theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-03)

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Steff Aquarone:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she plans to take to help tackle the backlog in certificate of lawfulness appeals at the planning inspectorate. \p Matthew Pennycook: The Planning Inspectorate's Strategic Plan commits to removing all casework backlogs and meeting all Ministerial targets by 2027.

Casework including nationally significant infrastructure projects, local plan examinations, critical Secretary of State casework, appeals against refusal of planning permission and appeals against enforcement notices are currently being prioritised.

In addition, the Inspectorate has designed and developed a new digital Appeals Service currently in Beta phase. This new service improves the process for submitting appeals, including reducing the number of invalid appeals submitted. In turn, this reduces the number of validation checks required and is speeding up the time taken to validate appeals.

The new service has been expanded to cover all local planning authority areas.

The Planning Inspectorate is an Arm's Length Government Body with responsibility for allocation of resources, prioritisation and overall operational performance. The Inspectorate publishes updates on its performance on its website regularly.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-03)

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Neil Coyle:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she plans to take to help prevent leaseholders facing high fees for leasehold renewals. \p Matthew Pennycook: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 44852 on 22 April 2025.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-13)

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Dr Rosena Allin-Khan:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what criteria his Department uses to determine when bans on personal imports of food products should be implemented following disease outbreaks. \p Daniel Zeichner: Personal imports of meat and dairy products from the European Union (EU) into Great Britain (GB) are subject to a transitional exemption from rules that apply to personal imports from outside the EU single market. As part of our national mission to protect our food sector and farmers, we have put in place a series of emergency safeguard measures banning personal imports of certain animal products into GB, in response to outbreaks of Peste des Petits Ruminants, African Swine Fever and Foot and Mouth Disease in the European Union. The devolved governments in Wales and Scotland have put in place equivalent measures. Decisions on whether to impose safeguard measures on personal imports of animal products are based on expert risk assessments and advice from the UK Chief Veterinary Officer and the Chief Veterinary Officers in Wales and Scotland. We publish risk assessments on GOV.UK: www.gov.uk/government/collections/animal-diseases-international-monitoring.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-13)

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Dr Rosena Allin-Khan:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what criteria his Department plans to use to decide when personal imports of meat and dairy products from the European Union can be reinstated. \p Daniel Zeichner: Personal imports of meat and dairy products from the European Union (EU) into Great Britain (GB) are subject to a transitional exemption from rules that apply to personal imports from outside the EU single market. As part of our national mission to protect our food sector and farmers, we have put in place a series of emergency safeguard measures banning personal imports of certain animal products into GB, in response to outbreaks of Peste des Petits Ruminants, African Swine Fever and Foot and Mouth Disease in the European Union. The devolved governments in Wales and Scotland have put in place equivalent measures. Decisions on whether to lift safeguard measures on personal imports of animal products are based on expert risk assessments and advice from the UK Chief Veterinary Officer and the Chief Veterinary Officers in Wales and Scotland. We publish risk assessments on GOV.UK: www.gov.uk/government/collections/animal-diseases-international-monitoring.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-13)

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Adam Dance:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with large supermarkets on the potential impact of (a) food pricing and (b) supermarkets' buying practices on food producers. \p Daniel Zeichner: Defra regularly engages with supermarkets and producers about a range of measures they can take to ensure the availability of affordable food.  These measures include maintaining value ranges, price matching and price freezing.  However, it is for each individual food retailer to make commercial decisions regarding the products in their stores, as the Government does not interfere in day-to-day operations.

The Government is firmly committed to ensuring food producers receive a fair price for their products, and to tackling unfairness in the supply chain wherever it exists.

On 13 March, Fair Dealing Regulations for the pig sector were introduced and are currently progressing through the parliamentary process. Similar regulations for the eggs and fresh produce sectors will follow, with the Government prepared to intervene in any sector where fairness issues are identified.

Where farmers sell directly to retailers, their agreements will be covered within the scope of the sectoral regulations that we are introducing through powers in the Agriculture Act 2020.

Additionally, the Government is committed to ensuring that everyone has access to nutritious, affordable food. The recently launched Food Strategy will look to outline measures to make healthy food accessible and affordable for the whole population.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-13)

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Dr Neil Hudson:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of rainfall patterns in 2025 on domestic food production. \p Daniel Zeichner: The UK has a resilient food supply chain that has frequently demonstrated its ability to adapt when required.

