterparts to strengthen dialogue and mutually beneficial cooperation across the range of issues covered in the SDP, including maritime and space security. As the Defence Secretary has previously said to this House, this Government will ensure that any UK commitment– whether financial or non-financial – will provide value for the UK taxpayer and supports our defence goals. We will continue to prioritise engagement and cooperation on the issues that are most important in helping to safeguard European security and prosperity – all in support of this government’s NATO First defence policy.

Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of awarding European football viewing rights to streaming platforms for free on access to sport.

The Secretary of State has not made any assessment on the potential impact of awarding European Football viewing rights to streaming platforms for free on access to sport.The Government does not own or have the ability to award the streaming rights for competitions run by private entities, such as FIFA or UEFA.The Government recognises the importance of ensuring access to a number of sporting events, including European football, so that they can be enjoyed by a wide audience. However, this must also be balanced with the ability of sports national governing bodies and rights holders to generate revenue to invest in their sports at all levels. Broadcasting rights provide essential income for these organisations.All UK broadcasters are operationally and editorially independent of the Government. Therefore decisions relating to coverage of particular sporting events, including European football are ultimately a commercial decision for the relevant broadcaster and/or the rights holder of the specific sporting event.

With reference to page 27 of the National Security Strategy 2025, CP 1338, published on 24 June 2025, when the next national exercise to test whole-of-society preparedness will take place.

The Government’s Resilience Action Plan has committed to the delivery of the National Exercise Programme (NEP). This covers a range of whole-system risks, with the priority areas for testing informed by our assessment of cross-cutting and systemic vulnerabilities and capability gaps. The NEP sets out a timetable of annual Tier 1 exercises requiring a central response and cross-government coordination. Tier 1 exercises are scalable national exercises involving devolved governments and regional and local tier responders, as well as relevant industry engagement such as critical businesses and voluntary and community organisations. Government departments fully participate at senior official and ministerial levels. The national exercise for 2025 is a pandemic preparedness exercise led by the Department of Health and Social Care. It is the first of its kind in nearly a decade and is set to be the biggest in UK history. It aims to test our ability to respond to a pandemic arising from a novel infectious disease, involving all regions and nations of the UK and thousands of participants. It is currently underway, with every UK government department participating. As part of the National Exercise Programme future government exercises are being coordinated to test all levels of government and those from across society to increase preparedness across the whole of society.

Which organisation will have responsibility for veteran-focused healthcare following the abolition of NHS England.

Following the announcement on the abolition of NHS England, work is progressing to develop the design and operating model for the new integrated organisation, and to plan for the smooth transfer of people, functions, and responsibilities from NHS England to the Department.The Department is committed to carefully assessing and understanding the potential impacts, and these ongoing assessments will inform the programme as it progresses. NHS England will continue to undertake its statutory functions until parliamentary time allows for legislative changes to be made.Whilst this transformation takes place, the Department will ensure that it continues to evaluate impacts and work collaboratively to ensure continuity of care within veteran focussed services.

With reference to page 12 of the National Security Strategy 2025, published on 24 June 2025, what progress he has made on (a) identifying, (b) nurturing and (c) protecting sovereign areas of strength in the UK’s (i) industrial, (ii) scientific and (iii) technological base.

The Government’s Industrial Strategy identified the frontier industries where the UK will prioritise its interventions across its 8 growth-driving sectors, which have all published dedicated sector plans developed with business and sector experts. Our Digital and Technology Sector Plan outlined how we will build sovereign capability in strategic technologies, including launching the Sovereign AI Unit with £500m in new funding, and investing £670m in Quantum computing to secure UK leadership. Across our industrial base, DBT’s newly established supply chain centre will review key inputs and determine where action such as domestic capability building is required to protect our strategic strengths.

What pre-clinical animal testing was conducted prior to reaching the clinical vaccine trial stage for AHEAD-MERIT (BNT113).

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is responsible for ensuring that all medicines and vaccines, including cancer vaccines, meet appropriate standards of safety, quality and efficacy before they are approved for use in humans. Non-clinical (also known as pre-clinical) studies for therapeutic cancer vaccines are performed in compliance with applicable International Council for Harmonisation guidance, the WHO guideline on Non-clinical Evaluation of Vaccines. Such studies must be conducted in compliance with the principles of Good Laboratory Practice and in accordance with the United Kingdom’s strict animal welfare legislation, including the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986, which requires that the use of animals in research is justified and that alternatives are considered wherever possible. The MHRA is not able to share confidential information on pre-clinical studies. A clinical trial may only proceed once the MHRA is satisfied that the data supports a reasonable expectation of safety and potential therapeutic benefit to participants.

Communities and Local Government, how much of the Mayoral Recyclable Growth Fund will be available to the Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.

At the Spending Review the government announced that the new Mayoral Recyclable Growth Fund will be available to Mayors in the North and Midlands with an integrated settlement.

With reference to page 27 of the National Security Strategy 2025, CP 1338, published on 24 June 2025, what recent progress he has made on establishing national resilience goals.

