Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans her Department has to review the current proscription of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) under the Terrorism Act 2000; and what criteria will be used to determine whether (a) HTS and (b) HTS's affiliates continue to pose a threat to national security.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office)
As a matter of long-standing policy, the Government does not comment on proscription matters in respect of individual organisations.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department plans to mandate that learner drivers have practiced driving on motorways prior to taking a driving test.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has no current plans to mandate that all learner drivers must undertake motorway driving prior to their driving test, for several key reasons.
Not all learners have convenient access to motorways, with many candidates living in rural or remote areas where the nearest motorway may be some distance away. Requiring all candidates to drive on a motorway would risk creating an unfair barrier to test readiness and accessibility.
While motorway driving is valuable, the practical driving test already includes a strong focus on high-speed driving environments. Dual carriageways, which can present even greater risk due to variable traffic flows, mixed vehicle types, and more frequent junctions, are included in test routes, wherever possible. They provide critical opportunities to assess a candidate’s ability to manage higher speeds and complex traffic situations.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she has taken to work with relevant authorities to reduce fatalities involving young drivers in (a) England and (b) Romford constituency.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Local authorities have a statutory duty to take steps both to reduce and prevent collisions, and the powers to make their own decisions about the design of the streets under their care, taking account of the relevant legislation and official guidance.
My Department is developing its Road Safety Strategy and will set out more details in due course. We absolutely recognise that young people are disproportionately victims of tragic incidents on our roads, and we are exploring options to tackle the root causes of this.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he has taken with His Majesty’s armed forces to improve the defence of the maritime infrastructure of British Overseas Territories.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The UK is responsible for the defence and security of all British Overseas Territories and takes these responsibilities incredibly seriously. The Ministry Of Defence routinely monitors for hostile activity and will take appropriate action in response to any legitimate threat, including providing high readiness maritime, land and air assets to deter and respond to threats as required. This includes defending our people, our territory, and our infrastructure, as necessary.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department plans to lower the drink drive limit in England.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government is considering policy options in respect of motoring offences, including around drink and drug driving. Details will follow in due course.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he has taken with His Majesty’s armed forces to improve defence co-operation with Singapore.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
I am pleased to report positive momentum on our defence co-operation with Singapore. The Secretary of State for Defence met with the previous Singaporean Defence Minister in October 2024. Between March and May 2025, the Commander of UK Strategic Command, the Chief of the Air Staff, the Minister for the House of Lords and Chief of the Defence Staff met with their Singaporean counterparts to discuss means to enhance cooperation.
The Strategic Defence Review highlights the importance of our investment in the Five Power Defence Arrangements including Singapore to promote cooperation in the region. We have sought to deepen interoperability with Singapore including through shared logistics and support to enable the persistent deployment of our two offshore patrol vessels in the Indo Pacific. In May, we welcomed the RSS Formidable to London, the first Singaporean ship to the UK in 25 years.
Looking ahead, the UK's Carrier Strike Group will visit Singapore as its first port call in the region, during which time the Minister for the House of Lords and Vice Chief of the Defence Staff will visit.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she has taken to support (a) parents and (b) children with home-schooling in (i) England and (ii) Romford constituency.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Every child deserves to receive an education that helps them to achieve and thrive. Every parent has the responsibility to provide this for their child and may choose to do so by educating them at home. Whilst that responsibility rests with the parent, it is important that they can work with education professionals and local authorities to ensure that the best education is provided.
The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, currently passing through Parliament, will require all local authorities in England and Wales to maintain registers of children who are not in school, including those who are home educating. Attached to this will be a duty on local authorities to provide support to home educating families who request assistance.
The department’s data collection on elective home education provides information on each local authority area, including what support is currently offered. All support is offered at the discretion of the local authority in each individual case. This data is accessible at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/elective-home-education/2024-25-autumn-term.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he has taken with His Majesty’s armed forces to improve British fixed undersea surveillance capabilities.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The recent Strategic Defence Review (SDR) 2025 has set out strategic initiatives in the Maritime domain in terms of undersea surveillance capabilities to protect critical infrastructure and monitor threats. The SDR also advocates AI and machine learning to improve sonar algorithms and enhance data analysis for underwater surveillance. We will also continue our close collaboration with allies to monitor subsea threats and protect critical infrastructure.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department is taking steps to help support the Thames Chase Community Forest.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
England's Community Forests are delivering the multi-million-pound national Trees for Climate programme, playing a significant part in the national Government's commitment to address climate change and carbon mitigation through tree planting and woodland creation. We are supporting England’s Community Forests through the provision of funding to create woodland in areas of social and canopy deprivation.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department plans to mandate a defined minimum learning period before learner drivers can take their test.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
We are considering measures and assessing their potential impacts to tackle the root causes of young and novice driver collisions. We will set out more details in due course.