Written questions by Obese-Jecty.

With reference to her Department's announcement entitled Investment for Border Security Command to tackle people smuggling gangs of 3 August 2025, what the responsibilities of the 300 additional National Crime Agency officers will be.

The additional National Crime Agency officers will play a vital role in strengthening the NCA’s response to organised immigration crime (OIC).This uplift in resource reflects the Agency’s commitment to tackling the OIC threat with greater intensity than ever before.

By when does he plan to conclude the policy development phase of the Review of Electricity Market Arrangements.

As part of the REMA Summer Update on the 10th of July 2025, we concluded the REMA policy development and published our decision to retain a single national, GB-wide, wholesale market pricing regime and introduce an ambitious package of reforms to improve the efficiency of our power system. We will not implement zonal pricing. We will set out how the reforms will be implemented in our Reformed National Pricing Delivery Plan later this year.

With reference to the Modern Industrial Strategy, what recent progress he has made in delivering the STEP prototype fusion power station in West Burton.

The STEP prototype fusion powerplant will be delivered by UK Industrial Fusion Solutions Ltd. (UKIFS), a wholly owned subsidiary of the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA), itself sponsored by DESNZ and fully owned by the UK Government. STEP will be delivered in several phases. The first has been completed producing the powerplant concept design, site selection (West Burton) and identifying the appropriate regulatory framework. Site characterisation is ongoing, and a live tender is underway to select industrial partners to work on the plant with UKIFS, and Fusion R&D Partner UKAEA.

What recent discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Defence on the use of military sites to house asylum seekers.

We are actively exploring all viable options so we can reduce reliance on hotels, including using modular buildings on industrial sites and ex-military sites, that deliver value for money and meet operational needs.We continue to work closely cross-government, with local authorities, and property partners to assess feasibility of options and accelerate delivery where possible, ensuring any development is safe, appropriate and compliant.Decisions on the use of alternative asylum accommodation sites will be made on a site-by-site basis, and we will continue to work closely with local authorities and in compliance with published policy.

With reference to the UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy, CP 1337, published on 23 June 2025, what progress he has made on tackling high industrial electricity costs.

Our modern Industrial Strategy will make British industrial electricity costs cheaper with unprecedented new support.The British Industry Supercharger reduces electricity costs for energy-intensive businesses by c.£24 – £32/MWh, fully exempting them from certain policy costs and offering 60% compensation for Network Costs through the Network Charging Compensation scheme. We have recently consulted on increasing the level of support available through the NCC scheme to 90% compensation, and the Government will respond shortly.The Government will also continue support for the Energy-Intensive Industries Compensation Scheme to support energy efficiency, decarbonisation, and technological innovation. The scheme offsets 75% of the indirect costs of carbon emissions from the UK Emissions Trading Scheme and the Carbon Price Support Mechanism.The British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme will be implemented from 2027, reducing electricity costs by approximately £35-40/MWh for eligible manufacturing businesses captured by the Industrial Strategy. A consultation on eligibility for the scheme is planned for later this year.

With reference to the UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy, CP 1337, published on 23 June 2025, what progress he has made on strengthening connections to the EU energy market.

The Common Understanding between the European Commission and the United Kingdom, agreed at the UK-EU Summit on 19 May 2025, sets out the progress made on strengthening connections to the EU energy market. Both sides have committed to exploring the UK’s potential participation in the EU’s internal electricity market, including access to trading platforms across all timeframes. Discussions are ongoing to define the parameters of such an arrangement. The UK and European Commission also agreed to continue technical regulatory exchanges on new energy technologies such as hydrogen, carbon capture, utilisation and storage, and biomethane.

With reference to the UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy, CP 1337, published on 23 June 2025, when he plans to publish plans for (a) civil and (b) defence nuclear collaboration.

In the Industrial Strategy the Government has committed to further align our civil and defence nuclear capabilities. We plan to set out further details of our plans for future collaboration later this year.

Whether he plans to procure additional Ares vehicles beyond the 93 ordered.

There are no current plans to procure additional ARES vehicles beyond the 93 ordered.

What the total cost to the public purse is for (a) clinical negligence and (b) other claims against the National Health Service in England paid out by NHS Resolution in the (i) 2023-24 and (ii) 2024-25 financial year, broken down by speciality.

NHS Resolution manages clinical negligence and other claims against the National Health Service in England.The attached tables show the total payments for clinical negligence claims and non-clinical negligence claims between 2023/24 and 2024/25, broken down by year and primary specialty. NHS Resolution has included all specialties as listed in the published Annual Reports and Accounts.It has also suppressed low figures given the sensitive and confidential nature of the information held. In some instances, with the low numbers of claims, namely fewer than five, in each category, the likelihood exists that individuals who are the subject of this information may be identified either from this information alone, or in combination with other available information.

How many instances of clinical negligence in which NHS Resolution paid damages there were in each clinical speciality in the (a) 2023-24 and (b) 2024-25 financial year.

NHS Resolution manages clinical negligence and other claims against the National Health Service in England.The attached tables show the number of clinical negligence claims where at least one payment has been incurred between 2023/24 and 2024/25, broken down by year and primary specialty. Payments cover damages, claimant costs, and defence costs, while low figures have been supressed to protect claimant identity.

