theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Steve Witherden:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of requiring the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme to distinguish between people subjected to deliberate, non-consensual trials and other people. \p Nick Thomas-Symonds: The Infected Blood Inquiry Report highlights many ethical failings that happened as part of the Infected Blood Scandal. The impact of these ethical failings on infected people has been recognised in the compensation scheme's core autonomy award.

In his summer 2024 report Sir Robert Francis recommended that an additional autonomy award be made available specifically to infected people subjected to unethical research. The Government accepted this recommendation, which led to the development of the Unethical Research Practices award as part of the Compensation Scheme's supplementary route. The award focuses specifically on research that has failed to meet established ethical standards.

Specifically, the eligibility for the award is determined by the presence of documented unethical research. This includes a lack of informed consent, inadequate oversight, and other breaches of ethical obligations in research settings.

In December last year, the Government engaged with key representatives and organisations in the community on the particular eligibility criteria for the Unethical Research Practices Award. The Government was grateful for the submissions and feedback it received from key stakeholders and considered the evidence provided in each one carefully. The Regulations which became law on 31 March 2025, detailed, specifically the criteria and centres that will be covered as part of this award. The Government is able, through further secondary legislation, to add additional centres or studies to the list if new evidence is presented. The Government wants to ensure that those who were subject to unethical research are provided with the additional autonomy award.
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Blake Stephenson:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he has made an assessment of the contribution of the GREAT campaign to economic growth. \p Ellie Reeves: The GREAT Britain & Northern Ireland campaign remains an effective tool in driving economic growth and we will continue to work closely with partners to optimise the campaign’s resources to deliver growth across the UK as part of our Plan for Change.
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Steve Witherden:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many people will be eligible for compensation under the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme in (a) Montgomeryshire and Glyndwr constituency, (b) Wales and (c) the UK. \p Nick Thomas-Symonds: Due to the nature of the Infected Blood scandal there is uncertainty over the number of people who might be eligible for compensation. The final number of eligible people will ultimately depend on the number of victims who come forward. While there is no way of knowing exactly how many people were infected as a result of this scandal, the findings of the Statistical Expert Group, established by the Infected Blood Inquiry, has provided valuable insight into the numbers of infections from blood and blood products in the UK between 1970 and 1991. The central estimates approximately total 30,000, which includes both living and deceased victims. This information is not available on a constituency basis.
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Steve Witherden:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, on what evidential basis the level of compensation for people with (a) Hepatitis C and (b) haemophiliacs infected with HIV under the Infected Blood Compensation scheme was determined. \p Nick Thomas-Symonds: As recommended by the Inquiry, the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme has been designed as a tariff-based framework. The proposed tariffs were developed on the advice of the Infected Blood Inquiry Response Expert Group, which included clinical and legal advisors assisted by social care specialists. You can find more information about the work of the Infected Blood Inquiry Response Expert Group on gov.uk here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/infected-blood-inquiry-response-expert-group-summary-report
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Steve Witherden:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of recognising mono-HCV haemophiliacs as a separate cohort under the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme. \p Nick Thomas-Symonds: In March, Parliament approved the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme Regulations 2025, which established the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme in full and gave the Infected Blood Compensation Authority the powers it needs to begin making payments to all people eligible for compensation under the Scheme.

In line with the recommendations from the Infected Blood Inquiry’s second interim report and Sir Robert’s compensation framework study, the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme takes a tariff based approach to compensation based on infection severity bands. The Government sought advice on the infection severity bandings and consequent tariffs from the Infected Blood Inquiry Response Expert Group.