The Met Office’s 3-month weather outlook for May, June and July indicates near average rainfall is most likely for the UK but with a slightly higher than normal chance of wet weather. Defra is aware of the current concerns around the ongoing dry conditions. However, it is too early to understand the impact of this period of dry weather on livestock, horticulture and crop plantings and the subsequent impact this may have on yield and quality later in the year at harvest time.

We continue to engage and work closely with the industry and to monitor the weather impacts on domestic food production, through the UK Agriculture Market Monitoring Group (UKAMMG), which was established by Defra and the Devolved Administrations to monitor the UK market across all key agricultural commodities.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-13)

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Jayne Kirkham:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of making (a) fipronil and (b) imidacloprid prescription-only. \p Daniel Zeichner: Parasiticides containing imidacloprid and fipronil play a crucial role in protecting animal and human health against fleas, ticks, and the diseases they spread. The Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) also acknowledges concerns raised about their presence in the environment.

The VMD is gathering evidence on the environmental impact of flea and tick treatments and has led in establishing the cross-government Pharmaceuticals in the Environment (PiE) Group, which has developed a roadmap to help reduce levels of fipronil and imidacloprid in UK surface waters. The immediate priority is to work with stakeholders to promote appropriate use of topical parasiticides for pets, aiming to reduce environmental impacts. Beyond this, actions focus on building our evidence base to inform future policy activities.

While we continue to assess emerging evidence, we consider it essential that these treatments remain appropriately accessible to all pet owners that may need them, in order to effectively manage parasitic disease, which has implications for animal welfare and human health. Therefore, at this stage, there are no plans to restrict flea and tick treatments to prescription. Any future regulatory decisions will be based on robust scientific evidence to ensure both environmental protection and continued access to essential veterinary medicines for pet owners.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-13)

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Terry Jermy:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what funding his Department provides to farmers for laying hens. \p Daniel Zeichner: We are firmly committed to maintaining and improving animal welfare and want to work closely with the farming sector to deliver high standards. The Laying Hen Housing for Health and Welfare Grant was recently offered to commercial laying hen and pullet keepers in England. It supports these farmers to improve the health, welfare, and productivity of their flocks through access to £22.6 million in grants towards the cost of upgrading their housing. Applications closed on 18 September 2024 and all applicants have been contacted to notify them of next steps.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-13)

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Mr Lee Dillon:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to support farmers with slurry testing to ensure correct pH levels are maintained. \p Daniel Zeichner: Investing in proper slurry storage and management equipment is a critical step livestock farmers need to take to make best use of their organic nutrients and prevent pollution. This includes ensuring that correct pH levels are maintained prior to any application to land. We will confirm any future grant rounds in due course.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-13)

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Seamus Logan:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the Animal Welfare Committee will consider the public health risks associated with global fur production in its review on the responsible sourcing of fur. \p Daniel Zeichner: The remit of the Animal Welfare Committee (AWC) is to provide advice on animal welfare standards relating to animals kept by people. As such, public health matters fall outside of the Committee’s remit.

More information on AWC’s terms of reference is available on the AWC gov.uk page (here).
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Pippa Heylings:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to adapt farming subsidy schemes to encourage farmers to (a) house farmed animals in woodlands and (b) plant woodlands in permanent pasture. \p Daniel Zeichner: Our in-field agroforestry offers under the Environmental Land Management (ELM) schemes include support for establishing and maintaining silvopastoral systems, where trees are planted in pasture to realise their multiple benefits such as enhanced animal welfare and supporting biodiversity. Under Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier (CSHT), land managers can plant and maintain in-field agroforestry systems up to an average of 400 trees her hectare, as well create, manage and restore Wood Pasture and Parkland systems. Land managers can be supported to design agroforestry in a way that meets their objectives through the Agroforestry Plan capital item.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-13)

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Dr Al Pinkerton:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to support public awareness campaigns aimed at protecting hedgehogs in Surrey Heath constituency. \p Mary Creagh: While we are not carrying out any specific public awareness campaigns in Surrey Heath, the Government welcomes public awareness campaigns, such as Project Amazing Grace, which promote actions that support the recovery and conservation of hedgehogs.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-13)

