Asked by: Roz Savage (Liberal Democrat - South Cotswolds)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he will commit extra funding for social prescribing, including to support individuals to engage in nature-based interventions and activities.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government has underlined its commitment to taking a preventive approach to address health inequalities. We are determined to improve people’s physical and mental health to support them to live longer and healthier lives and we recognise the role that social prescribing can play in this.
The Department funds social prescribing link workers in primary care through the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme. In March 2025, the Department agreed a further year of grant funding for the National Academy for Social Prescribing, securing £1.5 million to advance and expand social prescribing. Future funding allocations have yet to be confirmed.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs leads on green social prescribing and, together with Natural England, has recently invested £300,000 to track the uptake and impact of green social prescribing using primary care data. The evidence will inform future policy for the spread and scale of nature-based health interventions.
Asked by: John Whitby (Labour - Derbyshire Dales)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will take legislative steps to expand access rights for swimming and non-motorised craft on inland waters.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government recognises the importance of access to nature for people’s health and well-being, and is considering the best approach to improving that, including access onto unregulated inland waterways. We are committed to working with stakeholders as this develops.
Asked by: Samantha Niblett (Labour - South Derbyshire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what (a) planning policy and (b) precedent prevents (i) land promoters and (ii) developers from materially altering an agreed development layout at a site allocated within a Local Plan review following Regulation (A) 18 and (B) 19 consultations.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The National Planning Policy Framework makes clear that site allocation policies should be deliverable over the plan period.
Planning practice guidance states that where sites are proposed for allocation, sufficient detail should be given to provide clarity to developers, local communities and other interested parties about the nature and scale of development. Such details may include policies on site layouts for allocations and would routinely be consulted on as part of the pre-submission consultation (Regulation 19). They may also be consulted on at an earlier stage (Regulation 18).
Any alterations to policies made before a plan is submitted for examination may only be made by the relevant local planning authority. Alterations to policies would only be made during the examination of the plan if the independent local plan examiner deems it appropriate, to ensure the plan meets the tests of soundness or to ensure legal compliance.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate she has made of the number of of small business finance applications rejected by (a) high street banks and (b) all banks in (i) total and (ii) just for non asset backed lending applications in the most recent year for which figures are available.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government, and specifically the Treasury, is responsible for the legislative framework for financial services, and does not collect significant volumes of market data. External bodies including the British Business Bank, Bank of England, UK Finance, and other such parties, produce certain information on the SME lending market, some of which may offer insights of this nature.
However, HM Treasury publishes statistics on the use of the Government’s Bank Referral Scheme on an annual basis, which is a Scheme designed to help match loan applicants rejected for finance with potential alternatives. The latest release covers statistics up until Q3 2024 and can be found on the Government’s website. This data represents businesses that have been rejected by designated banks under the Scheme and can be used to understand some of the rejection rate trends in the market.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many physical compliance checks on farming, food and drink related goods were made at ports on routes between NI and GB for each year from 2015 to date.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In line with the commitments we have made, we will ensure that the only checks when goods move within the UK are those conducted by UK authorities as part of a risk-based or intelligence-led approach to tackle criminality, abuse of the scheme, smuggling and disease risks. But in order not to undermine that approach, as is the case across the UK we do not disclose the specific number or nature of interventions made by UK authorities.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment has she made of the potential impact of Farming in Protected Landscapes funded projects on children; and whether she will bring forward policy proposals to fund these projects beyond 2026.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Since its launch in 2021, the Farming in Protected Landscapes (FiPL) programme has provided funding for nearly 11,000 farmers and land managers to work in partnership with National Parks and National Landscape bodies to deliver projects that benefit the countryside for climate, nature, people and place. The FiPL programme has engaged over 2,000 schools and delivered more than 8,000 school educational visits helping children to get involved and learn about nature.
The FiPL programme is due to end March 2026, and decisions on the future of the programme will be made as part of departmental business planning.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to his comment given to British Forces Broadcasting Service following reporting of medical discharges relating to operating in Ajax vehicles that Medical discharges are not attributed to individual vehicles or pieces of equipment, what assessment has he made of the correlation between medical discharges and use of Ajax.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
As a former member of the Armed Forces the hon. Member will know that the nature of military service exposes Service personnel to a wide range of hazards. For example, noise from weapons systems, Armoured Fighting Vehicles and helicopters over a full career often make a ‘condition’ attributable to service in general, rather than a specific cause or event. It is therefore inherently difficult to make direct linkages or define what is reasonably attributable to Ajax, or any other specific contributing factor, and medical discharge.
We are currently undertaking reviews into the medical injuries sustained by Ajax crews and more details on the findings will be published in due course.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, where companies his Department has signed contracts with in relation to the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy are based by local authority.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The total cost of the Afghan Response Programme (ARP) to the end of financial year 2024-25 is approximately £2.7 billion. The costs are shared cross-Government. This figure includes spend on contracts that were already acquired by the Ministry of Defence (MOD) which were then utilised for ARP as well as contracts directly acquired for the specific requirements of ARP. Due to the nature of how these schemes operate, it is not possible to provide a breakdown per scheme.
