Written questions by Kyrke-Smith.

Innovation and Technology, whether she plans to publish a strategy to advance the use of alternatives to animal testing.

The Labour Manifesto commits to “partner with scientists, industry, and civil society as we work towards the phasing out of animal testing”, which is a long-term goal.The government will publish a strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods later this year.

Innovation and Technology, what steps she is taking to encourage collaboration between (a) industry, (b) researchers, (c) civil society and (d) the public on the most effective non-animal approaches to scientific research.

The Labour Manifesto commits to “partner with scientists, industry, and civil society as we work towards the phasing out of animal testing”, which is a long-term goal.The government will publish a strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods later this year which will outline how we will encourage collaboration between stakeholders, including industry, researchers, animal welfare organisations and civil society.

Whether he will take steps to extend the eligibility criteria for the covid-19 booster vaccination for winter to include those who are clinically vulnerable in winter 2025-26.

The Government is committed to protecting those most vulnerable to COVID-19 through vaccination, as guided by the independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI). The primary aim of the national COVID-19 vaccination programme remains the prevention of serious illness, involving hospitalisations and deaths, arising from COVID-19. Population immunity to COVID-19 has been increasing due to a combination of naturally acquired immunity following recovery from infection and vaccine-derived immunity. COVID-19 is now a relatively mild disease for most people, though it can still be unpleasant, with rates of hospitalisation and death from COVID-19 having reduced significantly since COVID-19 first emerged.The focus of the JCVI’s advised programme has therefore moved towards targeted vaccination of the two groups who continue to be at higher risk of serious disease, including mortality. These are the oldest adults and individuals who are immunosuppressed.On 13 November 2024, JCVI published advice on who should be offered vaccination in autumn 2025. On 26 June 2025, the Government accepted the JCVI’s advice, and in line with that advice, in autumn 2025, a COVID-19 vaccination is being offered to the following groups:adults aged 75 years old and over;residents in care homes for older adults;  andindividuals aged six months old and over who are immunosuppressed, as defined in the ‘immunosuppression’ sections of tables three or four in the COVID-19 chapter of the UK Health Security Agency’s Green Book, which is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-the-green-book-chapter-14aThe Government has no plans to change eligibility for autumn 2025. It has accepted the JCVI’s advice for this campaign in full. As for all vaccines, the JCVI keeps the evidence under regular review.

Food and Rural Affairs, what legislative steps she is taking to tackle illegal deforestation in supply chains; and what her planned timetable is for introducing a regulatory framework to tackle this issue.

The Government recognises the urgency of taking action to ensure that UK consumption of forest risk commodities is not driving deforestation. The Government is currently considering its approach to addressing the impact of the use of forest risk commodities in our supply chains and will set out its approach in due course. We are committed to ensuring that any regulatory framework is robust, proportionate and effective in addressing deforestation.

Whether her Department will consider taking steps to protect religious communities that don't have a designated place of worship.

The government and police regularly work closely together to review threats and strengthen protection for communities against terrorism and hate crime.Work is currently underway to develop a new Faith Security Training scheme to raise awareness amongst faith communities of how to improve their safety and security, and to help them prepare to mitigate any threats they may face.There are extensive resources available to venues and public spaces for free, to help them better protect the public in those locations. These include the ProtectUK platform, which offers free guidance, advice and training for staff. Training resources available include the Action Counter Terrorism (ACT) and See, Check and Notify (SCaN) training and e-learning, which are free resources developed by Counter Terrorism Police and available to the public.

Food and Rural Affairs, what her Department's planned timetable is for publishing its Animal Welfare Strategy; and if she will make it her policy to ensure that the Animal Welfare Strategy includes steps to end the use of cages for farmed animals.

We remain firmly committed to maintaining and improving animal welfare and want to work closely with the farming sector to deliver high standards. The use of cages for farmed animals is an issue which we are currently considering very carefully. This government was elected on a mandate to introduce the most ambitious plans to improve animal welfare in a generation. The Prime Minister announced that we will be publishing an animal welfare strategy later this year.

What steps she is taking to strengthen trauma-informed training for police officers responding to domestic abuse cases.

