Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he has made an assessment of the adequacy of the current rules around party donations by single donors, with particular reference to donations from foreign entities.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
As set out in our Manifesto and subsequently in our Strategy for Modern and Secure Elections published last July, we are bringing forward a number of reforms to strengthen our political finance rules on donations to close loopholes and tackle foreign interference in our elections. These reforms include: tighter controls on donations from companies to ensure they have a legitimate connection to the UK; greater due diligence checks on significant donations under a new ‘Know-Your-Donor' scheme; stronger checks and transparency thresholds for unincorporated associations; and requirements for donors to declare connected sources of their funding.
On the 16 December 2025 the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government announced an independent review into countering foreign financial influence and interference in UK politics. The purpose of the review is to provide an in-depth assessment of the current financial rules and safeguards that regulate political parties and political finance and make recommendations. The terms of reference for the review can be found here. Review findings will be delivered to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government and the Security Minister by the end of March 2026.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what estimate her Department has made of changes in levels of (a) maladministration and (b) corruption involved in the onsite distribution of the overseas aid budget between 2020 and 2025.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) actively monitors and manages fraud, bribery, corruption and error risks across its Official Development Assistance (ODA) portfolio through a range of controls, reporting mechanisms and ongoing risk assessments. Available estimates in this area can be found in the section on fraud at pages 167-169 of the FCDO's 2024/25 Annual Report and Accounts, and in equivalent sections in previous years' reports.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 15 January 2026 to Question 101957 on Erasmus+ Programme, whether the National Agency will be an arms’ length body.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department has commenced discussions with the British Council with a view to appointing them as the National Agency. The British Council is an arm’s-length body of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many foreign nationals have been excluded from the UK since 2010, broken down by type of grounds for refusal.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office publishes data on entry clearance visas in the ‘Immigration system statistics quarterly release - GOV.UK’. Data on visa applications are published in table ‘Vis_D01’ whilst data on outcomes of visa applications are published in table ‘Vis_D02’ of the detailed entry clearance visas dataset. Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data is from January 2005 up to the end of September 2025. Please note that data on refusals by reason is not available from published statistics.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will hold discussions with the Foreign Affairs Minister in the Irish Republic on joint action to tackle international drug trafficking into the UK via the Irish Republic.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The UK and Ireland have a strong relationship which includes joint action against criminals targeting both the UK and Ireland.
In addition to these operational relationships, there is an annual security dialogue between the UK and Ireland to discuss key shared security issues faced. This includes discussions on international serious & organised crime, with the last one taking place in November 2025.
In January 2026, the UK formally invited Ireland to join the North Sea Channel Maritime Information Group. This group facilitates the cooperation and exchanging of information about maritime border security topics, including information around the movement of drugs. Existing members include Belgium, France, Germany and the Netherlands.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 26 January 2026 to Question 106949 on Oil: Sanctions and with reference to the meeting with Irish Ministers on 3 December 2025, whether she received an offer of support in countering Russian aggression at that meeting.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
As stated in my answer to Question 105155, the UK and Ireland are jointly committed to deepening our security and defence cooperation on the full range of threats facing both our countries. That includes countering Russian aggression and supporting Ukraine.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what estimate her Department has made of the cost per tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent abated as a result of its UK estate Net Zero measures.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Hon Member can find details of all programmes supported by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), including those related to climate change, at the Development Tracker website on GOV.UK. Where available, details of additional expenditure incurred in meeting the FCDO's net zero commitments is set out in the department's annual report and accounts.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether he has made representations to the Foreign Secretary on the potential for British International Investment to contribute funding to the Tropical Forest Forever Facility.
Answered by Katie White - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government continues to be supportive of the Tropical Forest Forever Facility and has reviewed a range of options to support an investment, including the potential of BII to contribute to funding the Facility.
The Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero and his officials have been working closely with their counterparts across government, including in the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office.
Asked by: Helen Whately (Conservative - Faversham and Mid Kent)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Universal Credit claimants were recorded as non-UK nationals in each month since 1 July 2024.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department publishes Universal Credit (UC) immigration status and nationality statistics as part of the Universal Credit statistics publication. ‘Table 1’ in the latest Universal Credit immigration status and nationality data tables provides information on the number of people on Universal Credit by immigration status for each month from April 2022 to October 2025.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of Russia’s military presence in Belarus.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Rt Hon Member to the answer given on 1 December 2025 to Questions 92971-73.
Belarus continues to support Russia's aggression towards Ukraine, including the stationing of Oreshnik missiles on its soil, and we remain clear that Belarus must end that support and return to compliance with international law.