I am withholding details regarding the location of such companies that the MOD has contracts with as its disclosure would be likely to prejudice the commercial interests of the Ministry of Defence.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the cost to the public purse is of contracts his Department has signed with companies in relation to the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The total cost of the Afghan Response Programme (ARP) to the end of financial year 2024-25 is approximately £2.7 billion. The costs are shared cross-Government. This figure includes spend on contracts that were already acquired by the Ministry of Defence (MOD) which were then utilised for ARP as well as contracts directly acquired for the specific requirements of ARP. Due to the nature of how these schemes operate, it is not possible to provide a breakdown per scheme.
I am withholding details regarding the location of such companies that the MOD has contracts with as its disclosure would be likely to prejudice the commercial interests of the Ministry of Defence.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people were referred to the Prevent programme by local authority and risk type in each of the last five years.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Home Office does not routinely publish data on Prevent referrals by local authority, as releasing it could have detrimental effect on national security. However, the Home Office does publish data on Prevent referrals by region and type of concern for the last five years.
The type of concern categories have been updated twice in the period you have requested, 2020/21 and 2024/25. They were updated for the 2021/22 publication and the latest publication ( Individuals referred to and supported through the Prevent Programme, April 2024 to March 2025 - GOV.UK) to better describe the nature of concerns that are referred into Prevent. They were developed based on analysis of data available as well as consultation with frontline staff and policymakers about their experiences and requirements. The new type of concern categories do not exactly match onto previous years’ categories, therefore, there is a break in the time series and trends by type of concern should be interpreted carefully.
The type of concern presented is based upon information provided by the referrer. For cases that progress further into the programme, officers may update the type of concern based upon new information that comes to light. Therefore, the statistics regarding type of concern are likely to include a mix of the type of concern raised by the original referrer and the type of concern that the Channel Case Officers believe the individual is presenting as more information has become available.
c) Table A below provides a summary of the number of people referred to the Prevent programme by region and type of concern for 2024/25.
Table A: The number of referrals to Prevent by region and type of concern, 2024/25.
Year | Region | Extreme Right Wing | Islamist Extremism | Left Wing Extremism | Anarchist Extremism | Northern Ireland Related – Dissident Republican Extremism | InCel | Fascination with extreme violence or mass casualty attacks (where no other ideology) | Multiple ideologies (with no dominant ideology) | No ideology – other susceptibility to radicalisation identified | No ideology identified | Other | Unspecified | Total |
2024/25 | Total | 1,798 | 870 | 21 | 13 | 16 | 66 | 469 | 424 | 1,908 | 3,009 | 175 | 9 | 8,778 |
2024/25 | East | 101 | 41 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 34 | 32 | 78 | 302 | 15 | 0 | 614 |
2024/25 | East Midlands | 135 | 33 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 55 | 27 | 135 | 348 | 6 | 1 | 749 |
2024/25 | London | 227 | 330 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 81 | 117 | 215 | 316 | 55 | 0 | 1,354 |
2024/25 | North East | 278 | 94 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 11 | 67 | 57 | 134 | 639 | 21 | 5 | 1,312 |
2024/25 | North West | 321 | 121 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 8 | 80 | 57 | 429 | 253 | 17 | 0 | 1,296 |
2024/25 | South East | 269 | 37 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 54 | 43 | 587 | 368 | 27 | 0 | 1,397 |
2024/25 | South West | 109 | 26 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 16 | 26 | 73 | 294 | 12 | 1 | 568 |
2024/25 | Wales | 82 | 20 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 18 | 14 | 64 | 186 | 8 | 2 | 398 |
2024/25 | West Midlands | 276 | 168 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 64 | 51 | 193 | 303 | 14 | 0 | 1,090 |
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c) Table B below provides a summary of the number of people referred to the Prevent programme by region and type of concern for 2021/22 to 2023/24.
Table B: The number of referrals to Prevent by region and type of concern, 2021/22 to 2023/24.
