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.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to her Department's guidance entitled Demand responsive transport: local authority toolkit, published on 13 April 2022, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of Demand Responsive Transport (a) as feeder services to existing rail and bus services and (b) in general.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The government believes demand responsive transport (DRT) has an important role to play in ensuring communities can access transport services in areas where more traditional, regular stopping services may not be viable.
The Department has funded 16 innovative DRT pilots through the Rural Mobility Fund. Each scheme is taking part in a detailed monitoring and evaluation process. This will provide a strong base of evidence and good practice for DRT and a better understanding of both the role it can play in rural areas and the challenges associated with introducing it. The final process evaluation will be published later in 2025, and an impact and value for money evaluation is just commencing, with findings available in late 2026.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question
To ask the hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney, representing the House of Commons Commission, pursuant to the Answer of 14 February 2025 to Question 28325 on Parliamentary Estate: Detergents, if he will list the cleaning products used on the parliamentary estate that are not certified as cruelty-free.
Answered by Nick Smith
On 31 March 2025 usage of a further four products which were not certified as cruelty-free was ceased. The remaining cleaning products used on the parliamentary estate that are not certified as cruelty-free are:
Our cleaning contractor is currently in the process of sourcing 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, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the decision to increase parking penalties in London on her Department's review of penalty charge notice research.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
This Government believes that transport decisions in London, including the level of penalty charge notices (PCN), should be for the Mayor of London. A group of local government and other stakeholders has submitted research to Ministers on PCN levels outside London. The Department will consider carefully their findings and recommendations along with other relevant evidence before any decision is taken.
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 has made an assessment of the potential impact of remote enforcement letters on coach operators.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) developed its desk-based assessment (DBA) policy and processes, in collaboration with Traffic Commissioners and industry stakeholders before its introduction, over ten years ago.
DVSA introduced DBAs to reduce time constraints on heavy goods vehicle and coach operators. DBAs give DVSA a more efficient, and less intrusive, method of evaluating an operator's compliance level, rather than conducting physical frontline visits.
DVSA’s remote assessment approach allows operators to submit data or respond to DBAs and intervention letters at a time that best suit their business and minimise any disruption.
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 information his Department holds on (a) the size of the egg laying hen population, (b) the number and proportion of egg laying hens that are kept in caged systems and (c) the number and proportion of eggs that come from caged hens.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra’s official statistics on livestock populations in the United Kingdom, published in June 2024, state that the total number of egg-laying hens (including breeding birds) was 54.6 million birds. Of these, 41.9 million were laying hens and pullets for table egg production.
Defra does not hold published figures on the number of egg-laying hens kept in caged systems, known as enriched ‘colony’ cage systems. However, Defra’s latest statistics indicate that in 2024, the UK Egg Industry produced 2.6 billion eggs for human consumption from hens in enriched ‘colony’ cage systems, accounting for 22% of total UK production.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of sanctions applied by the Animals in Science Regulation Unit for incidents of non-compliance with licence conditions or with the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Animals in Science Regulator has published its compliance framework which explains how it identifies and investigates potential incidents of non-compliance and decides on appropriate and proportionate measures and remedies where non-compliance has been found to occur. The Regulator’s published compliance policy aims to reduce the risk of future non-compliance.
All cases of non-compliance are thoroughly investigated, and the outcomes are published in ASRU’s annual report.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the English Devolution White Paper, published on 16 December 2024, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of shared transport responsibilities by (a) strategic authorities and (b) local authorities on planning for street works.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Highway authorities have a duty to co-ordinate all works on their network. This will remain the case under any English devolution arrangement with highway authorities remaining responsible for managing street works in their area. The White Paper sets out that government will encourage Strategic Authorities to streamline highways arrangements across their area, which could result in improved coordination of street works between neighbouring highway authorities or with National Highways.
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 assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of Part 2 of the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Act 2022 on the rollout of 5G.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government outlined its estimates of the potential impact of Part 2 of the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Act 2022 in its de minimis impact assessment. The impact assessment can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/627a76c88fa8f57d86f3f0ce/De_Minimist_Impact_Assessment_-_Telecommunications_Infrastructure__PSTI_Bill_.pdf. A specific assessment in relation to 5G rollout was not carried out.
The Act introduced a range of measures intended to optimise the use of existing apparatus and to support network deployment. Most measures are now in force, and the government is committed to implementing all remaining provisions as soon as possible.
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 impact of exempting electric bus operators from Ofgem’s residual network charge reforms in 2023 on those operators.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
My department continues to support bus decarbonisation, and to engage closely with both Ofgem and the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.
Ofgem is aware that the reforms are causing concerns for a small number of specialist sites, and are active in industry working groups relating to sites with high-capacity usage and low utilisation and EV charging. In addition, Ofgem is currently undertaking a broad review of system costs to consider whether other cost recovery options provide potential for improvements. Across this work, Ofgem will ensure bus charging is given consideration.