Every parliamentary written question tabled by Rupert Lowe this session, with the full answer and department. See how every department answers, or back to the MP page.
Showing 1,081–1,100 of 2,390 · this parliament
What proportion of people subject to Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures entered the UK as asylum seekers or refugees.
The statutory reporting requirements associated with the use of TPIM measures are set out in Section 19(1) of the Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures Act 2011.
What proportion of terrorism-related prisoners in the UK are linked to Islamist ideology.
Information about individuals convicted or in custody for terrorism and terrorism-connected offences, by ideology, is published by the Home Office as part of the ‘Operation of police powers under the Terrorism Act 2000’ statistics series. The series can be accessed via the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/operation-of-police-powers-under-the-terrorism-act-2000.The numbers held in custody are shown on table P.01 of the annual and quarterly tables. As of 31 March 2025 (the most recent data available), 61% of terrorist prisoners were categorised as holding Islamist Extremist views.Given the sensitive nature of the information, further breakdowns are not published as they may undermine our national security efforts.Data on all terrorism-related offences is in the published series but not disaggregated by ideology. Table C.03 gives details on the numbers convicted for terrorism-related offences. Information on sentence length is included in table C.04, and the number released by sentence length is provided in table P.05.All terrorists are managed through a specialist, multi-agency case management process, which includes regular risk assessments and rehabilitative tools to identify, assess and manage an offender’s terrorist risk and needs, including any clear links to an extremist ideology. We have a range of interventions to address and reduce the drivers of radicalisation and move offenders away from harmful ideologies. Our interventions are carried out by qualified staff who receive specialist training. The tracking of religion relies on prisoners’ self-declaration.
How many asylum seekers have been flagged for links to (a) extremist and (b) Islamist networks since 2018.
It is the longstanding policy of successive UK Governments that we do not comment on operational intelligence or security matters.
How many and what proportion of visa applications were rejected due to national security concerns related to Islamist extremism in each of the last ten years.
I refer the Hon Member to the answer he was given on 15 May to Question 51200.
How many and what proportion of Prevent cases resulted in prosecutions for Islamist-related offences during the past year.
Prevent seeks to intervene early and provide support to stop people from becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism. Prevent is not an investigative tool or a criminal sanction, and prosecution is not the intended outcome.
How many known Islamic extremists reside in the UK.
As a matter of long-standing policy, we do not comment on the detail of security and intelligence matters. However, we continuously assess potential threats to the UK and, where necessary, deploy the full range of tools available to mitigate them.
Whether (a) migrants and (b) asylum seekers are checked for associations with Islamist terror organisations.
The first priority of Government is protecting national security and protecting UK citizens from terrorism. It would not be appropriate to comment in detail on operational security matters or specific cases but the Home Office uses various tools to detect and disrupt travel by those posing a national security risk, and all applications for UK immigration status, including asylum claims, are subject to comprehensive security checks.
Food and Rural Affairs, what comparative assessment his Department has made of the environmental impact of sourcing food from British producers compared to overseas suppliers for public sector contracts.
In 2021, Defra assessed the scientific evidence on the environmental impacts of locally sourced food for public food procurement. This analysis considered the positive and negative environmental impacts of both imported and in country produced food, i.e. British. This analysis identified strong evidence and wide academic consensus that sourcing food locally does not necessarily guarantee a better environmental impact than importing: generally, production has a much greater impact on the environmental footprint of food products than the impacts of transport.
Food and Rural Affairs, if he will require public bodies to publish annual data on the percentage of British food procured.
Public bodies are not required to report on the origin of the food they procure. However, the Government will be reviewing food provenance across the public sector. This will help inform our future approach on public sector food procurement, including any potential considerations for data reporting.
What proportion of food served in prisons is sourced from British farms; and what plans she has to encourage more prisons to buy British produce.
