Asked by: Andrew George (Liberal Democrat - St Ives)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the responsibilities of the Mining Remediation Authority, (a) how many claims relating to abandoned metal mines have been received by the Authority in each year since 2020, broken down by county, (b) how many such claims related to former tin mining areas in Cornwall and Devon, and (c) how those figures compare with the number of claims relating to former coal mining areas over the same period.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Mining Remediation Authority exists primarily to manage the legacy of Great Britain's coal mining past, and its statutory responsibilities remain focused on former coal mining activities, and as such the MRA does not hold data on metal mines.
The MRA’ provides technical advice, when requested, on hazards associated with historic metal mining, as part of its role as a 24/7 emergency response organisation and a Category 2 responder under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004.
Between 1 April 2020 and 31 March 2026, the Mining Remediation Authority responded to 4,802 incidents and claims across Great Britain. Of these, 1,785 cases were determined to be attributable to former coal mining activities.
Asked by: Andrew George (Liberal Democrat - St Ives)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many religiously aggravated offences under sections 4A and 5 of the Public Order Act 1986, aggravated under section 31 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 by hostility towards Muslims, have been recorded at protests and demonstrations in each of the last three years.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office collects information on hate crimes recorded by the police in England and Wales. This includes information on religious hate crimes, by targeted religion and offence type; however, we cannot determine which of these offences were recorded at protests or demonstrations, as this information is not centrally collected.
Asked by: Andrew George (Liberal Democrat - St Ives)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of all Child Maintenance Service paying parents paid (a) 100% of their assessed child maintenance liability, (b) part of their assessed liability and (c) none of their assessed liability in the latest period for which data is available; and whether his Department can produce such figures for the entire CMS caseload, including Direct Pay arrangements.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) does not routinely monitor the amount of maintenance paid by Paying Parents using Direct Pay arrangements. Receiving Parents on Direct Pay should contact the CMS if maintenance is not being paid in full, so that the case can be moved to the Collect & Pay service. For this reason, the Department does not publish regular compliance statistics for Direct Pay arrangements.
However, the Department has published Direct Pay Research which includes an assessment of compliance amongst Direct Pay users, based on a survey of service users which was carried out in early 2024.
For Collect & Pay arrangements, statistics are published quarterly. The latest figures can be found in section 6 of the most recent Child Maintenance Service statistics (data to March 2026). Please note that, while the CMS always aims to achieve full compliance, statistics quote the number of Paying Parents who pay 90% or more of their quarterly liability. This is because, for reasons relating to collection scheduling, some fully compliant Paying Parents may register in the statistics as paying slightly below 100%.
Asked by: Andrew George (Liberal Democrat - St Ives)
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 the financial impact of drought conditions during summer 2026 on farmers; what support is available to assist affected farmers with additional costs arising from those conditions; and whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing any further financial assistance for farmers facing increased expenditure on (a) feed, (b) water supply, (c) irrigation, (d) crop losses and (e) other drought-related costs.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra works with industry and across Government to monitor risks that may arise, including to farmers. The UK Agriculture Market Monitoring Group monitors UK agricultural markets throughout the year, including price, supply, inputs, trade, and recent developments.
As announced in August 2026, the Government is supporting farmers through a range of measures. These include temporary Environmental Land Management flexibilities and up to £15m in funding million for on-farm reservoirs.
Defra has announced an extra £50 million for Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) 2026 Window 2, which opens later this month. This takes SFI26’s total budget to £290 million and helps more farmers access support.
The Environment Agency is prioritising short-term abstraction licence variations, and the Government is committed to continue working with the farming sector to improve resilience of on-farm water supply to ensure farmers can invest with confidence.
The Government will continue to monitor the situation closely and work with the farming and water sectors, taking further action if needed.
Asked by: Andrew George (Liberal Democrat - St Ives)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what analysis his Department has undertaken of the reasons why assessed child maintenance liabilities are not paid in full, broken down by (a) deliberate non-payment, (b) affordability concerns, (c) disputed assessments, (d) administrative factors and (e) other reasons.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department recently published research which was commissioned as part of the wider evidence base used to inform the Department's review of the child maintenance calculation.
Amongst other things, this looked at the reasons given by both Paying and Receiving Parents as to why they did not pay or receive their full calculated amount of maintenance. These results are discussed in the chapter entitled ‘Insights on liabilities and hypothetical changes’.
These findings are based on the reasons for non-compliance self-reported by a sample of CMS users.
Asked by: Andrew George (Liberal Democrat - St Ives)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has assessed the potential impact of the freezing of the personal income tax allowance since 2021 on pensioners’ disposable incomes; what estimate he has made of the number of pensioners brought into income tax as a result of that policy; and what discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the implications for recipients of the State Pension.
