Written questions by Lowe.

Communities and Local Government, whether his Department has provided guidance to (a) local authorities and (b) community cohesion officers on the application of religious offences to (i) lawful speech, (ii) art, and (iii) protest in public spaces.

We have regular engagement with local authorities on a range of issues including social cohesion and people are expected to express their views concerning religion and beliefs respectfully including exercising the appropriate restraints within the confines of the law when providing criticism.

What steps her Department is taking to protect academic and student freedom of speech in schools and universities.

This government is absolutely committed to freedom of speech and academic freedom in schools, universities and beyond. My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, confirmed to Parliament on 15 January the government’s plans for future of the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023, which will create a more proportionate, balanced and less burdensome approach to protecting academic freedom and freedom of speech.On 28 April, the Secretary of State signed commencement regulations, bringing the following provisions into force from 1 August 2025:Strengthened higher education (HE) provider duties in relation to securing freedom of speech and academic freedom and promoting the importance of freedom of speech and academic freedom.A requirement for HE providers to put in place effective codes of practice on freedom of speech and academic freedom.A ban of non-disclosure agreements in HE for staff and students where there is a complaint about bullying, harassment and sexual misconduct.A requirement for the Office for Students to promote free speech and enable it to give advice and guidance on it.Schools have a statutory duty to ensure a balanced presentation of political issues, but older pupils can engage with the political issues provided activity is conducted sensitively and not targeted at others. The promotion of fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, mutual respect and tolerance for those of different faiths and beliefs is considered by Ofsted in their inspections.

Communities and Local Government, if she will ensure that blasphemy laws are not reintroduced.

The government has been clear that there is no blasphemy law in England, and we will not introduce one. Everyone has a fundamental right to freedom of speech. All language adopted by government must be accurate and acknowledge British citizens’ unchanging right to freedom of speech and expression.

Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 7 May 2025 to Question 49171 on Coastal Erosion: Hemsby, if he will meet the hon. Member for Great Yarmouth to discuss the shoreline management for Hemsby.

I met the hon. Member on 12 September to discuss coastal erosion in his constituency. I will ensure that the hon. Member has a meeting with relevant officials.

What data her Department holds on the prevalence of (a) forced marriage, (b) domestic abuse and (c) educational disadvantage affecting Muslim women; and what steps her Department is taking to help tackle the (i) cultural and (ii) religious barriers that prevent these women from seeking (A) legal and (B) social support.

The Crime Survey for England and Wales for the year ending March 2024 estimates that 5.2% of Muslim women experienced domestic abuse in the last year, compared to a prevalence rate of 6.6% for the adult female population as a whole. In 2023, the Home Office commissioned a feasibility study to examine whether it is possible to produce robust prevalence estimates for forced marriage. We are currently considering the next steps and will set these out in due course. The Home Office does not collect data related to the educational disadvantage.We fund a number of organisations for specific victim cohorts, including 'by and for' services supporting specific minority groups, including services for Black and Asian women.

What the cost to the public purse was of monitoring the MI5 watchlist in the latest period for which data is available.

The Chancellor confirmed in the Spring Statement on 26 March 2025 that the Single Intelligence Account, which provides funding for MI5, SIS and GCHQ, would increase this year to £4.6 billion. Funding for CT Policing, who work closely with MI5, also increased to £1.2 billion this year.It is a longstanding policy not to discuss the costs and resources associated with specific capabilities such as domestic and international watchlists. Detailed breakdowns of funding allocations for the UK Intelligence Community and CT Policing are not published for security reasons.

With reference to UK-India trade deal, if she will make an estimate of the potential cost to the public purse of the exemption for Indian people working in the UK from National Insurance contributions for three years.

The OBR will certify the impact of the trade deal including the Double Contributions Convention in the usual way at a fiscal event, once the deal is finalised and ratified. The agreement to negotiate a Double Contributions Convention was made in the context of the wider deal, which will bring billions into the economy.

Whether her Department has issued guidance to (a) immigration officers and (b) caseworkers on the compatibility of an asylum claimant's (i) views on (A) democracy, (B) free speech and (C) gender equality and (ii) other (1) cultural and (2) religious views with long-term residence in the UK.

All asylum decision-making guidance, including our policy on extremism (contained within Exclusion (Article 1F) and Article 33(2) of the Refugee Convention guidance), is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/asylum-decision-making-guidance-asylum-instructions.

Whether his Department has had discussions with NATO allies on the potential impact of the (a) capture, (b) injury and (c) killing of UK personnel while operating in Ukraine on the potential for (i) escalation and (ii) retaliation.

The Defence Secretary regularly speaks with his NATO counterparts on practical plans for how our militaries can support security guarantees for Ukraine’s future. The UK is playing a leading role in accelerating work on security arrangements for Ukraine. This includes putting our own troops on the ground if necessary. Advanced operational planning within the Coalition of the Willing, which is not NATO led, remains ongoing for options across land, sea and air, and to regenerate the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

How many people claimed asylum by religion in each of the last five years.

