Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the UK Antarctic Strategy to 2035, what recent assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the rapid growth and diversification of tourism on the British Antarctic Territories.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
All the issues raised by the Hon Member, including the protection of biosecurity, the prohibition of non-native species, and the impact of tourism, are important for the UK Government and are reflected in the objectives of our UK Antarctic Strategy published on 1 December 2025. We discuss and monitor these issues regularly alongside the international partners who share our interests in Antarctica, and we have invested heavily in the modern scientific research capabilities that help us to keep these issues under review.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the UK Antarctic Strategy to 2035, what discussions she has had with Antarctic Parties on the protection of UK sovereign interests in the British Antarctic Territories.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
All the issues raised by the Hon Member, including the protection of biosecurity, the prohibition of non-native species, and the impact of tourism, are important for the UK Government and are reflected in the objectives of our UK Antarctic Strategy published on 1 December 2025. We discuss and monitor these issues regularly alongside the international partners who share our interests in Antarctica, and we have invested heavily in the modern scientific research capabilities that help us to keep these issues under review.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the UK Antarctic Strategy to 2035, what assessment her Department has made of biosecurity risks in the British Antarctic Territories.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
All the issues raised by the Hon Member, including the protection of biosecurity, the prohibition of non-native species, and the impact of tourism, are important for the UK Government and are reflected in the objectives of our UK Antarctic Strategy published on 1 December 2025. We discuss and monitor these issues regularly alongside the international partners who share our interests in Antarctica, and we have invested heavily in the modern scientific research capabilities that help us to keep these issues under review.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the UK Overseas Territories biodiversity strategy, published on 12 January 2026, if she will set out the minimum biosecurity standards for ports and airports serving the British Antarctic Territories.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
All the issues raised by the Hon Member, including the protection of biosecurity, the prohibition of non-native species, and the impact of tourism, are important for the UK Government and are reflected in the objectives of our UK Antarctic Strategy published on 1 December 2025. We discuss and monitor these issues regularly alongside the international partners who share our interests in Antarctica, and we have invested heavily in the modern scientific research capabilities that help us to keep these issues under review.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the resilience of British Antarctic Territory infrastructure and logistics, including the sole dependency on HMS Protector.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
All the issues raised by the Hon Member, including the protection of biosecurity, the prohibition of non-native species, and the impact of tourism, are important for the UK Government and are reflected in the objectives of our UK Antarctic Strategy published on 1 December 2025. We discuss and monitor these issues regularly alongside the international partners who share our interests in Antarctica, and we have invested heavily in the modern scientific research capabilities that help us to keep these issues under review.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to her Department’s World News Story entitled Cameroon: UK supports new generation of Central Africa researchers, published on 29 January 2026, what steps she is taking to help ensure that research produced through the Congo Rainforest Alliance for Forest Training for Sustainable Development programme will support (a) forest governance, (b) biodiversity protection and (c) climate resilience.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Congo Rainforest Alliance for Forest Training (CRAFT) for Sustainable Development programme is a major milestone in advancing world‑class, locally led scientific research across the Congo Basin. Further details of all FCDO-funded programmes can be found at the Development Tracker website on GOV.UK. Each proposed programme is assessed in advance for the impact it will have on the UK's partnership objectives in the country in question, and for its cost-effectiveness in achieving that impact. Each approved programme is subsequently evaluated on an ongoing basis for its performance against agreed objectives, and for its delivery on time and on budget.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to her Department’s world news story entitled Cameroon: UK supports new generation of Central Africa researchers, published on 29 January 2026, what steps she has taken to ensure that the £9.1 million of International Development funding achieves value for money; and what criteria she uses to assess the effectiveness of that funding in achieving the UK's development objectives.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Congo Rainforest Alliance for Forest Training (CRAFT) for Sustainable Development programme is a major milestone in advancing world‑class, locally led scientific research across the Congo Basin. Further details of all FCDO-funded programmes can be found at the Development Tracker website on GOV.UK. Each proposed programme is assessed in advance for the impact it will have on the UK's partnership objectives in the country in question, and for its cost-effectiveness in achieving that impact. Each approved programme is subsequently evaluated on an ongoing basis for its performance against agreed objectives, and for its delivery on time and on budget.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to her Department's world news story entitled Cameroon: UK supports new generation of Central Africa researchers, published on 29 January 2026, what proportion of that funding is provided directly to Central African institutions.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Congo Rainforest Alliance for Forest Training (CRAFT) for Sustainable Development programme is a major milestone in advancing world‑class, locally led scientific research across the Congo Basin. Further details of all FCDO-funded programmes can be found at the Development Tracker website on GOV.UK. Each proposed programme is assessed in advance for the impact it will have on the UK's partnership objectives in the country in question, and for its cost-effectiveness in achieving that impact. Each approved programme is subsequently evaluated on an ongoing basis for its performance against agreed objectives, and for its delivery on time and on budget.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of recent high-value acquisitions involving UK AI companies; and what policies they are pursuing to support domestic AI innovation, investment and the scaling of high-growth firms.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The UK has a strong track record of high‑growth AI firms. This Government is taking a comprehensive approach to supporting our thriving AI ecosystem – ensuring that we back innovators with the data, compute, and talent they need to succeed.
Our AI Research Resource is providing free compute to British researchers and startups so that they can train new AI models and deliver scientific breakthroughs. We have established five new AI Growth Zones across the UK to deliver large, cutting-edge datacentre capacity. We are training the next generation of experts through Spärck AI Scholarships and the Global Talent taskforce, and we are upskilling 10 million workers in essential AI skills by 2030. Our Sovereign AI Unit, backed by £500 million, will support high-potential start-ups to start and scale, and our £100 million Advance Market Commitments will help UK AI hardware start‑ups compete globally.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps she is taking to help reduce the number of non-essential scientific experimentations on live animals.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 25th November 2025 to Question UIN 91769 https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2025-11-17/91769