Written questions by Shannon.

Which UK companies, universities or research institutions are participating in programmes designed to incorporate lessons from the war in Ukraine into defence innovation.

The Secretary of State for Defence continues to work closely with the Government of Ukraine and NATO partners on the sharing of knowledge and insights from the war in Ukraine, whose technologists and armed forces are constantly evolving capabilities to address a variety of threats from Russia. UK Defence Innovation is informed by lessons from Ukraine, sharing knowledge internationally through NATO DIANA and AUKUS Pillar 2. Under Programme LYRA, we are informing future defence and security innovation with the Government of Ukraine, sharing what works and what doesn't. We are building a sustained defence industrial partnership between the UK and Ukraine which will develop industrial capacity while supporting UK and Ukrainian security. The 100 Year Partnership between the UK and Ukraine facilities the rapid pursuit of sustainable production to create a dynamic ecosystem of defence innovation. We recognise that Ukraine's experience in defending itself against large-scale aggression represents a unique and valuable resource for the development of modern defence capabilities. We are committed to promoting the systematic integration of Ukraine's operational experience into military training, doctrinal development, and capability planning. We will stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes.

What assessment he has made of the relevance to the UK defence innovation ecosystem of Ukraine’s approach to rapid defence innovation during the ongoing conflict.

The Secretary of State for Defence continues to work closely with the Government of Ukraine and NATO partners on the sharing of knowledge and insights from the war in Ukraine, whose technologists and armed forces are constantly evolving capabilities to address a variety of threats from Russia. UK Defence Innovation is informed by lessons from Ukraine, sharing knowledge internationally through NATO DIANA and AUKUS Pillar 2. Under Programme LYRA, we are informing future defence and security innovation with the Government of Ukraine, sharing what works and what doesn't. We are building a sustained defence industrial partnership between the UK and Ukraine which will develop industrial capacity while supporting UK and Ukrainian security. The 100 Year Partnership between the UK and Ukraine facilities the rapid pursuit of sustainable production to create a dynamic ecosystem of defence innovation. We recognise that Ukraine's experience in defending itself against large-scale aggression represents a unique and valuable resource for the development of modern defence capabilities. We are committed to promoting the systematic integration of Ukraine's operational experience into military training, doctrinal development, and capability planning. We will stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes.

Innovation and Technology, what plans her Department has to support exchanges between British and Ukrainian scientists, engineers and innovators working on defence and security technologies.

DSIT does not lead defence or security cooperation with Ukraine, which is driven by other government departments under the 100 Year Partnership. DSIT is supporting Ukrainian and UK researchers and businesses through UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) grants and Horizon Europe funding, which offer routes for scientific exchange.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she has made representations to her Pakistani counterpart on reports of persecution and discrimination against the Christian community in that country; and what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of her Department’s engagement with that country in protecting freedom of religion or belief and ensuring the safety of religious minorities.

The UK is committed to defending freedom of religion or belief for all in Pakistan, including Christians. Over the past year, alongside our High Commission in Islamabad, I have raised the rights and safety of religious minorities with Pakistan's Human Rights and Interior Ministers and with the Deputy Prime Minister. We press for due process, accountability for violence, and stronger protections in law and practice. We will continue to urge the Government of Pakistan to uphold its international obligations and to ensure the safety and dignity of all communities.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of reports that Baha’i women in Iran have been imprisoned on charges of promoting Baha’i beliefs; and whether she has made representations to her Iranian counterpart on their release.

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer provided to question 67802 on 6 August 2025.

What steps his Department is taking to promote exports from small and medium-sized businesses to emerging markets.

Our Trade Strategy, Industrial Strategy, and Small Business Plan drive export-led growth — giving small and medium-sized businesses across the UK the policies, support, and services they need to compete globally.For the first time, DBT has integrated its support for SMEs in a single, accessible place – the Business Growth Service – designed to help businesses across the UK start, scale, and succeed globally. From tailored market advice and free Business Academy training to UK Export Finance, DBT is making it easier for businesses to navigate global markets, seize opportunities, and build resilience.