In regards to an additional award for haemophiliacs, the scope of the scheme’s supplementary route is in line with the recommendations Sir Robert Francis KC made to the Government in August 2024. The Government accepted Sir Robert’s recommendation that, with the exception of autonomy awards to victims of unethical research, supplementary route awards should only be available for care and financial loss.
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Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 25 March 2025 to Question 39591 on Crown Commercial Service and Government Property Agency: Equality, which diversity and inclusion (a) days and (b) weeks have been recognised by (i) Government Property Agency and (ii) the Crown Commercial Service since 4 July 2024. \p Georgia Gould: I refer the honourable member to the answer given on 2 April 2025 in response to question 41107.
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Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Spring Statement 2025 on 26 March 2025, whether changes have been made to the Government’s missions’ (a) metrics and (b) methodology. \p Ellie Reeves: The Plan for Change set out clear and transparent milestones, and our plan to achieve them. These milestones allow the public to track our progress and hold the government to account for their delivery. There have been no changes to these milestones since the publication of the Plan for Change.
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Alison Taylor:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he is encouraging employees in his Department's Scottish offices to attend in person. \p Ms Abena Oppong-Asare: The Government renewed its commitment to the 60% office attendance expectation on 24 October, emphasising the importance of collaboration through face-to-face interactions. This applies to all of the department's offices, including our offices in Glasgow and Edinburgh.
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Mike Wood:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 30 January 2025 to Question 25674 on Prime Minister: Senior Civil Servants, if he will publish the Principal Private Secretary candidate pack. \p Ms Abena Oppong-Asare: Between 13 November and 1 December 2024 the candidate pack for the Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister was published and available to download via the Civil Service Jobs website.
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Rupert Lowe:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department provides guidance to (a) Ministers and (b) officials on engagement with non-statutory inquiries. \p Nick Thomas-Symonds: The Cabinet Office provides advice and guidance to Ministers and officials on statutory and non statutory public inquiries.

In response to the House of Lords Statutory Inquiries Committee’s Report on “Public Inquiries: Enhancing Public Trust”, the Government has committed to publishing the Cabinet Office Public Inquiries Practitioners Handbook. We will publish this in due course.
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Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether allegations of bullying under paragraph 1.5 of the Ministerial Code are assessed by the impact of behaviour on individuals; whether an absence of awareness of any harm caused is a relevant factor in determining whether a breach has occurred; and whether the Government has a definition of bullying for the purposes of interpreting the Code. \p Ms Abena Oppong-Asare: I refer the Hon Member to PQ43119.
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Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what guidance his Department has issued on whether the requirement to record informal lobbying approaches applies to special advisers. \p Ms Abena Oppong-Asare: The expectations surrounding the conduct of special advisers are outlined in the Code of Conduct for Special Advisers. No additional guidance has been issued by the Department to special advisers concerning the requirement to record informal lobbying approaches.
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Mike Wood:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the written statement of 3 February 2025, HCWS408, on transparency data, if he will ensure that the gov.uk transparency data is published in accessible open data formats, including via public APIs. \p Ms Abena Oppong-Asare: Transparency data is published according to the standard and best practice guidance from the Government Digital Service and Central Digital and Data Office. Accessible open data formats are already used.
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Sir John Hayes:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the UK Statistics Authority has offered apprenticeships in each year since 2010. \p Georgia Gould: The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 7th March is attached.

Letter from the National Statistician (pdf, 145.7KB)
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Alison Taylor:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how his Department is supporting the (a) delivery and (b) expansion of apprenticeship programmes across Government departments. \p Georgia Gould: The Cabinet Office is committed to supporting the use of apprenticeships across all government departments to break down barriers to opportunity. This includes supporting the Government's commitment to 2,000 digital apprenticeships by 2030 to improve digital skills and drive improvements and efficiency in public services.
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Sir John Hayes:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many Whitehall civil service jobs were relocated outside London in each year since 2015. \p Georgia Gould: The Places for Growth Programme has been gathering data on relocation of Government roles from London since September 2021. Since then, latest published data shows 21,002 roles have been relocated from London. By year:

3,999 roles were relocated in 2021.

7,113 roles were relocated in 2022.

7,171 roles were relocated in 2023.

2,719 roles were relocated in Quarter 1 of 2024 (the latest published data).
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James Wild:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to reduce the (a) number and (b) administrative costs of arms length bodies. \p Georgia Gould: The Prime Minister has commissioned departments to assess all current and proposed arms length bodies against new principles to determine which should continue, close, merge, or have functions returned to departments. This is part of the government's mission to create a more productive and agile state, as demonstrated by NHS England's integration into the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC).