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Sir John Hayes:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure biodiversity net gain as part of National Grid's proposals to build pylons in the Fens as part of the Grimsby to Walpole plans. \p Mary Creagh: The Government's National Policy Statements for energy infrastructure encourage projects to deliver biodiversity net gain. National Grid Electricity Transmission, the developer of Grimsby to Walpole, have committed to deliver at least 10% biodiversity net gain on their construction projects.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-13)

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Munira Wilson:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the effectiveness of the Climate Resilience Board in coordinating climate resilience. \p Emma Hardy: Defra, working with Cabinet Office and HM Treasury, uses the Climate Resilience Steering Board (CRSB) to provide senior-level oversight and strategic direction to address and strengthen resilience to climate change related risks that threaten the UK economy, security, critical national infrastructure, and the life and health of its citizens.

The CRSB is well placed to provide and improve strategic responses to climate change across government. It carries out the coordination across Government that ensures climate risks to all sectors are monitored and key departmental actions are delivered that will combat the cross-cutting impacts of climate change.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-13)

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Edward Morello:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when his Department plans to publish the consultation on access reform; and whether it will include provisions for enhancing public rights of way. \p Mary Creagh: The Government recognises the importance of access to nature for health and wellbeing and is committed to ensuring it is safe, inclusive, and appropriate. We’re delivering on our ambitious manifesto commitment to create nine new national river walks and three new national forests in England.

Further details on the next steps will be provided later this year, following the outcome of the Spending Review and the publication of the revised Environmental Improvement Plan.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-13)

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Edward Morello:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to monitor imports of queen bees from Ukraine for the presence of Tropilaelaps mites. \p Mary Creagh: Protecting our country from pests and diseases is a key priority and that is why we have stringent monitoring processes in place to detect pests and diseases. Imports of honey bee queens must be inspected and certified as free from certain pests and diseases before they can be exported to the UK and they can only come from pest free areas. Honey bee queens from Ukraine must enter the UK via a border control post where they are inspected.

The Department is working with the Animal and Plant Health Agency’s National Bee Unit (NBU) to prevent Tropilaelaps species, a serious pest of honey bees from entering the UK and harming our bee population. As well as the import controls, there is an extensive surveillance programme in place for invasive pests and the NBU provide training and guidance on pest recognition to all UK beekeepers.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-13)

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Phil Brickell:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help encourage peatland restoration on the West Pennine Moors. \p Mary Creagh: The Government recognises the importance of England’s peatlands, and in our manifesto, we committed to expanding nature-rich habitats such as peatlands. This will contribute to ensuring nature’s recovery, one of Defra’s five priorities. We have ambitions to restore hundreds of thousands of hectares of peatlands across the country, and we are working to ensure that we have the most effective mechanisms in place to go further than we have before.

Peatland restoration works across England are carried out by local peatland partnerships, such as Lancashire Peat Partnership who are responsible for managing the peatlands in the West Pennine Moors. Peatland restoration is currently funded via the Nature for Climate Peatland Grant Scheme, and going forwards will be primarily funded through Environmental Land Management schemes, such as the Landscape Recovery and Countryside Stewardship schemes.

Private finance will also be vital if we are to meet our peatland restoration ambitions. To support peatland restoration, the Government is implementing a range of policies that will mobilise private investment. These include working with the IUCN to attract investment through the Peatland Code.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-13)

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Adrian Ramsay:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 22 April 2025 to Question 44673 on Horticulture: Peat, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of the time taken to ban sales of horticulture peat on relevant (a) businesses and (b) supply chains. \p Mary Creagh: We have not undertaken a separate assessment, but will publish the GMM stats in due course.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-13)

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Edward Morello:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department plans to increase penalties for repeat fly tipping offences. \p Mary Creagh: We have committed to forcing fly-tippers to clean up the mess they have created. This will build on the sanctions already available which include fixed penalty notices of up to £1000, seizing and crushing of vehicles and prosecution which can lead to a significant fine, a community sentence or even imprisonment. There are no plans to increase the fixed penalty levels for repeat fly-tipping offences at this time.

The Defra chaired National Fly-tipping Prevention Group has produced a guide on how local authorities, and others, can present robust cases to court. This is available at https://www.keepbritaintidy.org/national-fly-tipping-prevention-group.

