theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Neil O'Brien:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 29 April 2025 to Question 45822 on Ministry of Justice: Equality, for what reason his Department no longer collects that information centrally. \p Jake Richards: The Ministry of Justice does not routinely collate information on specific words in job titles as there is no business or legal requirement to do so. Further information on staffing can be found in the Department's annual report and accounts.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-13)

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Jack Rankin:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the original expected completion date was for all prisons currently scheduled for (a) construction and (b) expansion. \p Jake Richards: Under the previous Government, 20,000 additional prison places were planned for delivery by the mid-2020s. By July 2024, c.6,000 of these places had been delivered. As set out in the 10-year Prison Capacity Strategy, this Government has committed to delivering the remaining 14,000 places and aims to do so by 2031, with the expectation that they will become operational by 2032. We are on track to meet this target, having already delivered c.2,600 since taking office.
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Noah Law:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department has made a recent assessment of the application of Section 33 of the Limitation Act 1980 in medical negligence cases involving cerebral palsy; and whether it has had discussions with Scope on this issue. \p Sarah Sackman: Limitation periods set statutory time limits within which a party must bring a civil claim, or give notice of a claim, to the other party in a dispute. For negligence resulting in personal injury (which would include clinical negligence claims) the limitation period is normally three years from the date of the alleged negligence or the date of the claimant’s knowledge of damage, whichever is later.

However, under Section 33 of the Limitation Act 1980, this period can be extended at the court’s discretion, if it appears that it would be equitable (fair and reasonable) to all parties to allow an action to proceed.

The Government has no plans to reform the law, and has had no discussions with Scope but they are welcome to write to me if they want to set out any specific concerns.
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Kerry McCarthy:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to ensure adequate access to free immigration advice in (a) Bristol and (b) the South West. \p Sarah Sackman: We are committed to making sure timely advice is there for those who need it, and this sits right at the heart of our vision for a better, more effective justice system.

We have confirmed we will be uplifting housing and immigration legal aid fees. This represents a significant investment – the first since 1996 – resulting in an increase of £20 million a year once fully implemented.

We are also supporting the sector through targeted grants. The Government is funding the costs of accreditation for immigration and asylum caseworkers, providing up to £1.4 million in 2024 and a further £1.7 million in 2025.

The Legal Aid Agency (LAA) is responsible for commissioning legal aid services, and it monitors the numbers of providers in each procurement area and across all categories of law. It takes operational action where it can, to respond to market pressures that may arise and works closely with the Ministry of Justice on policy solutions concerning the supply of legal aid.

In response to challenges around the supply of legal aid providers in the south-west, the Legal Aid Agency (LAA) put in place a list of immigration providers in England and Wales who are willing and able to provide immigration advice to individuals from the Southwest who are unable to find a local provider. This list remains in force and is regularly updated and provided to individuals that call the Civil Legal Aid advice line, as well as being published/accessible on the LAA’s website.

Beyond legal aid, the Ministry of Justice is funding the delivery of wider legal support services, which provide advice and support to people facing social welfare legal problems, including immigration issues. In 2025-26 we are providing over £6 million of grant funding to 60 frontline organisations to improve access to legal support and information, both in person and online, to help people resolve their problems as early as possible. This includes funding for organisations such as some regional Citizens Advice, Law Centres (including Bristol Law Centre), Asylum Support Appeals Project, Devon and Cornwall Refugee Support, as well as AdviceNow, which provides online support on their website across a range of civil, family and tribunal problems.
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Neil O'Brien:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many employment tribunal claims have been lodged against her Department in each of the last five years by (a) unfair dismissal and (b) claims under the Equality Act 2010. \p Ian Murray: In the past 5 years 7 employment tribunals have been lodged against our department. 5 of these claims were under the Equality Act.

We cannot provide the number of claims broken down by year or those that were related to unfair dismissal or claims under the Equality Act 2010. Doing so would breach the Data Protection Act and risk identifying individual cases where the case count is five or less, as the information relates to someone other than the data subjects.
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Neil O'Brien:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many staff in her Department (a) did not retain employment following completion of their probationary period and (b) had their probationary period extended in each of the last five years. \p Ian Murray: In the last five years 43 members of staff were subject to management procedures during their probationary period. Of these cases 13 employees did not retain their employment and 6 employees were subject to an extension of their probationary period.