Additionally, the Chancellor has initiated Phase 2 of the Spending Review, which will zero-base all public spending, including ALBs. This involves a detailed evaluation to assess priorities and value for money for taxpayers. Departments and ALBs are tasked with identifying a minimum of 5% savings against their day-to-day spending, building on the previous 2% target.
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Mike Wood:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will list the monetary levels of the each of the special adviser pay bands. \p Ms Abena Oppong-Asare: Special adviser pay bands are published in the Annual Report on Special Advisers.

The most recent publication which includes the payband for the previous administration is availbale at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/674844e62ac8a6da3072393a/Annual_Report_on_Special_Advisers_2024.docx.pdf

The current special adviser paybands will be published as part of the 2025 annual report in the summer.
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Mike Wood:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 17 December 2024 to Question 18822 on Government Departments: Social Media, how much his Department has spent on social media advertising, by individual firm since 5 July 2024. \p Georgia Gould: Please see below Cabinet Office spend by social platform from 5 July 2024 to 8 April 2025:

Platform

Total Spend

Meta

£533,432.96

LinkedIn

£59,908.73

Snapchat

£62,535.42

Reddit

£840.75
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Mike Wood:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department has received recent representations from firms involved in transactions referred to his Department under the National Security and Investment Act since 5 July 2024. \p Ms Abena Oppong-Asare: Parties with an interest in acquisitions being reviewed under the National Security and Investment (NSI) Act 2021 can submit representations via the Investment Security Unit in the Cabinet Office.

Given potential commercial and security sensitivities, the Government will not generally comment on review of specific acquisitions under the NSI Act, including what, if any, representations have been received.
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Mike Wood:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the report entitled Security and Intelligence Agencies Financial Statement 2023-24, published on 2 December 2024, whether he has considered publishing the individual governance statements for the security and intelligence agencies. \p Ms Abena Oppong-Asare: As has been the policy of successive governments, the government does not comment on matters relating to the intelligence agencies. The Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament scrutinises the policies, expenditure, administration and operations of the intelligence agencies on behalf of Parliament.
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Mike Wood:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many times the Committee on the Grant of Honours, Decorations and Medals has met since 4 July 2024; and when those meetings occurred. \p Nick Thomas-Symonds: Since 4 July 2024, the Committee on the Grant of Honours, Decorations and Medals has met on two occasions - 1st August and 19th November.
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Mike Wood:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many Cabinet Office staff appointed by exception on a temporary basis were subsequently made full-time employees in the last 12 months for which figures are available. \p Georgia Gould: In the last 12 months, no Cabinet Office employees have been made permanent using Exception 10 (conversion to permanency of suitable candidates appointed under Exception 1 and 2) of the Civil Service Recruitment Principles.
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John Lamont:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what meetings his Department has had with members of the Scottish Fishermen's Federation on the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement. \p Nick Thomas-Symonds: I have met representatives of the Scottish Fishermen's Federation twice to discuss their interests in our fisheries relationship with the EU. The Scottish Fishermen's Federation is a member of the UK Domestic Advisory Group established under the Trade and Cooperation Agreement and Cabinet Office officials regularly engage with them in this capacity.
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John Glen:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he plans to reduce spending on (a) civil service communications staff, (b) external marketing and (c) external advertising. \p Georgia Gould: The Government regularly evaluates the effectiveness of all communication activities to ensure they are delivering and providing the best value for money for taxpayers. An example of this is the recent comprehensive communications Spending Review that delivered savings of £85 million in 2024-25 and up to £96 million in 2025-26.
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Mike Wood:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Public and Commercial Services Union's press notice entitled PCS demands Cabinet Office meeting over Gaza, published on 26 July 2024, what discussions his Department has had with PCS. \p Georgia Gould: The Cabinet Office regularly holds discussions with trade unions including the Public and Commercial Services Union. These discussions relate to Civil Service workforce matters. Information about Cabinet Office ministers' meetings are released quarterly on .gov.uk as part of the department’s transparency publications and can be found here.
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Mike Wood:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to his Department's guidance entitled Freedom of Information - FOI clearing house review, updated on 14 December 2023, when he plans to publish the guidance on cross-cutting themes that are specific to central government. \p Ms Abena Oppong-Asare: The Cabinet Office has published guidance on ‘Freedom of Information and the Role of Special Advisers’ and on ‘Communication by Spreadsheet’ on GOV.UK at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cabinet-office-and-freedom-of-information.
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Mike Wood:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department is taking to increase funding for security vetting. \p Ms Abena Oppong-Asare: United Kingdom Security Vetting (UKSV) is funded by its customers (government departments, the police, industry) through a burden-sharing model. Funding is agreed with customers on an annual basis, and in parallel with Cabinet Office business planning.

