Written questions by Rosindell.

What support her Department is providing to the Overseas Territories to assist with people overstaying visas.

Immigration functions are devolved to the Overseas Territories. Any decisions relating to individuals overstaying their visa are matters for local immigration teams.

What support her Department is providing to the Cayman Islands to help counter illegal migration.

The Home Office is developing plans to deliver Refresher Training and Train the Trainer courses in the Cayman Islands to enable their Customs and Border Control (CBC) officials to deliver asylum training to new staff. This builds on previous bespoke asylum casework training delivered in September 2022 and November 2023, February 2024 and March 2025 to upskill new and existing CBC staff and equip them with the knowledge and skills to consider requests for protection under international law. The Home Office is also delivering a regional asylum training programme aimed at building asylum capability in all of the Overseas Territories (OTs) including the Cayman Islands. As part of the regional programme, an Overseas Territories Asylum Network has been launched which seeks to promote the sharing of expertise and best practice across all OTs and fosters shared learning.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what support his Department is providing to help increase levels of marine accessibility to the Cayman Islands.

Marine access is an area of responsibility devolved to the Cayman Islands Government. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and the Department for Transport (DfT) work closely with the Cayman Islands' maritime authorities to ensure appropriate oversight and good governance, including providing technical advice and training through the UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the ban on XL Bully dogs.

Defra is continuing to engage closely with the Police, local authorities, and rescue and rehoming organisations to monitor the impacts of the XL Bully dog ban. These measures are vital to protect the public and we expect all XL Bully owners to comply with the conditions.

What steps she is taking to improve learning support for pupils with ADHD in (a) primary and (b) secondary state education.

The department is committed to improving support for all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), including those with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and other neurodiverse conditions.The department is providing £1 billion more for high needs budgets in 2025/26, bringing total high needs funding to £11.9 billion. This funding will help local authorities and schools with the increasing costs of supporting children and young people with complex SEND.The SEND code of practice is clear that schools should apply a “graduated approach” to identify a child’s needs, plan appropriate support, implement that support and review it regularly to ensure it continues to meet their identified needs. Through this, schools should develop personalised approaches to supporting the unique needs of individual pupils. Schools should involve pupils and their parents in this process, taking their views into consideration.In November 2024, the department established a Neurodivergence Task and Finish Group, chaired by Professor Karen Guldberg from the University of Birmingham, to provide an expert view and make recommendations on how to best meet the needs of neurodivergent children and young people within mainstream education settings. Professor Anita Thapar, the chair of the independent ADHD Taskforce convened by NHS England, is a member of this group.The department also runs a Universal SEND Services contract to provide SEND-specific professional development and support for the school and further education workforce. The programme helps professionals to identify and meet the needs of children and young people with SEND, including ADHD, earlier and more effectively. Since the programme commenced, school and college staff have completed over 20,000 online training modules.Additionally, the department has introduced the Partnerships for Inclusion of Neurodiversity in Schools (PINS) programme, a cross-government collaboration between the department, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and NHS England, backed by £13 million of investment.PINS brings together integrated care boards, local authorities and schools, working in partnership with parents and carers to support schools to better meet the needs of neurodivergent children and their families.PINS deploys specialists from health and education workforces to build teacher and staff capacity to identify and better meet the needs of neurodivergent children in around 1,650 (10%) mainstream primary schools.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to help increase the number of microchipped horses.

This is a devolved matter, and the information provided therefore relates to England only. It is a legal requirement in the Equine Identification (England) Regulations 2018 that all equines resident in England (except certain populations of wild or semi-wild equines on designated areas) are microchipped. The law applies retrospectively, to include older equines born before microchipping legislation was introduced and applies to equines imported to GB for more than 90 days. Enforcement of these requirements is the responsibility of Local Authorities. The Government recognises the importance of improving equine identification. Defra is engaging with industry to consider improvements to this.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help tackle horse smuggling.

I refer the Honourable Member to the answer I gave on 9 September 2024 to PQ 2709.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department is taking steps to help support Australia following Cyclone Alfred; and whether he has held discussions with his Australian counterpart on natural disaster relief.

The UK stands ready to support our Australian partners as they recover from Cyclone Alfred. The Prime Minister expressed his support for the Australian people when he spoke to Prime Minister Albanese on 8 March.

What steps he plans to take to protect British businesses against the effects of grey zone attacks on undersea cable communication infrastructure between Taiwan and Europe.

Subsea cables are critical to UK telecommunications digital infrastructure, and we are committed to maintaining and enhancing the security and resilience of that infra- structure. We continue to co-ordinate with HMG partners, particularly DSIT who own subsea cables policy, as well as security partners, the subsea cables industry and international bodies to assess and understand risks to subsea cables.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 10 March 2025 to Question 34796 on China: Cook Islands, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of that strategic agreement on (a) his policies and (b) the policies of the Overseas Territories in the Indo-Pacific.

The UK Government will continue its policy of working to maintain a free, secure and open Indo-Pacific where international norms are respected. As part of the UK Government's constitutional responsibility for the defence, external relations and internal security of the British Overseas Territories, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has considered the impact of the strategic agreement on the one Territory in the Indo-Pacific (Pitcairn). This constitutional responsibility is different from that between New Zealand and the Cook Islands. As the UK retains the responsibility for external relations of the British Overseas Territories, the Territories are not able to enter into bilateral international treaties.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what diplomatic steps his Department is taking to ensure that underwater fibreoptic cables in the (a) Mediterranean, (b) North Sea and (c) Baltic Sea are strengthened to help prevent sabotage.

