Written questions by Obese-Jecty.

With reference to the National Police Chief's Council report entitled Rural and Wildlife Crime Strategy 2025-2028, what offences are classified under bat crime.

Under the NPCC Rural and Wildlife Crime Strategy 2025–2028, bat crime includes:Section 9 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.Intentionally or recklessly disturb a bat occupying a structure or place used for shelter or protection.Intentionally or recklessly obstruct access to any structure or place used for shelter or protection by bats.Regulation 43 of the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017.Deliberately capture, injure, or kill a bat.Deliberately disturb a bat.Damage or destroy a breeding site or resting place of a bat (bats do not have to be in occupation at the time).Possess or control a bat.Transport a bat.Sell or exchange a bat.Offer for sale or exchange any bat, alive or dead, or any part of a bat.

With reference to the press release entitled Independent champion for Armed Forces appointed as new team stands up, published on 5 April 2026, when he plans to commence the open competition for the permanent appointment.

Former Air Commodore Polly Miller-Perkins CBE took up the post of Armed Forces Commissioner on 30 March 2026, serving in the role on an interim basis for a term of one year. An open competition to recruit a permanent appointee will commence later this year.

With reference to Heading 8 entitled Service Prosecuting Authority – Indecent Images of Children in the Official Statistics entitled Murder, manslaughter, sexual offences and domestic abuse in the Service Justice System: 2025, published on 26 March 2026, under what circumstances would a case involving indecent images of children be referred to the Commanding Officer.

The offences related to Indecent Images of Children (s1 of the Protection of Children Act 1978) are listed as Schedule 2 offences within the Armed Forces Act 2006 and therefore cannot be referred to a Commanding Officer (CO) to be dealt with via summary hearing. Investigations into serious offences, including Indecent Images of Children (IIOC) are investigated by the Defence Serious Crime Command independently of the Chain of Command. In the 2025 Murder, Manslaughter, Sexual Offences and Domestic Abuse in the Service Justice System, within the Service Prosecuting Authority (SPA) tab, one IIOC case is recorded as referred to CO. Cases are shown on the SPA statistics against the most serious charge, but cases may also contain less serious charges. A case that is shown under the “Indecent Images of Children” heading may be referred to the CO by the SPA, where the decision was taken that the “Indecent Images of Children” charge did not pass the Full Code Test (and therefore could not be charged), but other charges in the case are appropriate for the CO to deal with.

With reference to page 30 of the Defence Diplomacy Strategy, published on 24 March 2026, by when he plans to have introduced a new Defence Security and Diplomacy Portfolio.

Defence Security and Diplomacy Portfolio officially launched this financial year.

With reference to Heading 10 entitled Domestic Abuse in the Official Statistics entitled Murder, manslaughter, sexual offences and domestic abuse in the Service Justice System: 2025, published on 26 March 2026, how many of the 27 male reported victims were serving military personnel.

In the interest of protecting the anonymity of victims of domestic abuse (which may constitute victims of sexual offences) and to ensure that victims of domestic abuse (which may include sexual offences) are not deterred from coming forward, I do not intend to release information confirming whether any of the male victims of domestic abuse were serving military personnel.The published figures for victims of sexual offences and domestic abuse are based on investigations opened, and the most serious offence initially reported, not convictions. Not all investigations result in an arrest or a charge, and anyone accused is innocent until proved guilty. The official statistics into Murder, Manslaughter, Sexual Offences and Domestic Abuse in the Service Justice System does not breakdown the data to that level of detail. The data is broken down to one demographic at a time, but not by two simultaneously. By breaking the data down further this could contribute to disclosure of individuals’ identities.

Whether Polly Miller-Perkins CBE is the interim or permanent Armed Forces Commissioner.

Former Air Commodore Polly Miller-Perkins CBE took up the post of Armed Forces Commissioner on 30 March 2026, serving in the role on an interim basis for a term of one year. An open competition to recruit a permanent appointee will commence later this year.

Innovation and Technology, with reference to the policy paper entitled Replacing animals in science: A strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods, published on 11 November 2025, what progress she has made in increasing the visibility of available alternative methods.

