Written questions by Obese-Jecty.

Whether, during the meeting between the Chief of the Defence Staff and President Ahmed al-Sharaa of Syria on 31 March 2026, he discussed a potential end date for Operation Shader.

In the meeting between the Chief of the Defence Staff President Ahmed al-Sharaa of Syria on 31 March 2026, a potential end date for Operation Shader was not discussed.

With reference to the National Police Chief's Council report entitled Rural and Wildlife Crime Strategy 2025-2028, what offences are classified under bat crime.

Under the NPCC Rural and Wildlife Crime Strategy 2025–2028, bat crime includes:Section 9 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.Intentionally or recklessly disturb a bat occupying a structure or place used for shelter or protection.Intentionally or recklessly obstruct access to any structure or place used for shelter or protection by bats.Regulation 43 of the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017.Deliberately capture, injure, or kill a bat.Deliberately disturb a bat.Damage or destroy a breeding site or resting place of a bat (bats do not have to be in occupation at the time).Possess or control a bat.Transport a bat.Sell or exchange a bat.Offer for sale or exchange any bat, alive or dead, or any part of a bat.

Pursuant to the Answer of 19 May 2025 to Question 52038 on F-35 Aircraft: Cruise Missiles, when the review note was (a) submitted and (b) approved.

The Review Note has been subject to an extended consultation phase which has now been finalised; Submission is expected imminently.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she met President Ahmed al-Sharaa of Syria during his visit to the UK on 31 March 2026.

The Prime Minister welcomed President al-Sharaa to the UK on 31 March. Details of their discussions are available on GOV.UK at this link: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/pm-meeting-with-president-ahmed-al-sharaa-of-syria-31-march-2026.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether the Prime Minister and President Ahmed al-Sharaa of Syria discussed the return of ISIS-linked British citizens from camps in Syria to the UK during the meeting on 31 March 2026.

The Prime Minister welcomed President al-Sharaa to the UK on 31 March. Details of their discussions are available on GOV.UK at this link: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/pm-meeting-with-president-ahmed-al-sharaa-of-syria-31-march-2026.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what level of security clearance was granted to Peter Mandelson prior to his appointment as Ambassador to the United States.

I refer the Hon Member to the statement made by the Prime Minister on 20 April, and his answers to the questions raised in response.

If he will set out which current operations have been endorsed by the National Security Council.

Decisions to undertake military operations are taken in accordance with established constitutional and governance arrangements. The National Security Council considers the strategic approach to national security, foreign policy, resilience, international relations, economic security, trade, development, defence and global issues. It is a long-established precedent that information about the discussions that have taken place in Cabinet and its Committees, and how often they have met, is not shared publicly.

With reference to the Policy paper: Replacing animals in science: A strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods, published on 11 November 2025, what progress has he made in establishing a Health Data Research Service.

The Health Data Research Service (HDRS) will deliver a single point of access to health data from multiple sources which will bring new treatments and cures to patients by safely enabling the use of patient data to super-charge research.Over the past year a Department led team, with support from the Office for Life Science and NHS England colleagues, has been working to set up the service.HDRS is being established as a Government Company, and Dr Melanie Ivarsson has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer and Baroness Nicola Blackwood as Chair. Work is now underway to incorporate and develop the service to ensure it is up and running as quickly as possible to deliver benefits for patients and researchers.We are committed to the service being operational by December 2026, with new capabilities being progressively rolled out.

Innovation and Technology, with reference to the policy paper entitled Replacing animals in science: A strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods, published on 11 November 2025, by what date in 2926 does she expect the first round of the Validation Accelerator grants to be launched.

The Validation Accelerator grant commitment is being led by UKRI and will be delivered through a number of mechanisms, For example, Innovate UK’s £2 million Contracts for Innovation: Industrial Human‑Relevant Drug Models competition, launched in February 2026, supports the development and commercialisation of non‑animal methods to assess the pre‑clinical pharmacokinetics and cardiovascular safety of new medicines.Validation Accelerators will be coordinated by the UK Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods (UKCVAM), once it is established. £30 million has been allocated to support its establishment and delivery.

Whether his Department plans to establish new primary healthcare facilities in Huntingdon constituency through the neighbourhood health service programme.

At the Autumn Budget, we announced our commitment to delivering up to 250 Neighbourhood Health Centres (NHCs) by 2035, with around 120 centres in place by 2030.As part of this commitment, we recently announced Wave 1 of our NHC schemes, with 27 sites across England selected to bring care closer to home 12 hours a day, six days a week, backed by £50 million. To support delivery nationally, we have now published the Neighbourhood health centre guidance for regions and integrated care boards and the Neighbourhood health centres: design and performance specification. These documents have been developed in close collaboration with colleagues across government, and together, they support regions and integrated care boards (ICBs) to further develop their neighbourhood health estate strategies and pipelines.Nationwide coverage will take time, but we will start in the areas of greatest need where healthy life expectancy is lowest including rural towns and communities with higher deprivation levels and delivering healthcare closer to home for those that need it the most.Wave 1 is just the beginning. We will build on this momentum to enable us to remain on track for our ambitious timetable to deliver new build NHCs by 2030.We are supporting regions and ICBs to develop neighbourhood health estates strategies and future pipelines ahead of the 28 May NHC proposal deadline and encourage MPs to engage with their ICBs ahead of this deadline.

