Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to her Department's guidance entitled Fishing and Coastal Growth Fund, published on 19 February 2026, for what reason the Fishing and Coastal Growth Fund will not be launched as a standalone scheme in England until 2027; and for what reason payments will be made through the Fisheries and Seafood Scheme in financial year 2026-27.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Fisheries and Seafood Scheme is an established scheme that is popular with stakeholders in England –and will enable us to deliver funding as soon as possible. Using this scheme will maximise the level of support available to the fishing and seafood sector in the first year of the Fishing and Coastal Growth Fund.
Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she will raise with President Tinubu of Nigeria the safeguarding of democratic institutions and ensuring free and fair elections in Nigeria in 2027 during the his forthcoming state visit.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The State Visit will provide an important opportunity to strengthen the UK-Nigeria Strategic Partnership across growth, security, migration, and foreign policy. As the largest democracy in Africa, Nigeria has an important role to play in upholding democratic norms, including ensuring a free, fair and credible Presidential election in 2027. The UK is supporting key legislative and institutional reform processes in the Nigerian National Assembly, with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the Judiciary and other key institutions to strengthen Nigeria's democracy.
Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)
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 set out when her Department's timetable for when (a) the Fishing and Coastal Growth Fund will open for applications; and (b) details of the (i) eligibility, (ii) application process and (iii) assessment for that Fund will be published.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In its first year the Fishing and Coastal Growth Fund will be delivered in England through the Fisheries and Seafood Scheme. We expect the scheme to open in April and will publish details on eligibility, application and assessment processes at the time of launch. Future updates to the Fisheries and Seafood Scheme will be published on https://www.gov.uk/guidance/fisheries-and-seafood-scheme.
Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to his Department's White Paper entitled A New Vision for Water, published on 20 January 2026, if she will set out what (a) working groups were established to consult on that paper and (b) which organisations were included in each working group.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
A wide range of stakeholders were consulted on reforms through the Independent Water Commission’s Call for Evidence, which received over 50,000 responses.
Whilst there was not a formal working group for the White Paper, ahead of publication we engaged with stakeholders across the water system, including investors, water companies, consumer groups, regulators and environmental groups.
We will continue to work constructively with interested parties on reforms and consult on specific measures as needed.
Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much of the total value of the Fishing and Coastal Growth Fund will be allocated to England in the 2026-27 financial year.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The total investment announced in the Fishing and Coastal Growth Fund was £360m over 12 years. The fund has been devolved with funding allocated using the Barnett formula. In the 2026-27 financial year, £22.6 million is allocated to England.
Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of plans to replace the copper wire communications network.
Answered by Josh Simons
The modernisation of the UK’s telecoms networks is essential as the older networks are deteriorating and becoming unreliable.
However, it is vital that customers are safely migrated off the old analogue Public Switched Telephone Network to modern digital networks.
To strengthen industry’s plans, in November 2024, this Government secured additional safeguards - including identifying vulnerable people, the provision of free battery back-ups, and free engineer visits if needed.
Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when her Department plans to publish the (a) full results and (b) evaluation reports from all Environment Land Management and Trials; and whether these will be made publicly available.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Department is not yet able to provide a detailed estimate of when evaluation reports from all Environment Land Management (ELM) Tests and Trials will be published, as the programme is expected to continue throughout this Parliament.
Findings from the Tests and Trials undertaken to date have been summarised in evidence reports published on GOV.UK (Dec-22, Jun-22, Dec-21, Jun-21, Sep-20, Jul-20) with further reports expected to be published later this year.
Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether his Department will consider setting a £7m wave energy ringfence in Allocation Round 7 of the Contracts for Difference mechanism.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Allocation Round 7 (AR7) budget details will be published shortly, before the bidding window opens.
Any decisions regarding the AR7 budget, including any minima, maxima or ringfences, are based on a wide range of factors, including an assessment of the pipeline of projects that could participate in the auction. The budget is set to help support effective competition in the CfD auction with the aim of delivering low carbon electricity deployment at low-cost to the consumer and supporting investment in emerging technologies.
Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether his Department will consider setting a £40m tidal stream ringfence in Allocation Round 7 of the Contracts for Difference mechanism.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government is undertaking analysis of the technology pipeline available for Contracts for Difference Auction Round 7 against our legal obligations. We are considering the appropriate parameters for all technologies, including tidal stream. Final parameters will be published in the Budget Notice by December 2025.
Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment he has made with Cabinet colleagues of the adequacy of the security provisions for energy and telecommunications infrastructure in the UK's exclusive economic zone.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The UK Government constantly monitors and regularly assesses the security of critical national infrastructure, including energy and telecommunications assets in the UK's Exclusive Economic Zone. This is a whole-of-Government effort involving multiple Departments, including the Ministry of Defence.