The Home Office publishes available data on asylum in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on asylum claims is published in table Asy_D01 of the ‘Asylum applications, initial decisions and resettlement detailed datasets’. The latest data relates to 2024. Information on how to use the datasets can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbooks.

How many Prevent referrals related to Islamic extremism resulted in (a) prosecutions and (b) removals from the country in the last three years; and what steps her Department is taking to improve the enforcement of removal orders.

Prevent aims to intervene early to stop people becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism. The Prevent Duty sits alongside long-established safeguarding duties on professionals to protect people from a range of harms. It helps to ensure that people who are susceptible to radicalisation are supported as they would be under safeguarding processes. A Prevent referral does not amount to an accusation of criminality.

What estimate he has made of the long-term cost to the public purse of (a) military logistics, (b) equipment support, (c) personnel risk, (d) reconstruction liabilities and (e) other costs arising from proposals for UK ground deployment to Ukraine.

This Government is committed to providing at least £3 billion a year in military support to Ukraine. As the Defence Secretary has made clear in the Commons, Ukraine’s security is our security, and we will continue to support Ukraine for as long as it takes. The UK will also provide £2.26 billion in additional military support to Ukraine for financial year 2025-26 through the Extraordinary Revenue Acceleration loan. Additional support is being provided through UK Export Finance guaranteed loans.Other Government Departments are also providing non-military support to Ukraine including the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and the Department for Business and Trade.

If she will bring forward legislative proposals to ban Sharia courts.

The Government has no plans to regulate or restrict religious processes (such as sharia courts) where all parties consent to those processes. This is consistent with Britain’s long history of freedom of worship and religious tolerance.Sharia Courts are not part of the judicial system in England and Wales.

What information her Department holds on the number of asylum seekers granted leave to remain in the UK since 2010 who have returned to their country of origin for (a) visits, (b) holidays and (c) family reunions; and whether her Department takes steps in such cases to reassess refugee status.

The Home Office does not centrally hold the requested data, and could only collate it through manual searching of historic case files, at a disproportionate cost to the taxpayer. However, I can assure the Hon Member that, where someone has protection status in the UK, revocation action can be taken at any time if there is sufficient evidence to justify such action. All cases are considered on a case-by-case basis and protection status will be revoked in circumstances where there is no remaining protection need.

Whether her Department is taking steps to ensure that asylum seekers in publicly-funded accommodation do not (a) promote and (b) practise the (i) rejection of British law, (ii) subjugation of women, (iii) persecution of religious minorities and (iv) other forms of religious extremism.

No one in the UK is allowed to engage in conduct that breaks the law, regardless of the type of accommodation in which they live.

If she will ensure that a (a) full debate takes place in and (b) divisible motion is agreed by the House of Commons before deploying UK ground forces to Ukraine.

There is a longstanding convention on war powers which this government respects.I refer the Hon. Member to the words of the Prime Minister on 3rd March 2025 during the statement on Ukraine (available at: https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2025-03-03).The Prime Minister (Official report, col.28) "We will, of course, put details before the House when we get to that stage—if we get to that stage."The Prime Minister (Official report, col.38) "My position on the sustained deployment of our troops is that this House would of course want to discuss that and vote on that, but we are nowhere near that stage at the moment."

Pursuant to the Answer of 24 April 2025 to Question 47976 on Prison: Crimes against the Person, if she will provide a further breakdown by nationality.

The number of individuals involved in incidents of an assault on staff within prisons in England and Wales, by nationality, for 2020 to 2024, can be found in the accompanying table.

If the Prime Minister will meet victims of rape gangs at Number 10 Downing Street.

Details of ministerial meetings with external organisations are published on gov.uk as part of the government’s transparency agenda. For actions this Government is taking to help victims, I refer the Hon. Member to the oral statement made by Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department [my Hon. Friend, the Member for Birmingham Yardley] on the 8 April 2025.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to protect Hemsby from coastal erosion.

The shoreline management approach for Hemsby’s coastline is managed realignment, as outlined in the Shoreline Management Plan which has been developed locally. The flood and coastal erosion risk management investment programme includes risk management structures for the coast where it is sustainable and affordable to build them. In areas where it is not, other approaches such as managed realignment will be needed.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether new funding streams will be available to support flood prevention measures in Great Yarmouth constituency.

Delivering on the Government’s Plan for Change, this government is investing a record £2.65 billion over two years, 2024-2025 and 2025-2026, for the construction of new flood schemes, and the maintenance and repair of existing ones. With this funding, 1,000 flood schemes have been or will continue to be supported, better protecting 52,000 properties by March 2026. This year (2025-2026): Great Yarmouth Flood Defences (Epoch 3) is receiving £1,968,000 and Great Yarmouth Flood Defence Scheme Works £730,000. The full list of schemes receiving investment this year has been published online.