Food and Rural Affairs, what proportion of the UK's chicken supply was imported from China in (a) 2024-25 and (b) 2025-26.

Defra publishes quarterly data on poultry meat production, trade and supplies on GOV.UK (Latest cattle, sheep and pig slaughter statistics - GOV.UK). Data is not available specifically for imports and supply of chicken meat. Annual data on total poultry meat imports from China as a proportion of total UK poultry meat supplies is provided in the table below. Table 1: Total poultry meat imports from China as a proportion of total UK poultry meat supplies, thousand tonnes dressed carcase weight equivalent (th tonnes dcw) YearUK total new poultry meat supply (th tonnes dcw)UK imports of poultry meat from China1 (th tonnes dcw)UK imports of poultry meat from China1 as a % of total new supply20242,463.20.190.008%202522,552.20.070.003% Table Notes:1) Imports from China have been defined on a Country of dispatch basis2) Data for 2025 is provisional

What factors have affected the timing of her responses to Questions (a) 96357, (b) 96475 and (c) 96477.

The response to Written Parliamentary Questions 96357, 96475 and 96477 was published on 20th April 2026.

Innovation and Technology, with reference to the policy paper entitled Replacing animals in science: A strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods, published on 11 November 2025, what progress has she made in increasing investment in data-driven biology.

Increasing investment in data-driven biology sits with UKRI, which is engaging with stakeholders on how best to embed data enabled approaches within future funding opportunities. Reporting on the portfolio of investments in alternative methods is planned for 2026.The Office for Life Sciences is also working with the Regulatory Innovation Office, industry and regulators in developing plans to support robust AI and machine learning model development for safety and toxicity testing.The Government will publish a delivery update, alongside key performance indicators on progress across all elements of the strategy, later in 2026.

Innovation and Technology, with reference to the policy paper entitled Replacing animals in science: A strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods, published on 11 November 2025, what progress has she made in facilitating widespread adoption of AI methods to assess potential safety and toxicity profiles.

Increasing investment in data-driven biology sits with UKRI, which is engaging with stakeholders on how best to embed data enabled approaches within future funding opportunities. Reporting on the portfolio of investments in alternative methods is planned for 2026.The Office for Life Sciences is also working with the Regulatory Innovation Office, industry and regulators in developing plans to support robust AI and machine learning model development for safety and toxicity testing.The Government will publish a delivery update, alongside key performance indicators on progress across all elements of the strategy, later in 2026.

Innovation and Technology, with reference to the olicy paper: Replacing animals in science: A strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods, published on 11 November 2025, how much of the £8 million from DSIT’s new Sovereign AI Unit has been spent on OpenBind to date.

UKRI will report on its portfolio of investments in alternative methods, including any AI focused methods, in 2026. The Government will publish a delivery update, alongside key performance indicators on progress across all elements of the Replacing Animals in Science strategy, later in 2026.

What his planned timetable is for determining the spending that will count towards the 1.5% of GDP to be spent on resilience and security.

NATO has already agreed the definition of 1.5% as spend “to inter alia protect critical infrastructure, defend networks, ensure civil preparedness and resilience, innovate, and strengthen the defence industrial base”. Officials are currently working through proposals and plans for meeting our obligations will be set out in due course.

Pursuant to the Answer of 5 March 2026 to Question 114022 on Extradition, what the (a) country and (b) date was for each of the extradition requests received from Category 2 Type B countries.

The numbers of requests from each Category 2 Type B country received between 5th July 2024 and 23 February 2026 (the date of question 114022), where they number more than 5 requests are listed below. The total requests received in the timeframe, which was given in response to question 114022, was 64:Brazil – 12Iraq – 7Nigeria – 7Kosovo – 6In accordance with our policies, and after careful consideration, we are not releasing the information on extradition requests received between 5th July 2024 and 23 February 2026, from Category 2 Type B countries where five or fewer requests have been made. Likewise, we are unable to break down the figures above any further due to the same considerations. The disclosure of such data may lead to the identification of an individual request which might prejudice ongoing law enforcement proceedings.Please note that this information is taken from local management information and has not been quality assured to the level of published National Statistics. As such it should be treated as provisional and therefore subject to change.

How many times the National Security Advisor has been requested to appear in front of the Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy since his appointment.

The National Security Adviser appeared in front of the Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy in a private session in November 2025 and has offered to do so again. As the Government has said, the longstanding practice is that Special Advisers currently in post do not give public evidence to Select Committees and this is done instead by Ministers or Officials.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment has he made of the potential impact of the classification of water at Grafham Water on the water supply in Huntingdon constituency.

Grafham Water is 85% full with no concerns for water supplies in Huntingdon, but refill was delayed by high nitrate levels.The Environment Agency continues to work with the water industry through the Asset Management Plan process and partnership projects so that appropriate catchment management and water treatment are in place to ensure that water supplies are safe and secure.

Innovation and Technology, with reference to the policy paper entitled Replacing animals in science: A strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods, published on 11 November 2025, what progress has she made in accelerating the replacement of animals in science to phase out their use.

The Government has established governance arrangements for the Replacing Animals in Science Strategy, with the first Ministerial Board now convened to oversee delivery. We have announced £75 million to accelerate the development and adoption of alternative methods across the UK and are working with regulators and public bodies to determine how this funding will be allocated. A delivery update alongside KPIs will be published later in 2026. We also intend to publish areas of research interest for alternative methods later this year.