Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025 is enforced proportionally across venues of varying capacity.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Government is committed to ensuring the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025 is implemented in a proportionate and practicable way.
An implementation period of at least 24 months is now underway, giving those responsible for premises and events sufficient time and support to meet their new obligations. It will also allow time for the Security Industry Authority (SIA) to establish its new regulatory function.
The public deserve to feel safe when visiting premises and attending events and it is right that people responsible for certain premises and events should take appropriate, reasonably practicable steps to protect the public and those working at the venues from the harmful impacts and effects of terrorism.
The Act establishes a tiered approach, with those responsible for premises and events in scope required to fulfil different requirements according to the number of individuals it is reasonable to expect may be present.
Whether the Act applies to a particular premises or events will depend on several factors. Premises may be in scope if they consist of at least one building, are wholly or mainly used for one or more of the uses specified in Schedule 1, and 200 or more people can reasonably be expected to be present at the premises at the same time.
Where it can be reasonably expected that between 200 and 799 people will be present at the premises at the same time, it will be a ‘standard tier’ premises. Should the premises reasonably expect 800 or more people to be present at the premises at the same time, it will be an ‘enhanced tier’ premises.
Events may be in scope, and will be in the ‘enhanced tier’, if they take place in a building or on land, 800 or more people are reasonably expected to be present at the same time, and it is accessible to members of the public who have paid, have a ticket or pass, or are members or guests of a club, association or similar body.
The requirements of each tier vary accordingly, acknowledging that larger premises and events may be impacted to a greater extent by an attack and should be expected to do more.
For the standard tier, requirements are centred around simple, low-cost activities surrounding procedures, with costs relating primarily to time spent. There is no requirement to put in place physical measures in the standard tier.
Furthermore, the reasonably practicable standard of requirements allows procedures and measures to be tailored to the specific circumstances of a premises or event and the person responsible for them.
The Security Industry Authority (SIA) will act as the regulator. Whilst the SIA will have enforcement powers under the Act, the Government’s clear direction is for the regulator to provide support, advice and guidance in the first instance.
The SIA will only use formal enforcement tools where necessary to drive compliance. Such enforcement measures are an important component of compliance, as they give the SIA the necessary powers to deal with persistent or serious non-compliance.
Any subsequent sanctions will be determined based on whether the non-compliance is at a location in scope of the standard tier or the enhanced tier and will be proportionate to the individual circumstances of the premises or event.
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 the principal barriers have been to the deportation of foreign nationals convicted of sexual offences since 2024; and what steps her Department is taking to help tackle those barriers.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office deals with significant and complex challenges when seeking to return those who have no right to be in the UK to their country of origin. Sometimes the UK’s current obligations under international law prohibit us from returning certain individuals despite their criminality. Legal or re-documentation barriers can frustrate immediate deportation. Despite these barriers, we are fully committed to making our communities safer by deporting those who break our laws.
To address these challenges, this government is committed to reforming the appeals process by creating a new appeals body with professionally trained adjudicators. We will also strengthen the certification regime to deny appeal rights for clearly unmeritorious claims. Furthermore, the number of countries that foreign national offenders can be deported to before they can lodge an appeal from abroad has also been increased.
We are also working to reform Human Rights and Modern Slavery claims. In these areas we will rebalance the public interest test for Article 8 claims and work with our international partners to reform the application of the ECHR’s prohibition on inhuman or degrading treatment. With the Modern Slavery reforms legislation will be brought forward to clarify our responsibilities under international law, the removal of reconsideration for negative decisions, enhanced screening for individuals detained for removal, and a stronger link between timely disclosure and credibility of a claim.
Finally, under new measures introduced by the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act 2025, sexual offences which give rise to the notification requirement in Schedule 3 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 will be assumed to be ‘particularly serious’ for the purpose of applying Article 33(2) of the Refugee Convention, thereby allowing the UK to exclude those individuals from being granted asylum protections in the UK.
Where removal is still not possible due to our ECHR obligations, the provision will ensure that such individuals are not afforded the generous benefits of protection status in the UK.
