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 he will provide funding to help increase staffing levels at (a) James Paget University Hospital and (b) Northgate Hospital.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Decisions about recruitment are a matter for individual National Health Service employers, who manage this at a local level to ensure they have the staff they need to deliver safe and effective care.
Funding provided to NHS trusts, including James Paget University Hospital and Northgate Hospital, is not ringfenced for specific items such as staffing levels. Hospitals receive funding allocations which they can use at their discretion, based on local priorities.
The 10 Year Workforce Plan will ensure the NHS has the right people in the right places, with the right skills to care for patients, when they need it.
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 absence of nationality-grouped oversight forms part of the Government’s election integrity risk assessments, and if so, what assessment has been made of the risks associated with foreign-national elector cohorts.
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.
MHCLG election reforms will deliver a robust and proportionate response to known risks protecting the integrity of our system and reinforcing public trust in democracy. MHCLG published an elections strategy in July 2025 detailing this.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what role the Prevent strategy currently plays in identifying and disrupting Islamist radicalisation; and whether changes are planned to improve its effectiveness.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
Prevent aims to limit exposure to radicalising narratives, both online and offline, and to create an environment where radicalising ideologies are challenged and are not permitted to flourish.
The Prevent Duty Guidance sets out how local partners should address this issue by identifying and considering opportunities to disrupt those who use extremist narratives to spread hatred and division and radicalise others to terrorism.
This includes information sharing, risk assessment, and developing operational plans to proactively address the influences and narratives that may foster permissive environments within the community.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many premises have been investigated, restricted, or closed in the last five years due to concerns relating to extremist ideology.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
It is a long-standing policy that the Home Office does not comment on specific cases.
Regardless of the worldview it draws from, if an ideology is causing harm by radicalising others into hatred, violence and extremism we will take action to prevent this and to safeguard susceptible individuals.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what oversight mechanisms exist to monitor institutions where extremist ideology may be promoted.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Prevent duty requires specified authorities such as education, health, local authorities, police and criminal justice agencies (prisons and probation) to help prevent the risk of people becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism which includes the need to reduce permissive environments.
It sits alongside long-established safeguarding duties on professionals to protect people from a range of other harms, such as substance abuse, involvement in gangs, and physical and sexual exploitation.
The duty helps to ensure that people who are susceptible to radicalisation are supported as they would be under safeguarding processes.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many referrals to counter-extremism programmes have been made in each of the last five years, broken down by ideology.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
i) Individuals referred to the Prevent programme
Prevent aims to stop people from becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism. It works to ensure that people who are susceptible to radicalisation are offered appropriate interventions and support, and that communities are protected against radicalising influences.
The Home Office publishes statistics annually on individuals referred into Prevent, which can be found here.
Links to the data on individuals referred in by the type of concern, or ideology, can be found below.
ii) Years 2024-2025, broken down by ideology. Table 16.
iii) Years 2023-2024, broken down by ideology. Table 6.
iv) Years 2022-2023, broken down by ideology. Table 6.
v) Years 2021-2022, broken down by ideology. Table 6.
vi) Years 2020-2021, broken down by ideology. Table 6.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, for the total spend on (i) LinkedIn membership fees (ii) other subscriptions by her Department in the last financial year.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
DCMS has spent £52,670.85 on Linkedin membership fees and £92,099 on other subscriptions in the financial year 24/25. Costs are exclusive of VAT.
These costs are used to maintain access to the widest possible applicant base for job roles in the department, to increase visibility of the department’s employer brand, and to reach a diverse range of potential applicants.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what criteria are used to designate a country as high-risk for terrorism and extremist activity for the purposes of visa policy.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The UK operates a robust and effective visa system, which is an important part of securing the UK border and a vital tool for the UK in reducing illegal immigration, tackling organised crime and protecting national security. A requirement to obtain a visa prior to travelling to the UK means that we can assess, based on a visa application and following background checks, whether an individual will comply with the Immigration Rules on arrival. It allows us to intervene and, where necessary, refuse a visa before the individual travels to the UK.
This Government will not stop at anything to protect border and national security, and the UK keeps its visa system under regular review. This is conducted on the basis of a range of factors including security, compliance and returns arrangements. However, it would not be appropriate to comment in detail on specific operational security matters.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which visa routes are currently open to nationals of countries designated as high-risk for terrorism-related activity.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The UK operates a robust and effective visa system, which is an important part of securing the UK border and a vital tool for the UK in reducing illegal immigration, tackling organised crime and protecting national security. A requirement to obtain a visa prior to travelling to the UK means that we can assess, based on a visa application and following background checks, whether an individual will comply with the Immigration Rules on arrival. It allows us to intervene and, where necessary, refuse a visa before the individual travels to the UK.
This Government will not stop at anything to protect border and national security, and the UK keeps its visa system under regular review. This is conducted on the basis of a range of factors including security, compliance and returns arrangements. However, it would not be appropriate to comment in detail on specific operational security matters.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has considered suspending visa routes from countries assessed as high-risk for terrorism;
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The UK operates a robust and effective visa system, which is an important part of securing the UK border and a vital tool for the UK in reducing illegal immigration, tackling organised crime and protecting national security. A requirement to obtain a visa prior to travelling to the UK means that we can assess, based on a visa application and following background checks, whether an individual will comply with the Immigration Rules on arrival. It allows us to intervene and, where necessary, refuse a visa before the individual travels to the UK.
This Government will not stop at anything to protect border and national security, and the UK keeps its visa system under regular review. This is conducted on the basis of a range of factors including security, compliance and returns arrangements. However, it would not be appropriate to comment in detail on specific operational security matters.