We cannot provide the number of staff who did not retain their employment or had their probationary period extended. Doing so would breach the Data Protection Act and risk identifying individual cases where the case count is five or less, as the information relates to someone other than the data subjects.
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Neil O'Brien:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many performance reviews were undertaken for staff in (a) her Department and (b) its agencies in each of the last five years; in how many cases performance was rated as unsatisfactory or below; how many staff left as a result of such a rating; and what proportion of full-time equivalent staff this represented. \p Ian Murray: All DCMS staff are subject to regular performance reviews. Under performance management procedures, reviews should take place monthly, quarterly and at the end of each financial year. We hold data for managing poor performance cases these are provided below for the last 5 years:

Year

No. of cases

FTE at April

% of total FTE

2020/2021

0

1769.8

-

2021/2022

14

1978.8

0.7%

2022/2023

24

1668.8

1.3%

2023/2024

13

943.1

1.3%

2024/2025

10

1024.6

0.9%

Of the 61 performance management cases, 11 employees were either dismissed or resigned. We cannot provide the number of performance cases that resulted in either resignation or dismissal for each of the past five years because doing so would breach the Data Protection Act. This is due to the risk of identifying individual cases in years where the case count is five or less, as the information relates to someone other than the data subjects.

DCMS does not hold performance data in regards to its arms-length bodies and agencies.
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Jayne Kirkham:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to help increase the number of children that are able to swim 25 metres confidently. \p Stephanie Peacock: Swimming and water safety is a vital life skill, which is why it is a mandatory part of the primary PE National Curriculum.

All schools must provide swimming instruction in either key stage 1 or 2. In particular, pupils should be taught to: swim competently, confidently and proficiently over a distance of at least 25 metres; use a range of strokes effectively; and perform safe self-rescue in different water-based situations.

Primary schools can use their PE and sport Premium funding to provide top-up swimming and water safety lessons for those pupils that do not meet national curriculum requirements after they have completed core swimming and water safety lessons.

The Department for Education is also funding the ‘Inclusion 2028’ grant at up to £300,000 per year to improve opportunities for young people with special educational needs and disabilities to participate in school sport, including swimming and water safety.
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Dan Norris:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her department is taking to increase access to grassroots sport facilities in North East Somerset and Hanham constituency. \p Stephanie Peacock: The Government is committed to ensuring that everyone should have access to, and benefit from, quality sport facilities. They provide important community hubs for people of all ages to be active and connect people to the places in which they live.

That is why, we are investing £98 million through the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Fund and have committed a further £400 million through this Spending Review period into new and upgraded grassroots sport facilities in communities right across the UK. This funding will be invested in new and upgraded grassroots sport facilities that promote health and wellbeing and remove the barriers to physical activity for under-represented groups. We are now working closely with sporting bodies and local leaders to establish what communities need and will then set out further plans.

Over the last four years, the constituency of North East Somerset and Hanham has received a total of £621,712.80 through the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Fund to fund sixteen projects.
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Jim McMahon:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of grassroots football on (a) social well-being and (b) contribution to economic value; and what support she has made available to (a) AVRO FC in Oldham and (b) other grassroots clubs in Oldham Borough. \p Stephanie Peacock: The Government is committed to ensuring that everyone should have access to, and benefit from, quality sport and physical activity opportunities. Participation in grassroots sports helps keep people active and creates opportunities for social interaction that bolster mental resilience.

In October 2024, DCMS research showed that the sport and physical activity sector contributed £53.6 billion of direct Gross Value Add (GVA) to the UK economy in 2021. The same research showed that football, throughout the whole football pyramid and grassroots sport, as well as football’s indirect impact on the economy at large, generated £8.71 billion towards the total UK GVA in 2021.

In 2024-25, grassroots clubs in Oldham Borough received £1,902,056 of funding via the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme, which funds projects such as new artificial grass pitches, floodlights and clubhouses. No funding has been provided to AVRO FC.
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Damian Hinds:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the Government's ambition that every primary school should have a library, what funding will be available (a) for the staffing of the additional libraries, (b) for the provision of books and (c) to cover other costs. \p Stephanie Peacock: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has responsibility over the Dormant Assets Scheme.

Through the Scheme, £132.5 million has been allocated to increasing disadvantaged young people’s access to enrichment opportunities in the arts, culture, sports and wider youth services, aimed at improving wellbeing and employability over the long term. Funding for this initiative will come from the £132.5m.