We encourage councils to make good use of their enforcement powers, and we are currently seeking powers to provide statutory guidance on fly-tipping enforcement. We have also announced a review of council powers to seize and crush the vehicles of suspected fly-tippers, to identify how we could help councils make better use of this tool.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-13)

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Edward Morello:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to support rural Dorset Council in managing rising fly tipping incidents. \p Mary Creagh: This Government understands the difficulty that fly-tipping poses to all landowners. We have committed to forcing fly-tippers and vandals to clean up the mess that they have created and will provide further details on this in due course.

We encourage and support councils to make good use of their enforcement powers, and we are currently seeking powers to provide statutory guidance on fly-tipping enforcement. We have also announced a review of council powers to seize and crush the vehicles of suspected fly-tippers, to identify how we could help councils make better use of this tool.

We continue to work with stakeholders, such as the National Farmers Union and local authorities, through the National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group to share good practice, including how to prevent fly-tipping on private land. Various practical tools, including case studies and ‘how to’ guides on key issues such as setting up effective local partnerships, are available from their webpage at: https://www.keepbritaintidy.org/national-fly-tipping-prevention-group.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-13)

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Adam Dance:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of her Department's planned changes to Personal Independent Payments on levels of poverty in (a) Yeovil constituency, (b) Somerset and (c) the United Kingdom. \p Sir Stephen Timms: The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
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Shaun Davies:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of people in receipt of the State Pension live outside the UK have less than (a) 35, (b) 20, (c) 10 and (d) 5 years of National Insurance contributions. \p Torsten Bell: The information on the years of National Insurance contributions for State Pension recipients living outside the UK is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

The Department publishes the volumes of State Pension recipients living outside the UK on StatXplore Stat-Xplore - Log in. The latest figure, for the quarter ending August 2024, is around 1.1 million State Pension recipients living outside the UK. This is 8.5% of the overall State Pension caseload.
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Richard Burgon:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate her Department has made of the proportion of disabled people who receive the standard rate of Personal Independence Payments and are expected to no longer receive PIP following the changes to eligibility. \p Sir Stephen Timms: By the time the proposed changes take effect in November 2026, it is expected that there will be 3.6 million working age people claiming PIP or Disability Living Allowance. The assessment of the Office for Budget Responsibility is that 370,000 claimants at implementation in November 2026 will lose their entitlement by 2029-30, or just over 10% of the PIP caseload in 2026-27.
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Richard Burgon:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions her Department has had with disability organisations on the impact of (a) eligibility changes to Personal Independence Payment and (b) freezing the Universal Credit health element. \p Sir Stephen Timms: We urgently need reform to stop people from falling into inactivity, to restore public trust and fairness in the system, and to protect disabled people. That is why we are bringing forward some reforms in a Bill, including the changes to PIP eligibility and Universal Credit rates. It is right that we do this via Primary Legislation so that Parliament can fully debate and vote on these changes.

As we develop detailed proposals for change, we will continue to consider the potential impacts of reforms. We are consulting on how best we can support those who might lose entitlement to PIP, including how to make sure health and eligible care needs are met. We have also launched a wider review of the PIP assessment, which I shall lead, which will bring together a range of experts, stakeholders and people with lived experience to consider how best to do this.

As we make changes to Universal Credit, we will ensure that we protect the incomes of the most severely disabled people, so they can live with dignity and security, while supporting those who can work to do so. Existing Universal Credit claims will also be protected by holding the health top up (LCWRA) steady in cash terms, while they will also benefit from the new higher standard allowance.

This government strongly values the input of disabled people and representative organisations. Ahead of the formal consultation for the Green Paper, we have engaged with a number of disability organisations and other stakeholders, and we will continue to explore ways of engaging with disabled people and their representatives. We are now also hosting virtual and in-person public consultation events across the country to further facilitate input and voices of disabled people and stakeholders on the Pathways to Work Green Paper consultation directly.
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Gareth Snell:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of PIP claimants currently have more than four points in any one category. \p Sir Stephen Timms: The information you requested can be found in Table 2.27 in the Pathways to Work: Evidence Pack: Chapter 2.