With reference to the UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy, CP 1337, published on 23 June 2025, what work Great British Energy has undertaken with (a) Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority, (b) Cambridgeshire County Council and (c) Huntingdonshire District Council on energy projects in Huntingdon constituency.

As announced in the Clean Energy Sector Plan of the Industrial Strategy, Great British Energy and Great British Nuclear will invest more than £8.3 billion over this Parliament in homegrown clean power. Specifically, as part of the £10 million Mayoral Renewables Fund announced by Great British Energy on 17 July 2025, the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority was awarded £700,000 to deliver clean energy projects in their communities helping to lower energy bills. Additionally, the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Authority received a share of 6.8m to host the Greater South East Net Zero Hub, and a further share of £5 million through the Great British Energy Community Fund, which it can use to support projects in the Greater South East region, including in Huntingdon.

How many Afghans who (a) worked for British forces and (b) are dependents of people who worked for British forces were brought to the United Kingdom via the Afghan Response Route.

Approximately 4,500 people have been relocated or are in transit to the UK via the ARR (900 principal applicants and 3,600 eligible family members). ARR eligibility was only granted for those individuals who were previously thought to be at highest risk of targeting by the Taleban as a result of their personal details being included in the February 2022 data incident under the previous Government.. It is not possible to provide a breakdown of relocation figures by job role, including those who worked directly for British Forces, at this time.

What the responsibilities are of the National Situation Centre.

The National Situation Centre – established in 2021 – provides situational awareness for crisis response and national resilience. It is regarded internationally as a benchmark for Government use of data in crisis. The National Situation Centre is part of COBR. The National Situation Centre ensures that ministers and officials have access to relevant and timely data for decision making. More than 700 anonymised and aggregated data sets have been mapped or ingested and, at short notice, analysis can be produced for almost 90% of risks identified in the National Risk Register. Dashboards are hosted on a dedicated secure platform, built by the National Situation Centre, and are shared across government and with the devolved governments. A number of bespoke reporting tools have either been created or are under development to provide insight into the most serious risks. The National Situation Centre has also developed a “digital National Risk Register” platform to interrogate the impacts of a risk, or a number of risks. It allows users to see the impacts which the materialisation of a risk may cause and immediately determine which of those impacts are compounded if multiple risks were to occur concurrently. If a new pandemic were to emerge, we would be able to consider complex, concurrent scenarios in minutes. The National Situation Centre is also responsible for sending Emergency Alerts to mobile phones, as part of the COBR process.

With reference to the UK-France one-in, one-out pilot scheme signed on 4 August 2025, what (a) security checks and (b) acceptance criteria are applied to asylum seekers accepted to the UK under the terms of the deal.

Applicants are required to meet eligibility criteria set out in published Immigration Rules and guidance and are subject to identity and security checks consistent with existing UK immigration processes.

What the Royal Navy’s Mine Hunting Capability Block 1 operational capability is.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer gived on 23 July 2025 to Question 68744 to the hon. Member for Romford (Mr Rosindell).https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2025-07-17/68744

What assessment he has made of the potential merits of launching a defence growth deal in Huntingdon constituency.

On 8 September 2025, five Defence Growth Deals in Plymouth, South Yorkshire, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland were announced. Should economic and fiscal conditions allow, the Government will consider launching more Defence Growth Deals across the UK.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of deepening (a) commercial and (b) other economic ties between Russia and North Korea.

The UK remains deeply concerned about the implications of the deepening Russia-Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK) relationship for both Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific security. The rapid expansion of their military, political, and economic cooperation since the start of Russia's illegal war against Ukraine has resulted in ongoing flagrant violations of relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions (UNSCRs) by both countries. Russia's support to DPRK's defence-industrial base, including the provision of oil and cash, as well as the experience DPRK troops have gained in Russia, allows it to support their weapons programmes and gain valuable military and technical insights. The UK has been clear that the DPRK must end its support for Russia's illegal war in Ukraine and must immediately withdraw its troops.

What progress the Royal Navy has made on developing Maritime Integrated Air and Missile Defence and Strike capability.

Progress has been made through enhancements to Air and Missile Defence and Strike capabilities for the Royal Navy (RN) of today, the effectiveness of which have been demonstrated on operations. These include the fielding of the Naval Strike Missile, Combat Management System upgrades under Project RECODE and continued progress in Laser Directed Energy Weapons. Looking ahead, the Future Air Dominance System (FADS) is a transformative multi-domain Royal Navy programme that will provide Maritime Integrated Air and Missile Defence against the toughest of threats in the air and space domain, and Long-Range Precision Strike against the most difficult targets in air, land, and maritime domains. Work is continuing at pace to identify a preferred approach for the FADS with the RN and teams across defence working together on the operational problem statement and potential architectural solutions.

Pursuant to the Answer of 1 September 2025 to Question 69515 on Typhoon Aircraft: Decommissioning, what roles the four Tranche 1 Typhoons are conducting.

1435 Flight flies the four Tranche 1 Typhoon FGR4 at Mount Pleasant complex. The unit provides air defence and Quick Reaction Alert in the South Atlantic Islands.

With reference to the UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy, CP 1337, published on 23 June 2025, what progress he has made on re-establishing a nuclear fuel cycle for defence reactor fuel.

The Nuclear Fuels programme is in its early development phase and we are currently working with industry to develop options for its delivery. These options will inform the timescales for completion.