Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has had discussions with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on the potential merits of providing grants or financial support to vending operators to meet compliance costs arising from age verification requirements.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Chancellor has regular discussions with the Secretary of State for the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) on a range of issues.
DHSC ran a 12-week consultation on proposals for the ban of high-caffeine energy drinks to children under 16 years from 3 September to 26 November 2025. This included seeking views on how the ban should apply in vending machines.
DHSC is now carefully considering the responses and will publish the government response in due course, setting out the consultation outcome and any next steps.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions have been had with the Overseas Territories about making British Overseas Territories eligible for student maintenance loans.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
We have worked with the British Overseas Territories to clearly set out our position on eligibility for student finance.
Persons who have settled status in the UK, and who have come to the UK from specified British Overseas Territories, are eligible for home fee status if they meet the requirement of three years’ ordinary residence in the UK, and/or the specified British Overseas Territories.
Eligibility for student support is based on residency and immigration status, not nationality, targeting resources on students who are likely to stay in the UK indefinitely and contribute to the economy.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to project 1 entitled Defining the role of G protein coupled receptors in the brain and the therapeutic potential of targeting these receptors in neurological disease and addiction, in her Department's document entitled Non-technical summaries for project licences granted October – December 2025 that require a retrospective assessment, published in February 2026, what assessment she has made of the scientific relevance to humans of injecting opioids into the veins of mice and then dipping the tail of some mice into hot water .
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
This project, among other research, sits within the Government’s broader strategy to support research that advances the understanding of major public health challenges – including addiction and neurodegenerative disease.
The non-technical summary for this research project is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/non-technical-summaries-granted-in-2025.
The use of mice and the procedures in question were assessed as appropriate and scientifically justified because they allow researchers to study learning, memory, reward-related behaviour and withdrawal symptoms in a way that cannot be replicated using non-animal methods alone.
All project licence applications under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 (ASPA) are assessed by medically or veterinary qualified inspectors within the Animals in Science Regulation Unit (ASRU). Under ASPA, no project can be granted without a harm-benefit analysis, where an ASRU inspector makes a rigorous assessment of the scientific rationale, and must assess that the harms of the proposed project are justified by the likely benefits.
The project must also demonstrate full application of the legal requirements of replacement, reduction and refinement (the 3Rs). This means that animal use cannot be approved if a practicable non-animal alternative method exists, the number of any animals used must be minimised, and the most refined methods must be used for animal testing to minimise harms.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of trends in the number of (a) beagles, (b) non-human primates, (c) rabbits and (d) other animals that are estimated to be used in scientific procedures in the next three years.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office publishes annual statistics on the use of animals in science which contain information on the number of procedures conducted, including break down by species of animals.
Animals may be used more than once in certain circumstances. These instances are counted as separate, additional procedures. As a result, the number of procedures is usually slightly higher than the number of animals used.
The annual statistics are published at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/animals-in-science-statistics
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Royal Navy destroyers and frigates were fully operational and deployable at immediate readiness in each of the last 12 months.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Royal Navy maintains a high state of operational readiness across its core capabilities, including the Continuous At Sea Deterrent, Carrier Strike, frigates and destroyers, submarines, aviation, the Royal Marines and the Royal Fleet Auxiliary. The Fleet is deployed globally to protect the UK’s security and interests, working alongside allies and partners.
It is important to understand readiness as a constant cycle with ships moving regularly through maintenance, training, deployment and recovery phases. For reasons of operational security, the Ministry of Defence does not give detailed information on past or current levels of readiness for individual Royal Navy warships.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the operational readiness of the Royal Navy.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Royal Navy maintains a high state of operational readiness across its core capabilities, including the Continuous At Sea Deterrent, Carrier Strike, frigates and destroyers, submarines, aviation, the Royal Marines and the Royal Fleet Auxiliary. The Fleet is deployed globally to protect the UK’s security and interests, working alongside allies and partners.
It is important to understand readiness as a constant cycle with ships moving regularly through maintenance, training, deployment and recovery phases. For reasons of operational security, the Ministry of Defence does not give detailed information on past or current levels of readiness for individual Royal Navy warships.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the written answer to Question 108177 of 3 February 2026 whether any exempt vignettes were granted to family members of consular officers who do not fall into the aforementioned categories.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The information requested is not centrally held and could only be collected and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the UK’s military capability to defend the Falkland Islands from potential aggression.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
I refer the hon. gentleman to the response given to Question 118648 on 16 March 2026.
For operational and personnel security reasons we do not disclose the precise force levels deployed in the South Atlantic.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, for what reason the French Navy responded more quickly than the Royal Navy to the recent drone incident in Cyprus.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
We cannot comment on the deployment decisions of other nations.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when his Department last conducted a review of the UK’s defence posture in the South Atlantic; and whether he plans to commission a new assessment.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
I refer the hon. gentleman to the response given to Question 118648 on 16 March 2026.
For operational and personnel security reasons we do not disclose the precise force levels deployed in the South Atlantic.