In our manifesto, we committed to strengthening training on Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) for policing to ensure that all officers have the right skills to investigate all VAWG offences, included domestic abuse, and provide consistent support for victims.The Home Office has already invested £13.1 million this year into the new National Centre for VAWG and Public Protection (NCVPP). This funding includes an uplift of nearly £2 million to deliver a robust package of training improvements.Launched in April 2025, the NCVPP provides coordinated leadership within policing to drive up operational standards and skills across all 43 forces in their response to VAWG crimes.Through the NCVPP, we are working closely with the College of Policing to develop strengthened, specialist training for officers across all operational levels - frontline, specialist, and leadership.Grounded in academic research and behaviour change science, new training programmes will prioritise trauma-informed learning to ensure that all officers are well equipped to manage VAWG offenders and provide support to victims.

What steps he is taking to ensure that magistrates receive training on (a) coercive control and (b) the longer-term impacts of domestic abuse; and whether any similar training is planned for the future.

To preserve judicial independence, under the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, the Lady Chief Justice has the statutory responsibility for the training of the courts judiciary in England and Wales, fulfilled by the Judicial College.Domestic abuse is a significant element of initial and ongoing training for magistrates and legal advisers. All magistrates complete induction training on appointment and when authorised in new jurisdictions, before they undertake sittings. Regular continuation training in relation to domestic abuse, in all its forms, is provided thereafter. Magistrates sitting in the family and criminal jurisdictions receive mandatory domestic abuse training. The training is trauma-informed and reflects the wide nature of domestic abuse including coercive and controlling behaviour.The College regularly reviews its training to ensure it remains high quality and up to date, and reflects contemporary law, practice and procedure.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to prevent the overfishing of commercially important species.

The Government is committed to restoring our stocks to sustainable levels and supporting the long-term viability of the UK fishing industry. This is in line with our domestic and international obligations, including those of the Fisheries Act 2020 and Joint Fisheries Statement. We work with international partners to set annual catch limits for shared fish stocks, consistent with the best available scientific advice on the state of those stocks. This is principally advice from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea. We are also taking action to sustainably manage our marine resources through Marine Protected Area management and Fisheries Management Plans, which apply to all vessels in UK waters.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of the 60th ratification of the Global Ocean Treaty by Morocco in September 2025.

The government introduced legislation on 10 September to enable the UK to proceed to ratification of the Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ Agreement). I presented this bill for second reading in parliament on 16 October.

Media and Sport, with reference to her Department’s press release entitled Statutory levy and online slot stake limits to be introduced to tackle gambling harm, published on 27 November 2024, what steps she is taking to ensure gambling companies accurately verify gamblers’ ages when enforcing stake limits for online slots.

Online stake limits have been set at £5 per spin for adults aged 25 and over since April of this year, and £2 per spin for 18-24 year olds since May. All gambling operators offering gambling services to people in Great Britain must have a licence from the Gambling Commission, the independent regulator for gambling in Great Britain. The Gambling Commission requires all operators to complete age and identity verification before a customer can deposit money and gamble. As such, the Gambling Commission is responsible for verifying that operators are applying online slot stake limits correctly.

What assessment she has made of the potential merits of routinely (a) recording and (b) reporting the number of animals bred for and not used in scientific research.

The Home Office is presently reviewing the potential merits of recording and reporting the number of animals that were bred for and not used in scientific procedures.

If she will consider adding cheerleading as an approved (a) sport and (b) activity which can be assessed for GCSE Physical Education qualifications.

Cheerleading was recognised as a sport by the Home Nations Sport Councils in December last year.It is not part of the current GCSE activity list, which was last reviewed in 2018. The department and awarding organisations developed a set of five key considerations which were applied to each activity in order to ensure parity and rigour of assessment.The government launched an independent Curriculum and Assessment Review for ages 5 to 18, led by Professor Becky Francis CBE. As part of this review, curriculum and assessment arrangements are being evaluated, including the full range of national curriculum subjects and most GCSEs. This will address the key barriers to pupil achievement and ensure all young people have access to high standards and future opportunities. The department is currently awaiting the outcomes of the Review.