The Government is working with The National Lottery Community Fund to co-design the programme and develop more of the specifics around its delivery. Further details will be announced in due course, including funding allocations.
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Sir Andrew Mitchell:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to promote (a) Sutton Coldfield (b) the West Midlands as destinations for British holidaymakers. \p Stephanie Peacock: DCMS recognises the contribution of the West Midlands, and the constituency of Sutton Coldfield, to the visitor economy. The region's attractions, from Sutton Park to the Black Country Living Museum, and its reputation in hosting major events, including the upcoming 2026 European Athletics Championships, all contribute to local job creation and economic growth.

Screen tourism is also a powerful driver of the West Midlands' visitor economy, with major global hits such as Peaky Blinders providing invaluable global marketing for the destinations. To tap in to screen tourism, and drive more inbound visits across Britain, VisitBritain launched a global screen tourism campaign ‘’Starring Great Britain’’ in January 2025. The campaign uses the country's rich film and television history as a hook to inspire visitors to explore diverse and often rural destinations. The launch was supported by a wider advertising campaign across the UK’s largest and most valuable inbound visitor markets including Australia, the Gulf Co-operation Council countries, France, Germany and the USA.

The West Midlands is also represented in the joint industry and Government-led Visitor Economy Advisory Council, through membership of the Mayor of the West Midlands Combined Authority and the Chief Executive of the West Midlands Growth Company. In this way the views of the West Midlands help to inform and shape Government policy and the forthcoming sector growth plan which will set out a long term plan to increase visitor flows across the UK, boost value, and deliver sustainable growth. I work closely with the Mayor of the West Midlands and recently met with them to discuss tourism.
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Gill Furniss:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what her planned timetable is for the primary school library rollout. \p Stephanie Peacock: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has responsibility for the Dormant Assets Scheme, which is providing funding to support the primary school library commitment, previously announced by the Chancellor.

Through the Scheme, £132.5 million has been allocated to increasing disadvantaged young people’s access to enrichment opportunities in the arts, culture, sports and wider youth services, aimed at improving wellbeing and employability over the long term. This includes a commitment to ensuring that every primary school in England has a library space by the end of this Parliament.

The Government is working with The National Lottery Community Fund to co-design the programme and develop more of the specifics around its delivery. Further details will be announced in due course, including expected timelines.
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Dame Caroline Dinenage:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent progress she has made on the introduction of the Deposit Return Scheme. \p Mary Creagh: The Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) for drinks containers will launch in October 2027 across England, Northern Ireland and Scotland. Earlier this year we appointed UK DMO as the deposit management organisation for the schemes in England, Northern Ireland and Scotland, and they are continuing to progress at pace with delivery of the scheme.
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Dame Caroline Dinenage:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to promote domestic recycling. \p Mary Creagh: The Simpler Recycling reforms will ensure that across England, people will be able to recycle the same materials, whether at home, work or school.  Every household and workplace (businesses and relevant non-domestic premises like schools and hospitals) across England will be able to recycle the same materials in the following core waste streams: metal, glass, plastic (including cartons), paper and card, food waste, and garden waste (for households only). These reforms begun from workplaces on 31 March 2025 (except for micro-firms with less than 10 FTE), will begin from households by 31 March 2026 and micro-firms by 31 March 2027.

These reforms will make recycling easier and ensure there is a comprehensive, consistent service across England. This will reduce confusion with recycling to improve recycling rates.

This will support our ambition to recycle 65% of municipal (household-like) waste by 2035, reducing emissions from landfill and waste incineration, decreasing reliance on virgin materials, and supporting the growth of the UK recycling industry.
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Shaun Davies:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to help increase skills in the agriculture, food and farming sectors. \p Dame Angela Eagle: The Government’s skills white paper sets out our ambition for an employer focussed skills employment system. This means equipping individuals with life and work skills, while ensuring businesses also invest in developing the current future workforce. The Farming Roadmap will set out how farming can evolve in response to changing markets, technologies, and environmental pressures, and how the Government will support this transition.
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Manuela Perteghella:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the potential impact of uncertainty about future rounds of the Landscape Recovery tier of Environmental Land Management schemes on farmers’ willingness to engage in long-term nature recovery projects. \p Dame Angela Eagle: The Government reconfirmed its commitment to Environmental Land Management (ELM) schemes in the Autumn 2024 Spending Review. More than £2.7 billion a year will be invested in sustainable farming and nature recovery from 2026/27 to 2028/29.

