Asked by: Anna Sabine (Liberal Democrat - Frome and East Somerset)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to help tackle fly-tipping in rural areas.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government understands the difficulty that fly-tipping poses to all landowners. We have committed to forcing fly-tippers and vandals to clean up the mess that they have created and will provide further details on this in due course.
We continue to work with stakeholders, such as the National Farmers Union and local authorities, through the National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group to share good practice, including how to prevent fly-tipping on private land. Various practical tools, including case studies and ‘how to’ guides on key issues such as setting up effective local partnerships, are available from their webpage at: https://www.keepbritaintidy.org/national-fly-tipping-prevention-group.
Asked by: Anna Sabine (Liberal Democrat - Frome and East Somerset)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many people were prosecuted for illegal fly tipping in 2023-24.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Local authorities in England are required to report fly-tipping incidents and enforcement actions, such as prosecutions, to Defra, which are published annually at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fly-tipping-in-england.
Data for the 2023/24 reporting year will be published on the 26 February 2025.
Asked by: Anna Sabine (Liberal Democrat - Frome and East Somerset)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to improve the enforcement of anti-fly tipping rules.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government has committed to forcing fly-tippers and vandals to clean up the mess that they have created. This will build on the sanctions already available for fly-tipping which include fixed penalty notices of up to £1000, seizing of vehicles and prosecution through the courts which can lead to a significant fine, a community sentence or even imprisonment. Sentencing is a matter for the independent courts.
We encourage councils to make good use of their enforcement powers, and we are considering if further guidance is needed.
Asked by: Anna Sabine (Liberal Democrat - Frome and East Somerset)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what data his Department holds on the proportion of mothers who (a) breastfeed, (b) use formula and (c) use both for infants in the first six weeks of life.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department collects, holds, and publishes numbers and rates of babies fully breastfed, partially breastfed, and not at all breastfed, at six to eight weeks of age. It can be assumed that babies partially breastfed and not at all breastfed are receiving formula milk for at least part of their diet. The data is provided to the Department by local authorities.
The Department publishes the data quarterly and annually, for England, by region, and by upper tier local authority. The latest annual data is for the financial year 2023/24, and the latest quarterly data is for the second quarter of the 2024/25 financial year.
In the financial year 2023/24, 52.7% of babies were breastfed or partially breastfed in England. This proportion has been improving since the financial year 2020/21 when it was 47.6%.
In addition, the Department publishes data on the numbers and rates of babies receiving breastmilk as their first feed. This is published annually for England, by region, and by upper tier local authority. This data is collected by NHS England in the Maternity Services Data Set.
The latest data is for the financial year 2023/24 when 71.9% of babies received breastmilk as their first feed. The proportion of babies whose first feed was breast milk has remained at approximately 72% each year between 2019 and 2024.
Asked by: Anna Sabine (Liberal Democrat - Frome and East Somerset)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the age range will be of people considered by the Children and Young People with Cancer Taskforce.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is committed to improving outcomes and patient experience for children, teenagers, and young adults with cancer, from birth to 24 years of age. That is why we have relaunched the Children and Young People Cancer Taskforce, which will identify tangible ways to drive improvements for cancer patients across this age range. The taskforce’s membership, which is currently being finalised, will reflect the diversity of needs across these patient groups.
We recognise that cancer in teenagers and young people is different to cancer in adults and children, and so age-appropriate care is necessary, particularly regarding treatment, diagnosis, and wider support, as per the NHS England service specifications. Department officials are working with chairs of the taskforce to develop the Terms of Reference ahead of the first meeting, currently planned for March. The taskforce will consider the most appropriate dissemination routes or publication channels for taskforce materials in due course.
Asked by: Anna Sabine (Liberal Democrat - Frome and East Somerset)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the transition between children social care and adult social care on patients.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department works closely with the Department for Education and other partners to understand the difficulties young disabled people and their families can face when they transition into adult social care, and to identify opportunities to better support young people at this crucial stage of their life.
Asked by: Anna Sabine (Liberal Democrat - Frome and East Somerset)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what support is available for mothers experiencing poor mental health post-partum related to breastfeeding.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Whilst the relationship with breastfeeding and postnatal depression is complex, a successful breastfeeding experience may protect against mental health issues such as postnatal depression.
Through the Family Hubs and Start for Life programme, the Department is providing £18.5 million in 2025/26 to 75 local authorities in England with high levels of deprivation to improve infant feeding services and provide practical support with breastfeeding. Local authorities are using this investment to put in place a range of specialist support and advice to help parents to meet their infant feeding goals no matter how they choose to feed their baby.
We are also helping the early years workforce to better understand the links between breastfeeding and perinatal mental health. In August 2023, a free e-learning package was launched which has already been taken up by hundreds of staff.
Asked by: Anna Sabine (Liberal Democrat - Frome and East Somerset)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of rural broadband coverage.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Our assessment is that rural coverage is not good enough which is why we are committed to improving it.
We are committed to delivering nationwide gigabit coverage by 2030. More than £2 billion of contracts have been signed to provide access to gigabit-capable broadband to over a million more premises.The vast majority of the premises to be covered by these contracts will be in rural areas.
Asked by: Anna Sabine (Liberal Democrat - Frome and East Somerset)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to improve (a) awareness of and (b) access to formula milk for infants.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Infant feeding is critical to a baby’s healthy growth and development. The Government is committed to giving every child the best start in life and that includes helping families to access support to feed their baby.
Whilst breastfeeding has significant health benefits, we recognise that for those families that cannot or choose not to breastfeed, it is vital that they have access to infant formula that is affordable and high quality. Infant formula regulations ensure that all infant formula is suitable for meeting the nutritional needs of babies, regardless of the price or brand.
The Competition and Markets Authority is undertaking a market study on infant and follow on formula and is due to publish its final report, with recommendations later this month. We welcome this report and will carefully consider its findings and recommendations including any on increasing awareness of, and access to, infant formula.
Asked by: Anna Sabine (Liberal Democrat - Frome and East Somerset)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to mitigate carbon dioxide emissions from aviation.
Answered by Mike Kane - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government is supporting a wide range of measures to decarbonise aviation. In January, we implemented a sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) mandate to generate demand and have committed to introduce a Revenue Certainty Mechanism to spur investment in UK SAF production.
In addition, the Government is committed to delivering a fully modernised UK airspace, resulting in journeys that are cleaner, quicker and quieter. We are also supporting the development of new low and zero carbon emission aircraft technology through the Aerospace Technology Institute Programme, with nearly £1bn of additional funding announced in October.