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

To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they held with domestic animal producers before the animal welfare strategy for England was published.

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

The Animal Welfare Strategy was developed in conjunction with key stakeholders including representatives of the companion, wild companion, wild animal and farming sectors along with Non-Governmental Organisations, and those involved in enforcement. Defra held roundtable discussions on priorities whilst working to understand the underlying issues that lead to poor welfare. Defra also received input from a wide range of other interested parties.

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

To ask His Majesty's Government whether imports of lamb from New Zealand and other countries meet animal welfare standards required of domestic producers.

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

I refer the Noble Baroness to the reply given on 25 February 2026 to Question UIN HL14606.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they plan to take to improve pedestrian safety on pavements and zebra crossings, and to ensure that cyclists and riders of e-bikes and e-scooters respect traffic rules.

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

The Government recognises that it is essential that everyone using our roads is kept safe, including pedestrians. On 7 January 2026 we published our new Road Safety Strategy, setting out our vision for a safer future on our roads for all.

Local authorities are responsible for managing their roads, and have statutory duties placed on them to ensure safe movement for all road users, including pedestrians. The Department for Transport provides good practice guidance to support them in this on the design of the street environment and on the provision of zebra crossings. The Department has long advocated street design that puts consideration of the needs of people walking first, through the Manual for Streets.

Cycling on pavements, including the use of e-cycles, is already an offence and is enforceable by the police. E‑scooters are not legal for use on pavements or roads except as part of Government‑approved rental trials, where operators must promote responsible use.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many injuries and deaths caused by e-scooters and e-bikes there have been in each of the past three years.

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

The information requested is not held.

Data on deaths and injuries in reported road collisions is based on information reported to the Department by police forces in Great Britain via the system known as STATS19.

STATS19 does not distinguish between e-bikes, which will be included within the pedal cycle or electric motorcycle categories depending on their power rating. Additionally, STATS19 does not assign blame to any of the participants in collisions, so that it is not possible to provide figures on injuries or deaths caused by any mode of transport.

The number of deaths and injuries in collisions involving e-scooters and pedal cycles is shown in the table, for the three most recent years for which figures are available. In most cases, the casualties was the rider of the e-scooter or the pedal cyclist themselves.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many casualties and deaths have been caused by e-scooters, bikes and pedal bikes in each of the past three years.

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

The information requested is not held.

Data on deaths and injuries in reported road collisions is based on information reported to the Department by police forces in Great Britain via the system known as STATS19.

STATS19 does not distinguish between e-bikes, which will be included within the pedal cycle or electric motorcycle categories depending on their power rating. Additionally, STATS19 does not assign blame to any of the participants in collisions, so that it is not possible to provide figures on injuries or deaths caused by any mode of transport.

The number of deaths and injuries in collisions involving e-scooters and pedal cycles is shown in the table, for the three most recent years for which figures are available. In most cases, the casualties was the rider of the e-scooter or the pedal cyclist themselves.

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

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to make fire and rescue services statutory consultees on all planning applications for battery energy storage facilities.

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

On 26 January 2025, government introduced a moratorium on new statutory consultees within the TCPA planning system. This announcement is available on gov.uk here (attached).

On 18 November 2025, my Department published a consultation on reforms to the TCPA statutory consultee system, which asked for views on a proposed criteria for new statutory consultees and if the government should review the moratorium periodically to ensure it remains appropriate. This consultation closed on 13 January 2026 and can be found on gov.uk here (attached). No decision will be taken forward until responses to the consultation have been fully analysed and considered.

Planning Practice Guidance on the planning application process for battery energy storage systems includes guidance on engagement and consultation with relevant fire and rescue services as part of that process.

This guidance is available on gov.uk here (attached).

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to give traffic wardens powers to impose fines and penalties and the ability to confiscate illegally used and operated e-scooters and e-bikes while they are parked.

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

The Government has committed to pursuing legislative reform for micromobility vehicles, which is likely to include e-scooters, when parliamentary time allows. Any regulations will be publicly consulted on before they come into force.

Local authorities employ civil enforcement officers and already have the powers in some circumstances to remove and dispose of abandoned, obstructively or dangerously parked e-scooters and e-cycles.

The police have responsibility for enforcement of illegal use, and the Crime and Policing Bill introduced in 2026 will give the police stronger powers to stop and seize vehicles being used illegally without issuing a warning.

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

To ask His Majesty's Government what is the annual farming budget for (1) 2025–26, and (2) 2026–27; and how the spending is broken down for each year.

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

The Government has allocated a record £11.8 billion to sustainable farming and food production over this parliament. On 12 March 2025 we set out how we planned to spend the budget [see attached] (£5 billion) across the 2024/25 and 2025/26 financial years.

On 16 June 2026, following the 2025 Spending Review, we set out indicative funding figures [see attached] for the 2026-27 to 2028-29 financial years, including plans to increase the amount of money paid to farmers under Environmental Land Management schemes from £800m in 2023/24 towards £2bn by 2028/29.

Please note final allocations will be agreed through business planning.

In line with its obligations under the Agriculture Act 2020, Defra regularly publishes an annual report, setting out commitments in the previous financial year, including Farming and Countryside Programme spend broken down by each scheme. The latest report covers the financial year 2024/25, and can be accessed here: Farming and Countryside Programme annual report [see attached].

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Lord Whitehead on Thursday 26 February (HL Deb col 742), what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of the protocol to surround a fire with safety measures and allow it to burn out in controlling and extinguishing fires and thermal runaways caused by battery energy storage facilities.

Answered by Lord Whitehead - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

It is the responsibility of fire and rescue services to determine an appropriate firefighting strategy in the event of a battery thermal runaway event. The National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) has published guidance for local fire and rescue services on grid-scale batteries, to enable effective operational pre-planning.

Government has confidence in the NFCC and local fire and rescue services being best placed to make these assessments.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask His Majesty's Government what is the procedure by which fire and rescue services are consulted at the planning stages of battery energy storage facilities to advise on site design, minimising fire risk and emergency response planning.

Answered by Lord Whitehead - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

As set out in the Planning Practice Guidance, government recommends that developers of battery storage facilities engage with fire and rescue services ahead of the submission of the relevant planning application. This is so that issues relating to the siting of the development can be considered ahead of planning.

The guidance also recommends that local planning authorities consult with fire services as part of the formal period of public consultation prior to reaching a planning determination, as well as considering guidance published by the National Fire Chiefs Council.