Laura Kyrke-Smith MP: written questions 2025
39 published records · newest first.
Written questions
Religious FreedomHome OfficeTabled 18 Dec 2025AnsweredUIN 907056More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to provide security protections for faith communities.
Answer: Protecting the right of all faith communities to worship in peace and without fear is fundamental.This year, the Government is investing £70.9 million to strengthen security at places of worship and other community sites.This includes an additional £10 mi...
Answered 5 Jan 2026
Original Parliament recordFood: LabellingDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 2 Dec 2025AnsweredUIN 96590More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to help ensure that food labelling accurately reflects animal welfare practices.
Answer: The UK maintains high standards on the information that is provided on food labels so that consumers can have confidence in the food that they buy. All food sold on the UK market must comply with food labelling rules, which include the requirement for spe...
Answered 8 Dec 2025
Original Parliament recordChild Trust FundTreasuryTabled 18 Nov 2025AnsweredUIN 92394More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what is the number of unclaimed matured HMRC-allocated Child Trust Fund (CTF) accounts which are included within the total quoted in the HMRC press release on 30 September 2025 for all matured CTFs which have neithe
Answer: Information on Child Trust Funds is available in HMRC’s Annual Savings Statistics.https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/annual-savings-statistics-2025We cannot answer each element of the 2 questions as HMRC does not receive a breakdown of unclaimed mat...
Answered 25 Nov 2025
Original Parliament recordChild Trust FundTreasuryTabled 18 Nov 2025AnsweredUIN 92393More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what is the number of unclaimed matured HMRC-allocated Child Trust Funds (CTF) which have been automatically transferred into Individual Savings Accounts at the direction of their account provider and without positi
Answer: Information on Child Trust Funds is available in HMRC’s Annual Savings Statistics.https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/annual-savings-statistics-2025We cannot answer each element of the 2 questions as HMRC does not receive a breakdown of unclaimed mat...
Answered 25 Nov 2025
Original Parliament recordDriving Tests: AylesburyDepartment for TransportTabled 13 Nov 2025AnsweredUIN 90965More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the average waiting time is for a driving test in Aylesbury; and when the backlog for those tests will be cleared.
Answer: The average waiting time in weeks, as of October 2025, at Aylesbury driving test centre (DTC) was 19 weeks. The average waiting time in weeks, as of October 2025, for other DTC’s that might serve customers in the area, are shown below: Bletchley – 24 week...
Answered 20 Nov 2025
Original Parliament recordAnimal Welfare: FireworksDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 11 Nov 2025AnsweredUIN 89934More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to reduce the impact of noise from fireworks on (a) dogs and (b) other animals; and whether she plans to make an assessment of the potential impact of reducing
Answer: The Government is continuing to engage with animal welfare stakeholders, businesses, consumer groups and charities on the impacts of fireworks, to inform any future action.
Answered 18 Nov 2025
Original Parliament recordLivestock: ExportsDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 11 Nov 2025AnsweredUIN 89887More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure that closer alignment with the European Union on a Sanitary and Phyto-Sanitary Agreement does not adversely impact (a) animal welfare laws and (b) the
Answer: This Government shares the British public's high regard for animal welfare and understands the strong sentiment that led to legislation to ban live exports going to slaughter. The UK-EU Common Understanding states that there will be a number of areas wher...
Answered 1 Dec 2025
Original Parliament recordBus ServicesDepartment for TransportTabled 28 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 86129More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to improve collaboration across local authority borders on bus routes.
Answer: Local Transport Authorities (LTAs) already work closely together when tendering bus routes that cross shared boundaries, and in delivering their Bus Service Improvement Plans. There are also requirements set out in the Transport Act 2000 for LTAs to take ...
Answered 5 Nov 2025
Original Parliament recordPalliative Care: AylesburyDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 27 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 85652More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of palliative care services in Aylesbury constituency.
Answer: Palliative care services are included in the list of services an integrated care board (ICB) must commission. To support ICBs in this duty, NHS England has published statutory guidance and service specifications. The statutory guidance states that ICBs, ...
Answered 30 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordAnimal ExperimentsDepartment for Science, Innovation and TechnologyTabled 21 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 84107More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether she plans to publish a strategy to advance the use of alternatives to animal testing.
Answer: The Labour Manifesto commits to “partner with scientists, industry, and civil society as we work towards the phasing out of animal testing”, which is a long-term goal.The government will publish a strategy to support the development, validation and uptake...
Answered 27 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordAnimal ExperimentsDepartment for Science, Innovation and TechnologyTabled 21 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 84105More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps she is taking to encourage collaboration between (a) industry, (b) researchers, (c) civil society and (d) the public on the most effective non-animal approaches to scientific
Answer: The Labour Manifesto commits to “partner with scientists, industry, and civil society as we work towards the phasing out of animal testing”, which is a long-term goal.The government will publish a strategy to support the development, validation and uptake...
Answered 27 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordCoronavirus: VaccinationDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 20 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 83662More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he will take steps to extend the eligibility criteria for the covid-19 booster vaccination for winter to include those who are clinically vulnerable in winter 2025-26.
