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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of (a) licensing shoots and (b) making the penalty for using snares the loss of such a licence.

Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Defra is considering the most effective way to deliver its commitment to ban the use of snares in England and will be setting out next steps in due course. The use of snares is commonly associated with gamebird shooting. Defra has not yet made any formal assessment of the potential merits of licensing gamebird shooting in England or whether to make the penalty for illegally using snares the loss of such a licence.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how she plans to enforce the ban on snares.

Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

This Government was elected on a mandate to introduce the most ambitious plans to improve animal welfare in a generation and this included a commitment to bring an end to the use of snare traps in England. This was recently reaffirmed in the Government’s Animal Welfare Strategy. Defra is considering the most effective way to deliver this commitment and will be setting out next steps in due course. The detail of the enforcement of the ban will depend on the nature of the legislation that is ultimately progressed.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many applications for felling licences were refused by the Forestry Commission due to the potential impact of felling on ancient woodland remnants within plantations on ancient woodland sites in each of the last ten years.

Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Forestry Commission has only refused one felling licence in the past 10 years, in 2020. The reason for refusal was based on the fact that the licence would lead to a loss of woodland containing veteran and future veteran oaks and the felling of these would be against the "interests of good forestry …and the amenities of the district" and would not align with UK Forestry Standard.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many felling licences were granted by the Forestry Commission in England in each of the last 10 years.

Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Felling licences issued 2016 to 2025:

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many applications for felling licences were refused by the Forestry Commission in each of the last ten years.

Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Felling licences refused 2016 to 2025:

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what (a) assessment and (b) estimate she has made of the differential in her Department’s Resource Departmental Expenditure Limit budget in the (i) Spending Review and (ii) Autumn Budget 2025 in each year between 2024-25 and 2029-30.

Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Spending Review 2025 established allocations of Resource Departmental Expenditure Limits (DEL) up to financial year 2028-29, with further spending announcements made during Autumn Budget 2025. A profile of these spending limits is enclosed in the table below.

Spending limits for 2029-30, as well as how Resource Spending Limits are allocated are subject to business planning processes. Furthermore, the department will provide more detail on future spending plans at the appropriate Supply Estimate.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many retired teachers in the East of England are waiting to receive their Teacher's Pension Scheme Remediable Service Statement.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The information is not readily available or held centrally, and could only be obtained at a disproportionate cost.

The department is working closely with the scheme administrator to process Remediable Service Statements (RSSs) as quickly and efficiently as possible. Several factors have affected the original delivery timeline, including technical dependencies, regulatory requirements, and coordination with external partners.

The administrator will keep affected members informed of revised timelines through established channels, including My Pension Online and its website. The latest update is available here: https://www.teacherspensions.co.uk/news/public-news/2025/11/timeline-for-sending-out-remediable-service-statements-rss.aspx. As responsibility for this work transitions to the new administrator of the Teachers’ Pension Scheme in Summer 2026, the department is working with Tata Consultancy Services to finalise the timeline for issuing all RSSs. Once the timeline is confirmed, it will be communicated to relevant members.

The department continues to monitor progress and is working closely with the scheme administrator to streamline processes and introduce automation where possible. Any pension adjustments arising from members’ choices will be backdated with interest to ensure members are not financially disadvantaged.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the EIP25 targets for improving plantations on ancient woodland soils align with Forestry England’s 2044 target on PAWS restoration.

Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Environmental Improvement Plan 2025 (EIP25) target and Forestry England’s Plantations on Ancient Woodland Sites (PAWS) restoration target are compatible.

The EIP25 target for improving PAWS is strategic, setting a national ambition to enhance biodiversity and resilience across these irreplaceable habitats.

Forestry England’s 2044 PAWS restoration target is more granular, requiring measurable improvement in Semi-Natural Scores. These objectives are entirely aligned: both aim to restore ecological integrity and native woodland character. Early soil eDNA investigations by Forestry England indicate that PAWS restoration works to restore soil health.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of afforestation on hydrology in the Oxford–Cambridge Forest region.

Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

As part of our approach to the New National Forest in the OxCam region -spatial data will be used to prioritise sites for woodland creation that will deliver public benefits such as flood management and mitigation as well as other water management functions.

Afforestation projects above 0.5 hectares will also likely require an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) which will include a detailed assessment of potential impacts on the water environment. Further details on this new national forest will be announced in the coming months.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many business units will Great British Railways comprise of.

Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

Business Units will be the powerhouse of Great British Railways (GBR), bringing together today’s infrastructure management functions provided by Network Rail, and passenger operations currently led by train operating companies, into a single local team with an accountable leader.

