13 Jan 2026·Northern Ireland Office·Answered
AskedWhat discussions he had had with the PSNI on the time taken to process FAC renewals and applications.
ReplyWhile I meet regularly with the Chief Constable and his senior team regarding national security, and a range of issues, I have a limited role in relation to certain appeals against the decision of the Chief Constable not to issue firearms licences. The issuing of firearms licences is a devolved matter.
13 Jan 2026·Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office·Answered
AskedCommonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she has made representations to her international counterparts on respect for freedom of religion or belief among political leaders.
ReplyThe UK champions Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) around the world. On 8 July 2025, the UK's Special Envoy for Freedom of Religion or Belief, David Smith MP, set out the Government's new strategy on FoRB, providing a framework for engagement with other countries, and describing the links between the protection of FoRB and other goals including the prevention of conflict. As part of this strategy, the UK continues to support FoRB on the international stage, through our position in the United Nations, G7 and Article 18 Alliance.
13 Jan 2026·Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office·Answered
AskedCommonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she is taking with international partners to anticipate and pre-emptively mitigate humanitarian crises around the world.
ReplyI refer the Hon Member to the responses given on 20 January to the identical set of questions received from the Member for South Cambridgeshire on 12 January (UINs 105089 to 105096).
13 Jan 2026·Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office·Answered
AskedCommonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps her Department is making to support international peacekeeping efforts globally.
ReplyI refer the Hon Member to the responses given on 20 January to the identical set of questions received from the Member for South Cambridgeshire on 12 January (UINs 105089 to 105096).
13 Jan 2026·Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office·Answered
AskedCommonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to help tackle humanitarian crises caused or exacerbated by climate change.
ReplyI refer the Hon Member to the responses given on 20 January to the identical set of questions received from the Member for South Cambridgeshire on 12 January (UINs 105089 to 105096).
13 Jan 2026·Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office·Answered
AskedCommonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to tackle global malnutrition.
ReplyI refer the Hon Member to the responses given on 20 January to the identical set of questions received from the Member for South Cambridgeshire on 12 January (UINs 105089 to 105096).
13 Jan 2026·Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office·Answered
AskedCommonwealth and Development Affairs, what representations her Department has made to the Vietnamese government on the detention of Y Quynh Bdăp.
ReplyI refer the Hon Member to the answer provided on 7 January in response to Question 101189. Further, on 17 December, the UK Special Envoy for Freedom of Religion or Belief, David Smith MP, raised Mr Bdap's case with the Governments of Thailand and Vietnam, seeking assurances on his location, wellbeing and access to legal counsel.
13 Jan 2026·Department for Business and Trade·Answered
AskedWhat steps his Department is taking to support local pubs.
ReplyThe Government recognises the significant role hospitality businesses, including local pubs, play in driving economic growth, employment and community cohesion across the UK. That is why we are offering targeted support for the sector.We have permanently lowered tax rates for retail, hospitality and leisure properties with a ratable value under £500,000, worth nearly £900 million annually, benefitting over 750,000 properties. The new relief rates are permanent, giving businesses certainty and stability, and there will be no cap so all qualifying properties will benefit. To support with any bill increases due to rateable value changes, at the Budget, the Government announced a support package worth £4.3 billion over the next three years.The Chancellor also announced a new National Licensing Policy Framework as part of the budget. This sets out a vision for a proportionate licensing system that supports good businesses while continuing to tackle bad operators.
13 Jan 2026·Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office·Answered
AskedCommonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that Official Development Assistance reaches those most in need.
ReplyI refer the Hon Member to the responses given on 20 January to the identical set of questions received from the Member for South Cambridgeshire on 12 January (UINs 105089 to 105096).
13 Jan 2026·Department for Science, Innovation and Technology·Answered
AskedInnovation and Technology, what steps her Department is taking to protect women and girls online.
ReplyTackling violence against women and girls in all its forms, including online, is a top priority for this government.Under the Online Safety Act, platforms must proactively tackle illegal content, much of which disproportionately affects women and girls, including harassment, stalking and intimate image abuse. Services are also required to protect children from illegal and harmful content, including abusive and hateful misogyny and pornography.On 25 November 2025, Ofcom published industry guidance on making platforms safer for women and girls. We expect companies to introduce these recommended measures without delay.
13 Jan 2026·Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office·Answered
AskedCommonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to support the rights of women and girls.
ReplyI refer the Hon Member to the responses given on 20 January to the identical set of questions received from the Member for South Cambridgeshire on 12 January (UINs 105089 to 105096).
13 Jan 2026·Ministry of Defence·Answered
AskedWhen the decision on the New Medium Helicopter programme will be made and announced.
ReplyThe Government will make a final decision on the award of the New Medium Helicopter contract through the wider Defence Investment Plan (DIP). The Department is working flat out to deliver the DIP, which will be published as soon as possible. It is backed by the Government’s largest sustained increase in defence investment since the end of the Cold War, spending £270 billion on defence in this Parliament alone.
13 Jan 2026·Department of Health and Social Care·Answered
AskedWhat steps his Department is taking to promote heart awareness month.
