Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 18 December 2025 to Question 98739 on Biodiversity and Pollution: Sutton Park, what housing developments in the vicinity of Sutton Park have been discussed between DEFRA officials and Birmingham City Council.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
I am not aware of discussions between Defra officials and Birmingham City Council.
Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 18 December 2025 to Question 98739 on Biodiversity and Pollution: Sutton Park, whether additional monitoring is in place to ensure that the recommendations from Natural England and the Forestry Commission are being implemented.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Natural England is in regular dialogue with Birmingham City Council, Severn Trent Water and other partners to review progress with the implementation of its recommendations relating to the condition of Sutton Park SSSI. This is in addition to its condition assessment programme, which monitors the status of the site’s habitat features.
Natural England officials would be happy to offer a meeting with the Rt Hon. Member for Sutton Coldfield to discuss Sutton Park SSSI, its management, and the pressures affecting its condition in more detail, should that be helpful.
The approved woodland management plan for Sutton Park includes the requirement for the author of the plan to review progress against site objectives after five years, including objectives to support the recovery and resilience of the woodlands. In addition, the Forestry Commission operate a risk-based inspection regime of approved management plans, which considers the scale and environmental sensitivity of woodland sites. Under this approach, sites such as Sutton Park are more likely to be selected for inspection.
Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent steps her Department has taken to reduce concentrations of fine particulate matter in the Birmingham City Council area.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Birmingham City Council is responsible for reviewing and assessing air quality in its area. The 2025 Birmingham Air Quality Annual Status Report notes continued action to reduce PM2.5 through implementation of the Birmingham Clean Air Zone, fleet renewal and retrofit of buses and taxis, promotion of active travel, traffic management and anti-idling enforcement. The Council is also reducing emissions from domestic solid fuel burning through smoke control enforcement and public awareness, and works with Defra supported monitoring and modelling to track PM2.5 trends and inform further targeted interventions. The Council continues to work with Defra, DfT, the West Midlands Combined Authority and partners to identify new measures to reduce pollution.
Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she is taking with her counterparts in the Commonwealth to help support Zimbabwe rejoin the Commonwealth.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Rt Hon Member to the answer he received on 23 June 2025 in response to Question 57617. We will update the House if there are any new developments.
Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 18 December 2025 to Question 98739 on Biodiversity and Pollution: Sutton Park, what recent discussions her Department has had with Severn Trent on how sewage infrastructure failures can be avoided in Sutton Park.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The most recent discussion Natural England has had with Severn Trent regarding how sewage infrastructure failures can be avoided in Sutton Park was a meeting on 13 November 2025 in conjunction with the Environment Agency. This discussion was part of ongoing discussions regarding Severn Trent's commitment within the Water Industry National Environment Programme (WINEP) to investigate the sources and impacts of water pollution at Sutton Park. The next meeting is due on 21 January 2026.
Natural England has noted that the number of serious incidents has reduced (from four in 2021 to two in 2025). Severn Trent has recently employed a new Ranger to support this work. However, there is still more work to reduce incidents. We will continue to work with Severn Trent alongside the Environment Agency to ensure Severn Trent delivers its commitments within the WINEP.
Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 18 December 2025 to Question 98739 on Biodiversity and Pollution: Sutton Park, what official guidance has been issued by the Forestry Commission to Birmingham City Council on improving the management of Sutton Park.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Forestry Commission has approved a Felling Licence based on a management plan, which includes permissions for both thinning and conditional felling, alongside 4.99 hectares of heathland restoration.
This plan was approved for a 10-year period in September 2025 and will remain in effect until 14 September 2035.
The management plan sets out the following environmental objectives:
The management plan aims to ensure that Sutton Park’s woodlands are managed sustainably, enhancing biodiversity and supporting the long-term resilience of these important habitats. All of the above is in-line with the Government’s UK Forest Standard.
Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help tackle inequalities in (a) waiting times and (b) access to treatment for diabetes in the West Midlands.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Action is being taken across the West Midland integrated care boards (ICBs) to address inequalities in waiting times and access to treatment for diabetes
This action includes strengthening monitoring of data and to identify delays and variation, improving general practice (GP) engagement through Protected Learning Time sessions, streamlining referral pathways and supporting GPs to proactively identify and engage patients using improved data and low-literacy-friendly approaches
ICBs are also take actions to identify groups at greatest risk of poor outcomes who face barriers in accessing services. The aim of these actions is to deliver fairer waiting times, more consistent access to treatment, and equitable, high‑quality diabetes care for all communities.
Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 18 December 2025 to Question 98739 on Biodiversity and Pollution: Sutton Park, what steps her Department has taken since the decline in the condition of the park was first detected.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Natural England (NE) and the Forestry Commission are working with Birmingham City Council (BCC) to review on-site management to address the decline in habitat condition. This includes: improved grazing; addressing scrub and bracken encroachment; management of invasive species; increased woodland thinning; and visitor management. NE also provided a detailed response to BCC’s 2025 consultation on its Sutton Park National Nature Reserve management plan, which identifies the key objectives and actions for managing the Park. NE is also discussing with BCC future funding support through agri-environment schemes and other sources.
NE is working with BCC and other neighbouring Local Planning Authorities to influence strategic development and transport plans to ensure housing needs are met while protecting the habitats of the Site of Special Scientific Interest from recreational pressure and air pollution.
NE and the Environment Agency continue to work with Severn Trent Water to address pollution risks from sewage infrastructure as part of the Water Industry Natural Environment Programme.
The recently published West Midlands Combined Authority Local Nature Recovery Strategy recognises the importance of Sutton Park, both for nature and for people. Actions identified in the Strategy, both within the Park and the wider area, will also support habitat recovery in the Park.
Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 18 December 2025 to Question 98739 on Biodiversity and Pollution: Sutton Park, on what date a decline in the condition of the park’s woodland and heathland habitats was first detected as part of Natural England's Site of Special Scientific Interest monitoring programme.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The woodland feature has been recorded as unfavourable since 2012, and was first identified as declining in the condition assessment published in March 2025. The heathland feature has been unfavourable since 2000, and was first identified as declining in September 2012. For both habitats, prior to their being recorded as unfavourable declining, they had previously been considered as unfavourable recovering. Unfavourable condition means that the habitat is not meeting its definition of favourable condition, and ‘recovering/declining’ indicates whether the management of on and off-site pressures will enable the habitat to become favourable.
Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 8 September 2025 to Question 70321 on Stop and Search: West Midlands, when she will publish the evaluation of the Serious Violence Reduction Orders pilot.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Serious Violence Reduction Orders (SVROs) were piloted for two years throughout Merseyside, Sussex, Thames Valley and West Midlands police force areas. The pilot took place between 19 April 2023 and 18 April 2025.
The pilot has been independently evaluated and looks at the effectiveness of SVROs, including the use of the SVRO stop and search power and the effectiveness of SVROs in reducing reoffending and knife carrying.
The evaluation is currently being considered, and further information on the evaluation findings will be made available in due course.