The assessment of the Office for Budget Responsibility, published at the Spring Statement, is that most of the current claimants of PIP Daily Living who did not score four points in any of the activities at their last assessment will, nevertheless, because of behaviour changes, be awarded PIP Daily Living again after the proposed eligibility changes take effect.
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Llinos Medi:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of closing the Holyhead PIP Assessment Centre on sick and disabled people in Ynys Môn. \p Sir Stephen Timms: The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) closed the Holyhead Personal Independence Payment (PIP) Assessment Centre (AC) as part of the Functional Assessment Services (FAS) strategy to bring together all functional health assessment services in a geographical area under one supplier. Consolidating the Holyhead PIP AC into the Work Capability Assessment & Specialist Benefit site in Bangor ensures that all health benefits will be assessed in the same building; this contributes to an easier customer experience when applying for multiple health benefits.

DWP is committed to ensuring that everyone can access our services without facing any disadvantages. We have various measures in place to make sure our assessments are accessible to all, in accordance with the Equality Act 2010. DWP meets legal accessibility requirements by ensuring our services are accessible to everyone.

We consider the specific needs of individuals who require a particular assessment method due to their health condition or circumstances. At every stage of the claim process, individuals are asked to inform us of any mobility restrictions. If the assessment provider is made aware of these restrictions, they will consider arranging the most appropriate assessment channel.

As part of the FAS process, we first consider the feasibility of a paper-based assessment. If a paper-based review isn't possible, individuals will be invited to an assessment.

If a customer requires a face-to-face assessment and the journey time to the assessment centre exceeds 90 minutes, individuals may be directed to an alternative centre within the 90-minute travel time if one is available. This ensures that claimants travel no more than 90 minutes (one way) by public transport to their assessments. This 90-minute figure is the maximum, and in most cases, travel time will be much shorter. If travel time exceeds 90 minutes by public transport, we can utilise alternative channels, such as using telephone, video, or home assessments, or assisting with travel costs for taxis.
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Richard Burgon:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate her Department has made of the number of people who (a) receive and (b) will receive (i) the daily living allowance and (ii) the enhanced Personal Independence Payment after the measures in her Pathways to Work Green Paper are enacted. \p Sir Stephen Timms:
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Julia Lopez:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 8 January 2025 to Question 21326 on Personal Independence Payment Mandatory Reconsiderations, what the average clearance time is for mandatory reconsiderations of Personal Independence Payment decisions; and what progress her Department has made on reducing the backlog of cases. \p Sir Stephen Timms: The PIP Mandatory Reconsideration (MR) backlog has reduced by around 6,900 since July 2024. Intakes in March were higher than anticipated so there is still a backlog of 6,400. We are increasing resources available for PIP MRs by recruiting decision makers.

The most recent PIP official statistics release, which was published in March 2025, has data up to January 2025. The median PIP MR clearance time in January was 71 calendar days.

Personal Independence Payment statistics to January 2025 - GOV.UK
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Dr Neil Shastri-Hurst:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, when the last meeting was of the National Space Council. \p Chris Bryant: The National Space Council has not been reinstated under this government. However, along with the Ministry of Defence and other departments, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) remains committed to ensuring that space activities are effectively coordinated across all relevant departments. On 22 April, Ministers from across government met to discuss our approach to this policy area and to develop plans in the government’s Spending Review and Strategic Defence Review.
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Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what his expected timeline is for full-fibre availability in the SL2 postcode in Slough constituency. \p Chris Bryant: According to the independent website ThinkBroadband, over 99% of premises in Slough have access to superfast broadband speeds, and over 96% have access to a gigabit-capable (1000 Mbps) connection.

We currently expect the remaining premises in Slough to be reached by suppliers' commercial rollout, but if there are any premises that cannot be covered commercially, they will be considered for inclusion in Project Gigabit or other interventions.
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Graham Leadbitter:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps he is taking to ensure that people in rural areas have equal access to broadband services. \p Chris Bryant: Project Gigabit is the government’s programme to roll out fast, reliable broadband to UK premises that are not included in suppliers' commercial plans. Over 35 contracts, with a combined value of over £2.3 billion, have already been signed to deliver gigabit-capable broadband to over 1 million premises, predominantly in rural areas.