ReplyWe welcome heart awareness month, which raises awareness about heart disease, promoting lifestyle changes for a healthy heart. The Department and NHS England regularly run health-related media campaigns targeting audiences to take preventative action.Throughout January and February, we will be running the Healthy Choices Quiz campaign which supports people to prioritise health improvements and take proactive action on a range of behaviours, many of which support heart health.The National Health Service website includes a Better Health section, offering advice and support to make small, achievable lifestyle changes, for example, increasing physical activity, losing weight, and help to quit smoking, all of which can significantly improve long-term health, including your heart health.To accelerate progress towards the Government’s ambition to reduce premature deaths from heart disease and stroke by 25% within a decade, we will publish a new cardiovascular disease modern service framework (CVD MSF) this year. The CVD MSF will support consistent, high quality and equitable care whilst fostering innovation across the CVD pathway.
12 Jan 2026·Department for Transport·Answered
AskedHow many pothole damage claims there were in 2025.
ReplyThe Department for Transport does not hold information on the number of pothole damage claims in 2025.
12 Jan 2026·Department of Health and Social Care·Answered
AskedWhat steps are being taken to decrease underage alcohol consumption rates.
ReplyIn general, alcohol consumption among under 18 year olds has been declining over the last 20 years. The Chief Medical Officer for England’s guidance for healthcare professionals on alcohol consumption in children and young people is clear that an alcohol-free childhood is the healthiest option. The Department promotes this guidance through the alcohol and drug information and advice service ‘Talk to FRANK’ which can be accessed at the following link:www.talktofrank.com
12 Jan 2026·Ministry of Justice·Answered
AskedHow many people have been wrongfully convicted of a crime in the last ten years.
ReplyWe have interpreted this question as relating to successful appeals against verdicts, heard at the Crown Court and the Court of Appeal.The Ministry of Justice publishes quarterly data on successful appeals against magistrates’ courts verdicts heard at the Crown Court in the Criminal Courts Statistics release. Data started being published from 2016. As a result, the dataset covers the past nine years. This can be found in column E of Table_C11 in the statistical tables: Criminal court statistics - GOV.UK.Figures for the number of successful appeals against convictions in the Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) are published annually in the Royal Courts of Justice tables within Civil Justice Statistics Quarterly. This can be found in column B of table 2.2: Royal_Courts_of_Justice_Annual_Tables_2024.ods.
12 Jan 2026·Home Office·Answered
AskedWhat steps are being taken to improve safety in night clubs especially around spiking.
ReplySpiking is an appalling crime that undermines the public’s right to feel safe when out and about.We are implementing a robust set of actions to improve safety in the night time economy:The Home Office continues to provide free training for staff in the hospitality sector to understand and tackle spiking, provide better support for victims, and assist police with evidence collection.The Security Industry Authority is also providing spiking training for their 368,000+ door supervisor and 11,000+ close protection licence holders. This has already been delivered to more than 228,000 licence holders since Spring 2024 as part of their mandatory licence linked qualification.In line with our manifesto commitment, the Government has introduced new legislation on spiking, as part of the Crime and Policing Bill, to strengthen the response to these incidents.
12 Jan 2026·Department of Health and Social Care·Answered
AskedHow much funding his Department plans to provide for sexual health clinics in each of the next three financial years.
ReplyThe Department provides funding for sexual health services through the Public Health Grant, which is allocated to local authorities in England. Sexual health is one of a number of public health services funded through the Public Health Grant. The Department does not specify how much is spent on sexual health specifically; local authorities are responsible for commissioning sexual health services to meet the needs of their populations.We will continue to invest in local authorities' vital public health work, providing over £13.4 billion over the next three years through a consolidated ringfenced Public Health Grant. This will support a number of vital local health services, including sexual health services.
12 Jan 2026·Department of Health and Social Care·Answered
AskedWhat steps he plans to take with the Northern Ireland Executive to help improve the supply of ADHD drugs to Northern Ireland.
ReplyThe Department has overall responsibility for the continuity of medicine supply in the United Kingdom and crown dependences, including shortages management. However, responsibility for managing the impact of shortages is devolved for Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.We regularly share information about higher impact and critical medicine shortages with the devolved administrations to support management of medicine supply issues across the UK.The Department has made significant progress in improving the availability of medicines for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), working closely with industry and key stakeholders to overcome previous supply challenges. Through intensive collaboration with industry, NHS England, and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, supply issues have now been fully resolved. All ADHD medicines, across all formulations and strengths, are readily available for prescribing.We continue to work closely with ADHD medicine suppliers to address any challenges promptly and to strengthen the resilience of the supply chain. This includes securing additional stock, expediting deliveries, and broadening the UK supplier base to meet future demand. To ensure a robust and sustainable supply, we are partnering with NHS England’s ADHD taskforce to develop growth forecasts and share them with industry, enabling effective planning and continuity of supply.
12 Jan 2026·Home Office·Answered
AskedHow many people have been arrested for drink driving in the last 12 months.
ReplyThe Home Office does not hold the specific information requested.While the Home Office routinely collects and publishes information on arrests for notifiable offences by age group and HOCR offence group in the Stop and search, arrests, and mental health detentions, March 2025 - GOV.UK. statistics, detailed age breakdowns and offence types are not available.Drink driving offences are not notifiable offences and therefore this information is not available in the arrests statistics.Therefore, figures for the number of people who have arrested for drink driving in the last 12 months is not available.