The detailed design process is underway, including determining the geographic make-up of GBR’s Business Units, and hence their number.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the Tree Action Plan will support the restoration of ancient woodland, particularly on smaller plantations on ancient woodland sites and harder to restore sites.

Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Government will continue to support the restoration of ancient woodland. Woodlands as small as 0.5ha are now eligible for the Countryside Stewardship supplements “Manage and restore Plantations on Ancient Woodland Sites (PAWs)” and “Manage native woodland including Ancient Semi-Natural Woodlands”, ensuring support is available to landowners and managers of smaller ancient woodlands.

In 2025, we also updated our Countryside Stewardship offer by simplifying our baseline Woodland Improvement grant.

These steps will help to bring more of our smaller ancient woodlands into restoration and management.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the Tree Planting Taskforce's progress; and what involvement that Taskforce has had in the development of the Tree Action Plan.

Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The UK-wide Tree Planting Taskforce brings together the relevant ministers from across the four UK nations. It has made good progress, enabling cross-UK collaboration and furthered understanding of shared challenges and opportunities.

Given the UK-wide nature of the Taskforce, it is not directly involved in the development of the Trees Action Plan for England, although Defra is engaging with relevant delivery partners and arm’s-length bodies on the Action Plan. We will continue to engage with the Taskforce to identify opportunities for cross-UK working.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department has assessed the potential impact of eCall on (a) response times and (b) the (i) number and (ii) severity of road traffic (A) casualties and (B) fatalities in each of the last five years.

Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury

A pre-legislation appraisal of eCall was conducted in 2013. The report is available on gov.uk at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ecall-uk-cost-benefit-analysis

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the likely effectiveness of Network Rail’s asset renewal programme in Control Period 7 between 2024 and 2029; and what estimate she has made of the level of depreciation of Network Rail’s assets between 2024 and 2029.

Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

Network Rail updates its Delivery Plan each year of the Control Period. As forecast at the start of CP7 we expect to see an increase in the average age of railway assets by the end of the Control Period. The impact of this, measured using the Composite Sustainability Index, was estimated in the year 2 update to Network Rail’s Delivery Plan to be a 2.6% reduction in asset sustainability. Depreciation of the value of the railway network up to 2029 is forecast to remain broadly consistent with about 1.8% annually, as set out in the Department for Transport’s 2024/25 Annual Report and Accounts.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what (a) assessment and (b) estimate she has made of the differential in her Department’s Capital Departmental Expenditure Limit budget in the (i) Spending Review and (ii) Autumn Budget 2025 in each year between 2024-25 and 2029-30.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Spending Review 2025 established allocations of Capital Departmental Expenditure Limits (DEL) up to financial year 2029-30, with further spending announcements made during Autumn Budget 2025. A profile of these spending limits is enclosed in the table below.

*CDEL is adjusted for TfL Business Rates Retention (£1.2bn p.a. from 2026-27).

Capital spending limits in future years and how they are allocated are subject to departmental business planning processes. Furthermore, the department will provide more detail on future spending plans at the appropriate Supply Estimate.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure an adequate (a) supply and (b) distribution of the flu vaccine in (i) Bedfordshire and (ii) East of England, in light of the emergence of the H3N2 “subclade K” virus.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The supply and distribution of flu vaccines for the majority of NHS England’s flu programme is managed by individual providers. NHS England and the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) work with the pharmaceutical sector to support adequate supply, understand provider ordering, and signpost providers to the continued availability of stock towards the end of the season.

There is currently good availability of flu vaccines in Bedfordshire, Luton, and Milton Keynes. Local practices and pharmacies have not reported any significant disruption to supply or distribution. NHS England regional teams monitor availability of appointments and stock levels, and are working with community pharmacies, general practices, and other providers to identify and escalate any providers that need further support with supply, which the NHS England Regional Vaccination Operations Cell will assist with.

For the children’s flu programme, the UKHSA centrally procures and manages the supply of all vaccines to ensure that eligible children aged under 18 years old who present for vaccination can be offered an appropriate vaccine. Supply remains available throughout the entire flu season. Flu vaccines for children are made available to order via the UKHSA’s online ordering platform ImmForm. General practices are able to place weekly orders and receive weekly deliveries of children’s flu vaccines from the UKHSA. School immunisation teams are able to place orders and receive deliveries up to twice per week.

Found: Cadbury (Chair); Steff Aquarone; Dr Scott Arthur; Mrs Elsie Blundell; Jacob Collier; Olly Glover; Alex Mayer

Submit Evidence (by 13 Mar 2026)

The Government has published a new Road Safety Strategy setting out the Government’s approach to reducing death and serious injury. The Transport Committee is launching an inquiry to examine its potential effectiveness.