Answer: The Government is committed to protecting those most vulnerable to COVID-19 through vaccination, as guided by the independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI). The primary aim of the national COVID-19 vaccination programme remains th...
Answered 23 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordReligious FreedomHome OfficeTabled 14 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 82217More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department will consider taking steps to protect religious communities that don't have a designated place of worship.
Answer: The government and police regularly work closely together to review threats and strengthen protection for communities against terrorism and hate crime.Work is currently underway to develop a new Faith Security Training scheme to raise awareness amongst fa...
Answered 22 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordForests: Environment ProtectionDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 14 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 82216More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what legislative steps she is taking to tackle illegal deforestation in supply chains; and what her planned timetable is for introducing a regulatory framework to tackle this issue.
Answer: The Government recognises the urgency of taking action to ensure that UK consumption of forest risk commodities is not driving deforestation. The Government is currently considering its approach to addressing the impact of the use of forest risk commoditi...
Answered 20 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordAnimal Housing: LivestockDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 13 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 81729More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what her Department's planned timetable is for publishing its Animal Welfare Strategy; and if she will make it her policy to ensure that the Animal Welfare Strategy includes steps to e
Answer: We remain firmly committed to maintaining and improving animal welfare and want to work closely with the farming sector to deliver high standards. The use of cages for farmed animals is an issue which we are currently considering very carefully. This gove...
Answered 20 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordBiodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction AgreementForeign, Commonwealth and Development OfficeTabled 10 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 81004More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of the 60th ratification of the Global Ocean Treaty by Morocco in September 2025.
Answer: The government introduced legislation on 10 September to enable the UK to proceed to ratification of the Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of...
Answered 20 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordFishing CatchesDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 10 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 81003More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to prevent the overfishing of commercially important species.
Answer: The Government is committed to restoring our stocks to sustainable levels and supporting the long-term viability of the UK fishing industry. This is in line with our domestic and international obligations, including those of the Fisheries Act 2020 and Joi...
Answered 20 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordPolice: TrainingHome OfficeTabled 10 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 81002More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to strengthen trauma-informed training for police officers responding to domestic abuse cases.
Answer: In our manifesto, we committed to strengthening training on Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) for policing to ensure that all officers have the right skills to investigate all VAWG offences, included domestic abuse, and provide consistent support fo...
Answered 15 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordDomestic Abuse: TrainingMinistry of JusticeTabled 10 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 81001More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to ensure that magistrates receive training on (a) coercive control and (b) the longer-term impacts of domestic abuse; and whether any similar training is planned for the future.
Answer: To preserve judicial independence, under the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, the Lady Chief Justice has the statutory responsibility for the training of the courts judiciary in England and Wales, fulfilled by the Judicial College.Domestic abuse is a signi...
Answered 15 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordAnimal Experiments: Animal BreedingHome OfficeTabled 2 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 74237More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of routinely (a) recording and (b) reporting the number of animals bred for and not used in scientific research.
Answer: The Home Office is presently reviewing the potential merits of recording and reporting the number of animals that were bred for and not used in scientific procedures.
Answered 16 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordCheerleading: GCSEDepartment for EducationTabled 2 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 74086More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will consider adding cheerleading as an approved (a) sport and (b) activity which can be assessed for GCSE Physical Education qualifications.
Answer: Cheerleading was recognised as a sport by the Home Nations Sport Councils in December last year.It is not part of the current GCSE activity list, which was last reviewed in 2018. The department and awarding organisations developed a set of five key consid...
Answered 17 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordGambling: InternetDepartment for Culture, Media and SportTabled 2 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 74085More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to her Department’s press release entitled Statutory levy and online slot stake limits to be introduced to tackle gambling harm, published on 27 November 2024, what steps she is ta
Answer: Online stake limits have been set at £5 per spin for adults aged 25 and over since April of this year, and £2 per spin for 18-24 year olds since May. All gambling operators offering gambling services to people in Great Britain must have a licence from the...
Answered 8 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordHomicide: British Nationals AbroadMinistry of JusticeTabled 1 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 74074More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps her Department is taking to support families of UK citizens murdered overseas.
Answer: The Government remains committed to improving the support available to families affected by these tragic events. We recognise the importance of ensuring that bereaved families receive clear, compassionate, and timely information.The Ministry of Justice is...
Answered 8 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordPolice: Labour Turnover and RecruitmentHome OfficeTabled 1 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 74072More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to (a) support retention in the police in England and (b) increase the number of police officers in Aylesbury constituency.
Answer: In 2025/26, the Home Office is providing a total of up to £17.4 billion for police forces, which is an increase of up to £987 million compared to the 2024/25 police funding settlement. This includes a total of up to £376.8 million specifically to support ...
Answered 11 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordAffordable Housing: Rural AreasMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 16 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 68607More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that a higher proportion of housing is affordable in (a) Buckinghamshire and (b) other rural areas.
Answer: I refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement made on 2 July 2025 (HCWS771).
Answered 22 Jul 2025
Original Parliament record
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