As at May 2025, 56.1% of food products sourced via the prisoner food contract and served in prisons is of British origin, however we do not hold a figure for farms specifically.The sourcing of products is managed through commercial food contracts which are based upon value for money and the quality of the product, with British produce being chosen wherever possible. We continue to review options to source from UK suppliers as part of standard procurement processes.
Food and Rural Affairs, what support is available for public sector caterers that would like to organise farm visits to help improve local food supply relationships.
We are currently considering the policy options available to deliver further on our ambitions for public sector catering, including the potential benefits of developing stronger ties between food producers, caterers, and end consumers.
Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to increase the proportion of British-grown food procured by the public sector.
The Government is open to considering all lawful means of achieving its ambition that half of all food purchased across the public sector should be locally produced or certified to higher environmental standards. The new national procurement policy statement sets expectations that government contracts will favour the purchase of food certified to higher environmental standards, which we believe British producers operating to the highest standards will be well-placed to meet.
What discussions he has had with the NHS on increasing procurement from British food producers in its supply chain.
All National Health Service trusts are expected to follow NHS England’s guidance, National standards for healthcare food and drink, which is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/national-standards-for-healthcare-food-and-drink/The guidance promotes the use of healthier, seasonal, and locally sourced food that can cut emissions and the wider environmental impact related to agriculture, transport, storage, and waste across the supply chain and on the NHS estate, while also supporting the local economy.
Whether planned updates to hospital food standards will include a requirement to prioritise British sourcing.
All National Health Service trusts are expected to follow NHS England’s guidance, National standards for healthcare food and drink, which is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/national-standards-for-healthcare-food-and-drink/The guidance promotes the use of healthier, seasonal, and locally sourced food that can cut emissions and the wider environmental impact related to agriculture, transport, storage, and waste across the supply chain and on the NHS estate, while also supporting the local economy.
What proportion of food served in military catering contracts was sourced from the UK, in the latest period for which data is available.
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 17 March 2025 to Question 36360 to the hon. Member for South Holland and the Deepings (Sir John Hayes MP).
Whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of sourcing British food for hospitals on levels of (a) hospital food quality and (b) patient recovery.
All National Health Service trusts are expected to follow NHS England’s guidance, National standards for healthcare food and drink, which is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/national-standards-for-healthcare-food-and-drink/The guidance promotes the use of healthier, seasonal, and locally sourced food that can cut emissions and the wider environmental impact related to agriculture, transport, storage, and waste across the supply chain and on the NHS estate, while also supporting the local economy.
Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an estimate of the (a) number of food miles and (b) level of carbon emissions generated through catering provided by the public sector in the most recent period for which data is available.
The Government is currently considering policy options, including how best to demonstrate the beneficial impacts of the new national procurement policy statement, which sets out expectations for Government contracts to favour products certified to high environmental standards.
What proportion of food served in NHS hospitals was sourced from British farms in the latest period for which data is available; and what steps he is taking to encourage NHS hospitals to buy food sourced from British farms.
All National Health Service trusts are expected to follow NHS England’s guidance, National standards for healthcare food and drink, which is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/national-standards-for-healthcare-food-and-drink/The guidance promotes the use of healthier, seasonal, and locally sourced food that can cut emissions and the wider environmental impact related to agriculture, transport, storage, and waste across the supply chain and on the NHS estate, while also supporting the local economy.
Whether Departments are required to report on the origin of food purchased through public procurement contracts.
Departments are not currently required to report on the origin of food served in their canteens. In January the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs announced that the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs would be undertaking a review of public sector food procurement to better understand what food the public sector buys and where it comes from. As part of this review, the Government will be reviewing food provenance across all public sector settings, including Government departments.
Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has considered providing fiscal incentives to local authorities that prioritise British food in their catering contracts.
The Government is open to considering all lawful means of achieving its ambition that half of all food purchased across the public sector should be locally produced or certified to higher environmental standards. We have already published a new national procurement policy statement. It sets expectations for government contracts to favour products certified to high environmental standards that we think high-quality British producers are well-placed to meet.