Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department remains committed to (a) the application of the precautionary principle in environmental decision-making and (b) maintaining existing statutory protections for protected and priority species in full.

Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Under the Environment Act 2021 Ministers of the Crown must have due regard to the Environmental Principles Policy Statement when making policy. The statement sets out how to interpret and apply five environmental principles - integration, prevention, rectification at source, polluter pays, and the precautionary principle. This is in addition to any application of the precautionary principle required by specific measures or regulatory regimes, for example, in Article 1 of the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) regulations (EC 1907/2006).

Defra remains committed to maintaining protections for protected and priority species. We will not weaken the UK’s continued support for, and implementation of, our international commitments such as the Bern Convention.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she plans to require local planning authorities to publish biodiversity net gain data and monitoring outcomes for developments in their area.

Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Environment Act 2021 established a strengthened biodiversity duty, which requires local planning authorities to publish a biodiversity report at least every 5 years, setting out how they have complied with the duty. As part of this report, local planning authorities are required to include actions they have taken under biodiversity net gain obligations, and information from the biodiversity gain plans they have approved. The first reports must be published by 1 January 2026.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she plans to review the current exemptions from the biodiversity net gain requirement, including the use of the de minimis category.

Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Government recently consulted on options to improve the implementation of biodiversity net gain for minor, medium and brownfield development. This included potential changes to the BNG de minimis exemption. A Government response to the consultation will be published in due course.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment she has made of the resilience and security of digital landline and mobile communications in rural areas during prolonged power outages; and what steps her Department is taking to ensure that residents in areas such as Rutland are not left without access to emergency services in the event of cyber incidents or electricity failure.

Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Telecommunications (Security) Act 2021 introduced a robust security framework for UK telecoms networks and places legal duties on providers to identify, reduce and prepare for security and resilience risks, including cyber threats, and we have recently completed a public consultation proposing to update these measures to further protect against evolving threats and technologies. Digital landlines require a battery back-up to work during a power cut, and providers must offer at least one solution providing access to emergency services for at least one hour, free of charge for those who rely on their landline. Many providers exceed these standards. Ofcom have completed a public consultation on power back-up for mobile services, which identified a particular impact on rural communities. They published an update on their work this February, and announced they are completing further analysis to determine the appropriate and proportionate measures required to ensure adequate resilience for consumers. For calls to 999, if a customer’s own mobile network is unavailable, calls automatically roam to any available provider.

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 has made an assessment of the potential impact of the provision in the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill to remove public notices in local papers concerning changes to local authority governance arrangements on local democratic engagement.

Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

Schedule 25 of the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill makes provision to amend statutory notice requirements under the Local Government Act 2000, concerning changes to local authority governance arrangements.

In practice, this change will affect only a very small number of councils. Over 80% of councils already operate the leader and cabinet model of governance and provisions in the Bill will limit future changes to local authority governance.

The provision does not prevent local authorities from publishing notices in printed newspapers where this is considered the most appropriate way to inform residents. Instead, local authorities will be able to choose the most suitable communication channels for their area, including local newspapers.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact on employment and job creation in the hospitality sector of extending employer National Insurance contribution relief to (a) employees aged under 25 and (b) individuals returning to work from welfare.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

The government is committed to tackling the rise in youth unemployment and inactivity, which has been growing since the last Parliament. That is why we are delivering a Youth Guarantee to ensure that every young person can access the support they need to earn or learn. This includes a new Jobs Guarantee, which will provide a six-month paid work placement for every eligible 18- to 21-year-old who has been on Universal Credit and looking for work for 18 months – helping young people take that crucial first step into sustained employment. Details on the wider Youth Guarantee will be announced shortly.

The government is increasing funding for employment support to more than £3.75 billion per year by 2028-29, helping people to access the skills they need to progress, tackling inactivity and ensuring more people are in better jobs.

There are a wide range of factors to take into consideration when introducing a tax relief. These include how effective the relief would be at achieving the policy intent, how targeted support would be, whether it adds complexity to the tax system, and the cost.

The Government keeps all taxes under review as part of the policy making process. The Chancellor will announce any changes to the tax system at fiscal events in the usual way.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of proposals to reform the alcohol licensing system to remove a requirement to advertise new premises licences or variations to existing licences on the ability of local news outlets to keep residents informed about these matters.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

Following the Licensing taskforce report, the Government published a Call for Evidence on reforming the licensing system on 7 October, which closed on 6 November. The Call for Evidence invited views on the impact of licensing reforms, including in relation to Recommendation 4 of the taskforce on ending the requirement for printed statutory notices in local newspapers for alcohol licences. The reforms collectively aim to create a modern, proportionate, and enabling system that supports economic growth, revitalises high streets and fosters vibrant communities.

More broadly, the Government is concerned about the sustainability of local journalism and DCMS is developing a Local Media Strategy, in recognition of the importance of this vital sector. We also recognise that local press continues to play a central role in informing local communities, and that statutory notices can be an important way of keeping residents informed about decisions made by their council which may affect their quality of life, local services or amenities, or their property.

Additionally, the sector’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 also welcome the Portal's current expansion to include archive and consultation functions to help 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 public notices. This type of industry innovation and collaboration is integral to securing the sector’s future. It will be taken into account in our planned review of statutory notices as part of the Local Media Strategy, 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 keeping residents informed of important matters. The review will also take forward final decisions on the future of alcohol licence notices. More will be announced on the Strategy and the review in due course.

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 has considered the potential merits of mandating a minimum distance of 1km between new Quarries and residential homes or schools.

Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The scale and form of quarries, and their potential impacts, can vary significantly. As such, it would be overly restrictive to introduce a blanket presumption against quarry development within 1km of residential homes or schools, particularly as minerals are a finite natural resource which can only be worked where they are found.

Important safeguards are in place when quarrying is proposed. The National Planning Policy Framework is clear that in considering proposals for mineral extraction, minerals planning authorities should ensure that there are no unacceptable adverse impacts on the natural and historic environment, human health or aviation safety, and take into account the cumulative effect of multiple impacts from individual sites and/or from a number of sites in a locality. They should also ensure that any unavoidable noise, dust and particle emissions and any blasting vibrations are controlled, mitigated or removed at source, and establish appropriate noise limits for extraction in proximity to noise sensitive properties.

Where issues are identified through the planning process, the imposition of planning conditions can assist in mitigating impacts to acceptable levels.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has undertaken a review of the medical exemption criteria for prescription charges, particularly in relation to solid-organ transplant recipients.

Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

No review of the medical exemption criteria for prescription charges has been undertaken.

There are extensive arrangements in place in England to ensure that prescriptions are affordable for everyone. Approximately 89% of prescription items are dispensed free of charge in the community in England, and there is a wide range of exemptions from prescription charges already in place for which recipients of a solid-organ transplant may be eligible. Eligibility depends on the patient’s age, whether they are in qualifying full-time education, whether they are pregnant or have recently given birth, or whether they are in receipt of certain benefits or a war pension.

People on low incomes can apply for help with their health costs through the NHS Low Income Scheme, which provides help based on a comparison between a person’s income and requirements.

People who need to pay and need many prescription items could save money with a prescription prepayment certificate (PPC). PPCs allow people to claim as many prescriptions as needed for a set cost. An annual PPC costs £114.50 and will save money if they need 12 or more items in 12 months. To help spread the cost, people can pay for an annual PPC by 10 monthly direct debits, which works out as just over £2 per week. A three-month PPC for £32.05 is also available.

To further support patients National Health Service prescription charges in England have been frozen for the second successive year, keeping the cost for a single charge at £9.90.

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