Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Transport on improving public transport for construction workers accessing the site of the future Universal theme park.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government worked closely with Universal Destinations & Experiences to secure its first investment in Europe, which could be worth £50 billion in economic benefits, and create an estimate 28,000 jobs in the creative, hospitality and construction sectors. The Government will continue to work with Universal and other organisations involved in the delivery of this project to ensure operations are sustainable, which will include enabling construction and other workers to access the site via public transport.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate her Department has made of the amount of developer contributions held unspent by local authorities.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon Member to the answer to Question UIN 2673 on 6 September 2024.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of US tariffs on the bus and coach sector.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
Buses and coaches are exempt from the additional 25% tariffs the US is imposing on the automotive sector. However, they are still included in the 10% baseline tariffs, posing challenges for businesses. In March 2025, the Minister for Local Transport launched the UK Bus Manufacturing Expert Panel, regularly bringing together industry experts to ensure the UK remains a leader in bus manufacturing. This government is committed to supporting the automotive sector, a crucial part of our manufacturing base. While preparing for all scenarios, our priority is to strengthen our economic relationship with the US through constructive discussions.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the reported levels of bus passenger satisfaction in the report by Transport Focus entitled Your Bus Journey, published on 25 March 2025.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department for Transport welcomes the valuable insight provided by Transport Focus's 'Your Bus Journey' report published on 25 March 2025. My officials meet regularly with Transport Focus as part of our ongoing work, and these findings are informing policy development to improve bus services across the country.
The government wants to see bus passenger satisfaction continue to rise across the country as we deliver our reforms, including through the introduction of the Bus Services (No.2) Bill and the £1 billion we are investing to support and improve bus services. We are also undertaking a programme of work to explore opportunities for passenger improvement, for example complaint handling and escalation pathways.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to data table 7.2 of her Department's statistics entitled Annual statistics of scientific procedures on living animals, Great Britain 2023: data tables, published on 11 September 2024, what legislation on medicinal products for human use required the use of dogs in regulatory procedures.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office)
We are working with regulators to see how advances in technology can and will reduce use and phase out use in some areas.
The explicit requirement for using animals in toxicology tests comes from section 50 (5) to the Human Medicines Regulations 2012 (as amended 2019 and 2020). Therefore, in most cases, new drugs are required to be tested in two animal species for public safety and efficacy purposes. There are rare exceptions where the medicine has no pharmacological effect in any species other than humans where this may not be applied.
Although much research can be done without using animals, there are still purposes where use of live animals is essential, as the complexity of whole biological systems cannot be reliably replicated using validated alternative methodologies. Animal testing is therefore required by all global medicines regulators, including the UK’s Medicine and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). We are working with regulators to see how advances in technology can and will reduce use and phase out use in some areas.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to data table 7.3 in the Annual statistics of scientific procedures on living animals, Great Britain 2023: data tables, published on 11 September 2024, what the legislation satisfying EU requirements was that required the 2581 procedures carried out on dogs.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office)
With reference to the Annual Statistics of Scientific Procedures on Living Animals in Great Britain 2023, Table 7.3, the legislative requirements for the 2581 procedures carried out on dogs which satisfy EU requirements were: 2263 procedures that satisfied medicinal products for human use legislation; 205 procedures to satisfy plant protection product legislation; 111 procedures to satisfy medicinal products and veterinary use and their residues legislation; and, 2 procedures to satisfy industrial chemicals legislation
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department holds data on the types of tickets used by bus passengers for different journey purposes.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department regularly considers a range of evidence when considering the typical journey purposes of bus users using different types of tickets.
Our most recent published work in this area was the evaluation of the £2 bus fare cap, published on GOV.UK in February 2025, and the research report 'Increasing bus patronage through an audience strategy', published on GOV.UK in June 2023. These reports identified the main ticket types and journey purposes of key passenger groups.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many regulatory tests were carried out on animals where non-animal methods were available in 2024.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 (ASPA) protects animals in scientific research by prohibiting their use if there is a practicable and validated non-animal alternative that would achieve the scientific outcome(s) sought.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent steps he has taken to reduce the number of deaths of dogs in greyhound racing.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra works with the Greyhound Board of Great Britain (GBGB) to ensure greyhound racing is a safe as possible. Each year since 2018 GBGB has published data for the deaths of greyhounds from GBGB affiliated tracks and trainers. This data is published online at https://www.gbgb.org.uk/welfare-care/injury-and-retirement-data/
Defra monitors the figures published by GBGB for any identifiable trends.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of exam marking for public qualifications.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (Ofqual) is the independent regulator of qualifications, exams and assessments in England. Ofqual is responsible for ensuring that regulated qualifications reliably indicate the knowledge, skills and understanding students have demonstrated in their exams and assessments, including through marking and standard setting. I have asked its Chief Regulator, Sir Ian Bauckham, to write to the hon. Member directly, and a copy of his reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.