Defra wants Landscape Recovery to work for collaborative groups of farmers delivering ambitious nature recovery at the landscape scale. The Department is pleased the projects currently in the scheme involve over 1,000 land managers, many of which are farmers. As the first projects are entering the implementation phase, farmers are benefitting directly from engaging in long-term nature recovery projects.
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Joe Morris:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions her Department has had with relevant stakeholders on the proposed ban on trail hunting. \p Dame Angela Eagle: This Government is committed to enacting a ban on trail hunting in line with our manifesto commitment. Work to determine the best approach for doing so is ongoing and we will consult on how to deliver a ban in the new year. Stakeholder engagement will form an important element of the consultation process, and we will ensure everyone has the opportunity to give their views and present their evidence.
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Lewis Cocking:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of (a) illegal waste dumping and (b) fly-tipping on rural communities. \p Mary Creagh: While no recent assessment has been made, we appreciate the difficulty that illegal waste dumping and fly-tipping poses to rural communities. We work with a wide range of parties through the National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group, which involves the Environment Agency (EA) and National Farmers Union, to promote and disseminate good practice, including how to prevent fly-tipping on private land.

We are making policy and regulatory reforms to close loopholes exploited by criminals - fundamentally reforming the waste carriers, brokers and dealers system, tightening waste permit exemptions and introducing digital waste tracking. We have increased EA’s budget for waste crime enforcement by over 50% this year to £15.6m enabling the EA to increase its frontline criminal enforcement resource in the Joint Unit for Waste Crime and area environmental crime teams by the equivalent of 43 full-time staff.

We encourage local authorities to make good use of their enforcement powers which include prosecution. On conviction, a cost order can be made by the court so that a landowner’s costs can be recovered from the perpetrator. We are also reviewing local authority powers to seize and crush vehicles of fly-tippers, to identify how we could help councils make better use of this tool.
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Sir James Cleverly:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 27 June 2025 to Question 61182 on Litter: Codes of Practice, and with reference to paragraphs 78 and 79 of the Pride in Place strategy, published on 25 September 2025, whether her Department intends to respond to the consultation; and whether the proposed measures in the previous consultation to stop the abuse of litter fines for profit will now be implemented. \p Mary Creagh: The consultation on statutory littering enforcement guidance was carried out under the previous Government.

In the Pride in Place strategy, we have committed to publishing such guidance and intend do so early next year. Councils will remain responsible for their enforcement activity but will have a duty to have regard to the guidance once it comes into force.
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Manuela Perteghella:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what her planned timetable is for publication of the rapid review of the Environmental Improvement Plan. \p Mary Creagh: The Government concluded a rapid review of the existing Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP23) and published a statement of the rapid review’s key findings on 30 January 2025. It is our intention to publish a revised EIP in due course, which will be our long-term plan for improving the natural environment and people’s enjoyment of it.
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Charlotte Cane:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 4 November 2025 to Question 85516 on Marine Protected Areas: Bottom Trawling, when she plans to publish (a) the summary of that consultation and (b) her Department's response. \p Dame Angela Eagle: A consultation on the latest round of proposed fisheries byelaws, which proposes further restrictions on bottom trawling, closed on 29 September. The Marine Management Organisation is now carefully considering all responses received, and decisions will be made in due course.
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Manuela Perteghella:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that the Environmental Land Management Scheme Landscape Recovery tier continues beyond the current round. \p Dame Angela Eagle: The Government reconfirmed its commitment to Environmental Land Management (ELM) schemes in the Autumn 2024 Spending Review. More than £2.7 billion a year will be invested in sustainable farming and nature recovery from 2026/27 to 2028/29.

Landscape Recovery projects that were awarded funding in rounds 1 and 2 are continuing, with the first projects moving into the delivery phase earlier this year. Landscape Recovery is integral to the delivery of Defra’s statutory environmental targets.
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Sir James Cleverly:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 27 June 2025 to Question 61182 on Litter: Codes of Practice, whether guidance has been given to local authorities on issuing fines under the Section 33 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 for pouring liquids down a municipal drain. \p Mary Creagh: Guidance to councils on the use of their fixed penalty powers for littering and related offences is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/code-of-practice-on-litter-and-refuse.