Answered by James Murray - Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General
The number of individual income tax payers over State Pension Age over time can be seen in Table 2.1 of the Income Tax liabilities statistics: tax year 2023 to 2024 to tax year 2026 to 2027 - GOV.UK
The effect of threshold freezes on the number of people forecast to pay tax can be found in the OBR’s March 2026 Economic and fiscal outlook – detailed forecast tables: receipts, linked below.
The previous Government made the decision to maintain income tax thresholds at their current levels from April 2021 until April 2028 and this is reflected in HMRC’s statistics and in OBR’s forecasts.
The tax information and impact note on Maintaining the Personal Allowance and the basic rate limit for Income Tax, and equivalent National Insurance contributions thresholds until 5 April 2031 can be found linked below:
The Government intends to ease the administrative burden for pensioners so that they do not have to pay small amounts of tax via Simple Assessment from 27/28. The Government will set out more details in due course.
Asked by: Andrew George (Liberal Democrat - St Ives)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the financial impact of the recent outbreak of bluetongue virus on livestock farmers; what financial support is available to affected farmers; whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of (a) providing assistance towards the cost of bluetongue vaccination programmes and (b) making compensation or other financial support available to farmers for (i) livestock losses, (ii) reduced productivity and (iii) other costs arising from the disease.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government recognises that the current bluetongue outbreak is placing significant pressures on livestock keepers. Bluetongue serotype 3 (BTV-3) is now endemic in England, and we do not routinely cull animals affected by BTV-3, but where that occurs compensation is payable. No other bluetongue compensation or financial support is currently in place.
Vaccination remains the most effective method of preventing the impacts of disease in susceptible animals and as with other endemic diseases where there are safe and effective vaccines available, this is a commercial decision for livestock keepers in consultation with their veterinarian. Defra continues to work closely with industry, veterinary professionals and manufacturers to support vaccine availability. We also support Industry organisations, including the Agricultural and Horticultural Development Board and Ruminant Health & Welfare, who are leading the Battle Bluetongue campaign to promote vaccination and provide practical advice to livestock keepers on assessing risk and protecting their businesses from the impacts of disease. The Battle Bluetongue webpages include vaccine cost calculators and a vaccine decision making tool. The campaign reflects the important role of individual livestock keepers and the wider industry in managing bluetongue risk and building resilience to disease. Defra keeps the impacts of bluetongue under review and continues to work with industry and veterinary partners to support effective disease control measures.
Asked by: Andrew George (Liberal Democrat - St Ives)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the potential role of the Motability Scheme in supporting transport accessibility in areas with limited public transport provision.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government) (Equalities)
Motability Foundation is a registered charity to help disabled people with their mobility and transport needs. Motability’s main focus is its ownership and oversight of the Motability Scheme. The Foundation also oversees delivery of grant programmes (including to other organisations) targeting areas outside the Motability scheme where solutions are required to meet the evolving transportation needs of disabled people.
The Foundation Community Transport Grant which was created to develop, improve and expand community transport provision awarded 11 grants at a cost of £4.2m in the financial year 2024/25 including to rural areas.
Additionally, the Scheme recognises that living in the most rural areas often means having to travel further to access everyday services so will provide 3,000 additional miles per year on to leases for certain customers. Motability Operations has used data from national Governments to identify the areas with limited access to essential services. The data looks at the typical travel time to services that people regularly rely on, including grocery shopping, healthcare and education.
The Motability Scheme is operated independently of Government. Decisions about grants, eligibility, lease terms, mileage allowances and support arrangements are matters for Motability.
Asked by: Andrew George (Liberal Democrat - St Ives)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the role of the Motability Scheme in supporting disabled people to access work, education and training.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government) (Equalities)
The Motability Scheme is designed to address the transport requirements of individuals with disabilities in the UK and is a lifeline in enabling disabled people to remain mobile, live independently and access employment.
For customers who cannot afford essential costs or who require more complex adaptations, the Motability Foundation continues to provide means-tested grants to those most in need of financial assistance.
The Motability Foundation works towards its vision that “no disabled person should be disadvantaged by poor access to transport”. To achieve this, it delivers grant programmes and supports innovative initiatives that address areas beyond the Motability Scheme, where new solutions are needed to meet the evolving transport needs of disabled people.
Asked by: Andrew George (Liberal Democrat - St Ives)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether her Department has made representations to the Government of Israel regarding reports that Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya faces an imminent threat to his life due to torture and other ill-treatment to which he has been subjected while in Israeli detention.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer provided on 15 July in response to Question 16811.