In line with the practice followed by successive administrations, the Government does not otherwise comment on security matters.
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Mike Wood:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 21 October 2024 to Question 6074 on Special advisers, whether his Department has set a maximum cap on the number of special advisers who can be appointed. \p Ms Abena Oppong-Asare: In line with the Ministerial Code, Cabinet Ministers and, with the authorisation of the Prime Minister, Ministers who regularly attend Cabinet, may appoint special advisers. All special adviser appointments require approval of the Prime Minister.
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Dr Al Pinkerton:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of establishing a UK-wide Future Generations Commissioner to promote (a) long-term policy planning and (b) intergenerational fairness across Government departments. \p Ellie Reeves: All children should have every opportunity to succeed, no matter who they are, where they’re from, or how much their parents earn. The Opportunity Mission will give the next generation the best start in life, help them achieve and thrive in excellent schools, and build skills for opportunity and growth. The mission has taken a number of steps to help ensure every child has the opportunity to succeed. These include expanding government-funded childcare, allocating £1.4bn to rebuild our schools, launching the curriculum review, announcing the creation of Foundation Apprenticeships and launching the first round of funding for 300 school-based nurseries. The government has also set-up a Ministerial Taskforce on Child Poverty, bringing in academia, local government and other sectors to develop a joint strategy on child poverty. There has been no specific assessment by the Cabinet Office of establishing a UK-wide Future Generations Commissioner.
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Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will take steps to undertake an audit of whether other Government departments are meeting the publication requirements outlined in the then Prime Minister's letter entitled Government transparency and open data, published on 14 December 2017. \p Ms Abena Oppong-Asare: I refer the honourable member to my response to PQ 30681.
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Charlie Dewhirst:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many standalone equality, diversity and inclusion roles are employed by (a) his Department and (b) the Office for Equality and Opportunity. \p Georgia Gould: There are 6 full-time equivalents working in standalone EDI roles. These sit in HR teams across the different Cabinet Office functions and the central HR team in line with the EDI Expenditure guidance published in May 2024, delivering statutory obligations and government priorities. In May 2024, the Cabinet Office had 7 full time equivalent working in standalone EDI roles.

The Office for Equality and Opportunity is responsible for external government policy on equality. It does not have any internal roles focused on equality, diversity, and inclusion.
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Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 16 October 2024 to Question 7760 on Marian Mazzucato, whether she is an adviser to the Government in any other capacity. \p Ms Abena Oppong-Asare: Ministers regularly liaise with a wide range of stakeholders. Mariana Mazzucato is not employed within government as a special adviser. Nor does she hold a position in a role as a regulated public appointee.
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Mary Kelly Foy:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to improve visa requirements for UK citizens with homes in both the UK and in a country in the Schengen Area. \p Nick Thomas-Symonds: The UK and the EU allow for visa-free short-term travel in line with their respective arrangements for third country nationals. The UK allows EU citizens short-term visa-free travel for up to six months. Meanwhile, the EU allows for travel within the Schengen Area for up to 90 days in any rolling 180-day period; this is standard for third countries travelling visa-free to the EU. Applications for visas to visit or stay for longer periods of time would be processed according to the rules of individual Member States. The UK Government will continue to listen to and advocate for UK nationals.
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Charlie Dewhirst:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the name is of the division of the Cabinet Office formerly known as the clearing house. \p Ms Abena Oppong-Asare: Matters relating to the Freedom of Information Act 2000 sit with the Freedom of Information Policy Team in the Cabinet Office.

