Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to (a) identify and (b) detain Islamic extremists.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
This Government takes extremism seriously. We are committed to ensuring we have the required tools and powers to counter the activities of extremists. This includes challenging extremist narratives by taking a more muscular approach to identifying and watchlisting extremists, and ensuring dangerous overseas hate preachers and extremists are unable to enter the UK to spread their divisive rhetoric.
Islamist extremism continues to be one of the biggest threats we face and is at the heart of our approach to countering extremism and terrorism. We focus on the individuals, groups and environments, online and offline, which foster and enable hatred, and those who reject the fundamental values of our society and whose purpose is to divide and to terrify communities. These extremists must be challenged, and where their activities fall foul of our laws on hate speech, on public order, or on terrorism they will rightly be investigated and prosecuted.
The UK has one of the most robust counter-terrorism frameworks in the world which is deliberately widely drawn to capture the ever-diversifying nature of the terrorist threat that we face. This includes a wide range of terrorist offences and specialised powers for the police and Security Service to investigate and disrupt terrorist activity, support prosecution, and manage terrorist offenders, where activity meets appropriate thresholds. It is a matter for the operationally independent Police, Crown Prosecution Service and courts to decide if a crime has been committed.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the UK is taking to combat international drug trafficking networks.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Drugs have a devastating impact on the health of individuals and communities.
The Home Office and UK Law Enforcement, particularly Border Force and the National Crime Agency, delivers a significant amount of operational activity to detect and seize illicit drugs being trafficked to the UK and to secure our border. Our strategy focuses on working closely with law enforcement partners upstream to stop drug trafficking at source and across the supply chain, targeting the gangs responsible, and bringing them to justice.
In the year ending March 2025, Border Force seized over 150 tonnes of illegal drugs from overseas; the highest amount on record and a 40% increase on the amount seized in the year ending March 2024.
Serious criminals are constantly developing their approaches to traffic drugs into the UK in response to our efforts at the border and we recognise that we must continue to adapt our approach.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much their Department has spent on (a) advertising and (b) marketing in each of the last three years.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The requested information is not centrally collated by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. All spending is subject to standard value for money assessments.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she plans to review the suitability of Turkey as a recipient of foreign aid.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Decisions on allocations of Official Development Assistance for the next three years are currently under consideration, and will be announced in the usual way.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make it his policy to reopen local magistrate courts that have been closed to help clear the court case backlog.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
50% of magistrates’ courts were closed under previous Governments between 2010 and 2020.
Estate capacity is not a limiting factor to sitting the funded days in the magistrates courts. In other words, we are investing in more court staff, legal aid and judge time so that magistrates can hear more cases - up to £450 million in additional courts funding per year. There is therefore a difference between system capacity and physical capacity of courtrooms. Running courtrooms requires not just available courtrooms, but judicial time, and sufficient numbers of legal professionals.
We continue to keep the court estate under review to ensure it meets operational priorities. Projects to boost court capacity across the country include a new Magistrate’s Court in Blackpool and an additional 18 court rooms in the City of London.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much their Department has spent on (a) advertising and (b) marketing in each of the last three years.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Significant payments to companies, £25,000 and over, are published by month as part of the Department’s transparency data. This provides the most up to date data, including the companies used to deliver advertising and marketing. They are available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/spending-over-25-000--2
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how much their Department has spent on (a) advertising and (b) marketing in each of the last three years.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Total spend with our media buying and planning agencies for the last three financial years is as follows:
Financial years under the previous government
22/23 | 23/24 |
£313,854 | £110,818 |
23red (creative agency, media planner); OmniGov (media buyers) | OmniGov (media planners and buyers) |
Financial years under the previous and current government
24/25 |
£59,433 |
OmniGov (media planners and buyers) |
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how much their Department has spent on (a) advertising and (b) marketing in each of the last three years.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Government marketing supports the effective communication of operational and policy objectives by effectively understanding and meeting the needs of citizens and businesses, changing behaviours for personal, societal and economic benefit.
Total advertising and marketing spend with the Department for Business and Trade’s media buying agency for the last three financial years is as follows:
22/23 | 23/24 | 24/25 |
£13,124,598 | £13,375,087 | £12,486,569 |