Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion Preseli)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has considered the potential impact of the re-introduction of the Places of Destination scheme on the home garden seed sector.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
There are no plans to re-introduce the Place of Destination Scheme and therefore there been no assessment of the impact its re-introduction would have on the home garden seed sector.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion Preseli)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to reduce the time taken to issue a grant of probate.
Answered by Catherine Atkinson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
HM Courts & Tribunals Service has invested in more staff in 2026, alongside system and process improvements and a programme of upskilling to improve the processing time for applications and in order to ensure the outstanding caseload does not increase.
The Ministry of Justice publishes regular data on probate timeliness and open caseload in our quarterly Family Court statistics bulletin: Family Court Statistics Quarterly - GOV.UK
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion Preseli)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate her Department has made of the volume of seed imported into the UK via online marketplaces in each year since 2020.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Seed import applications do not capture data on how these imports are sourced.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion Preseli)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the amount of seeds imported into the UK from non-EU countries was by weight in each year since 2020.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This is the volume (kgs) of notifiable seed from non-EU countries declared to the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) based on risk categorisation:
There are known data quality issues with the weights on the import of products, animals, food and feed system (IPAFFS) notification. For example, the commodity net weight on the application may not be the total weight of the consignment but could be the weight per package.
The information provided is a true reflection of the information which APHA has access to. APHA relies on the information that is entered on the systems by a third party. APHA completes checks on accuracy as part of identity checks.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion Preseli)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the amount of seeds imported into the UK from EU countries was by weight in each year since 2020.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This is the volume (kgs) of notifiable seed from EU countries declared to the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) based on risk categorisation:
There are known data quality issues with the weights on the import of products, animals, food and feed system (IPAFFS) notification. For example, the commodity net weight on the application may not be the total weight of the consignment but could be the weight per package.
The information provided is a true reflection of the information which APHA has access to. APHA relies on the information that is entered on the systems by a third party. APHA completes checks on accuracy as part of identity checks.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion Preseli)
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 international partners to help secure the release of Hannah Schafer.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon Member to my statement to the House on 21 May, and to the answer provided on 1 June in response to Question 2817.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion Preseli)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what proportion of mobile phone mast sites servicing rural areas have alternative power generation or a battery back-up that can be accessed during an unplanned power outage.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Government does not hold this level of detailed information. Mobile network operators have legal obligations to put in place appropriate and proportionate measures to ensure the resilience of their networks and services. This is overseen by the independent regulator Ofcom, who have powers to monitor compliance, conduct investigations, issue penalties and enforce remedial actions.
Residents in all areas of the country, rightly expect to have reliable mobile connectivity to participate in the modern digital economy. The Government recognises that events like storms and power outages can have a particular impact on rural communities. That is why, with support from the Government Ofcom have completed a public consultation on power back-up for mobile services across the UK, which identified a particular impact on rural communities. They published an update on their work in February 2025 and announced they are completing further analysis to determine the appropriate and proportionate measures required to ensure adequate resilience for consumers. Government looks forward to Ofcom concluding this work as soon as possible.
Government is also supporting collaboration between the electricity and telecommunications sectors to deliver measures so that when power cuts occur the likelihood of disruption to telecommunications services is as low as possible, and where disruption does occur it should affect as few people for the shortest possible time. This will include all areas of the country and will help strengthen resilience of mobile networks.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion Preseli)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what was the average duration of an unplanned power outage in each Distribution Network Operator area in each of the last five years.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The UK has a highly resilient energy network, and industry works to continuously minimise the risk and impacts of unplanned outages.
All DNOs are regulated by the independent regulator, Ofgem, and must report their performance against annual targets to Ofgem each year. The outcomes of these reports are published on Ofgem’s website: RIIO-2 Electricity Distribution: annual report 2024 to 2025 | Ofgem
Ofgem’s most recent RIIO-2 Electricity Distribution report found that most companies improved their customer disruption scores between 2024 and 2025.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion Preseli)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many unplanned power outages occurred in each of the last five years.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The UK has a highly resilient energy network, and industry works to continuously minimise the risk and impacts of unplanned outages.
All DNOs are regulated by the independent regulator, Ofgem, and must report their performance against annual targets to Ofgem each year. The outcomes of these reports are published on Ofgem’s website: RIIO-2 Electricity Distribution: annual report 2024 to 2025 | Ofgem
Ofgem’s most recent RIIO-2 Electricity Distribution report found that most companies improved their customer disruption scores between 2024 and 2025.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion Preseli)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when the consultation on the Marriage Act 1949 reforms will be launched.
Answered by Catherine Atkinson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Government has announced its intention to reform weddings law when parliamentary time allows.
The reforms reflect a commitment to making marriage law fairer, simpler, and more modern, whilst also protecting the solemnity and dignity of marriage. The current aim is that the consultation on the reform of weddings law in England and Wales will be launched before the summer recess, which commences on 16 July 2026.