Written questions by Lowe.

Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate her Department has made of the potential economic impact of coastal erosion in Hemsby on (a) tourism, (b) local employment and (c) local tax revenues.

Great Yarmouth Borough Council are the Risk Management Authority (RMA) for the Hemsby area. They are best placed, using local knowledge and data, to continue making detailed risk assessments, including for the potential economic impacts. To support all RMA’s, the Environment Agency have developed and published the new National Coastal Erosion Risk Mapping which has been in place since 2011, updated in 2017 and most recently received a major update in 2025.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of how her Department's proposed funding reforms will impact coastal communities with high proportions of (a) small businesses, (b) seasonal tourism employment, and (c) non-standard housing such as holiday chalets.

On 14 October 2025, following consultation, the Government announced major changes to its flood and coastal erosion funding policy. The reforms will make it quicker and easier to deliver flood defences by simplifying our funding rules, and optimising funding between building new flood projects and maintaining existing defences. Under the new rules, projects will be prioritised by their benefit-to-cost ratios to drive value for money. Projects are developed in line with HM Treasury Green Book guidance and FCERM Appraisal Guidance and capture a wide range of benefits including those related to private properties (including holiday chalets with a fixed address), businesses, heritage, environment, recreation, and tourism. All schemes must achieve a benefit cost ratio of greater than one to receive Defra grant in aid. The new rules give equal weighting to different types of benefits, which will help coastal areas where under the old rules, benefits such as those from recreation attracted lower weightings. The list of projects to receive Government funding will be agreed in the usual way, on an annual basis, through the Environment Agency’s annual refresh process, with local representation.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the current and projected rate of coastal affecting Hemsby, Norfolk over the next (i) 5, (ii) 10 and (iii) 25 years.

In January 2025 the Environment Agency published the new National Coastal Erosion Risk Mapping (NCERM) on ‘Check coastal erosion risk for an area in England’ and Shoreline Management Plan Explorer. The new NCERM dataset is openly accessible via data.gov.uk. It provides the most comprehensive and up-to-date national overview of current and future coastal erosion risks across England. The Environment Agency worked with local authorities, who supplied local data and verified outputs across the country. The mapping for properties located at Hemsby can be accessed here: Winterton-on-Sea (South of Beach Road) to Scratby 6.14 | Shoreline Management Plans. Erosion projection lines can be added to the map, both with present day climate change projections and those with upper/higher projections to 2055 and 2105. The ‘customise map display’ button allows access to this spatial data, and the desired projection can be selected for display on the map.

Food and Rural Affairs, what (a) coastal modelling, (b) geomorphical studies and (c) monitoring programmes the Environment Agency has commissioned in relation to Hemsby since 2020.

The Environment Agency was a partner in the development and publication of the Shoreline Management Plan for northeast Norfolk: Kelling Hard to Lowestoft SMP6 | Shoreline Management Plans. In 2018/19, the Environment Agency worked with the Anglian Regional Flood and Coastal Committee to provide local levy funding to Great Yarmouth Borough Council to undertake a high-level study of options for the Hemsby coastal erosion issues. The Environment Agency’s Anglian Coastal Monitoring Programme (ACMP) undertakes detailed coastal monitoring of the coastline which began in 1991. The ACMP team works closely with Risk Management Authorities, including Great Yarmouth Borough Council staff, to refine monitoring to meet their local needs. In January 2025 the Environment Agency published an update to the National Coastal Erosion Risk Mapping online.  The new mapping includes data from the National Coastal Monitoring Programme (NCMP), which includes coastal assets, beach profiles, bathymetry, aerial photography, LiDAR and coastal habitats.   All coastal monitoring data, reports and analysis are available as open data on the coastal monitoring website ( Programmes - Welcome).

Pursuant to the Answer of 15 December 2025 to Question 95752 on Offenders and Undocumented migrants, if she will increase the amount of staff to 6,500.

The 65 staff are directly involved in tracing and resourcing for this activity is regularly reviewed. They work in partnership with the police, other government agencies, and commercial companies to identify information on a person that may help to progress the case.

Pursuant to the Answer of 15 December 2025 to Question 95752 on Offenders and Undocumented migrants, what the roles of those 65 staff are.

The 65 staff are directly involved in tracing and resourcing for this activity is regularly reviewed. They work in partnership with the police, other government agencies, and commercial companies to identify information on a person that may help to progress the case.