Work to increase the visibility of available alternative methods to facilitate their uptake is led by the NC3Rs and delivered through an expansion of their gateway publishing platform, so that it is available to all researchers developing alternative methods. Work is underway to identify and collate UKRI-funded alternative methods for inclusion on the gateway. The strategy aims for this expanded platform to be in place by the end of 2026.The Government will publish a delivery update, alongside key performance indicators on progress across all elements of the strategy, later in 2026.

With reference to the Official Statistics: Murder, manslaughter, sexual offences and domestic abuse in the Service Justice System: 2025, published on 26 March 2026, and with reference to the investigations into 12 suspects regarding indecent images of children, how many of the 12 suspects were subsequently charged.

At the time the data on police investigations was extracted, six investigations had not been referred to the Service Prosecuting Authority, and as at 16 April 2026 none of the other six have been referred. Therefore, none of the 12 suspects have been charged. The separate data from the Service Prosecuting Authority within the Official Statistics reports how many referrals are received after investigation each year for the relevant offence, and then how many cases for the relevant offence are completed in total in that year. A case completed by the Service Prosecuting Authority in the year may have been referred in a previous year; referrals and completed cases reported in a specific year do not necessarily match. For Indecent Images of Children cases in 2025 the Service Prosecuting Authority received nine referrals after investigation and charged six cases. The referred cases and charged cases may not be the same cases, as charged cases may have been referred in the previous year.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what level of security clearance was granted to Peter Mandelson prior to his appointment as Ambassador to the United States.

I refer the Hon Member to the statement made by the Prime Minister on 20 April, and his answers to the questions raised in response.

Whether his Department plans to establish new primary healthcare facilities in Huntingdon constituency through the neighbourhood health service programme.

At the Autumn Budget, we announced our commitment to delivering up to 250 Neighbourhood Health Centres (NHCs) by 2035, with around 120 centres in place by 2030.As part of this commitment, we recently announced Wave 1 of our NHC schemes, with 27 sites across England selected to bring care closer to home 12 hours a day, six days a week, backed by £50 million. To support delivery nationally, we have now published the Neighbourhood health centre guidance for regions and integrated care boards and the Neighbourhood health centres: design and performance specification. These documents have been developed in close collaboration with colleagues across government, and together, they support regions and integrated care boards (ICBs) to further develop their neighbourhood health estate strategies and pipelines.Nationwide coverage will take time, but we will start in the areas of greatest need where healthy life expectancy is lowest including rural towns and communities with higher deprivation levels and delivering healthcare closer to home for those that need it the most.Wave 1 is just the beginning. We will build on this momentum to enable us to remain on track for our ambitious timetable to deliver new build NHCs by 2030.We are supporting regions and ICBs to develop neighbourhood health estates strategies and future pipelines ahead of the 28 May NHC proposal deadline and encourage MPs to engage with their ICBs ahead of this deadline.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she met President Ahmed al-Sharaa of Syria during his visit to the UK on 31 March 2026.

The Prime Minister welcomed President al-Sharaa to the UK on 31 March. Details of their discussions are available on GOV.UK at this link: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/pm-meeting-with-president-ahmed-al-sharaa-of-syria-31-march-2026.

Innovation and Technology, with reference to the policy paper entitled Replacing animals in science: A strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods, published on 11 November 2025, what progress has she made in facilitating widespread adoption of AI methods to assess potential safety and toxicity profiles.

Increasing investment in data-driven biology sits with UKRI, which is engaging with stakeholders on how best to embed data enabled approaches within future funding opportunities. Reporting on the portfolio of investments in alternative methods is planned for 2026.The Office for Life Sciences is also working with the Regulatory Innovation Office, industry and regulators in developing plans to support robust AI and machine learning model development for safety and toxicity testing.The Government will publish a delivery update, alongside key performance indicators on progress across all elements of the strategy, later in 2026.

Food and Rural Affairs, what proportion of the UK's chicken supply was imported from China in (a) 2024-25 and (b) 2025-26.

