Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure that local nature recovery strategies have sufficient weight in planning given their plans to tackle "blockers".

Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

Local Nature Recovery Strategies (LNRS) are intended to support local planning authorities in preparing local plans that conserve and enhance biodiversity and the natural environment. Local planning authorities have a legal duty to have regard to the relevant strategy for their area.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact on people with disabilities of the plans of South Eastern Trains to cut ticket office hours by an estimated 555 hours each week across 14 stations, according to the Association of British Commuters.

Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)

Ensuring accessibility for all passengers is at the heart of our passenger-focussed approach. Southeastern Trains (SET) is seeking to implement changes to ticket office opening hours at 14 of its stations. We are aware that SET’s proposals include mitigations to ensure staff would continue to be available to support passengers.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government what actions they will take, if any, in response to a campaign launched on 3 April called 'Ban Hatch & Dispatch' by the Vegetarian Society calling on the Government to ban the practice of male chick culling in the United Kingdom.

Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The legislation sets out strict requirements to protect the welfare of animals at the time of killing, including male chicks from the egg production sector.

Permitted killing methods for chicks, such as gas stunning and maceration, are based on scientific research and assessment to ensure birds are spared any avoidable pain, distress, or suffering. All laying hen hatcheries in the UK use argon gas mixtures as their stunning method.

We are firmly committed to maintaining and improving animal welfare and want to work closely with the farming sector to deliver high standards. In recent years there has been rapid global progress in the development of technologies that allow chicks to be sexed in-ovo (within the egg). We welcome the UK egg industry investing in the development of day zero sexing technology.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to ensure that additional railway station staff are employed to help people with disabilities negotiate barriers to travelling on public transport following their proposed cuts to personal independence payments.

Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)

Providing assistance for passengers who require it is crucial. Under license conditions and as part of their Accessible Travel Policy (ATP), operators must participate in the Passenger Assist scheme. This scheme is designed to help disabled passengers and those with additional needs to use the rail network with confidence and in safety. More broadly, rail operators are responsible for ensuring staff are available to deliver this assistance.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report published by the Association of British Commuters on 7 March which found that Great Western Rail cut ticket office staffing by 344 hours each week across 39 stations between 2022 and 2024.

Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)

Any changes to ticket office opening hours in relation to regulated stations covered by Schedule 17 of the Ticketing and Settlement Agreement must be made following the Ticketing and Settlement Agreement process and Secretary of State guidance. Ticket office changes made by Great Western Railway in 2022 followed that process and guidance.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Hayman of Ullock on 11 March (HL5254), how they will maximise or monitor the success of 'blue economy' policies without baseline data.

Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Defra invests in data collection, analysis and research every year to improve our understanding of the marine environment, provide evidence for policy decision making and improve our understanding of policy and economic performance over time. For example, over the last three years the £38 million marine Natural Capital and Ecosystem Assessment programme collected evidence on the location, extent and condition of our marine and coastal natural capital assets in England. Alongside this, Defra evaluates the impact and value for money of programmes and policies in line with central Government guidance on conducting effective evaluations and evaluation results are published on the Government Evaluation Registry.

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