The Government recently published a Pride in Place Strategy in which we committed to putting this guidance on a statutory footing and bringing forward equivalent enforcement guidance for fly-tipping. Fly-tipping is an offence under section 33 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
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Tim Farron:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to ensure farmers receive support for instances of flooding in winter 2025-26. \p Emma Hardy: To support rural communities and farmers, we:
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Wendy Morton:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the Extended producer responsibility scheme on inflation for consumers in the (a) food and (b) retail sectors. \p Mary Creagh: In autumn last year my department published an updated assessment of the impact of introducing the Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging (pEPR) scheme on packaging producers as a whole including impact on CPI inflation and impact on consumers weekly expenditure, when the regulations were laid in parliament.

We continue to work with businesses to ensure the scheme is implemented fairly and proportionately, supporting our shared aim of reducing packaging waste while limiting the impact on consumers.
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Lewis Atkinson:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of introducing method of production labelling to (a) the economy and (b) farm incomes. \p Dame Angela Eagle: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Manchester Rusholme, Afzal Khan, on 20 October 2025, PQ UIN 78472.
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Wendy Morton:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the impact of the extended producer responsibility scheme on (a) glass manufacturing and (b) the jobs it supports. \p Mary Creagh: In autumn last year my department published an updated assessment of the impact of introducing the Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging (pEPR) scheme on packaging producers as a whole when the regulations were laid in parliament. This does not include an assessment of the impact on specific materials or sectors however, my department has engaged extensively with the glass manufacturing sector to understand the impacts on them. This engagement will continue.
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Helen Maguire:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will set out a plan with (a) clear aims for stakeholders and (b) other steps to tackle issues facing chalk streams. \p Emma Hardy: Chalk streams are embedded in our plan to reform the water industry. The Government has announced an ambitious programme of reforms to clean up our rivers, lakes, and seas for good. Subject to consultation, we will abolish Ofwat and create a new, powerful, and integrated regulator, including a regional element to ensure greater local involvement in water planning and allow all sources of pollution to be addressed across the river catchment.

The Government is investing £1.8 million through the Water Restoration Fund and Water Environment Improvement Fund for locally-led chalk stream clean-up projects across affected regions. Through the Water Industry National Environment Programme (WINEP), over 1000 improvement projects are planned within chalk stream catchments between 2024-2029.

The Government recognises that catchment planning is a vital part of improving the water system. Local Catchment Partnerships are a well-established way to plan and deliver improvements to water quality, manage quantity and reduce flood risk. Following the IWC report and the Costa Beck Court of Appeal judgment, we are moving to a catchment-based model and developing a targeted, ground-up approach to review and identify new measures in a small number of catchments.
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Sarah Gibson:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent progress she has made on the introduction of the Deposit Return Scheme in 2027. \p Mary Creagh: The Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) for drinks containers will launch in October 2027 across England, Northern Ireland and Scotland. Earlier this year UK DMO were appointed as the deposit management organisation for the schemes in England, Northern Ireland and Scotland, and they are continuing to progress at pace with delivery of the scheme.

We recommend that interested parties email UK DMO at xxx@xxx.xx if there are specific queries or visit their website to register for news and updates from UK DMO themselves: https://ukdmo.co.uk. UK DMO have monthly newsletters with updates on DRS progress.
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Charlotte Cane:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 3 November to Question 85521 on Farmers: Mental Health and Productivity, for what reason the Department does not intend to undertake such research. \p Dame Angela Eagle: We undertake research where evidence does not exist to inform the policy decisions we take and our future research priorities will in part be guided by the Farming Roadmap when that is published next year. We know from working with farming charities that there are significant impacts from poor mental health in farming and have utilised their research, such as the Big Farming Survey, to understand the factors influencing mental health and resulting from, including productivity.
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Charlie Dewhirst:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of regenerative agriculture. \p Dame Angela Eagle: We have allocated a record £11.8 billion to sustainable farming and food production over this parliament. We are targeting public money where it delivers most value – supporting nature, because all farms need healthy soils, abundant pollinators, and clean water to produce good food.

This includes the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI). Many SFI actions follow the regenerative farming approach. This includes actions on soil health, integrated pest management, farmland wildlife, hedgerows, buffer strips, agroforestry, precision farming, grassland, and moorland. We will publish information on the next iteration of the scheme in due course.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-13)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-11-13 conversation_156

Martin Wrigley:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 3 November 2025 to Question 86440 on Deposit Return Schemes, if she will take steps to ensure the deposit return scheme allows (a) bottles and (b) other deposit items (i) purchased in the UK to be returned in other European countries and (ii) vice versa. \p Mary Creagh: Thank you for your interest in the Deposit Return Scheme (DRS). The objectives of DRS include boosting recycling levels, reducing littering, and offering greater opportunities to collect higher quality, uncontaminated materials in greater quantities.