Defra publishes quarterly data on poultry meat production, trade and supplies on GOV.UK (Latest cattle, sheep and pig slaughter statistics - GOV.UK). Data is not available specifically for imports and supply of chicken meat. Annual data on total poultry meat imports from China as a proportion of total UK poultry meat supplies is provided in the table below. Table 1: Total poultry meat imports from China as a proportion of total UK poultry meat supplies, thousand tonnes dressed carcase weight equivalent (th tonnes dcw) YearUK total new poultry meat supply (th tonnes dcw)UK imports of poultry meat from China1 (th tonnes dcw)UK imports of poultry meat from China1 as a % of total new supply20242,463.20.190.008%202522,552.20.070.003% Table Notes:1) Imports from China have been defined on a Country of dispatch basis2) Data for 2025 is provisional

Innovation and Technology, with reference to the olicy paper: Replacing animals in science: A strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods, published on 11 November 2025, how much of the £8 million from DSIT’s new Sovereign AI Unit has been spent on OpenBind to date.

UKRI will report on its portfolio of investments in alternative methods, including any AI focused methods, in 2026. The Government will publish a delivery update, alongside key performance indicators on progress across all elements of the Replacing Animals in Science strategy, later in 2026.

If he will set out which current operations have been endorsed by the National Security Council.

Decisions to undertake military operations are taken in accordance with established constitutional and governance arrangements. The National Security Council considers the strategic approach to national security, foreign policy, resilience, international relations, economic security, trade, development, defence and global issues. It is a long-established precedent that information about the discussions that have taken place in Cabinet and its Committees, and how often they have met, is not shared publicly.

With reference to the Policy paper: Replacing animals in science: A strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods, published on 11 November 2025, what progress has he made in establishing a Health Data Research Service.

The Health Data Research Service (HDRS) will deliver a single point of access to health data from multiple sources which will bring new treatments and cures to patients by safely enabling the use of patient data to super-charge research.Over the past year a Department led team, with support from the Office for Life Science and NHS England colleagues, has been working to set up the service.HDRS is being established as a Government Company, and Dr Melanie Ivarsson has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer and Baroness Nicola Blackwood as Chair. Work is now underway to incorporate and develop the service to ensure it is up and running as quickly as possible to deliver benefits for patients and researchers.We are committed to the service being operational by December 2026, with new capabilities being progressively rolled out.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether the Prime Minister and President Ahmed al-Sharaa of Syria discussed the return of ISIS-linked British citizens from camps in Syria to the UK during the meeting on 31 March 2026.

The Prime Minister welcomed President al-Sharaa to the UK on 31 March. Details of their discussions are available on GOV.UK at this link: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/pm-meeting-with-president-ahmed-al-sharaa-of-syria-31-march-2026.

Innovation and Technology, with reference to the policy paper entitled Replacing animals in science: A strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods, published on 11 November 2025, by what date in 2926 does she expect the first round of the Validation Accelerator grants to be launched.

The Validation Accelerator grant commitment is being led by UKRI and will be delivered through a number of mechanisms, For example, Innovate UK’s £2 million Contracts for Innovation: Industrial Human‑Relevant Drug Models competition, launched in February 2026, supports the development and commercialisation of non‑animal methods to assess the pre‑clinical pharmacokinetics and cardiovascular safety of new medicines.Validation Accelerators will be coordinated by the UK Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods (UKCVAM), once it is established. £30 million has been allocated to support its establishment and delivery.

Innovation and Technology, with reference to the policy paper entitled Replacing animals in science: A strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods, published on 11 November 2025, what progress has she made in increasing investment in data-driven biology.

Increasing investment in data-driven biology sits with UKRI, which is engaging with stakeholders on how best to embed data enabled approaches within future funding opportunities. Reporting on the portfolio of investments in alternative methods is planned for 2026.The Office for Life Sciences is also working with the Regulatory Innovation Office, industry and regulators in developing plans to support robust AI and machine learning model development for safety and toxicity testing.The Government will publish a delivery update, alongside key performance indicators on progress across all elements of the strategy, later in 2026.

What factors have affected the timing of her responses to Questions (a) 96357, (b) 96475 and (c) 96477.

The response to Written Parliamentary Questions 96357, 96475 and 96477 was published on 20th April 2026.