Last week we announced a £157 million contract with Openreach to deliver gigabit-capable broadband to up to 65,000 rural and hard-to-reach premises across Central, Northern and Western Scotland, including in the Moray West, Nairn and Strathspey constituency.
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Graham Leadbitter:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps he is taking to improve the availability of cellular networks in rural areas. \p Chris Bryant: The government wants all areas of the UK to benefit from reliable, high quality mobile coverage. We continue to work with Ofcom to ensure that their coverage reporting is as accurate as possible to allow us to reliably and accurately identify underserved areas.

4G geographic coverage from at least one mobile operator has now reached over 95% of the UK landmass, and we continue to work with the industry to deliver 4G mobile connectivity to places where there is either limited or no coverage.

Our ambition is to go further, and for all populated areas, including rural communities, to have access to higher-quality standalone 5G by 2030. We continue to work closely with the mobile network operators and are committed to ensuring we have the right policy and regulatory framework in place to support investment and competition in the market.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-13)

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Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answers of 25 April 2025 to Question 46855 and 46855 on Government Digital Service: Gender and Government Digital Service: Sex, what his timetable is for the review of the GOV.UK Design System guidance on equality information; and if he will make it his policy to hold a consultation on the draft guidance. \p Feryal Clark: In response to a previous question from the Hon Member, it was noted that GDS would review the Design System’s guidance in line with any changes to the Code of Practice issued by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC). The Commission has since confirmed that it will be undertaking a review into the Code of Practice. Once concluded, the Commission aims to provide the updated Code of Practice to HM Government by the end of June for ministerial approval.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-13)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-05-13 conversation_32

Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 25 April 2025, to Question 46855 on Government Digital Service: Gender and Government Digital Service: Sex, whether Stonewall advised on the previous guidance. \p Feryal Clark: Stonewall did not advise GDS in developing the extant Design System guidance.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-13)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-05-13 conversation_33

Tom Collins:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what recent progress his Department has made in encouraging a shift from animal testing towards greater use of synthetic analogues for human biological systems. \p Feryal Clark: 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. While it is not yet possible to replace all animal use due to the complexity of biological systems and regulatory requirements, we support the development and application of approaches that replace, reduce and refine animal use in research (the 3Rs), such as the use of synthetic analogues for human biological systems.

The Government will publish a strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods later this year.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-13)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-05-13 conversation_34

Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 28 April 2025 to Question 46285 on Ethics and Integrity Commission, when he will establish the Commission; and whether it will be placed on a statutory basis. \p Ms Abena Oppong-Asare: I refer the Honourable Member to the answer given to PQ UIN 46285 on 28 April 2025.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-13)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-05-13 conversation_35

Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what information his Department holds on the total cost in staff time for Cabinet Office all-staff calls since 4 July. \p Georgia Gould: As was the case under the previous administration, all-staff calls are organised to share updates on key policies, projects and priorities and allow staff to raise questions directly with leadership. Typically the calls last for around 45 minutes and around 2500 civil servants attend.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-13)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-05-13 conversation_36

Charlie Dewhirst:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he plans to publish guidance on diversity networks. \p Georgia Gould: Government Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) networks are internal, volunteer staff networks and so any guidance would not routinely be published. The Civil Service Code, which is published and available here, sets out the standards of behaviour expected of all civil servants.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-13)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-05-13 conversation_37

Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many civil servants jobs the Government plans to remove in this Parliament. \p Georgia Gould: The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster has made public commitments to a smaller centre of government. The Government is taking forward a number of measures to deliver greater efficiency and transformation in the Civil Service, including setting an admin spend reduction target.

Each department will take a decision on its individual size and shape as per the financial settlement it agrees with HMT in the Spending Review, due for conclusion in June 2025.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-13)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-05-13 conversation_38

Rupert Lowe:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what plans he has to review the Government's provision of sex-specific (a) facilities and (b) services in government buildings, in the context of the UK Supreme Court judgement in the case of For Women Scotland v The Scottish Ministers of 16 April 2025. \p Georgia Gould: We will review and update policy wherever necessary to ensure it complies with the latest legal requirements.

