Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, pursuant to her Department's press release entitled Technology Secretary statement on xAI's Grok image generation and editing tool published on 9 January 2026, what official communications has her Department received from X regarding image manipulation by its xAI Grok tool.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The government is clear that no one should have to go through the ordeal of these horrendous images online.
Ofcom is the independent regulator for online safety and has confirmed that they have opened an investigation into X and have made relevant contact with representatives at X. They have our full backing to take any necessary enforcement action.
This is not about restricting freedom of speech but upholding the law.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many residential and mixed‑use buildings in (a) South Basildon and East Thurrock constituency and (b) England contain reinforced concrete transfer slabs constructed using unsafe historic design methods.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Building Safety Regulator (BSR) only holds information related to Higher-Risk Buildings with at least two residential units and cannot provide a response to questions related to commercial premises.
For Higher-Risk Buildings, the BSR does not hold specific Key Building Information in relation to reinforced concrete transfer slabs which includes those constructed using prior design methods.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee on police response times to time-sensitive incidents in rural villages, such as a) Bulphan, b) Orsett and c) Horndon-on-the-Hill in South Basildon and East Thurrock constituency.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee set out commitments for police forces to implement, by July 2025, and by the end of Parliament. Forces are now delivering on the Guarantee across England and Wales to ensure consistent and high-quality neighbourhood policing, including in rural areas.
Forces now have named, contactable officers dedicated to tackling issues in their communities. Forces are also providing a guarantee of 72-hour response times to neighbourhood queries from communities.
All reports into the police, either via telephone or online, are triaged by the local force control room and response type and timeliness will be determined by the nature of the report and availability of resources. The Home Office does not hold data on response times to time-sensitive incidents in rural villages, however, should an incident be time critical and requiring rapid response, the public are advised to call 999.
Based on their £4,495,599 allocation from the Neighbourhood Policing Grant, Essex are projected to grow by 74 FTE NHP police officers in 2025-26.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of police response times to rural crime by Essex Police.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
I refer the Hon. Member to UIN 101709 answered on 9th January 2026.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many commercial buildings contain reinforced concrete transfer slabs constructed using unsafe historic design methods in South Basildon & East Thurrock constituency.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Building Safety Regulator (BSR) only holds information related to Higher-Risk Buildings with at least two residential units and cannot provide a response to questions related to commercial premises.
For Higher-Risk Buildings, the BSR does not hold specific Key Building Information in relation to reinforced concrete transfer slabs which includes those constructed using prior design methods.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the ability of third-party contractors to appropriately distribute UK financial aid.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer he received on 12 January in response to Question 102520.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to introduce a statutory requirement in Building Regulations for the provision of Changing Places toilets in new developments.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government has no plans to mandate Changing Places toilets in new developments. Statutory guidance accompanying the Building Regulations (Approved Document M Vol.2 paragraphs 5.6 and 5.7) has already been updated, in January 2021, and includes provision for Changing Places toilets in new non-dwelling developments.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent steps her Department has taken to reduce the risk of children being groomed through applications and games accessible to children such as TikTok, Snapchat, and Roblox.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Grooming through social media, messaging apps, and online games is a serious threat. Government is unequivocal in its commitment to protecting children from these crimes and we are determined to ensure that offenders cannot use these platforms to target children with impunity.
The Online Safety Act introduces world‑leading protections for children by placing robust duties on tech to mitigate risks to children. Crucially, the Act requires companies whose services pose heightened risks to children’s safety companies, such as those with chat functions, friend‑finding features and livestreaming tools, to implement stronger and more proactive safeguards, including effective moderation, robust age assurance and safer design. Ofcom, as the regulator, will have strong enforcement powers to ensure compliance.
Alongside platform regulation, the Government is taking decisive action to prevent harm before it occurs. In line with new commitments in the Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy, we are clear that children must be protected from being coerced into sharing nude images and from being drawn into cycles of sextortion, grooming and abuse. That is why we have set out an ambitious goal to make it impossible for children in the UK to take, share or view a nude image, and we are working proactively with industry to make this a reality. This complements wider work to ensure that children’s access to smartphones and digital services is safe, appropriate and protective of their wellbeing.
The Government continues to work closely with law enforcement, industry, and child protection experts to ensure that the UK remains at the forefront of efforts to tackle online child sexual abuse.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the value for money of temporary pothole repairs where defects recur frequently.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
In November 2024, the Department published a report on the economic benefits of investing in local highways maintenance. The analysis found that proactive maintenance can be more cost effective. In contrast, reactive maintenance was shown to be less cost-effective and associated with higher long-term expenditure. This report can be accessed at:
The Department encourages local highway authorities to focus on long-term preventative maintenance. In November, we confirmed a record £7.3 billion of funding for local highways maintenance over the next four years. By providing long-term funding certainty, local authorities can better plan ahead and invest into preventative maintenance. This approach is also encouraged through guidance such as the Code of Practice for Well-managed highways infrastructure. Finally, to unlock their full share of the Government's £500 million funding uplift for local highways maintenance this financial year, local highway authorities had to demonstrate how they prioritise preventative maintenance. The Department has used this information to introduce a new rating system that measures how well local highway authorities maintain their roads and adopt best practice such as preventative maintenance.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans she has to introduce requirements for local highway authorities to report data on (a) pothole recurrence and (b) repeated repairs at the same locations.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
As announced in March 2024, local highway authorities had to publish transparency reports about their maintenance activities to unlock their full share of the Government’s £500m uplift for local highways maintenance this year. This included publishing an estimate of the number of potholes they have filled in each of the last five years. Reports are now available on local highway authorities’ websites.
To gain access to all the Department’s increased highways maintenance funding in the future, local highway authorities will have to continue to demonstrate that they comply with best practice, for example by adopting more preventative maintenance. We will share more information about the reporting requirements for this in due course.