Which visa routes are currently open to nationals of countries designated as high-risk for terrorism-related activity.

The UK operates a robust and effective visa system, which is an important part of securing the UK border and a vital tool for the UK in reducing illegal immigration, tackling organised crime and protecting national security. A requirement to obtain a visa prior to travelling to the UK means that we can assess, based on a visa application and following background checks, whether an individual will comply with the Immigration Rules on arrival. It allows us to intervene and, where necessary, refuse a visa before the individual travels to the UK.This Government will not stop at anything to protect border and national security, and the UK keeps its visa system under regular review. This is conducted on the basis of a range of factors including security, compliance and returns arrangements. However, it would not be appropriate to comment in detail on specific operational security matters.

How many premises have been investigated, restricted, or closed in the last five years due to concerns relating to extremist ideology.

It is a long-standing policy that the Home Office does not comment on specific cases.Regardless of the worldview it draws from, if an ideology is causing harm by radicalising others into hatred, violence and extremism we will take action to prevent this and to safeguard susceptible individuals.

Pursuant to the answer of 15 December 2025 to question 95741 on Offenders and Undocumented Migrants, if he will commit to collating and verifying the requested data to publish on a regular basis.

Official statistics published by the Home Office are kept under review in line with the code of practice for statistics, taking into account a number of factors including user requests, the public resources required to compile the statistics, and importantly the quality and availability of data. The Home Office does not publish data on subjects where the information held is known to not be sufficiently robust or of high enough quality.

What criteria are used to designate a country as high-risk for terrorism and extremist activity for the purposes of visa policy.

The UK operates a robust and effective visa system, which is an important part of securing the UK border and a vital tool for the UK in reducing illegal immigration, tackling organised crime and protecting national security. A requirement to obtain a visa prior to travelling to the UK means that we can assess, based on a visa application and following background checks, whether an individual will comply with the Immigration Rules on arrival. It allows us to intervene and, where necessary, refuse a visa before the individual travels to the UK.This Government will not stop at anything to protect border and national security, and the UK keeps its visa system under regular review. This is conducted on the basis of a range of factors including security, compliance and returns arrangements. However, it would not be appropriate to comment in detail on specific operational security matters.

What oversight mechanisms exist to monitor institutions where extremist ideology may be promoted.

The Prevent duty requires specified authorities such as education, health, local authorities, police and criminal justice agencies (prisons and probation) to help prevent the risk of people becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism which includes the need to reduce permissive environments.It sits alongside long-established safeguarding duties on professionals to protect people from a range of other harms, such as substance abuse, involvement in gangs, and physical and sexual exploitation.The duty helps to ensure that people who are susceptible to radicalisation are supported as they would be under safeguarding processes.

Whether she has considered suspending visa routes from countries assessed as high-risk for terrorism;

The UK operates a robust and effective visa system, which is an important part of securing the UK border and a vital tool for the UK in reducing illegal immigration, tackling organised crime and protecting national security. A requirement to obtain a visa prior to travelling to the UK means that we can assess, based on a visa application and following background checks, whether an individual will comply with the Immigration Rules on arrival. It allows us to intervene and, where necessary, refuse a visa before the individual travels to the UK.This Government will not stop at anything to protect border and national security, and the UK keeps its visa system under regular review. This is conducted on the basis of a range of factors including security, compliance and returns arrangements. However, it would not be appropriate to comment in detail on specific operational security matters.

What role the Prevent strategy currently plays in identifying and disrupting Islamist radicalisation; and whether changes are planned to improve its effectiveness.

Prevent aims to limit exposure to radicalising narratives, both online and offline, and to create an environment where radicalising ideologies are challenged and are not permitted to flourish.The Prevent Duty Guidance sets out how local partners should address this issue by identifying and considering opportunities to disrupt those who use extremist narratives to spread hatred and division and radicalise others to terrorism.This includes information sharing, risk assessment, and developing operational plans to proactively address the influences and narratives that may foster permissive environments within the community.

