Written questions by Rosindell.

Pursuant to the answer of 16 July 2025 to UIN 66298, what recent discussions he has had with the SBAs and the Republic of Cyprus on crime and immigration.

The Sovereign Base Areas Administration and British High Commission Nicosia enjoy the practical support and cooperation of the Republic of Cyprus on issues of crime and immigration. Recent priorities have included tackling people smuggling networks, breaking up serious & organised criminal gangs, and the implementation of relevant parts of the UK/EU Withdrawal Agreement.

What assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the implementation of the Immigration (Amendment) Ordinance 2025 on the SBAs of Akrotiri and Dhekelia.

The Immigration (Amendment) Ordinance 2025 has been implemented effectively. The amendments addressed operational gaps and improved clarity for Sovereign Base Areas Customs and Immigration officers, while ensuring alignment with the Republic of Cyprus in line with the UK’s Treaty of Establishment commitments.

What progress he has made on the Bilateral Defence Co-operation Programme between the SBAs and the Republic of Cyprus.

The UK continues to share a strong Defence relationship with the Republic of Cyprus. This cooperation is underpinned by our Bilateral Defence Cooperation Plan, which is collaboratively reviewed level by Cypriot and UK Ministries of Defence. Our cooperation within this framework has grown year-on-year: it includes training, capability development, and crisis planning, as well as collaboration on domestic and regional challenges.

How many deportations took place from the SBAs in (a) 2026, (b) 2025, (c) 2024 and (d) 2023.

No deportations have taken place directly from the Sovereign Base Areas in 2023, 2024, 2025 or 2026.

Pursuant to the answer of 8 September 2025 to question 71975 on RAF Akrotiri: Military Aircraft, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of current pan space capacity.

British Forces Cyprus continue to work closely with all relevant stakeholders to assess the capacity of the RAF Akrotiri Airfield Operating Surfaces, ensuring an appropriate understanding of current requirements and the ability to support Defence activity as needed. RAF Akrotiri currently has adequate pan space capacity for both current and planned operations, with future operational demands kept under regular review.

What assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the regional disaster response to the fires in the SBAs of Akrotiri and Dhekelia in July 2025; and whether he has implemented new regional disaster preparedness plans in response.

The Sovereign Base Areas Administration (SBAA) manages disaster preparedness through the Areas Resilience Forum. Modelled on UK best practice, this takes a multi-agency approach, including both the SBAA and British Forces Cyprus, to prepare and respond to civil emergencies. The Area Resilience Forum conducts regular exercises to enhance preparedness of relevant agencies.In tackling civil emergencies, the Administration enjoys full, reciprocal cooperation with the Republic of Cyprus (RoC). For example, during the July 2025 wildfires – which took place within the RoC – significant aerial firefighting support was provided to the RoC by RAF CH-47.

If he will publish a breakdown of funding provided to the Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia from the APPOLLO programme; and if he will make an assessment of the effectiveness of this funding.

The APOLLO programme is delivering seismically compliant infrastructure and living accommodation across the Sovereign Base Areas (SBAs). Under the APOLLO programme, to date, construction has taken place across both the Western (including Akrotiri) and Eastern (including Dhekelia) Sovereign Base Areas. This has resulted in the provision of a new primary school, operational buildings, Defence family housing, and a passenger and freight handling facility. This investment serves to reduce seismic risk, strengthen operational capability, and help improve quality of life for Defence personnel and their families. All Defence spending commitments, including the APOLLO programme, are currently under review as part of the Defence Investment Plan. As a result, we are unable to publish a breakdown of current and planned funding provided to the SBAs.

Whether the National Police Service's remit will include dealing with illegal tobacco and organized crime.

The National Police Service will lead the operational response to serious and organised crime.We would expect that to include operational activity against illegal tobacco currently carried out by the National Crime Agency and the Regional Organised Crime Units.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the Standing Committee of the Chinese National People’s Congress work on a draft bill on Antarctic Activities and Environmental Protection Law on British sovereign interests in the Antarctic.

All Antarctic Treaty Parties have a responsibility to ensure their activities in Antarctica are undertaken in accordance with the Antarctic Treaty and its Environmental Protocol.

With reference to section 5 of his Department's policy paper entitled The Strategic Defence Review 2025 - Making Britain Safer: secure at home, strong abroad, published on 8 July 2025, what assessment he has made of potential impact of possible threats on the Antarctic Treaty system.

The Government’s vision to maintain the UK’s role as a leader in Antarctica and an active participant in the Antarctic Treaty system was set out in the UK Antarctic Strategy to 2035, published on 1 December 2025. The Ministry of Defence undertakes regular assessments of the requirements for Defence to support UK interests in the Antarctic, including upholding the Antarctic Treaty System.

If he will publish a list of engagements for the UK-EU Withdrawal Agreement Protocol Specialised Committee in 2025 and 2026.

The UK-EU Withdrawal Agreement established six Specialised Committees to supervise the implementation of distinct elements of the agreement. Each committee is co-chaired by officials from the UK Government and the European Commission. The list of meetings, agendas and joint statements of the Specialised Committees can be found on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/withdrawal-agreement-joint-committee#meetings-of-the-withdrawal-agreement-joint-committee.

