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 guidance her Department provides to local authorities on maintaining continuity of household recycling services in the event of (a) contractor disputes and (b) contract termination.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra has published guidance for local authorities on prioritising services in periods of disruption in waste operations which can be found here.
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 steps her Department is taking to reduce waste and raw material consumption in government fleet maintenance including through the use of retreading.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra is working on a review of the Government Buying Standards which set out how Government procurement can take account of environmental and social impacts whilst ensuring value for money. This review considers the lifecycle impacts of fleet vehicles, including measures to reduce waste and raw material consumption associated with vehicles parts such as tyres.
As part of this work, Defra has made no specific estimate of the potential cost savings arising from a mandatory minimum target on government tyres being retreaded.
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 estimate her Department has made of the potential cost savings to the public purse of introducing a mandatory minimum requirement that 30% of tyres procured for government fleet vehicles be retreaded.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra is working on a review of the Government Buying Standards which set out how Government procurement can take account of environmental and social impacts whilst ensuring value for money. This review considers the lifecycle impacts of fleet vehicles, including measures to reduce waste and raw material consumption associated with vehicles parts such as tyres.
As part of this work, Defra has made no specific estimate of the potential cost savings arising from a mandatory minimum target on government tyres being retreaded.
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 ban the live sale of decapod crustaceans to the public to be consumed as food to ensure compliance with the Welfare of Animals at the Time of Killing (England) Regulations 2015.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
There are no plans to ban the live sale of decapod crustaceans to the public to be consumed as food.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, on what dates the industry working group established to support development of the local media strategy has met to date, and what the planned timescale is for its next meeting.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government is developing a Local Media Strategy, in recognition of the importance of local journalism. Our vision is a thriving local media that can continue to play an invaluable role as a key channel of trustworthy information at local level, reporting on the issues that matter to communities, reflecting their contributions and perspectives, and helping to foster a self-confident nation in which everyone feels that their contribution is part of an inclusive national story.
Following a roundtable between ministers and local news editors in the Spring to discuss our planned approach to the Strategy, an industry working group was established to consider the issues in more detail and explore areas for collaboration. The group has met so far on six occasions, on the following dates:
5th June 2025
25th June 2025
10th July 2025
24th July 2025
2nd September 2025
16th October 2025
At least one more meeting of the group is intended in 2026 before the Strategy is published.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the Public Notice Portal’s contribution to improving public engagement with statutory notices, and how its archive and consultation functions will be incorporated into the forthcoming local media strategy.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government committed to a review of statutory notices as part of the response to recommendations made by the Licensing policy taskforce in July, including in relation to alcohol licence notices. The review is being taken forward as part of the Local Media Strategy to support local journalism.
We recognise that local press and statutory notices in particular continue to play a central role in keeping communities informed about decisions that affect local services and amenities. In this context, the industry’s Public Notice Portal is a welcome innovation, taking advantage of print publishers’ growing digital audiences and providing a centralised resource for all types of public notice. We welcome the Portal's current expansion to include archive and consultation functions, helping public bodies and commercial entities engage with the public more effectively. DCMS is monitoring the progress of the Portal, and the effect that it has on the audience reach of statutory notices and overall public engagement.
This type of industry innovation and collaboration is integral to securing the sector’s future, and will be taken into account in the statutory notices review, which will more broadly consider the merits of making changes to existing requirements to place statutory notices in print local newspapers, including the impact this has on local transparency and the newspaper industry. The review will also take forward final decisions on the future of alcohol licence notices. More detail including timescales of the review, and the Local Media Strategy more broadly, will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what the planned timescales are for the commencement of the statutory notices review.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government committed to a review of statutory notices as part of the response to recommendations made by the Licensing policy taskforce in July, including in relation to alcohol licence notices. The review is being taken forward as part of the Local Media Strategy to support local journalism.
We recognise that local press and statutory notices in particular continue to play a central role in keeping communities informed about decisions that affect local services and amenities. In this context, the industry’s Public Notice Portal is a welcome innovation, taking advantage of print publishers’ growing digital audiences and providing a centralised resource for all types of public notice. We welcome the Portal's current expansion to include archive and consultation functions, helping public bodies and commercial entities engage with the public more effectively. DCMS is monitoring the progress of the Portal, and the effect that it has on the audience reach of statutory notices and overall public engagement.
This type of industry innovation and collaboration is integral to securing the sector’s future, and will be taken into account in the statutory notices review, which will more broadly consider the merits of making changes to existing requirements to place statutory notices in print local newspapers, including the impact this has on local transparency and the newspaper industry. The review will also take forward final decisions on the future of alcohol licence notices. More detail including timescales of the review, and the Local Media Strategy more broadly, will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment she has made of trends in the levels of Network Rail’s energy costs.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Network Rail is required to consider value for taxpayers’ money in the way that it runs the railway. This includes in relation to energy costs. External factors, including the COVID pandemic and the war in Ukraine, have driven fluctuations in energy prices and have increased Network Rail’s energy costs. To mitigate any further fluctuations and increase its use of renewables, Network Rail has signed a corporate power purchase agreement (CoPPA) starting from 2026, that will see 49.9 megawatts (MW) of clean renewable energy generated, enough to power around 15% of Network Rail’s annual non-traction energy consumption.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether Network Rail’s debt will be transferred to Great British Railways.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The detailed design of GBR is underway and the Network Rail debt is being considered as part of this work.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment she has made of the air quality on the rail network; and whether her Department plans to issue updated guidance on air quality on the rail network.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department is funding monitoring and research to assess air quality in stations and onboard trains through the Rail Safety and Standards Board (RSSB). This includes the £5.5 million Air Quality Monitoring Network, which is collecting data at up to 72 stations across Great Britain. Where issues are identified, Network Rail and train operators are required to implement Air Quality Improvement Plans.
RSSB has also undertaken two studies to assess air quality onboard trains, with further testing planned in 2026 on different rolling stock types, including newer bi-mode, tri-mode and electric trains.
The Department keeps its air quality policy and the guidance it provides to industry under review as further evidence becomes available and continues to consider whether any updates are needed.