Further information about the role Cabinet Office plays in ensuring compliance with the Freedom of Information Act across government is published here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cabinet-office-and-freedom-of-information
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Pippa Heylings:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will bring forward legislation to end retail sales of horticultural peat. \p Mary Creagh: This is a devolved matter and the information provided therefore relates to England only. Defra is committed to protecting our nature-rich habitats, including peat bogs, and is looking at next steps regarding measures to ban horticultural peat. The Department will continue to work alongside the horticultural sector to accelerate progress on the peat free transition.
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Paula Barker:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many meetings he has had with representatives of (a) small and medium-sized enterprises, (b) large food manufacturers and (c) public health organisations on the composition of the Industry Expert Panel for the National Food Strategy in the last six months. \p Daniel Zeichner: Members of the Food Strategy Advisory Board were selected through identifying senior leaders who represent important elements within the food system and reflect the diversity of the sector.
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Lisa Smart:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make it her policy to (a) exempt and (b) reduce Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) fees to packaging waste managed through private waste contracts in the hospitality sector. \p Mary Creagh: Since Autumn 2024, the Government has been working with stakeholders, including representatives of the hospitality sector, to consider potential amendments to the definition of household packaging. We are continuing to engage with sectors on a way forward and we are planning next steps as a priority.
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Mr Toby Perkins:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of the proportion of product liable for extended producer responsibility that will be sold to the on trade. \p Mary Creagh: Since Autumn 2024, the Government has been working with stakeholders, including representatives of the hospitality sector, to consider potential amendments to the definition of household packaging. We are planning next steps as a priority and will share more information soon.
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Lisa Smart:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) fee structure accurately reflects the environmental performance of (a) the brewing sector, (b) the hospitality sector and (c) other sectors which operate closed-loop recycling systems. \p Mary Creagh: The Government has worked closely with industry, including the brewing and hospitality sectors, throughout development of Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging (pEPR). This is a major reform that will be iterated over several years to incentivise packaging producers to reduce their material footprint and use more sustainable packaging.

We are considering further improvements to the scheme, including how to treat businesses which run closed loop recycling systems for packaging that is commonly collected by Local Authorities, and my officials are reviewing options to bring forward an offset for closed loop recycling systems at the earliest opportunity.
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Luke Taylor:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will have discussions with the Circular Economy Taskforce on supporting a green economy. \p Mary Creagh: The Circular Economy Taskforce was convened to help the government develop a Circular Economy Strategy for England, including a series of roadmaps detailing the interventions that the government and others will make on a sector-by-sector basis. The outputs will aim to support economic growth, deliver green jobs, promote efficient and productive use of resources, minimise negative environmental impacts and accelerate to Net Zero.

As outlined in the Secretary of State’s recent speech, transitioning to a Circular Economy is our chance to improve lives up and down the country, to grow our economy, and to protect our environment for generations to come. To support this transition, the Circular Economy Taskforce will start with five sectors: agrifood, built environment, chemicals and plastics; textiles and transport.

The Taskforce has already begun extensive engagement with industry leaders, trade associations, and other key stakeholders to ensure that the Strategy reflects the needs and insights of all involved.
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Navendu Mishra:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has plans to introduce representation of independent (a) environmental experts and (b) clinicians on the Food Strategy Advisory Board. \p Daniel Zeichner: A range of representatives from the food sector and NGOs were invited to sit on the Food Strategy Advisory Board. We kept it deliberately small, whilst reflecting the scope of the food supply chain.

The Board represents the first step in a wider stakeholder engagement strategy which will continue to ensure and demonstrate the joined-up and systems-wide approach for the food strategy. There is huge expertise, energy and commitment to work towards better food system outcomes, and all stakeholders need to be part of the solution. There will be multiple routes to share ideas as part of the co-design process in 2025 – we say more on this soon.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-22)

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Pippa Heylings:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to meet climate change adaptation commitments. \p Emma Hardy: Defra is the lead department for domestic adaptation to climate change, and as such it is responsible for coordinating requirements set out in the UK Climate Change Act 2008. Defra is the owning department for about half of the 61 risks and opportunities identified in the third Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA3) and works closely with the eleven other departments which own the remaining risks.

We are in the process of delivering the third National Adaptation Programme which was published in 2023 and covers how Government will meet the challenges posed by climate change to key sectors including infrastructure, natural environment, health, communities the built environment, business and industry.