What recent steps he has taken to support SMEs based in the UK to bid for defence contracts.

This Government has already committed to spending £2.5 billion more with defence SMEs. Central to driving this pledge is the recent establishment of the new Office for Small Business Growth which will help simplify and speed up cumbersome processes, provide advice to SMEs and encourage private sector investment. We have also recently announced a £20 million fund to offer accelerated contracts to small, innovative British startups, as well as establishing a protected budget of £400 million for UK Defence Innovation. We're breaking down barriers and opening new avenues for innovation, ensuring that our SMEs can play a vital role in strengthening our defence capabilities.

What recent steps he has taken to improve the (a) cost and (b) time efficiency of armed forces procurement processes.

The Defence Industrial Strategy and Strategic Defence Review set out plans to overhaul procurement. Our new segmented approach to procurement, supported by accelerated commercial pathways, is designed to enable programmes to get to contract faster and be more cost efficient. We are making progress towards the target date of 1 April 2026 for establishment of the segmented approach in line with the Strategic Defence Review.

What recent steps she has taken with relevant authorities to help tackle crime in town centres across greater London.

The central aim of our police reforms is to protect and revitalise neighbourhood policing. We are lifting national responsibilities off local forces, so they focus on tackling local issues, like fighting town centre crime.Our Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee is already making a difference. For too long, people have not seen police patrolling their streets. We will have 3,000 more neighbourhood officers by March this year. The Metropolitan Police Service’s projected growth over 2025 to 2026 will be 420 police officers (FTE) and 50 Police Community Support Officers (FTE). We are giving them the powers they need, including making it a specific offence to assault retail workers and ending the treatment of theft under the value of £200 as a summary-only offence.We are equipping the police to fight the organised crime gangs that are often responsible for driving shop theft across the country. Our £5m investment into OPAL (a specialist policing unit) will supercharge intelligence-led policing to identify offenders, disrupt the tactics used to target shops, and bring more criminals to justice.We have also delivered on our manifesto pledge: every police force in England and Wales now has a dedicated lead officer for anti-social behaviour, who will work with communities to develop an action plan to tackle ASB. We are also strengthening the powers to tackle ASB. Our new Respect Orders will give local agencies stronger enforcement capability to tackle the most relentless ASB offenders.Through our Summer Initiative police forces and local authorities increased patrols in town centres, tackling retail crime and anti-social behaviour as part of the Government’s Plan for Change to make our streets safer. Our Winter of Action, which ran from 1 December 2025 to 31 January 2026, built on this, with an additional focus on repeat offenders and protecting women and girls at night. The full list of locations the Metropolitan Police Service focused on as part of the Winter of Action can be found here: Winter of Action: location list - GOV.UKBuilding from the Winter of Action, we are working with forces and local partners to identify and tackle the most prolific retail offenders - where a few individuals can drive a large proportion of the local crime problem.Together with the police, we are sending a message: crime and anti-social behaviour will be punished.

What steps he has taken to improve cybersecurity protections for critical national infrastructure.

The Ministry of Defence takes cyber security very seriously, particularly with regard to critical national infrastructure. We do not comment publicly on the detail of our protections for security reasons.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of trends in the level of defence funding on RAF Northolt’s ability to support military operations.

RAF Northolt is a core military establishment, delivering a breadth of important day-to-day outputs for Defence. There are no defence funding trends which might impact RAF Northolt’s ability to support military operations.

Whether her Department has received legal advice on the compliance of new facial recognition technology deployed by police forces with human rights obligations.

The Home Office published its consultation on proposals for a new legal framework for law enforcement use of biometrics, facial recognition and similar technologies on 4 December 2025. This considers how the police could use new facial recognition technology in a way that continues to be compatible with the Human Rights Act 1998.The Department was an interested party in an important court case on this issue, R (Bridges) v Chief Constable of South Wales Police [2020] EWCA Civ 1058. In preparing the consultation, the Department took into account the court’s judgement and received advice on all aspects of the current legal framework for the use of such technology.

How many illegally possessed firearms have been seized in (a) Romford constituency and (b) greater London in each year since 1997.

The Home Office does not routinely collect data on the number of firearms seized by police forces as part of their operations to tackle illegally held weapons.

What steps she has taken with local authorities to improve road infrastructure in (a) Havering and (b) the M25 junction 29 Romford area.

As transport in London is devolved, it is up to Havering to work with the Mayor of London and Transport for London to make decisions on investment in local roads. The Government is committed to supporting local highway authorities to maintain their local roads effectively, and to this end Havering is eligible to receive over £13.9 million of highways maintenance funding between 2026/27 and 2029/2030. The Government has also provided the Greater London Authority with £53.5 million of funding for the Gallows Corner scheme, which is being delivered by TfL and expected to be completed by Spring 2026. The operation and maintenance of Junction 29 of the M25 is the responsibility of National Highways, which regularly monitors the performance of the junction and surrounding strategic road network.

Communities and Local Government, how many new Islamic places of worship have been granted planning permission by local authorities in (a) England and (b) greater London in each year since 1997.

My Department does not hold the requested information. Although quarterly planning application statistics are collected and published on gov.uk here, separate figures on places of worship that have been granted planning permission are not collected.