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 steps the Government is taking to support the UK tyre retreading industry in the context of rising imports of single-life budget tyres; and what assessment the Government has made of the impact of such imports on circular economy objectives and domestic manufacturing jobs.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Following reviews by the Trade Remedies Authority, the Government varied and extended anti-dumping and anti-subsidy measures on imports of Chinese bus and lorry tyres on 1 August 2025. These measures are in place to protect the UK tyre retreading industry from unfair trading practices, and support jobs.
The Department remains vigilant to any reports of potential injury to the UK tyre retreading industry. Affected producers should speak to the TRA in the first instance.
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, if she will take steps to adapt existing farming subsidy schemes to incentivise the (a) housing of (i) pigs and (ii) poultry in woodland and (b) the planting of woodland in permanent pasture to support (A) animal welfare, (B) climate and (C) biodiversity objectives.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Our in-field agroforestry offers under the Environmental Land Management schemes include support for establishing and maintaining silvopastoral systems, where trees are planted in pasture to realise their multiple benefits such as enhanced animal welfare and supporting biodiversity. Under Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier, land managers can plant and maintain in-field agroforestry systems up to an average of 400 trees her hectare, as well as create, manage and restore Wood Pasture and Parkland systems. Land managers can be supported to design agroforestry in a way that meets their objectives through the Agroforestry Plan capital item.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the number and type of businesses that will be impacted by business rates relief changes announced in the Budget 2025 in (a) Bedfordshire, (b) the East of England and (c) the UK.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The amount of business rates paid on each property is based on the rateable value of the property, assessed by the Valuation Office Agency (VOA), and the multiplier values, which are set by the Government. Rateable values are re-assessed every three years. Revaluations ensure that the rateable values of properties (i.e. the tax base) remain in line with market changes, and that the tax rates adjust to reflect changes in the tax base.
At the Budget, the VOA announced updated property values from the 2026 revaluation. This revaluation is the first since Covid, which has led to significant increases in rateable values for some properties. To support with bill increases, at the Budget, the Government introduced a support package worth £4.3 billion over the next three years to protect ratepayers seeing their bills increase because of the revaluation. As a result, over half of ratepayers will see no bill increases, including 23% seeing their bills go down. This means most properties seeing increases will see them capped at 15% or less next year, or £800 for the smallest.
More broadly, the Government is delivering a long overdue reform to rebalance the business rates system and support the high street, as promised in the manifesto.
The Government is doing this by introducing permanently lower tax rates for eligible RHL properties. These new tax rates are worth nearly £900 million per year and will benefit over 750,000 properties. Around 82,100 RHL properties in the East of England are expected to benefit from these lower tax rates.
The new RHL tax rates replace the temporary RHL relief that has been winding down since Covid. Unlike RHL relief, the new rates are permanent, giving businesses certainty and stability, and there will be no cap, meaning all qualifying properties on high streets across England will benefit.
The Government is also supporting small businesses to grow by extending SBRR so that businesses opening second premises can retain their SBRR for three years, tripling the current allowance.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what information his Department holds on the proportion of tyres procured in the last 12 months for (a) central government and (b) local government heavy vehicle fleets—including lorries, buses and refuse vehicles—were retreaded tyres; and whether the Government holds data on the volume of single-use imported tyres purchased for these fleets.
Answered by Chris Ward - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
This information is not centrally held. Procurement and fleet management records are maintained by individual departments, agencies and local authorities.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when her Department plans to publish the consultation on the technical detail of the new small parcels regulatory arrangements.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
At Autumn Budget 2025, the government announced the removal of the low value imports relief and published a technical consultation covering the design and implementation of the new LVI customs arrangements.
You can read and respond to the government’s consultation here: Reforming the customs treatment of low value imports into the United Kingdom - GOV.UK
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to improve cross-government understanding of developments in drone technology, and what plans the has to improve inter-departmental collaboration on the regulation and deployment of drones.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
This government is delivering the Future of Flight Programme which is a joint programme between the whole of government, the Civil Aviation Authority and industry. A key strategic objective of the Programme is to achieve routine Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) drone flights by 2027.
This year we spent over £21m to fund necessary regulatory changes and to support industry to commercialise the innovation that was made possible through the Future Flight Challenge. The Regulatory Innovation Office has identified drones as one of its first set of five priorities and, jointly with the previous Minister for Aviation, set the Civil Aviation Authority six key priorities to unlock growth in the sector.
As the Minister for Aviation, I chair the Future of Flight Industry Group which brings together key stakeholders across central and local government, the regulator and the industry to agree the strategic directions and ensure that the UK's ambition reflects the sector's needs.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what transparency, reporting and accounting requirements will be placed on the Office of Rail and Road to undertake effective monitoring and competition oversight of GBR’s retail activities.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
GBR’s licence will require it to comply with a code of practice, which will be owned and managed by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR). The code will govern GBR’s retail industry management functions and other relevant activity. It will incorporate clear requirements for how GBR interacts with all market participants and impose separation of decision-making where relevant.
Under this approach, third parties will be able to challenge any GBR decisions or actions they consider to be non-compliant, by raising them directly with the ORR. The ORR will be required to investigate and, if it considers that GBR has not complied, it will be able to demand corrective action by issuing binding orders.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will publish a list of the total amount allocated to highways maintenance funding by the department, including one off grants, for the years (a) 2021/22; (b) 2022/23; (c) 2023/24; (d) 2024/25 to Central Bedfordshire Council.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The total highways maintenance funding, including one off grants, allocated to Central Bedfordshire Council for the financial years (a) 2021/22; (b) 2022/23; (c) 2023/24; and (d) 2024/25 is set out below.
Local Authority | 2021 to 2022 | 2022 to 2023 | 2023 to 2024 | 2024 to 2025 |
Central Bedfordshire | 6,941,000 | 6,941,000 | 8,632,200 | 7,643,000 |
To note, the above figures include funding from the Integrated Transport Block (ITB), which provides support for a range of local transport maintenance and enhancements. This funding stream is not limited to highways maintenance.
All highways maintenance allocations are published online at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/highways-maintenance-funding-allocations
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 she has made of the adequacy of Network Rail’s progress in (a) undertaking risk assessments for assets that do not comply with its internal standards and (b) evidencing its (i) identification and (ii) management of associated safety risks.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
This is a matter for the Office of Rail and Road (ORR), as the independent rail safety regulator and enforcement body for Britain’s railways.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what comparative assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the (a) cost-recovery model for statutory fees and charges and (b) use of such fees and charges as a demand-management tool.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Proposals to introduce new fees or charges are considered on a case-by-case basis. Government departments develop proposals in line with their needs and policy intent, underpinned by the rules in Managing Public Money (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/managing-public-money).
Full cost recovery is the standard approach to the setting of fees and charges for public services.
If a department were to incorporate demand management as a policy objective when devising a fee or charging scheme, this would be considered as part of assessing the proposals.