We will consult with our Government Legal Department and Kings Counsel Lawyers who specialise in employment law.
wrans/answers2025-05-13 conversation_39
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-13)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-05-13 conversation_39

Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 31 October 2024 to Question 10990 on Civil Servants: Trade Union Officials, whether he plans to increase the amount of facility time to recognised trade unions in his Department following the passage of the Employment Rights Bill. \p Georgia Gould: The Government is committed to ensuring there is sufficient facility time for all trade union representatives in the public sector. Existing guidance remains in place and no decisions have been made about changes to Facility Time in the civil service.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-13)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-05-13 conversation_40

Rupert Lowe:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make it his policy to require Departments to publish disaggregated statistics on public service usage by immigration status. \p Georgia Gould: The Office for National Statistics collects and publishes just under 50% of our national statistics. The rest of our national statistics are collected and published by each relevant department.

There are no plans to change the current requirements for departments.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-13)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-05-13 conversation_41

Mike Wood:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what guidance his Department has issued to other departments on spending controls overseen by Ministers. \p Georgia Gould: The Cabinet Office has published guidance on spend controls here and will share updated guidance and information with departments if we make any changes to these controls.

The most recent guidance issued to departments on spending controls was in relation to this government’s pledge to cut unnecessary spending on consultancy to save £1.2 billion by 2026. Guidance was shared directly with departments by the Permanent Secretary to the Cabinet Office and is summarised here.

This government is committed to making sure spend controls do not add excessive bureaucracy, enable delivery and provide value for taxpayers’ money. For example, in January 2025 the use of the Get Approval to Spend digital service (hosted on GOV.UK) was mandated for digital spend, resulting in a single front door and case management system for the digital spend control.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-13)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-05-13 conversation_42

Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Civil Service Commission's publication entitled How Departments are doing on fair and open recruitment: what the Commission’s audits found, published in April 2025, if he will place in the Library a copy of the 39 departmental audits. \p Georgia Gould: The Civil Service Commission is operationally independent of the Government. The Commission reports on its audit activity each year in its Annual Report but does not publish individual departmental audits.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-13)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-05-13 conversation_43

Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what changes have been made to the write-round process in relation to allowing the Chair of the Sub-Committee to obtain clearance without a substantive response from the members of the Sub-Committee since 4 July 2025. \p Georgia Gould: It is the prerogative of the Prime Minister, on advice of the Cabinet Secretary, to determine the proceedings of Cabinet and its committees, including decisions reached via correspondence. The principle of collective responsibility requires that the privacy of ministerial discussions at Cabinet and its committees be maintained, and it is a long-standing precedent that details of these proceedings are not disclosed publicly.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-13)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-05-13 conversation_44

Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 17 April 2025 to Question 41077 on Civil Service: Equality, what his planned timetable is for the publication of EDI exemptions data; how this will be published; and whether each Department will publish its own data. \p Georgia Gould: Details of external EDI expenditure will be reported by the Cabinet Office in due course, as per the EDI Expenditure Guidance requirements.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-13)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-05-13 conversation_45

Mike Wood:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 21 October 2024 to Question 8814 on Cabinet Office: Trade Union Officials, and with reference to the Freedom of Information Act response with reference FOI2024/14572, if he will publish that response. \p Georgia Gould: A copy of the information released in the response to FOI2024/14572 will be deposited in the House Library.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-13)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-05-13 conversation_46

Mike Wood:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to paragraph 1.41 of the Civil Superannuation Annual Report and Accounts 2023-24, HC481, which employers are part of the Civil Service Scheme. \p Georgia Gould: The requested information can be found in the attached document.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-13)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-05-13 conversation_47

Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 17 April 2025 to Question 41110 on Government departments: political activities, whether there are limits on the amount of party political content that Ministers can deliver in speeches with scripted party political content in government departments which are not ministerial residences. \p Georgia Gould: While guidance is not expressed in terms of specific limits, the primary purpose of any ministerial speech must be government business and the essential nature of the speech should not be party political.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-13)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-05-13 conversation_48

Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many times equality, diversity and inclusion spending control decisions been delegated to permanent secretaries since May 2024. \p Georgia Gould: Since May 2024, eight departments have reported to the Cabinet Office that they have delegated decisions regarding external equality, diversity and inclusion spending controls to their Permanent Secretary.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-13)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-05-13 conversation_49

Blake Stephenson:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to his Department's press release entitled Hundreds of quangos to be examined for potential closure as Government takes back control, published on 7 April 2025, whether that review will consider Arms Length Bodies created since July 2024. \p Georgia Gould: The review will cover all existing arm’s-length bodies (ALBs), and includes proposals for new ALBs.