The Government published the Resilience Action Plan on 8 July 2025 to set out its resilience strategy. It set out three core objectives to improve the UK’s resilience to the full range of risks: (1) continually assess how resilient the UK is in order to target interventions and resources; (2) enable the whole of society to take action to increase their resilience; and (3) strengthen the core public sector resilience system. These goals inform a series of activities to deliver greater resilience across the whole of society, as set out in the Resilience Action Plan.

With reference to page 27 of the National Security Strategy 2025, CP 1338, published on 24 June 2025, what progress he has made on issuing public communications on preparedness for risks.

The Government’s Resilience Action Plan has committed to do more to provide households with preparedness information. In September, the Prepare website was included in the message sent out to UK mobile phones as part of the Government’s test of the Emergency Alerts system. Mobile Network Operators have confirmed that the test of the Emergency Alert capability on 7th September reached 96% coverage in the UK. This represents an increase of 6% on the previous test, held in April 2023. We continue to work with our local and national partners, including organisations from the voluntary, community and faith sectors, to highlight the importance of preparing for risks. In wider communications activities, as part of Flood Action Week, running this year from 13th-19th October, the Environment Agency is encouraging people to prepare for flooding by taking proactive steps such as knowing their flood risk, preparing a flood plan, and signing up for flood warnings. The Government is currently considering what further public communications activities might support improvements to public preparedness for emergencies. For example, the Cabinet Office published the first annual UK Public Survey of Risk Perception, Resilience and Preparedness in July 2025, and the results will be used to inform the development of future public preparedness communications and to monitor trends.

With reference to recommendation 32 of the Strategic Defence Review 2025, published on 8 July 2025, which senior Ministers sit on the National Security Council (Nuclear) committee.

Membership of the National Security Council (Nuclear) comprises the Prime Minister, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Secretary of State for the Home Department, Secretary of State for Defence, and Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero. The membership is published on Gov.uk. It is a long-established precedent that information about the discussions that have taken place in Cabinet and its committees, including how often they have met, is not normally shared publicly.

How many times the National Security Council (Nuclear) Committee has met since 4 July 2024.

Membership of the National Security Council (Nuclear) comprises the Prime Minister, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Secretary of State for the Home Department, Secretary of State for Defence, and Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero. The membership is published on Gov.uk. It is a long-established precedent that information about the discussions that have taken place in Cabinet and its committees, including how often they have met, is not normally shared publicly.

What progress she has made on delivering the Fraud and Cyber Crime Reporting and Analysis Service.

We are working with City of London Police to replace Action Fraud with a new andimproved national police reporting service for fraud and cyber crime. The new servicewill use the latest technology to improve reporting and support services for victims,providing far greater intelligence to policing for investigations, and allowing forgreater prevention and disruption at scale. This will support victims of fraud to comeforward, report instances of fraud, and know that their case will be dealt with properly.The first phase of this, a new crime and intelligence management system, wasintroduced in November 2024. This will improve the analysis of reports, the quality ofintelligence drawn from them, and how quickly they can be disseminated to policeforces for investigation.

With reference to page 90 of the Strategic Defence Review 2025, when plans for home defence were last fully updated.

The Ministry of Defence routinely plans against a range of potential threats to ensure the UK remains prepared to respond swiftly and effectively to any threat, including an armed attack on the UK. While we keep these plans under regular review, we are taking the recommendations of the Strategic Defence Review forward, working closely with the Cabinet Office-led Home Defence Programme.

With reference to page 130 of the Strategic Defence Review, published on 2 June 2025, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Defence on the role of his Department in building an NHS fit for the future.

Whilst there have been no recent formal discussions between my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care and my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Defence, there is a strong foundation of cross-Government working between Ministry of Defence and the Department of Health and Social Care.The 10-Year Health Plan for England, which was published on 3 July 2025 by the Department of Health and Social Care, sets out a plan to create a new model of care fit for the future. The Strategic Defence Review recognises the interdependencies between the Defence Medical Services and the National Health Service and the need to continue to strengthen this partnership. Implementation of the review’s recommendations is underway.A series of workshops, involving both the Ministry of Defence and the Department of Health and Social Care, are exploring the United Kingdom’s ability to deal with various combat scenarios and the treatment of casualties. The Ministry of Defence is also participating in the cross-Government Exercise PEGASUS, the national tier 1 pandemic preparedness exercise set to assess the UK’s ability to respond to a pandemic. Both activities focus on understanding system-wide capacity and capability, potential future need, and shared plans for delivery.

With reference to page 110 of the Strategic Defence Review 2025, what funding he has provided for (a) attack drones, (b) surveillance drones and (c) counter-drone-systems.

Drones and counter drone systems are integral to the modern way of warfighting, exemplified in the lessons gleaned from the war in Ukraine. The Strategic Defence Review announced an increase in autonomy investment of £2 billion in this Parliament, taking total Defence investment in autonomy to circa £4 billion. The funding provided for attack drones, surveillance drones and counter-drone systems will be announced as part of the Defence Investment Plan in Autumn 2025.