How many referrals to counter-extremism programmes have been made in each of the last five years, broken down by ideology.

i) Individuals referred to the Prevent programme Prevent aims to stop people from becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism. It works to ensure that people who are susceptible to radicalisation are offered appropriate interventions and support, and that communities are protected against radicalising influences.The Home Office publishes statistics annually on individuals referred into Prevent, which can be found here.Links to the data on individuals referred in by the type of concern, or ideology, can be found below.ii) Years 2024-2025, broken down by ideology. Table 16.iii) Years 2023-2024, broken down by ideology. Table 6.iv) Years 2022-2023, broken down by ideology. Table 6.v) Years 2021-2022, broken down by ideology. Table 6.vi) Years 2020-2021, broken down by ideology. Table 6.

What steps her Department is taking to ensure that immigration enforcement and counter-terrorism agencies share intelligence effectively.

The Home Office undertakes a range of measures to ensure border security however, we do not comment on matters of intelligence.

How many individuals assessed as posing a national security risk have absconded from immigration control in each of the last five years.

The first priority of Government is protecting our national security and the safety of our people. As a matter of longstanding Government policy, we do not comment on the detail of national security and intelligence matters.

What assessment her Department has made of the current level of threat from Islamist extremists.

The UK’s counter-terrorism strategy, CONTEST, provides a comprehensive framework for tackling all forms of terrorism and is kept under constant review to ensure our approach remains fit for purpose in response to emerging risks and challenges.As outlined in the publication of the most recent iteration of CONTEST, in July 2023, the primary domestic terrorist threat comes from Islamist terrorism, which accounts for about three quarters of MI5 caseload.The threat we see today and in the coming years is more diverse, dynamic and complex. This includes a domestic threat which is less predictable and harder to detect. This is combined with an evolving threat from Islamist terrorist groups overseas, and an operating environment where accelerating advances in technology provide both opportunity and risk to our counter-terrorism efforts.

How many foreign nationals have been removed from the UK in each of the last five years for involvement in, incitement of, or support for extremist Islamist ideology.

The information requested is not currently available from published statistics, and the relevant data could only be collated and verified for the purpose of answering this question at a disproportionate cost.

How many individuals convicted of terrorism-related offences are currently present in the UK following completion of their custodial sentences.

The Home Office does not centrally record the data as requested. However, the department does publish data on the numbers of terrorist offenders released from prison in Great Britain. This includes offenders released at the end of their sentence, as well as those released on licence. This is part of the official statistics publication on the Operation of Police Powers under the Terrorism Acts, which are published quarterly on gov.uk. A total of 41 terrorist prisoners were released from custody in Great Britain in the year ending 30 June 2025.The UK has one of the strongest counter-terrorism frameworks in the world, including a range of powers to support the management of terrorist offenders upon their release. For example, terrorist offenders can be subject to strict licence conditions and must comply with notification requirements upon release, which allows the police and other authorities to monitor and manage any ongoing risk that they pose.This legislative framework has been strengthened over recent years and we keep it under continuous review to ensure operational partners have the tools they need to manage the risk posed by terrorist offenders.

What assessment she has made of the potential need for further legislative or operational measures to prevent, disrupt, and dismantle extremist networks that pose a threat to public safety.

The police have a range of tools and powers to counter the activities of extremist networks including Counter-Terrorism, hate crime, public order and wider public safety legislation. Where extremists breach criminal thresholds we will take action.Since the start of 2020, MI5 and the police have disrupted 19 late-stage attack plots and have intervened in many hundreds of developing threats.The Prevent programme plays a fundamental role in protecting the public from the threat of terrorism and remains a vital tool for early intervention. Prevent is continuously improving to ensure it has the capabilities it needs to reduce terrorism risk.Since the introduction of the Prevent duty in 2015, just under 6,000 people have been supported to move away from violent ideologies that could have resulted in harm to themselves, or others, or taken them down a pathway to terrorist offending.The Home Office has also commissioned an independent evaluation of Channel, Prevent’s multi-agency early intervention programme, to assess whether it is effective at reducing individuals’ susceptibility to radicalisation. The evaluation is expected to report findings in 2026.We are progressing activity to challenge extremist narratives including working to ensure dangerous overseas hate preachers and extremists are unable to enter the UK to spread their divisive rhetoric.Finally, the Desistance and Disengagement Programme, which helps to manage the risk of individuals who have already been involved in terrorism or terrorism related activity, has been independently evaluated. The majority of recommendations from that evaluation have already been implemented.We constantly review the evolving landscape and we are committed to ensuring we have the required tools and powers needed to address this issue.