Asked by: Baroness Redfern (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government how they intend to strengthen domestic supply chains for steel to support the delivery of the Defence Industrial Strategy.
Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
This Government is committed to creating the right conditions in the UK for a competitive and sustainable steel industry. The sector provides vital support to the UK’s defence capabilities, including specialist cast and forged steel components for a range of defence programmes. The department publishes its future pipeline for steel requirements, enabling UK steel manufacturers to better plan and bid for upcoming contracts.
The National Security Strategy, Strategic Defence Review, and Defence Industrial Strategy set out how a strong industrial base is critical for maintaining our national security infrastructure. While steel used in our major Defence programmes is generally sourced by our prime contractors from a range of UK and international suppliers, Ministry of Defence (MOD) procurement activity will continue to apply PPN 022, a policy aimed at increasing the use of British-produced steel in public contracts. The MOD also supports the recently published UK Steel Strategy which sets out a long-term plan to revitalise the UK steel sector and restore domestic production to sustainable levels.
Asked by: Baroness Redfern (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they intend to take to strengthen regulation of waste carriers and brokers, and to encourage intelligence-sharing and enforcement coordination between relevant regulators.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government has recently laid legislation that will replace the light-touch waste carriers, brokers and dealers registration system with a new waste controllers and transporters system under the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016. This new regime will mean that operators will need to undergo stricter background checks and demonstrate technical competence to be granted a permit.
The Joint Unit for Waste Crime brings together law enforcement partners to tackle serious and organised waste crime and has already developed an enhanced intelligence sharing approach to enable this. Under the Waste Crime Action Plan, Defra is working closely with the National Police Chiefs’ Council and the Home Office to undertake a review of the end-to-end multi-agency response to waste crime, including areas such as information sharing. The review will identify opportunities to strengthen how agencies work together and will aim to strengthen existing intelligence sharing structures.
Asked by: Baroness Redfern (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they intend to take to establish a single reporting route for all waste crime incidents in order to enable a national dataset of related information.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The EA has commissioned a waste crime reporting Crimestoppers campaign which launched on 20 May 2026 and is set to finish in July/August. This radio and social media campaign aims to increase public awareness, understanding, and reporting of waste crime. The Crimestoppers campaign is featured on the Environment Agency website, and any communications on social media are amplified by Defra. The public should report any information regarding individuals or organised networks anonymously by visiting the Crimestoppers Illegal Waste Dumping page or by calling their 24/7 hotline at 0800 555 111.
Asked by: Baroness Redfern (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to end recruitment freezes in radiology and cancer centres in order to meet cancer diagnostic and treatment referral targets.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to the National Health Service meeting all cancer waiting time standards by the end of this Parliament. NHS England continues to work towards its March 2027 cancer performance ambitions, including improvements in diagnostic and treatment waiting times.
Recruitment decisions are matters for individual NHS trusts, which are responsible for ensuring they have the workforce required to deliver safe and effective services.
The Government continues to support workforce growth across cancer services and there were more clinical oncology and radiology doctors working in NHS England in April 2026 than in April 2025.
Asked by: Baroness Redfern (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of recruitment freezes in cancer centres on the likelihood of the NHS achieving its targets for 62-day cancer referrals in the NHS Medium Term Planning Framework.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to the National Health Service meeting all cancer waiting time standards by the end of this Parliament. NHS England continues to work towards its March 2027 cancer performance ambitions, including improvements in diagnostic and treatment waiting times.
Recruitment decisions are matters for individual NHS trusts, which are responsible for ensuring they have the workforce required to deliver safe and effective services.
The Government continues to support workforce growth across cancer services and there were more clinical oncology and radiology doctors working in NHS England in April 2026 than in April 2025.
Asked by: Baroness Redfern (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of recruitment freezes in radiology on the likelihood of the NHS achieving its targets for cancer diagnostic test waiting periods in the NHS Medium Term Planning Framework.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to the National Health Service meeting all cancer waiting time standards by the end of this Parliament. NHS England continues to work towards its March 2027 cancer performance ambitions, including improvements in diagnostic and treatment waiting times.
Recruitment decisions are matters for individual NHS trusts, which are responsible for ensuring they have the workforce required to deliver safe and effective services.
The Government continues to support workforce growth across cancer services and there were more clinical oncology and radiology doctors working in NHS England in April 2026 than in April 2025.
Asked by: Baroness Redfern (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to improve the transparency and accessibility of procurement processes to improve responsive procurement of local and seasonal food.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra is currently undertaking research across the public sector to improve understanding of current procurement practices, including local and sustainable sourcing. The research is expected to conclude in summer 2027 and its findings will inform future policy development. Further, Government has already published a new national procurement policy statement, which sets expectations for government contracts to favour products certified to high environmental standards that British producers are well-placed to meet.
Asked by: Baroness Redfern (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to updating data collection and reporting across public sector food contracts, including clear reporting of country of origin, to assist British farmers to benefit from public sector contracts.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We do not currently have access to sufficient data on the proportion of UK-produced food that is purchased across the public sector to produce reliable sector-specific estimates. However, we are carrying out further research to improve the quality, coverage, and understanding of this data and expect to conclude in summer 2027. The findings will inform future policy development, including how we might improve data collection and monitoring arrangements for public sector food procurement, increasing transparency and supporting opportunities for British farmers to benefit from public sector contracts.
Asked by: Baroness Redfern (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking, as part of the development and delivery of the Seventh Carbon Budget, to ensure UK industry remains internationally competitive.
Answered by Lord Whitehead
The Government is committed to supporting UK industry to decarbonise while ensuring that this does not mean deindustrialisation.
Last year, the government set out the UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy, which will drive forward ambition for UK business operating in the clean energy space. Clean energy is one of our fastest growing sectors, bringing jobs in areas like nuclear, offshore wind, and electricity networks.
Free allowances in the UK Emission Trading Scheme and the forthcoming UK Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism protect UK industry from being undercut as it decarbonises. In addition, this year, 500 of our most energy intensive businesses will see a cut to their bills, with thousands more getting discounts in 2027.
A cross-economy delivery plan setting out how Carbon Budget 7 will be met will be published as soon as is reasonably practicable, in line with the Climate Change Act 2008.
Asked by: Baroness Redfern (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to implementing a flexible water abstraction licensing system linked to real-time water availability
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra is taking steps to move towards a more flexible abstraction licensing system. The white paper: A new vision for water, includes the proposal to move the legislative framework for regulating abstraction, to the Environmental Permitting Regulations. This will provide a modern flexible framework to support growth and access to water when it is available. The Environment Agency is upgrading its digital platforms and undertaking smart farming trials. These trials are designed to understand what is required to support a modern approach to managing abstraction.