What steps her Department is taking to support families of UK citizens murdered overseas.

The Government remains committed to improving the support available to families affected by these tragic events. We recognise the importance of ensuring that bereaved families receive clear, compassionate, and timely information.The Ministry of Justice is working closely with the Victims’ Commissioner, the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, and the National Police Chiefs’ Council to develop guidance aimed at improving the accessibility and clarity of information for families in these circumstances.Families bereaved by homicide abroad can also access government commissioned support services. This includes the Homicide Service which offers emotional, practical, specialist, advocacy, and peer support to help families build resilience to cope with the impact of these devastating crimes.

What steps she is taking to (a) support retention in the police in England and (b) increase the number of police officers in Aylesbury constituency.

In 2025/26, the Home Office is providing a total of up to £17.4 billion for police forces, which is an increase of up to £987 million compared to the 2024/25 police funding settlement. This includes a total of up to £376.8 million specifically to support officer maintenance at the expected headcount levels.Thames Valley Police will receive up to £627.4 million in funding in 2025/26, an increase of up to £40.8 million when compared to the 2024/25 funding settlement, which represents a 7% cash increase and a 3.6% real terms increase in funding. This includes a total allocation of £10,662,824 to support the maintenance of 4,978 police officers (headcount).As part of this, Thames Valley Police has been allocated a total of up and £6,093,042 to increasing neighbourhood policing roles, and, the projected growth for Thames Valley Police over 2025/26 will be 68 police officers (FTE) in neighbourhood policing roles.

Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that a higher proportion of housing is affordable in (a) Buckinghamshire and (b) other rural areas.

I refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement made on 2 July 2025 (HCWS771).

If he will review the effectiveness of the Supply of New Cars Order 2000.

The Supply of New Cars Order 2000 was introduced following a Competition Commission investigation, to remedy or prevent the adverse effects identified by the Competition Commission in relation to the car retail market. Responsibility for reviewing the Supply of New Cars Order lies with the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which keeps markets remedies under review. While the CMA has not initiated a review of this order at this time, it welcomes submissions where existing remedies may no longer be fit for purpose.

What assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the national spinal cord injury database.

The effectiveness of the National Spinal Cord Injury Database (NSCID) is kept under review and is subject to small incremental improvements to reflect changes to spinal cord injury services, and to maintain compliance with legislation. NHS England has been working with spinal cord injury charities to provide them with data within the parameters of information governance, UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), data security, and data protection legislation, and data sharing agreements are in place.Plans to enable patients to connect with charities are in development, which will require working in close collaboration with clinicians who will discuss the option of connecting the patient with a charity at the appropriate moment in their treatment pathway. NHS England has processes in place which enable stakeholders to request access to data held in the NSCID. These processes are compliant with existing information governance, UK GDPR, data protection, and data security legislation and policies. Each request for access to data is assessed in accordance with legislation and accompanying policies.

Whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of providing access to the national spinal cord injury database to (a) charities and (b) other stakeholders.

The effectiveness of the National Spinal Cord Injury Database (NSCID) is kept under review and is subject to small incremental improvements to reflect changes to spinal cord injury services, and to maintain compliance with legislation. NHS England has been working with spinal cord injury charities to provide them with data within the parameters of information governance, UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), data security, and data protection legislation, and data sharing agreements are in place.Plans to enable patients to connect with charities are in development, which will require working in close collaboration with clinicians who will discuss the option of connecting the patient with a charity at the appropriate moment in their treatment pathway. NHS England has processes in place which enable stakeholders to request access to data held in the NSCID. These processes are compliant with existing information governance, UK GDPR, data protection, and data security legislation and policies. Each request for access to data is assessed in accordance with legislation and accompanying policies.

What steps she is taking to support the integration of refugees.

The Government is committed to ensuring that refugees can integrate in the UK. The Immigration White Paper introduced reforms designed to improve integration and community cohesion. Further details will be set out in due course.Ministers across Government, including MHCLG, DWP and DfE, are working closely together to improve outcomes for refugees, the economy and society as a whole.