The UK regularly engages international partners and industry on strengthening the resilience of subsea infrastructure, including from potential sabotage. We work closely with NATO and Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) Allies to address threats, which has recently included UK support to NATO and JEF operations in the Baltic Sea. In December, the Prime Minister discussed cooperation with JEF leaders and signed a Strategic Partnership with Norway's Prime Minister committing to closer cooperation to tackle subsea threats. In February, the Foreign Secretary discussed coordination to protect subsea infrastructure with Finland's Foreign Minister while I raised cooperation with European External Action Service Deputy Secretary General Charles Fries. I have also discussed these issues with counterparts from the three regions.

Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to support the Crown Dependencies to tackle illegally-operated online gambling in the (a) Isle of Man and (b) Channel Islands.

As set out by the Gambling Act 2005, the Gambling Commission regulates gambling in Great Britain only.Both DCMS and the Commission stand ready to support the Crown Dependencies on matters relating to gambling if requested. The Gambling Commission has a Memorandum of Understanding on Gambling with the Isle of Man regulator, the Gambling Supervision Commission (GSC).

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his counterparts in (a) Europe and (b) the United States on (i) the lifting of sanctions on Syria and (ii) reported mass killings of minorities in Latakia Governorate.

The Foreign Secretary met European and US counterparts 12-14 March at the G7 Foreign Ministers' meeting in Canada, where they discussed next steps on sanctions and the recent violence in coastal areas of Syria. In my statement in Parliament last week, and in the Foreign Secretary's public statement on 9 March, we made clear that the interim authorities must ensure the protection of all Syrians. The UK has consistently advocated for an inclusive political transition and underlined the importance of protecting the rights of all Syrians, both publicly and as part of our engagement with international partners and the interim Syrian authorities.On 6 March the UK Government revoked 24 designations under the Syrian sanctions regime. These changes will support the Syrian people in re-building their country and promote security and stability. We keep all our sanctions regimes under close review to ensure that they are used as a responsive tool.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what diplomatic steps he is taking to help promote freedom of religion and belief in Syria.

As my statement to the House on 10 March made clear, the interim Syrian authorities must ensure the protection of all Syrians. In my meeting with interim Syrian Foreign Minister, Asaad al-Shaibani on 17 March we discussed this, and the need for a Syrian-led political transition that leads to an inclusive, non-sectarian and representative government. We will judge the interim authorities by their actions and will continue to advocate for the right of Freedom of Religion or Belief in Syria.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what representations his Department have made to the interim government of Syria on the protection of (a) Alawite, (b) Christian and (c) Druze people.

As my statement to the House on 10 March made clear, the interim Syrian authorities must ensure the protection of all Syrians. In my meeting with interim Syrian Foreign Minister, Asaad al-Shaibani on 17 March we discussed this, and the need for a Syrian-led political transition that leads to an inclusive, non-sectarian and representative government. We will judge the interim authorities by their actions and will continue to advocate for the right of Freedom of Religion or Belief in Syria.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with other signatories to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on the future of the Iran nuclear deal, in the context of the withdrawal of the United States from that agreement.

The Foreign Secretary and his predecessors have engaged the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA) participants, and the US. The Foreign Secretary and our officials continue to engage France, Germany, Iran, China and the EU as JCPoA participants, as well as the US, in support of a diplomatic solution.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has had discussions with his Turkish counterpart on reports of the deaths of minorities in Syria.

I discussed the recent violence in Syria with my Turkish counterpart, Deputy Foreign Minister Nuh Yilmaz, during our meeting at the Syria Donors' Pledging Conference in Brussels on 17 March. The Foreign Secretary also discussed this issue with the Turkish Foreign Minister, Hakan Fidan, on 10 March.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 10 March 2025 to Question 34791 on Iran: Democracy, whether he has met with Iranian pro-democracy campaigners in (a) the United Kingdom and (b) elsewhere since 4 July 2024.

We believe it is for the Iranian people to decide the future of Iran. We regularly engage the Iranian diaspora and human rights organisations to better understand the lived experiences of Iranians. The Foreign Secretary has raised human rights directly with his Iranian counterpart and we continue to hold Iran accountable at the UN Third Committee and Human Rights Council.

What steps she is taking to work with faith groups to support victims of violent crime.

All forms of violent crime, including religiously aggravated violent crime, are completely unacceptable, which is why the Government is committed to making sure that victims of these crimes are properly supported, and this Department continues to engage with faith groups.Under the Victims’ Code (the Code), all victims are entitled to be referred to support services when they report a crime. However, the Code also explicitly acknowledges that victims of hate crime are more likely to require specialised assistance, and this means they are entitled to enhanced support under the Code.The Ministry of Justice also provides funding for victim and witness support services, to help victims cope and recover from the impact of crime, through a mix of local and nationally commissioned services. At a national level, the Department provides Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) with annual grant funding to commission local practical, emotional, and therapeutic support services for victims of all crime types.More broadly, the Government continues to work with police and community partners to monitor and combat racially and religiously motivated hatred. The Government is working with the police to fund True Vision, an online hate crime reporting portal, designed so that victims of hate crime do not have to visit a police station to report.

What steps his Department is taking to help strengthen maritime security in the Caribbean region in (a) collaboration with British Overseas Territories and (b) other ways.

A Royal Naval ship maintains a persistent presence in the Caribbean where it contributes to regional security through the conduct of counter-illicit trafficking operations, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief as necessary during the Caribbean hurricane season, and wider defence engagement. Defence also provides direct assistance to the Overseas Territory Defence Regiments through the provision of equipment and training, including maritime capacity building. Defence maintains close relationships with independent states throughout the region and works in partnership with Canada, France, the Netherlands and the United States to align and conduct joint activity. The Ministry of Defence works closely with the Foreighn Commonwealth and Development Office as part of a cross-HMG approach to the UK’s Overseas Territories.