Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, under the Lunna House Agreement, by when will the Royal Navy adopt advanced Norwegian naval strike missiles and what existing capability will they replace.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Naval Strike Missile (NSM) is a Norwegian anti-ship and land attack missile, which has been acquired for the Royal Navy’s escort force. It replaces the Harpoon anti-ship missile, which went out of service in December 2023. The NSM is 20 years newer, has greater range, and is far more capable than the system it replaces.
The Royal Navy completed its first successful launch of an NSM missile from HMS SOMERSET in Norway in September 2025 at Exercise AEGIR. Test firings are now complete and the NSM is expected to enter service later this year.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment has he made of the potential merits of procuring the RCT30 turret for the Boxer platform.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question 6805 on 4 October 2024 which confirms the British Army has conducted operational analysis, lethality and survivability studies, which includes analysing potential turreted options. The British Army will continually review the capabilities, priorities and affordability choices that will be provided by BOXER and other platforms to ensure that its armoured Fighting Vehicle fleet best meets Defence and NATO's needs.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to his Department's press release entitled Rapid £140 million boost for drone and counter-drone tech from newly-formed UK Defence Innovation, published on 15 December 2025, what proportion of the drone and counter-drone tech will be supplied to Ukraine.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
I hope the hon. Gentleman will understand that this information is classified and not for public release.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what progress has he made in procuring the Patria 6x6 armoured vehicle.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
In December 2025, the UK joined the Common Armoured Vehicle System research and development programme, a multinational initiative with Finland, centred around the Patria 6x6 armoured vehicle. The programme is in the assessment phase.
Asked by: Gideon Amos (Liberal Democrat - Taunton and Wellington)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what progress he has made on implementing the Private Parking Code of Practice; what steps the Government is taking to ensure that penalty charges issued by private parking operators are fair and proportionate; and whether a timetable has been set for introducing caps on such charges and measures to prevent aggressive enforcement tactics.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I wish to assure you that this government is determined to drive up standards in the private parking sector.
The new government code will contain guidance about the operation and management of private parking facilities and will protect motorists from bad practice, whilst supporting legitimate operators.
In preparation for the new code, in 2025 the government published a consultation document outlining its proposals to raise standards across the private parking industry.
All responses are now being analysed and the government will publish a response and outline its final plans in due course.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 17 December 2025 to Question 99606 on Local Government: Essex, whether the existing Police and Crime Commissioners in the devolution priority areas will now serve their full terms until 2028; and in what year will the new combined authority mayors take up the policing powers currently undertaken by the Police and Crime Commissioners.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Home Office Ministers will announce in due course plans for the transfers of PCC functions in the Devolution Priority Programme.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 15 December 2025 to Question 90716 on Asylum: Housing, which local government bodies the Government is currently working with.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government is working closely with the Home Office, local authorities and their national membership bodies in addition to devolved partners to develop and deliver a new, more sustainable model for asylum accommodation.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many full-time equivalent staff in his Department have been employed for the purpose of making social media content in each of the past three years.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
Various Defence communications staff have responsibilities to create and post content to social media channels. However, this only forms one aspect of their role. Exact figures for staff with responsibility for social media could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the equitability of the current student loan system, in the context of the rising value of student loans issued to applicants who may not remain in the UK long enough to repay.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
As of April 2025, 6.1 million borrowers (English and EU nationals with loans from Student Finance England) are in Repayment. Of the 6.1 million, 286,000 (4.6%) reside overseas, of which 85,000 (29.7%) are EU nationals and 201,000 (70.3%) are English UK nationals. Full details can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/student-loans-in-england-2024-to-2025.
In November 2025, 60.3% of borrowers residing overseas (EU and UK nationals) were compliant, and 39.7% non-compliant. The compliance rate for UK borrowers was 62.3%, and for EU borrowers 55.4%.
The Student Loans Company (SLC) recovers approximately £10 million per month from customers residing overseas (both UK and EU nationals) at cost of approximately £339,000 per month. This is a return on investment of approximately 30:1.
In the 2024/25 financial year, SLC’s repayments evasion unit recovered £7.7 million from non-compliant overseas borrowers. If the SLC is unable to recover outstanding debt directly from borrowers overseas, the account will be referred to a Debt Collection Agency (DCA). On average, DCAs deliver a return on investment of £5 for every £1 spent. From April 2024 to March 2025, recoveries from overseas borrowers stand at £3.74 million.
A full equality impact assessment of how the student loan reforms may affect graduates, including detail on changes to average lifetime repayments under Plan 5, was produced and published in February 2022 and can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/higher-education-reform-equality-impact-assessment.
Asked by: Rebecca Smith (Conservative - South West Devon)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, which department has lead responsibility for policy on online pornography regulation; and with reference to Baroness Bertin's independent report entitled Creating a Safer World – the Challenge of Regulating Online Pornography, published in February 2025, what assessment she has made of that report's finding that fragmented Government responsibilities impede effective regulation of online pornography.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Baroness Bertin’s independent report made 32 recommendations, including on governance and oversight of pornography policy. The ‘Freedom from Violence and Abuse: a cross-government strategy to build a safer society for women and girls’, published on 18 December 2025 commits to creating a joint team to address the issues detailed in the report. As this team is not yet set up, I am answering this question from the Cabinet Office, as there is currently no lead department for this work.
The team will be formed by the Home Office, Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, Ministry of Justice and Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It will examine the evidence to inform the government’s approach to pornography policy, including the question of departmental responsibility.