Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will take legislative steps to prevent non-UK citizens from (a) voting and (b) standing in all UK elections.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government has no current plans to change the voting or candidacy rights of foreign nationals.
British, Irish, and Commonwealth citizens are able to participate in UK Parliamentary elections subject to residency and other eligibility requirements. In the case of local elections in England and Northern Ireland, voting and candidacy rights also extend to EU citizens with retained rights and to citizens of countries with whom we have bilateral agreements. Responsibility for local elections in Scotland and Wales is devolved.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the Government has conducted any assessment of risks posed by foreign-state or foreign-network mobilisation of postal-voting blocks among overseas nationals eligible to vote in UK local elections.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government is committed to upholding and strengthening UK democracy by protecting against foreign interference, improving political transparency, adding tougher checks for donations and closing loopholes by reinforcing electoral legislation against foreign interference.
Our election reforms will deliver a robust and proportionate response to known risks, protecting the integrity of our system and reinforcing public trust in democracy. This is set out in our Elections Strategy, published in July.
The Joint Election Security and Preparedness unit coordinates work to protect UK elections and referendums, from threats including foreign interference.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the current level of threat from Islamist extremists.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The UK’s counter-terrorism strategy, CONTEST, provides a comprehensive framework for tackling all forms of terrorism and is kept under constant review to ensure our approach remains fit for purpose in response to emerging risks and challenges.
As outlined in the publication of the most recent iteration of CONTEST, in July 2023, the primary domestic terrorist threat comes from Islamist terrorism, which accounts for about three quarters of MI5 caseload.
The threat we see today and in the coming years is more diverse, dynamic and complex. This includes a domestic threat which is less predictable and harder to detect. This is combined with an evolving threat from Islamist terrorist groups overseas, and an operating environment where accelerating advances in technology provide both opportunity and risk to our counter-terrorism efforts.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will provide emergency funding to areas with the most severe dental shortages, including Great Yarmouth.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are aware of the challenges faced in accessing a dentist, particularly in more rural and coastal areas such as Great Yarmouth.
In 2024/25, the Government invested around £3.7 billion on primary care dentistry. We want to ensure that every penny we allocate for dentistry is spent on dentistry, and that the ringfenced dental budget is spent on the patients who need it most.
The responsibility for commissioning primary care services, including National Health Service dentistry, to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to the integrated care boards (ICBs) across England. For the Great Yarmouth constituency, this is the NHS Norfolk and Waveney ICB.
We have asked ICBs to commission extra urgent dental appointments across the country, with appointments more heavily weighted towards those areas where they are needed the most.
ICBs are also recruiting dentists through the Golden Hello scheme. This recruitment incentive will see dentists receiving payments of £20,000 to work in those areas that need them most for three years.
We are committed to delivering fundamental reform of the dental contract before the end of this Parliament. As a first step, we published the Government’s response to the public consultation on shorter term improvements to the NHS dental contract on 16 December 2025. The changes will be introduced from April 2026. These reforms will put patients with the greatest needs first while incentivising urgent care and complex treatments. Further information is available at the following link:
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
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 impact of the number of NHS dentists currently working in Great Yarmouth constituency on patients' access to urgent care.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are determined to rebuild NHS dentistry, but it will take time and there are no quick fixes. Strengthening the workforce is key to our ambitions.
The 10 Year Workforce Plan will ensure that the National Health Service has the right people in the right places, with the right skills to care for patients, when they need it.
We have asked integrated care boards (ICBs) to commission extra urgent dental appointments to make sure that patients with urgent dental needs can get the treatment they require. ICBs have been making extra appointments available from April 2025.
These appointments are available across the country, with specific expectations for each region. These appointments are more heavily weighted towards those areas where they are needed the most.
ICBs are also recruiting posts through the Golden Hello scheme. This recruitment incentive will see dentists receiving payments of £20,000 to work in those areas that need them most for three years.