What assessment he has made of the potential benefits of strengthening trade relationships with Commonwealth countries.

The UK is committed to working with Commonwealth partners and institutions to further strengthen trade and investment. Through engagement at Commonwealth meetings, the UK has worked with partners to promote sustainable growth, resilience, and a strong, rules‑based international trading system.The UK already has a strong trading relationship with Australia, New Zealand and India through FTAs that businesses and communities in the UK and the Commonwealth benefit from.The UK also strengthens its trading relationship with the Commonwealth’s Small Island Developing States’ small businesses, increasing investment opportunities through the Commonwealth Investment Network – of which the UK is the sole funder.

What assessment she has made of trends in cyber-enabled fraud in the last three years.

Using the latest data from the Crime Survey for England and Wales, the survey estimates that 42% of fraud was cyber enabled in the year ending March 2023, rising to 48% in the year ending March 2024. However, this is likely to be an underestimate. The survey relies on victims self identifying whether the fraud they experienced involved any online or cyber element, and many victims may be unaware of how the offence was committed.To tackle the levels of fraud in the UK, the Government launched a new Fraud Strategy on 9th March which will focus on disrupting fraud before it reaches a target, safeguarding individuals and businesses by building resilience and responding with victim support and justice.

What steps his Department is taking to encourage investment in high-technology manufacturing across the UK.

Our Industrial Strategy and Advanced Manufacturing Sector Plan published last June set out how we are supporting UK manufacturers to grow and thrive. Commitments include up to £4.3 billion funding for frontier manufacturing sectors through programmes such as DRIVE35, Aerospace Technology Institute and the Battery Innovation Programme, as well as £4 billion growth capital available from the British Business Bank and £27.8 billion from the National Wealth Fund to help manufacturing business access the finance they need to invest and expand. We have also expanded our Office for Investment, targeting investors in high growth potential sectors including advanced manufacturing.

What steps he is taking to support small and medium-sized enterprises in adopting new digital technologies.

The Government is committed to supporting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to adopt digital technologies and boost productivity. We are implementing the recommendations of the SME Digital Adoption Taskforce, including running local digital adoption pilots to test what support works best, bringing industry together at roundtables with No.10 to collaboratively deliver SME support, as well as linking up with the Business Growth Service to improve SME access to existing support. We will be publishing an update on progress against the SME Digital Adoption Taskforce recommendations in the Spring.

What steps his Department is taking to help encourage investment in high-technology manufacturing.

Our Industrial Strategy and Advanced Manufacturing Sector Plan published last June set out how we are supporting UK manufacturers to grow and thrive. Commitments include up to £4.3 billion funding for frontier manufacturing sectors through programmes such as DRIVE35, Aerospace Technology Institute and the Battery Innovation Programme, as well as £4 billion growth capital available from the British Business Bank and £27.8 billion from the National Wealth Fund to help manufacturing business access the finance they need to invest and expand. We have also expanded our Office for Investment, targeting investors in high growth potential sectors including advanced manufacturing.

What recent discussions he has had with industry representatives on reducing regulatory burdens on small businesses.

The Department for Business and Trade engages regularly stakeholders, businesses and their representative organisations to identify regulatory burdens. Last year we launched a business questionnaire ‘Unlocking Business: reform driven by you’ which gathered feedback from businesses, including small businesses, to identify outdated, duplicative and disproportionate regulations and regulatory practices.In November 2025, officials held 27 roundtables with businesses in all four nations of the UK to identify regulatory barriers to growth. Findings from these efforts will be used to inform our Regulation for Growth programme and we will continue our engagement programme to uncover where we can further reduce burdens.

What assessment she has made of the adequacy of resources available to police forces to address antisocial behaviour in local communities.

