Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology what assessment she has made of the contribution of international postgraduate researchers to the UK’s scientific output.

Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The UK is committed to attracting international postgraduate research (PGR) students as part of our ambition to attract the best research talent across the research pipeline. International PGRs make significant contributions to the UK’s research strength and scientific output. In 2024/25, 42% of the UK’s 120,000 postgraduate research students were non‑UK; 58% in Engineering and Technology; and 79% in research‑intensive universities, where scientific output is highest (HESA). International PGRs contribute to the over two hundred thousand research articles from the UK each year, placing the UK globally in first position on Field Weighted Citation Impact among comparator countries since 2007 (GOV.UK).

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what consideration his Department has given to data from the Office for National Statistics highlighting that for the first time there are more adult vapers in Great Britain than there are smokers.

Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department continues to monitor the latest data on smoking and vaping prevalence, including the figures published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The 2024 ONS Adult Smoking Habits in the UK data shows that 10% of adults in Great Britain, approximately 5.4 million people, are current vape users, compared with 4.9 million adult smokers, based on the Opinions and Lifestyle Survey.

We are pleased to see a further reduction in the number of smokers and the continued general downward trend in smoking prevalence. The Government is investing an additional £260 million over three years in Stop Smoking Services within the Public Health Grant to support local Stop Smoking Services in England and continue our National Smokefree Pregnancy Incentives scheme to support pregnant smokers to quit.

Our health advice on vaping is clear: vaping can play a role in helping adult smokers to quit, but if you don’t smoke, don’t vape – and children should never vape. Evidence suggests the majority of adult vapers are current or former smokers, demonstrating the role vapes can play in smoking cessation. For those who feel ready to quit vaping and who are confident they can do so without returning to smoking, the Better Health website has a dedicated page on quitting vaping.

The Tobacco and Vapes Bill will ban vapes and nicotine products from being deliberately promoted and advertised to children to stop the next generation from becoming hooked on nicotine. The Bill, currently going through Parliament, includes a range of measures to tackle youth vaping and will give the government powers to restrict the display, packaging and product features.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, between 1 January 2021-31 December 2025, under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986, how many 'service' licences were granted for multiple generic projects.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

To obtain this information would exceed the disproportionate cost threshold.

The Home Office will only grant licences where it is satisfied that the statutory requirements of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 have been met, including that the work is scientifically justified and that there is no suitable nonanimal alternative.

The Home Office publishes annual statistics on scientific procedures on living animals in Great Britain, which include information on the number of procedures carried out, the species used, and the purposes for which procedures are undertaken.

The Home Office also publishes non-technical summaries of all licenced programme of work, setting out their objectives, predicted harms, expected benefits, and the number and types of animals to be used.

In addition, the Animals in Science Regulation Unit publishes an annual report setting out the total number of project licences granted each year.

The annual report and annual statistics for 2025 are due for publication later this year. Non-technical summaries are published on a quarterly basis.

The annual reports are available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/animals-in-science-regulation-unit-annual-reports

The non-technical summaries are available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/non-technical-summaries-of-projects-granted-under-aspa

The annual statistics are available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/scientific-procedures-on-living-animals-great-britain-2024

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many service licences were granted for multiple generic projects that used (a) dogs and (b) non-human primates under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 between 1 January 2021 and 31 December 2025.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

To obtain this information would exceed the disproportionate cost threshold.

The Home Office will only grant licences where it is satisfied that the statutory requirements of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 have been met, including that the work is scientifically justified and that there is no suitable nonanimal alternative.

The Home Office publishes annual statistics on scientific procedures on living animals in Great Britain, which include information on the number of procedures carried out, the species used, and the purposes for which procedures are undertaken.

The Home Office also publishes non-technical summaries of all licenced programme of work, setting out their objectives, predicted harms, expected benefits, and the number and types of animals to be used.

In addition, the Animals in Science Regulation Unit publishes an annual report setting out the total number of project licences granted each year.

The annual report and annual statistics for 2025 are due for publication later this year. Non-technical summaries are published on a quarterly basis.

The annual reports are available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/animals-in-science-regulation-unit-annual-reports

The non-technical summaries are available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/non-technical-summaries-of-projects-granted-under-aspa

The annual statistics are available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/scientific-procedures-on-living-animals-great-britain-2024

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether people living with migraine will be considered in the delivery of policies to support people with long-term conditions to remain in or return to work.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Government recognises the substantial economic and NHS burden of migraine, which costs the economy roughly £8.8 billion to £12 billion annually, driven heavily by lost productivity. Three million workdays are lost annually due to migraine and there are approximately 16,500 emergency admissions a year, costing the NHS £11.5 million.

We know that good work is good for health, so we want everyone to get work and get on in work, whoever they are and wherever they live. In our Pathways to Work Green Paper we set out our Pathways to Work offer, backed by £1 billion a year of new funding by the end of the decade.

Disabled people and people with health conditions are a diverse group so access to the right work and health support, in the right place, at the right time, is key. The Government is committed to supporting disabled people and people with health conditions, including people living with migraine, with their employment journey.

We therefore have a range of specialist initiatives to support individuals to stay in work and get back into work, including those that join up employment and health systems. Existing measures include support from Work Coaches and Disability Employment Advisers in Jobcentres and Access to Work grants. Through Pathways to Work we are building towards a guaranteed offer of personalised work, health and skills support for all disabled people and people with health conditions on out of work benefits, building on and bringing together initiatives such as Connect to Work, WorkWell and Employment Advisers in Talking Therapies.

In November 2025, Sir Charlie Mayfield published his Keep Britain Working Review, setting out recommendations to support employers to create healthier and more inclusive workplaces and radically reshape the way Government works with employers to improve outcomes. Following publication, we have started running a Vanguard phase, through which we are partnering with volunteer employers and regions to test how we can better support good health in work.

The 10 Year Health Plan, published in July, builds on existing work to better integrate health with employment support and incentivise greater cross-system collaboration, recognising good work is good for health. The Plan states our intention to break down barriers to opportunity by delivering the holistic support that people need to access and thrive in employment by ensuring a better health service for everyone, regardless of condition or service area. It outlines how the neighbourhood health service will join up support from across the work, health and skills systems to help address the multiple complex challenges that often stop people finding and staying in work.

The National Council of Resistance of Iran's ten-point plan

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Bob Blackman (Chair); Jonathan Davies; Mr Lee Dillon; Mary Glindon

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Bob Blackman (Chair); Jonathan Davies; Mary Glindon; Will Stone;