Year | Region | Extreme Right Wing | Islamist | Other | Conflicted | No specific extremism issue | High CT risk but no ideology present | Vulnerability present but no ideology or CT risk | No risk, vulnerability or Ideology Present | School massacre | Incel | Unspecified | Total |
2023/24 | Total | 1,314 | 913 | 126 | 1,278 | 0 | 4 | 2,489 | 581 | 162 | 54 | 1 | 6,922 |
2023/24 | East | 118 | 62 | 10 | 78 | 0 | 0 | 190 | 67 | 11 | 4 | 0 | 540 |
2023/24 | East Midlands | 99 | 59 | 9 | 76 | 0 | 0 | 295 | 63 | 18 | 2 | 1 | 622 |
2023/24 | London | 123 | 290 | 16 | 177 | 0 | 0 | 260 | 96 | 16 | 3 | 0 | 981 |
2023/24 | North East | 202 | 87 | 20 | 286 | 0 | 0 | 276 | 135 | 24 | 10 | 0 | 1,040 |
2023/24 | North West | 240 | 173 | 14 | 169 | 0 | 1 | 297 | 9 | 34 | 11 | 0 | 948 |
2023/24 | South East | 200 | 50 | 23 | 354 | 0 | 1 | 515 | 33 | 18 | 6 | 0 | 1,200 |
2023/24 | South West | 67 | 18 | 8 | 54 | 0 | 1 | 280 | 41 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 481 |
2023/24 | Wales | 57 | 11 | 4 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 118 | 47 | 11 | 4 | 0 | 275 |
2023/24 | West Midlands | 208 | 163 | 22 | 61 | 0 | 1 | 258 | 90 | 22 | 10 | 0 | 835 |
2022/23 | Total | 1,310 | 781 | 112 | 1,214 | 0 | 5 | 2,505 | 654 | 159 | 69 | 8 | 6,817 |
2022/23 | East | 78 | 39 | 12 | 68 | 0 | 0 | 242 | 64 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 510 |
2022/23 | East Midlands | 114 | 43 | 11 | 75 | 0 | 0 | 276 | 79 | 12 | 4 | 0 | 614 |
2022/23 | London | 140 | 261 | 24 | 167 | 0 | 1 | 339 | 139 | 19 | 13 | 0 | 1,103 |
2022/23 | North East | 221 | 77 | 15 | 255 | 0 | 1 | 327 | 113 | 27 | 6 | 0 | 1,042 |
2022/23 | North West | 236 | 176 | 19 | 172 | 0 | 1 | 272 | 45 | 32 | 17 | 0 | 970 |
2022/23 | South East | 262 | 80 | 21 | 231 | 0 | 1 | 424 | 41 | 32 | 14 | 0 | 1,106 |
2022/23 | South West | 79 | 14 | 2 | 66 | 0 | 0 | 272 | 41 | 12 | 3 | 0 | 489 |
2022/23 | Wales | 61 | 12 | 2 | 42 | 0 | 0 | 115 | 27 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 271 |
2022/23 | West Midlands | 119 | 79 | 6 | 138 | 0 | 1 | 238 | 105 | 11 | 9 | 6 | 712 |
2021/22 | Total | 1,309 | 1,027 | 100 | 1,020 | 0 | 5 | 2,127 | 587 | 154 | 77 | 0 | 6,406 |
2021/22 | East | 76 | 41 | 8 | 37 | 0 | 0 | 170 | 65 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 410 |
2021/22 | East Midlands | 112 | 61 | 5 | 78 | 0 | 1 | 294 | 113 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 678 |
2021/22 | London | 122 | 384 | 12 | 170 | 0 | 1 | 228 | 51 | 11 | 13 | 0 | 992 |
2021/22 | North East | 259 | 110 | 15 | 155 | 0 | 0 | 372 | 109 | 32 | 11 | 0 | 1,063 |
2021/22 | North West | 185 | 166 | 16 | 155 | 0 | 2 | 153 | 42 | 27 | 12 | 0 | 758 |
2021/22 | South East | 246 | 121 | 23 | 231 | 0 | 1 | 393 | 55 | 28 | 17 | 0 | 1,115 |
2021/22 | South West | 102 | 23 | 8 | 72 | 0 | 0 | 192 | 50 | 14 | 7 | 0 | 468 |
2021/22 | Wales | 53 | 18 | 2 | 44 | 0 | 0 | 110 | 30 | 10 | 5 | 0 | 272 |
2021/22 | West Midlands | 154 | 103 | 11 | 78 | 0 | 0 | 215 | 72 | 8 | 9 | 0 | 650 |
c) Table C below provides a summary of the number of people referred to the Prevent programme by region and type of concern for 2020/21.
Table C: the number of referrals to Prevent by region and type of concern, 2020/21
Year | Region | Islamist | Extreme Right-Wing | Other | Mixed, unstable, or unclear | Total |
2020/21 | Total | 1,064 | 1,229 | 100 | 2,522 | 4,915 |
2020/21 | East | 93 | 109 | 8 | 237 | 447 |
2020/21 | East Midlands | 77 | 136 | 5 | 312 | 530 |
2020/21 | London | 294 | 97 | 18 | 279 | 688 |
2020/21 | North East | 157 | 253 | 19 | 452 | 881 |
2020/21 | North West | 149 | 129 | 22 | 297 | 597 |
2020/21 | South East | 107 | 225 | 16 | 426 | 774 |
2020/21 | South West | 29 | 84 | 6 | 173 | 292 |
2020/21 | Wales | 23 | 84 | 3 | 120 | 230 |
2020/21 | West Midlands | 135 | 112 | 3 | 226 | 476 |