Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to project 1 entitled Defining the role of G protein coupled receptors in the brain and the therapeutic potential of targeting these receptors in neurological disease and addiction, in her Department's document entitled Non-technical summaries for project licences granted October – December 2025 that require a retrospective assessment, published in February 2026, what assessment she has made of the scientific relevance to humans of injecting opioids into the veins of mice and then dipping the tail of some mice into hot water .
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
This project, among other research, sits within the Government’s broader strategy to support research that advances the understanding of major public health challenges – including addiction and neurodegenerative disease.
The non-technical summary for this research project is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/non-technical-summaries-granted-in-2025.
The use of mice and the procedures in question were assessed as appropriate and scientifically justified because they allow researchers to study learning, memory, reward-related behaviour and withdrawal symptoms in a way that cannot be replicated using non-animal methods alone.
All project licence applications under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 (ASPA) are assessed by medically or veterinary qualified inspectors within the Animals in Science Regulation Unit (ASRU). Under ASPA, no project can be granted without a harm-benefit analysis, where an ASRU inspector makes a rigorous assessment of the scientific rationale, and must assess that the harms of the proposed project are justified by the likely benefits.
The project must also demonstrate full application of the legal requirements of replacement, reduction and refinement (the 3Rs). This means that animal use cannot be approved if a practicable non-animal alternative method exists, the number of any animals used must be minimised, and the most refined methods must be used for animal testing to minimise harms.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of trends in the number of (a) beagles, (b) non-human primates, (c) rabbits and (d) other animals that are estimated to be used in scientific procedures in the next three years.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office publishes annual statistics on the use of animals in science which contain information on the number of procedures conducted, including break down by species of animals.
Animals may be used more than once in certain circumstances. These instances are counted as separate, additional procedures. As a result, the number of procedures is usually slightly higher than the number of animals used.
The annual statistics are published at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/animals-in-science-statistics
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the written answer to Question 108177 of 3 February 2026 whether any exempt vignettes were granted to family members of consular officers who do not fall into the aforementioned categories.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The information requested is not centrally held and could only be collected and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether his Department has made an assessment of the effectiveness of the Foreign Enlistment Act 1870 in relation to British nationals serving with the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
Travel advice for Ukraine, issued by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, makes clear that if a British national travels to Ukraine to fight, or to assist others engaged in the war, their activities may amount to offences under UK legislation.
Anyone, regardless of their citizenship, who travels from the UK to take part in conflicts overseas may be investigated by the police on return to determine if they have committed criminal offences, and to ensure that they do not pose a threat to our national security.
The UK remains steadfast in its support for Ukraine and the Ukrainian people. That commitment has never wavered. Together with our partners and allies, we continue to stand firmly with Ukraine in the face of Russia’s aggression.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help provide legal clarity to British nationals who volunteer to serve in Ukraine.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
Travel advice for Ukraine, issued by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, makes clear that if a British national travels to Ukraine to fight, or to assist others engaged in the war, their activities may amount to offences under UK legislation.
Anyone, regardless of their citizenship, who travels from the UK to take part in conflicts overseas may be investigated by the police on return to determine if they have committed criminal offences, and to ensure that they do not pose a threat to our national security.
The UK remains steadfast in its support for Ukraine and the Ukrainian people. That commitment has never wavered. Together with our partners and allies, we continue to stand firmly with Ukraine in the face of Russia’s aggression.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with his Haitian counterpart on maritime border issues between that country and the Turks and Caicos Islands.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Immigration and border issues are the responsibility of the Turks and Caicos Islands Government. UK Government officials continue to support our Overseas Territories with their border security, including through funding, training and technical expertise.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the National Police Service's remit will include dealing with illegal tobacco and organized crime.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The National Police Service will lead the operational response to serious and organised crime.
We would expect that to include operational activity against illegal tobacco currently carried out by the National Crime Agency and the Regional Organised Crime Units.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many illegally possessed firearms have been seized in (a) Romford constituency and (b) greater London in each year since 1997.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office does not routinely collect data on the number of firearms seized by police forces as part of their operations to tackle illegally held weapons.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has received legal advice on the compliance of new facial recognition technology deployed by police forces with human rights obligations.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office published its consultation on proposals for a new legal framework for law enforcement use of biometrics, facial recognition and similar technologies on 4 December 2025. This considers how the police could use new facial recognition technology in a way that continues to be compatible with the Human Rights Act 1998.
The Department was an interested party in an important court case on this issue, R (Bridges) v Chief Constable of South Wales Police [2020] EWCA Civ 1058. In preparing the consultation, the Department took into account the court’s judgement and received advice on all aspects of the current legal framework for the use of such technology.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent steps she has taken with relevant authorities to help tackle crime in town centres across greater London.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
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 town centre crime.
Our Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee is already making a difference. For too long, people have not seen police patrolling their streets. We will have 3,000 more neighbourhood officers by March this year. The Metropolitan Police Service’s projected growth over 2025 to 2026 will be 420 police officers (FTE) and 50 Police Community Support Officers (FTE). We are giving them the powers they need, including making it a specific offence to assault retail workers and ending the treatment of theft under the value of £200 as a summary-only offence.
We are equipping the police to fight the organised crime gangs that are often responsible for driving shop theft across the country. Our £5m investment into OPAL (a specialist policing unit) will supercharge intelligence-led policing to identify offenders, disrupt the tactics used to target shops, and bring more criminals to justice.
We have also delivered on our manifesto pledge: 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. We are also strengthening the powers to tackle ASB. Our new Respect Orders will give local agencies stronger enforcement capability to tackle the most relentless ASB offenders.
Through our Summer Initiative police forces and local authorities increased patrols in town centres, tackling retail crime and anti-social behaviour as part of the Government’s Plan for Change to make our streets safer. Our Winter of Action, which ran from 1 December 2025 to 31 January 2026, built on this, with an additional focus on repeat offenders and protecting women and girls at night. The full list of locations the Metropolitan Police Service focused on as part of the Winter of Action can be found here: Winter of Action: location list - GOV.UK
Building from the Winter of Action, we are working with forces and local partners to identify and tackle the most prolific retail offenders - where a few individuals can drive a large proportion of the local crime problem.
Together with the police, we are sending a message: crime and anti-social behaviour will be punished.