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 recent discussions she has had with the BBC about the potential effect of staff reductions on local and regional news coverage.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The BBC is a vital national institution and an engine of the nations and regions. In that context, this news is concerning for the BBC workforce who are facing significant uncertainty, and for the sector as a whole. The BBC is delivering significant savings, which requires difficult decisions to be made independent of the Government. The BBC have stated that there will be more information on their plans later this year. Looking ahead, the Charter Review aims to deliver a BBC that is sustainably funded in a way that sets the BBC on a path to thrive until well into the latter half of this century.
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 her Department has made of the potential implications for her policies of Transport Focus’s document entitled Your Bus Journey 2025, published on 25 March 2026.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government is committed to improving local bus services for passengers and the Department for Transport welcomes the valuable insight provided by Transport Focus's 'Your Bus Journey' report, published on 25 March 2026. We were encouraged to see overall bus passenger satisfaction rising to 85%, and the report’s findings will continue to help inform the Department’s work to drive better bus services across the country.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what recent discussions he has had with mobile network operators on the rollout of standalone 5G.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Since her appointment in September 2025, the Minister for Digital Economy, the Minister responsible for digital infrastructure, has met with the Chief Executive Officers of all the mobile network operators to discuss a range of issues, including digital infrastructure rollout, the market, and challenges the sector is facing.
All network operators have committed significant investment in line with Government's ambition for standalone 5G to be available in all populated areas by 2030. Government continues to work closely with operators to identify and address barriers to deployment where appropriate to do so, to support investment and improve mobile coverage and connectivity nationwide.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many additional childcare places have been created due to funding from her Department's National Wraparound Childcare Programme in (a) Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard constituency and (b) England.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Following the launch of the national wraparound childcare programme in September 2024, over 105,000 places were made available by November 2025, supporting more families to access the childcare they need. The department does not hold delivery data broken down to constituency level.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the UK’s preparedness to respond to a nuclear safety incident arising from damage to a nuclear power plant by hostile actors.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The UK has an established nuclear safety regime, which it keeps under regular review to ensure it is responsive to emerging threats.
The independent regulator, the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR), requires civil nuclear facilities to be designed and operated with layers of defence-in-depth, to provide protection and mitigation if a control fails. This multi-layered approach encompasses physical, cyber, personnel security, and safety fail-safes. Additionally, high consequence nuclear sites are protected by a dedicated, onsite armed police force.
Site safety and security arrangements are regularly tested, exercised, and reviewed to maintain their effectiveness in the unlikely event of an incident. This provides confidence that the UK’s civil nuclear power plants are designed to uphold nuclear safety and effectively counteract threats, including those posed by hostile actors.
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, whether his Department is taking steps to encourage councils to reduce their ownership of (a) unused and (b) underused office space.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Local authorities are independent bodies responsible for managing their own estates. Decisions regarding council offices are therefore for local authorities to make rather than MHCLG.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will provide a list of the locations that Asylum Move-On Liaison Officers are based in England.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
We have placed Asylum Move‑On Liaison Officers (AMLOs) in 59 local authorities across the UK, working alongside Migrant Help to support individuals who will be leaving asylum accommodation.
In England, we have AMLO presence in the following regions:
– London
– West Midlands
– East Midlands
– North West
– Yorkshire and the Humber
– South East
– South West
AMLO deployment is kept under regular review to ensure support is directed appropriately.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question
To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the House of Common Commission, what steps the Commission is taking to increase use of cruelty free products on the parliamentary estate.
Answered by Nick Smith
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 2 April 2025 to UIN 40025. As previously stated, five products remain in use that are not certified as cruelty-free.
The cleaning contractor has identified two products (Cleanline Glass & Stainless Steel Cleaner and Cleanline Floor Polish) that meet requirements for cruelty-free certification and will transition to these going forward. However, as they currently hold existing stock of the previous products, these will be used before the new products are fully adopted.
For the remaining three products, although alternative options have been trialled, none have yet met the required performance standards. The cleaning contractor will continue to explore suitable alternatives.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many grants and of what value have been made from the £30 million Depot Charging Scheme to businesses using (a) HGVs (b) coaches (c) other.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
As part of the Depot Charging Scheme, launched in July 2025, 92 projects valued at £33 million have been awarded grant funding to support uptake of battery electric (BE) HGVs, vans and coaches by part-funding the installation of charging infrastructure at fleet depots.
These awards break down as follows:
46 projects, totalling £20,078,966, include at least one eligible BE HGV;
3 projects, totalling £1,164,582, include at least one BE coach;
43 projects, totalling £11,701,679, do not include a BE HGV or coach.
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 assessment her Department has made of levels of fly-tipping in woodland areas in the last 12 months.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government has made no specific assessment of fly-tipping levels in woodland areas over the last 12 months.
Local authorities in England are required to report fly-tipping incidents to Defra, which are published annually, which can be found on: Fly-tipping statistics for England - GOV.UK
Local authorities are required to report to Defra the size of a fly-tipping incident, its waste type and the land-type where it occurred. However, this does not cover if the area is a particular habitat or a woodland.