Antisocial behaviour causes misery in towns and communities across the country, often hitting the most vulnerable hardest. Under our Plan for Change, we have committed to cracking down on anti-social behaviour, including in local communities.The central aim of our police reforms is to protect and revitalise neighbourhood policing. We are lifting national responsibilities off local forces, so they focus on tackling local issues, like fighting anti-social behaviour.Under the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee every police force in England and Wales now has a dedicated lead officer for anti-social behaviour, who will work with communities to develop an action plan to tackle ASB, these will be published in early April.The 2026–27 final police funding settlement provides up to £21.0 billion for the policing system in England and Wales. This is an increase of up to £1.3 billion compared with the 2025–26 settlement, representing a 6.7% cash increase and a 4.4% real terms increase.Total funding to police forces will be up to £18.4 billion, an increase of up to £796 million compared to the 2025-26 police funding settlement. This equates to a 4.5% cash increase and a 2.3% real terms increase in funding.

What recent assessment she has made of the impact of inflation on low-income households.

The Government recognises inflation can place particular pressure on low-income households. Analysis from the Office for National Statistics shows that lower-income households spend a larger share of their income on essentials such as food, energy and housing. The Government is committed to bearing down on inflationary pressures and cutting the cost of living. Alongside this, the Government is going further to support those who need it most by removing the two-child limit in Universal Credit, increasing the National Living Wage, and committing to the pensions Triple Lock for the duration of this Parliament. The Government has also expanded the £150 Warm Home Discount to a total of 6 million lower-income households, and is expanding free school meals to children in households receiving Universal Credit in England.

What recent discussions she has had with financial institutions on improving access to affordable credit for small businesses.

The Government is committed to ensuring that small businesses across the UK can access the finance they need to start, grow and thrive. Treasury ministers, including me in my capacity as Economic Secretary, regularly meet with both traditional and newer banks, and wider market actors across the financial services sector, to discuss a range of matters.The chief focus of this Government is growth, and the financial services sector clearly has an important role to play in supporting the real economy. The UK benefits here from a diverse range of high-street banks, specialist lenders and fintechs, supported by Government policies such as Commercial Credit Data Sharing and British Business Bank programmes, for example the Growth Guarantee Scheme and Community ENABLE Funding. In the Spending Review last year, the Treasury gave the British Business Bank a significant uplift of £6.6 billion, increasing the Bank’s total financial capacity to £25.6 billion. This settlement represents a major expansion of the Bank’s ability to support SME finance, crowd in private investment, and deliver new programmes such as Industrial Strategy Growth Capital and expanded regional and sectoral funds.

Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure equitable digital connectivity across the UK.

Our ambition is for all populated areas to have access to higher quality standalone 5G by 2030 and we have a target to deliver gigabit broadband to 99% of UK premises by 2032. Both go further than just the largest towns and cities, to help ensure equitable access to digital connectivity across the UK.Standalone 5G connectivity is being delivered by the three mobile network operators, who have each committed significant investment and made coverage commitments which align with the Government’s ambition. Alongside the commercial rollout of standalone 5G, Government’s Shared Rural Network programme continues to deliver 4G coverage in areas where there is little or no coverage currently, with delivery continuing to January 2027.Gigabit-capable broadband is delivered by the market where it is commercially viable and the Government subsidises delivery to harder to reach premises that are not included in suppliers' commercial plans through Project Gigabit. We also continue to monitor and support market development for alternative solutions to deliver quality broadband connectivity to more remote premises.To support both the rollout of fixed and mobile networks, Government continues to work to identify and address barriers to deployment where practical to do so.

What estimate she has made of the potential economic benefits of increased investment in regional infrastructure projects.