In practical terms, DRS regulations allow UK Deposit Management Organisation (Ltd), who has been appointed to operate the scheme in England, Northern Ireland and Scotland, to work jointly and in cooperation with other scheme administrators, including those operating an overseas scheme.
wrans/answers2025-11-13 conversation_157
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-13)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-11-13 conversation_157

Adrian Ramsay:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will publish in full the (a) modelling and (b) assumptions underpinning her Department's £100 billion estimate of nationalising the water sector. \p Emma Hardy: Defra has estimated the cost of nationalising the water sector to be around £100 billion. We have published in full the assumptions and methodology informing our estimate here: Nationalising the water sector: how we assessed the cost - GOV.UK.
wrans/answers2025-11-13 conversation_158
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-13)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-11-13 conversation_158

Neil Duncan-Jordan:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has made an assessment of the effectiveness of Natural England’s Recovering Nature for Growth, Health and Security strategy. \p Mary Creagh: Natural England worked closely with Defra and other stakeholders in development of their new strategy entitled ‘Recovering Nature for Growth, Health and Security’, which has been shared and discussed with Ministers. The strategic outcomes and approaches described in the strategy align with Defra and Government priorities.
wrans/answers2025-11-13 conversation_159
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-13)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-11-13 conversation_159

Sarah Gibson:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will review the plastic waste export regime to help increase levels of domestic recycling. \p Mary Creagh: Defra is reviewing the role of plastic waste exports as part of the Government’s wider efforts to improve management of this waste. Our focus is on ensuring a level playing field for domestic recyclers whilst realising our environmental objectives, and any future action will aim to help drive investment in UK reprocessing infrastructure and promote domestic recycling.
wrans/answers2025-11-13 conversation_160
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-13)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-11-13 conversation_160

Damien Egan:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department has conducted a review of (a) the effectiveness of police enforcement of and (b) the level of compliance with the ban on live hunting under the Hunting Act 2004. \p Mary Creagh: Defra has not undertaken such reviews. The enforcement of the Hunting Act is an operational matter for the police. It is for individual Chief Constables to determine how their resources are deployed and it is for locally elected Police and Crime Commissioners to hold their forces to account.
wrans/answers2025-11-13 conversation_161
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-13)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-11-13 conversation_161

Mr Louie French:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 3 November 2025 to Question 85053 on the Animals (Low-Welfare Activities Abroad) Act 2023, if she will set out a timeline including milestones for the introduction of the regulations under the Animals (Low-Welfare Activities Abroad) Act 2023. \p Dame Angela Eagle: The Animals (Low Welfare Activities Abroad) Act 2023 provides a framework for the introduction of future bans on the advertising and offering for sale, in England and Northern Ireland, of low-welfare animal activities abroad.

We continue to engage with stakeholders including the tourism industry and animal welfare groups to explore both legislative and non-legislative options to stop the advertising of low-welfare animal activities abroad.
wrans/answers2025-11-13 conversation_162
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-13)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-11-13 conversation_162

Bobby Dean:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of Environment Agency investigations. \p Emma Hardy: Defra Ministers meet regularly with the Environment Agency’s investigations to discuss its performance and delivery of departmental priorities. This financial year we have introduced new performance indicators on the effectiveness and delivery of Environment Agency investigations.
wrans/answers2025-11-13 conversation_163
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-13)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-11-13 conversation_163

Mike Wood:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the UK–EU reset agreement on the (a) use and (b) sale of precision-bred (i) plants and (ii) animals. \p Dame Angela Eagle: We remain committed to moving forward with the Precision Breeding Act.

The EU has accepted there will need to be a number of areas where we need to retain our own rules. The details of these are now subject to negotiation, but we have been clear about the importance of being able to support the use of new and innovative technologies.
wrans/answers2025-11-13 conversation_164
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-13)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-11-13 conversation_164

Dr Al Pinkerton:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress her Department has made on negotiations for a Sanitary and Phytosanitary agreement with the EU. \p Dame Angela Eagle: On 19 May 2025, at the UK-EU Leaders' Summit, the UK and EU announced that we have agreed to work towards a common Sanitary and Phytosanitary Area.