We are committed to strengthening the nation’s resilience including by taking steps which:

The department is also exploring how to set out stronger objectives to drive action to increase our preparedness for the impacts of climate change up to and beyond the next National Adaptation Programme in 2028.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-22)

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Brian Mathew:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of a holistic approach to tackling carbon emissions. \p Emma Hardy: While DESNZ leads across Government on net zero, Defra is responsible for reducing emissions from agriculture, land use (including peat), F-gases and waste (including wastewater), whilst simultaneously increasing England's carbon saving potential through our forestry policies.

Defra already takes a holistic approach to tackling carbon emissions, aligning emissions reduction with nature recovery and economic growth.

Without nature’s recovery we can’t achieve our ambitions to drive down emissions, and that is why we are charting a new course to save nature, achieve net zero and grow our economy.

We are working at pace to help farmers transition to greener practices, establish a taskforce to plant millions of trees to help remove carbon from the air and move towards a circular economy to reduce our demand for raw materials that destroy the environment.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-22)

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Perran Moon:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that (a) polluted and (b) unsafe (i) beaches and (ii) bathing areas have signage to alert the public. \p Emma Hardy: At designated bathing water sites in their area, local authorities have a statutory duty to display information on a static sign about water quality and pollution sources, and to display advisory notices during pollution incidents. The information on the signage required by the Bathing Water Regulations 2013, consists of: the current classification symbol, with the “advice against bathing” symbol if the bathing water quality classification is Poor; a general description of the bathing water, based on the Environment Agency profile; and the address of a website where more detailed information can be found.

If the bathing water is subject to short-term pollution, the notice includes this information, and the number of pollution risk forecasts made during the preceding bathing season.

Other signage regarding safety and pollution is a matter for the relevant local authority.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-22)

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Perran Moon:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to (a) expedite payments and (b) improve the payment structure of the Rural Payments Agency. \p Daniel Zeichner: The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) understands the importance of cashflow for farmers and rural businesses and has in recent years made more payments for the schemes they administer, earlier in the payment window. The agency has also taken steps to improve the flow of payments. This includes making Delinked payments from August in 2024, compared to historically Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) payments from December, earlier partial payments on Countryside Stewardship, and moving to a quarterly payments structure for the Sustainable Farming Incentive. Schemes will continue to be administered with payment frequency in mind.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-22)

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Wendy Morton:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of requiring the person responsible for fly-tipping, rather than the landowner, to bear the costs of clean-up. \p Mary Creagh: Where fly-tippers are prosecuted, upon conviction a cost order can already be made by the court so that a landowner’s costs can be recovered from the perpetrator. Local councils can also issue fixed penalty notices of up to £1000 to those who fly-tip, the income from which they must spend on clean up or enforcement. We are seeking powers in the Crime and Policing Bill to issue statutory enforcement guidance to help councils make full and proper use of their powers.

We have also committed to forcing fly-tippers and vandals to clean up the mess that they have created as part of a crackdown on anti-social behaviour. We will provide further details on this commitment in due course.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-22)

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Wendy Morton:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs,  if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of adding penalty points to the driver’s licences of people convicted of (a) fly-tipping and (b) littering from a vehicle. \p Mary Creagh: Local authorities already have powers to stop, search and seize vehicles of suspected fly-tippers. We will consider the benefits of allowing penalty points to be added to the driving licence of people convicted of fly-tipping in due course.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-22)

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Perran Moon:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help improve data in the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment system. \p Mary Creagh: The Waste Electronics and Electrical Equipment regulations make producers responsible for the electrical products they place on the market when they become waste. Data is collected on the tonnage of electrical products every producer sells within the UK and the tonnage of waste that they recycle appropriately to ensure they are meeting the requirements of the regulations. Defra is also updating the WEEE Regs to create a separate reporting category for vapes, so vape manufacturers pick up their fair share of recycling costs.