The 10 Year Infrastructure Strategy is core to delivering the government’s mission to boost living standards in every part of the UK, by funding at least £725 billion for infrastructure over the next decade. This is creating and connecting people to good jobs, supporting new housing and neighbourhoods, ensuring people can depend on vital public services and providing resilience in response to a changing world.On Tuesday 17 March we announced new City Investment Funds which will provide up to £2.3 billion of new grant, loan, and patient capital funding, going directly into hands of mayors of the largest city regions in the North of England and the Midlands to deliver city densification at a local level, and to address viability gaps. City Investment Funds will bring together financing tools for five Mayoral Strategic Authorities in the North including West Yorkshire Combined Authority.The government is also rolling out targeted local growth funding across the UK. Northern Ireland will receive a total of £45.5m per year of local growth funding over the next three years to invest in key growth priorities.

What steps her Department is taking to improve cooperation between law enforcement agencies in tackling cross-border criminal activity.

The Home Office works closely with domestic and international partners to strengthen cooperation between law enforcement agencies in tackling cross‑border criminal activity. This includes supporting UK law enforcement’s use of established international frameworks and operational channels, including the UK’s arrangements with the European Union under the Trade and Cooperation Agreement, as well as cooperation through organisations such as Europol and INTERPOL.In line with the Common Understanding agreed at the 2025 UK‑EU Summit, the Department is continuing to build on the strong existing relationship with EU partners to improve practical cooperation against international criminality. This includes improved data‑exchange and operational capabilities, such as strengthened biometrics and criminal records sharing.The Home Office also continues to develop bilateral and multilateral agreements with international partners to further improve law enforcement and judicial cooperation, where there is a need to do so, ensuring that UK law enforcement agencies are well equipped to prevent, investigate and disrupt criminal activity that operates across borders.

What recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of her Department's measures to tackle organised crime.

The Government is committed to tackling SOC in all its forms in line with the priorities we have set out on crime and policing and security, including the Safer Streets mission and border security. Due to the nature of the threat from SOC requires a whole system approach in tackling it.The National Crime Agency (NCA) plays a pivotal role in leading the operational response at the national and international level, protecting the public by targeting and pursuing criminals who pose the greatest risk to the UK. That is why as part of the recent Spending Review, the Government has increased the NCA core budget by £120m from 2025/26 to 2026/27, to ensure that the Agency is well-equipped to tackle SOC. A review of the effectiveness and efficiency of NCA by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services is underway and will be published later in the Spring.As set out in the Government’s Police Reform White Paper, the Department will further strengthen the response to SOC and other threats by creating a National Police Service (NPS). The NPS will bring together the NCA, Counter Terrorism Policing (CTP) and the national facing capabilities of ROCUs. This will create a stronger, more coherent centre, delivering real benefit to the public. It will also improve efficiency and increase productivity, saving money to reinvest in local policing.

What steps her Department is taking to help support police forces in addressing rural crime.

Our police reforms will end the postcode lottery of provision by setting central targets, increasing transparency so people can see how their force is performing, and taking robust action where forces are not performing.With our Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee every neighbourhood, rural or urban, now gets a named contactable officer and a response to non-urgent queries in 72 hours.Every rural area will be covered by a Local Policing Area under a commander responsible for emergency response, local crime investigation and neighbourhood policing. They will be set targets to ensure they answer 90% of 999 calls within 10 seconds and attend 90% of the most serious incidents within 15 minutes in urban area or 20 minutes in rural areas.We are ensuring forces have the tools and resources they need to deal with rural crime like equipment theft and livestock rustling. We are on track to deliver an additional 3,000 neighbourhood officers by March.We are equipping those officers with tougher measures to clamp down on equipment theft and anti-social behaviour, and to prevent farm theft and fly-tipping. We are finally implementing the Equipment Theft Act, which will make it harder to steal All-Terrain Vehicles and GPS units used in an agricultural setting and easier for the police to identify the owners when such items are recovered.We are ensuring the police have the capability to pursue the organised criminal gangs behind some rural crime. This financial year the Home Office has provided the first Government funding since 2023 for the National Rural Crime Unit (£365,000) as well as continuing funding for the National Wildlife Crime Unit (£450,000) to help them target organised crime groups stealing farm equipment and to disrupt networks exploiting endangered species in the UK and abroad.