We’re expecting to start negotiations later in the autumn, once the EU has confirmed its negotiating mandate.
wrans/answers2025-11-13 conversation_165
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-13)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-11-13 conversation_165

Callum Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how she plans to assess progress towards establishing the proposed UK–EU Sanitary and Phytosanitary zone under the Trade and Cooperation Agreement. \p Dame Angela Eagle: This autumn we expect to start the detailed negotiations on the SPS agreement, as well as the other commitments from our summit in May

Defra has established a programme to deliver the work required to implement a UK-EU SPS agreement. This is already part of the Government Major Projects Portfolio, with regular progress reporting into the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority.
wrans/answers2025-11-13 conversation_166
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-13)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-11-13 conversation_166

Anna Gelderd:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many at-sea boarding inspections of (a) UK and (b) EU flagged fishing vessels took place outside of six nautical miles in each year between 2015 and 2025. \p Dame Angela Eagle: As fisheries control and enforcement is a devolved matter, each Devolved Administration is responsible for conducting inspections on vessels in their respective waters. Although the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) does not routinely publish specifics on inspections, the MMO annual reports which are published on gov.uk provide certain figures, for example during 2023/24 financial year, 37% of inspections at sea were conducted on non-UK vessels and 63% conducted within the UK domestic fleet. Information on the number of inspections carried out by Scottish, Welsh or Northern Irish authorities in waters they are responsible for can be requested from the relevant devolved Government.
wrans/answers2025-11-13 conversation_167
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-13)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-11-13 conversation_167

Chris Hinchliff:To ask the Solicitor General, what steps she is taking to help ensure the effective prosecution of organised crime in North East Hertfordshire constituency. \p Ellie Reeves: The cost of organised crime is pervasive, whether this is impacting our economy or exploiting the vulnerable. This week the government has launched a crackdown on shops on our high streets, as part of Operation Machinize. These shops are fronts for serious organised crime, money laundering and illegal working, risking the future of the British High Street.

Law enforcement work closely with the Crown Prosecution Service to dismantle criminal networks across the UK including in Hertfordshire, and relentlessly pursue those who use dirty money for personal gain.
wrans/answers2025-11-13 conversation_168
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-13)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-11-13 conversation_168

Chris Bloore:To ask the Solicitor General, what steps she is taking to help ensure the effective prosecution of people smugglers. \p Ellie Reeves: People smuggling is a deplorable transnational crime, and anyone involved in this dangerous trade will face the full force of the law. The Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill is nearing Royal Assent and will give law enforcement agencies the toughest powers yet to take down criminal smuggling gangs

The Bill will introduce new offences to help tackle offending, such as criminalising the creation of material advertising unlawful immigration services online, the endangerment offence, and the power to seize electronic devices. It will also implement interim Serious Crime Prevention Orders to disrupt and deter organised crime, including people smuggling.

Due to the cross-border nature of these crimes, international collaboration remains essential to disrupt criminal supply chains and networks. This Government is working hard to fix the borders crisis, which is why we agreed a landmark deal with France, where we have returned migrants, as well as increasing international cooperation with Germany and other countries. In line with this, the CPS has increased cooperation with international partners to improve information sharing and evidence gathering for prosecutions.
wrans/answers2025-11-13 conversation_169
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-13)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-11-13 conversation_169

Lorraine Beavers:To ask the Solicitor General, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme. \p Ellie Reeves: The Unduly Lenient Sentence (ULS) scheme can deliver justice for the victims of some of the most serious crimes, including murder and rape.

During 2024, my office dealt with requests to review 831 sentences. So far during 2025, we have already exceeded that figure, receiving 846 requests. Of those, 102 cases have been considered by the Court of Appeal, and in 59% of those cases the sentence has been increased.

The ULS scheme continues to be effective by allowing the public to have a voice in the sentencing of offenders, and helping victims of the most abhorrent crimes to receive justice.
wrans/answers2025-11-13 conversation_170
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-13)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-11-13 conversation_170

Bell Ribeiro-Addy:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will list (a) Royal Navy and (b) Royal Fleet Auxiliary (i) expenditure and (ii) other commitments to international humanitarian aid and disaster relief operations in each year since 2015-16. \p Al Carns: It will take time to collate the information requested. To ensure I can be as accurate as possible, I will write to the hon. Member with the detail requested and a copy of the letter will be placed in the Library of the House.