We have convened a Circular Economy Taskforce to help us develop a Circular Economy Strategy for England. The Strategy will be supported by a series of roadmaps detailing the interventions that the government will make on a sector-by-sector basis, supporting government’s Missions to kickstart economic growth and make Britain a clean energy superpower. We are considering the evidence for sector-specific interventions right across the economy, including in electronic waste, as we develop our Strategy.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-22)

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Andrew Rosindell:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to support the expansion of electric vehicle charging infrastructure in (a) London and (b) Romford constituency. \p Lilian Greenwood: The Government is committed to accelerating the roll-out of affordable charging infrastructure so that everyone, no matter where they live or work, can make the transition to an electric vehicle (EV). As of April 2025, the Government and industry have supported the installation of 76,507 publicly available charging devices, up 28% on this time last year.

London, which includes Romford constituency, was allocated over £41m capital and resource funding through the Local EV Infrastructure (LEVI) Fund to increase the number of local public chargepoints across the area. The £381m LEVI Fund will support the installation of at least 100,000 on-street chargepoints across the country.

As of 1 January 2025, there were 22,200 public electric vehicle charging devices in London, 1,341 of which had a power rating of 50kW or above. 48 of these devices were in the constituency of Romford, of which 33 had a power rating of 50kW or above.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-22)

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Victoria Collins:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department plans to raise the retirement age for commercial pilots. \p Mike Kane: Age limits for commercial pilots are set out by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) in standards and recommended practices, which the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) apply. These are under review by ICAO and the CAA remain engaged with them on reviewing the evidence base for future changes to age limits and making progress in this area when we can safely do so.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-22)

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James Naish:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she plans to bring forward regulations to require all road cyclists to wear an approved safety helmet. \p Lilian Greenwood: The Highway Code recommends that cyclists should wear helmets. The Government encourages cyclists, particularly children, to do so, but has no plans to make this a legal requirement. The safety benefits of mandating helmets would be likely to be outweighed by the fact that it would put some people off cycling, thereby reducing the wider health and environmental benefits.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-22)

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Mark Sewards:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department plans to make it an offence for non-electric vehicles to park in an electric vehicle charging space. \p Lilian Greenwood: Parking enforcement on local highways is a local authority matter. Local authorities can use traffic regulation orders to designate and enforce electric vehicle (EV) only bays. For private land, enforcement falls to the landowner.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-22)

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Graham Leadbitter:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will publish the carbon assessment for the Zero Emission Vehicle Mandate. \p Lilian Greenwood: The ZEV Mandate remains the Government’s largest single carbon saving measure. The carbon impacts of the ZEV mandate were summarised within the cost benefit analysis published alongside the original legislation.

On 7 April 2025, the Government announced policy changes to the ZEV Mandate to further support the UK’s automotive industry. The policy changes are expected to have a minor carbon impact when compared to the savings delivered by the ZEV Mandate as a whole. We estimate a 1% decrease (-4.2 Mt CO2) in CO2 savings from the original ZEV mandate (420 Mt CO2) across 2024 to 2050. A breakdown of this carbon analysis has been published alongside the government response.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-22)

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Rebecca Paul:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to ensure that (a) Kingswood and (b) other villages benefit from a local bus service. \p Simon Lightwood: The Government introduced the Bus Services (No.2) Bill on 17 December as part of its ambitious plan for bus reform. The Bill puts the power over local bus services back in the hands of local leaders and is intended to ensure bus services reflect the needs of the communities that rely on them, including in Kingswood and villages right across England.

In addition, the Government has confirmed £955 million for the 2025 to 2026 financial year to support and improve bus services in England outside London. This includes £243 million for bus operators and £712 million allocated to local authorities across the country. Surrey County Council has been allocated over £12 million of this funding. Local authorities can use this funding to introduce new bus routes, make services more frequent and protect crucial bus routes for local communities.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-22)

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Bell Ribeiro-Addy:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will hold discussions with British Airways on the frequency of flights between the UK and Ghana. \p Mike Kane: DfT officials hold regular discussions with airlines, airports and international partners, including Ghana, to facilitate global connectivity. Routes operated, the frequency and management of those routes, are commercial decisions made freely by airlines as an independent business. As these are commercial decisions, the DfT has not had any discussions with British Airways on the frequency of its UK-Ghana route. The recently updated UK- Ghana Air Services Agreement allows for additional direct flights to operate between the UK and Ghana to be operated by an interested and designated UK or Ghanaian airline.