We are committed to reforming the dental sector and we will deliver fundamental contract reform before the end of this Parliament. As a first step, we published the Government’s response to the public consultation on shorter term improvements to the NHS dental contract on 16 December 2025. The changes will be introduced from April 2026. These reforms will put patients with the greatest needs first while incentivising urgent care and complex treatments.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on the number of children in Great Yarmouth constituency that were unable to access an NHS dental appointment in the last 12 months.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Data is not held on the number of children in the Great Yarmouth constituency that were unable to access a National Health Service dental appointment in the last 12 months.
The data for the Norfolk and Waveney Integrated Care Board, which includes the Great Yarmouth constituency, shows that 55% of children were seen by an NHS dentist in the previous 12 months up to June 2025, compared to 57% in England. This year, resources have also been provided to Norfolk County Council to support 5,605 children through the national supervised toothbrushing programme.
On 16 December, we published the Government’s response to the public consultation on interim improvements to the NHS dental contract. The changes will be introduced from April 2026. These reforms will put patients with greatest need first, incentivising urgent care and complex treatments, and will reduce clinically unnecessary check-ups. More information is available at the following link:
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the long-term economic contribution of student-loan recipients who do not remain in the UK workforce after graduation; and how this affects repayment forecasts for the loan book.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The information requested is not held centrally.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the equitability of the current student loan system, in the context of the rising value of student loans issued to applicants who may not remain in the UK long enough to repay.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
As of April 2025, 6.1 million borrowers (English and EU nationals with loans from Student Finance England) are in Repayment. Of the 6.1 million, 286,000 (4.6%) reside overseas, of which 85,000 (29.7%) are EU nationals and 201,000 (70.3%) are English UK nationals. Full details can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/student-loans-in-england-2024-to-2025.
In November 2025, 60.3% of borrowers residing overseas (EU and UK nationals) were compliant, and 39.7% non-compliant. The compliance rate for UK borrowers was 62.3%, and for EU borrowers 55.4%.
The Student Loans Company (SLC) recovers approximately £10 million per month from customers residing overseas (both UK and EU nationals) at cost of approximately £339,000 per month. This is a return on investment of approximately 30:1.
In the 2024/25 financial year, SLC’s repayments evasion unit recovered £7.7 million from non-compliant overseas borrowers. If the SLC is unable to recover outstanding debt directly from borrowers overseas, the account will be referred to a Debt Collection Agency (DCA). On average, DCAs deliver a return on investment of £5 for every £1 spent. From April 2024 to March 2025, recoveries from overseas borrowers stand at £3.74 million.
A full equality impact assessment of how the student loan reforms may affect graduates, including detail on changes to average lifetime repayments under Plan 5, was produced and published in February 2022 and can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/higher-education-reform-equality-impact-assessment.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the potential administrative cost associated with tracing and managing borrowers of student loans whose repayment status cannot be verified through UK tax systems.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
As of April 2025, 6.1 million borrowers (English and EU nationals with loans from Student Finance England) are in Repayment. Of the 6.1 million, 286,000 (4.6%) reside overseas, of which 85,000 (29.7%) are EU nationals and 201,000 (70.3%) are English UK nationals. Full details can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/student-loans-in-england-2024-to-2025.
In November 2025, 60.3% of borrowers residing overseas (EU and UK nationals) were compliant, and 39.7% non-compliant. The compliance rate for UK borrowers was 62.3%, and for EU borrowers 55.4%.
The Student Loans Company (SLC) recovers approximately £10 million per month from customers residing overseas (both UK and EU nationals) at cost of approximately £339,000 per month. This is a return on investment of approximately 30:1.
In the 2024/25 financial year, SLC’s repayments evasion unit recovered £7.7 million from non-compliant overseas borrowers. If the SLC is unable to recover outstanding debt directly from borrowers overseas, the account will be referred to a Debt Collection Agency (DCA). On average, DCAs deliver a return on investment of £5 for every £1 spent. From April 2024 to March 2025, recoveries from overseas borrowers stand at £3.74 million.
A full equality impact assessment of how the student loan reforms may affect graduates, including detail on changes to average lifetime repayments under Plan 5, was produced and published in February 2022 and can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/higher-education-reform-equality-impact-assessment.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the total value of student loans unlikely to be repaid by borrowers who have not established a long-term financial footprint in the UK; and what the projected cost to the public purse will be over the next decade.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The information requested is not held centrally.