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, how many foreign nationals convicted of sexual offences have been removed under the Early Removal Scheme in each year since 2020.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The information requested regarding foreign national offenders (FNOs) convicted of sexual offences removed under the Early Removal Scheme (ERS) is not available from published statistics.
The Home Office has published figures on FNOs removed under the ERS, from 2010 Q1 up until 2022 Q2, which can be found within ‘FNO_09’, here: Migration transparency data - GOV.UK.
The Home Office also recently published figures on FNOs removed under the ERS, from 01 March 2023 up to 31 October 2025, which can be found here: Returns from the UK from 1 March 2023 to 31 October 2025 - GOV.UK
Data on FNOs removed under ERS between July 2022 and February 2023 is not currently available from published statistics, but work is currently underway to publish more detailed information on FNOs subject to deportation. Further information on this work can be found at: Statistics on foreign national offenders and the immigration system - GOV.UK.
Asked by: Ian Roome (Liberal Democrat - North Devon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 28 January 2025 to Question 26922 on Waste Disposal: Monitoring, what progress she has made on the introduction of the Digital Waste Tracking Service.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra has made good progress on implementing Digital Waste Tracking.
As announced in July 2025 Defra is implementing digital waste tracking through a phased approach beginning with a service for permitted waste receiving site operators.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many full-time equivalent staff in her Department have been employed for the purpose of making social media content in each of the last three years.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Due to the difficulty of disaggregating the number of staff who are employed to produce social media content from staff who are employed to work on broader digital communications, it is not possible to report exact figures in response to this question.
Asked by: Louie French (Conservative - Old Bexley and Sidcup)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 8 December to Question 96978 on Sports: Facilities, what data relating to non-pitch-based sports infrastructure her Department holds; and whether it holds datasets on local authority breakdowns.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government’s announcement of £400m of investment into grassroots sports over the next four years will ensure that we continue to deliver high-quality multi-sport facilities in communities that need them across the UK, including Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland, in order to increase participation and allow people to be active.
According to Sport England’s Active Places database, as of December 2025 there are 56,855 non-pitch-based sport facilities in England, which can be broken down by local authority. More details can be found here.
We are working on our plans for future grassroots sports funding and we will continue to engage the Devolved Governments and our local partners across the UK on this matter. We will provide an update early in 2026.
Asked by: Louie French (Conservative - Old Bexley and Sidcup)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether the £400 million announced for grassroots sports facilities on 19 June 2025 will include Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government’s announcement of £400m of investment into grassroots sports over the next four years will ensure that we continue to deliver high-quality multi-sport facilities in communities that need them across the UK, including Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland, in order to increase participation and allow people to be active.
According to Sport England’s Active Places database, as of December 2025 there are 56,855 non-pitch-based sport facilities in England, which can be broken down by local authority. More details can be found here.
We are working on our plans for future grassroots sports funding and we will continue to engage the Devolved Governments and our local partners across the UK on this matter. We will provide an update early in 2026.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Bromborough)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of reducing the decibel level of fireworks.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
No current assessment has been made on the merits of reducing decibel levels of fireworks. However, the Government is continuing to engage with businesses, consumer groups and charities to gather evidence on the issues with and impacts of fireworks to inform any future action.
The Government has also launched a public campaign on fireworks safety for the 2025-2026 fireworks season. The campaign highlights the availability of low noise fireworks and includes new guidance for those running community fireworks events and new social media posts that emphasise the risks from the misuse of fireworks.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he plans to take to help prevent data breaches associated with the proposed digital ID cards.
Answered by Josh Simons - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The National Cyber Security Centre is advising the Government on how the new credential is built to the highest standard of security. This would operate a three lines of defence process - this helps ensure data is protected, fraud is deterred and detected, and threats are monitored and responded to.
Ensuring that security arrangements for the proposed digital ID scheme keeps pace with the changing threat landscape will be central to its development.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of small and medium-seized developers assisting with the delivery of Environmental Delivery Plans.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Private and third sector providers, including small businesses and landowners, will play an essential role in delivering conservation measures under Environmental Delivery Plans through fair and open tendering processes.