Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the Prime Minister shared with the Planning Casework Unit a written record of his discussions on 23 August 2024 and 18 December 2024 with the President of the People's Republic of China on the proposed new Chinese Embassy.

Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

As has been the case under successive administrations, government does not normally disclose details of internal discussions.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Guidance on planning propriety: planning casework decisions, published on 16 December 2021, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the Government's compliance with that guidance in the context of discussions between the Prime Minister the Chinese President in (a) August and (b) December 2024.

Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

In dealing with any application, Ministers and officials will act in accordance with published propriety guidance on planning casework decisions. More information can be found on gov.uk here.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the report on the Southport attack by the Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a new offence of planning a mass casualty attack.

Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

The Government accepts and strongly supports the Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation’s (IRTL) recommendation to consider creating a new offence to capture individuals intending to kill multiple people and planning for such attacks. As recognised by the IRTL, this is a complex area of law and will require working through difficult legal and ethical issues to avoid unintended consequences. We are considering carefully the best way to close the gap in the legislation.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department issues guidance on membership of the Chinese Communist Party being a declarable interest for university senior staff and trustees.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Education is a devolved matter, and this response outlines the information for England only.

Higher education (HE) providers are independent and autonomous bodies, and as such are responsible for designing and implementing their own policies.

As the independent regulator, it is the role of the Office for Students to monitor and assess registered universities’ compliance with its conditions of registration, including those relating to good governance, and to take regulatory action where they have been breached. This includes that higher education providers must uphold public interest governance principles, which encompasses management of conflicts of interest.

We are clear that foreign interference in the HE sector is unacceptable, and whilst there are a range of existing requirements on universities to protect against it, we believe more should be done to support providers to proportionately mitigate risk. We set out our considerations in the ‘Future of the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act’ policy paper published in June 2025, and are taking steps to share good practice, raise awareness and develop new responses where necessary.

Found: Members present: Chris Bloore; Sorcha Eastwood; Claire Hanna; Simon Hoare; Adam Jogee; Mike Kane; Alicia Kearns

Found: Members present: Tonia Antoniazzi (Chair); Chris Bloore; Sorcha Eastwood; Claire Hanna; Mike Kane; Alicia Kearns

Found: Alicia Kearns, the shadow national security minister, claimed that granting approval would hand China