Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of extending the Armed Forces Covenant Duty across her Departmental responsibilities.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office greatly values the contribution of all service personnel and remains committed to upholding its moral obligations under the Armed Forces Covenant.

The Department already embeds the principles of the Covenant, specifically within the provisions of the Appendix HM Armed Forces route which ensures that service personnel and their families are not disadvantaged in immigration matters due to their service.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of extending the Armed Forces Covenant Duty across his Departmental responsibilities.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department is supportive of the extension of the Armed Forces Covenant. A key benefit of the Department having a legal duty to have due regard to the principles of the Armed Forces Covenant is greater awareness and consistency of the unique impacts of military service on health and care needs from the early stages of policy development through to operational delivery from the National Health Service and local authorities.

NHS England and other specified NHS bodies have a statutory obligation to have due regard to the principles of the Armed Forces Covenant. Extending this duty to include the Department will build on the good work of the NHS to date and will play an important role within the new NHS model for the benefit of the Armed Forces Community.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress he has made on implementing 24/7 mental health text lines.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Mental health crisis text services are an important part of delivering accessible and effective mental health support across the country. NHS England has confirmed that integrated care boards have plans to have 24 hour a day, seven day a week mental health crisis text services in place nationally by spring 2026. Integrated care boards who intend to procure these services via open-market approaches will publicly publish their intentions in the usual way.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people have been granted entry clearance to the UK under the (a) Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy, (b) Afghan citizens resettlement scheme and (c) Afghanistan Response Route.

Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

From 2021 to the end of June 2025, there have been around 36,000 arrivals under the Afghan Resettlement Programme, of which 13,200 were through the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme, 19,000 through Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy and 3,400 through the Afghanistan Response Route.

Found: Jake Richards MP asked for a timeframe to bring forward a new framework for police forces to use facial

Found: Reid (Labour; East Kilbride and Strathaven) Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour; Clapham and Brixton Hill) Jake Richards

Found: Reid (Labour; East Kilbride and Strathaven) Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour; Clapham and Brixton Hill) Jake Richards