Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the recorded rate of theft from the person was in each of the last ten years.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 10th June is attached.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 9 June 2025 to Question 55429 on Offenders: Foreign Nationals, which country each of the foreign national offenders removed from the country between 5 July 2024 and 18 May 2025 went to.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office publishes data on foreign national offender (FNO) returns in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Quarterly data on returns of FNOs by destination are published in table Ret_D04 of the ‘Returns detailed tables’. Information on the data and how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data goes to end of March 2025. Data up to end June 2025 will be released on 21st August 2025.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 9 June 2025 to Answer 55083 on British Indian Ocean Territory: Sovereignty, how much of the cost will come from the budget of (a) his Department and (b) the Ministry of Defence.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer given to his previous question 56674.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what resources his Department his providing to support NATO’s Baltic Sentry operation.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The UK provides RAF P-8 Poseidon and Rivet Joint surveillance aircraft to support the NATO’s Baltic Sentry deployment to protect critical infrastructure in the Baltic Sea.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 2 June 2025 to Question 53712 on Prisons: Construction, how many Category A prison places she plans to be built as part of the Prison Capacity Strategy.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
This Government will get the prison places built that the previous Government failed to deliver or fund. We are delivering 14,000 additional prison places and aim to do so by 2031, as set out in the 10-Year Prison Capacity Strategy. This consists of the construction of four new prisons, including the recently delivered HMP Millsike, as well as the expansion and refurbishment of the existing estate and temporary accommodation. These places are all within the Category B, Category C, and Category D estates, where the greatest level of demand is projected.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing a Defence AI Investment Fund.
Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
As set out when the Strategic Defence Review (SDR) was published, the Government accepts the vision and recommendations of the SDR, including the recommendation to create a protected Defence AI investment Fund. The SDR recommends an immediate priority for force transformation should be a shift towards greater use of autonomy and Artificial Intelligence (AI) within the UK's conventional forces. Learning the lessons from Ukraine, this would provide greater accuracy, lethality, and cheaper capabilities-changing the economics of Defence. This shift should be facilitated by the parallel development of a common digital foundation and digital targeting web as well as protected investment in AI research and development.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what progress has his Department has made in developing novel directed energy weapons.
Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Following the Strategic Defence Review, we have announced nearly £1 billion in further investment for Directed Energy Weapons (DEW) this Parliament. This funding will ensure the DragonFire Laser DEW system enters service with the Royal Navy in 2027 and will enable a DEW capability to enter service with the British Army this decade. Accelerating these capabilities ensures our Armed Forces have access to cutting edge technologies as soon as possible.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Royal Navy’s Atlantic Bastion concept on the security of the North Atlantic.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
Atlantic Bastion is the Royal Navy's plan to secure the North Atlantic for the UK and NATO. It will exploit advances in autonomy and artificial intelligence to deter the growing underwater threat in light of a modernising Russian submarine force. It will be implemented as a mix of crewed and uncrewed platforms.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information her Department holds on the cost per unit for the Metropolitan Police’s new Plasan SandCat armoured vehicles.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
Decisions around the procurement of equipment, including armoured vehicles, are a matter for operationally independent Chief Constables and Police and Crime Commissioners, or Mayoral equivalents and are made in line with the needs of their police force and their budget allocation.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much her Department has paid to France to support actions to prevent small boat crossings from the French coastline since 5 July 2024.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
In 2023 the UK and French governments agreed a joint multi-year operational plan and a joint funding arrangement to tackle irregular migration, with details published here: UK-France Joint Leaders' Declaration - GOV.UK.