Asked by: Catherine Fookes (Labour - Monmouthshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps her Department is taking to monitor the regulatory efficacy of the Financial Conduct Authority.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The government monitors the performance of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in a number of ways.
For example, the FCA is required to respond annually to the letter of recommendation sent by the Chancellor which sets out aspects of the government’s economic policy to which the FCA must have regard. The government scrutinizes this response, as well as other publications such as the FCA’s annual report.
The FCA publishes data against a range of metrics which support the government in monitoring its performance. The FCA is also developing new metrics to monitor its performance as part of its 2025-30 Strategy. This provides opportunities to assess how effectively the FCA is carrying out its role.
The Regulation Action Plan, published in March 2025, committed the government to holding regular performance reviews with relevant regulators. I have held the first meeting with the FCA, and the minutes of this meeting will be made publicly available. The government will use these meetings to build on its already extensive engagement with the FCA and other regulators, to hold them to account for their performance against their statutory duties, their work to reduce administrative costs, and alignment with government priorities.
Asked by: Catherine Fookes (Labour - Monmouthshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what actions he is taking to mitigate the potential impact of the built environment on bat populations.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
All bats, including their breeding sites and resting places, are protected under UK and international law.
This strict legal protection makes it an offence to deliberately capture, injure, or kill bats; to damage or destroy a breeding or resting place; or to obstruct access to a resting or sheltering place. Local Planning Authorities require a bat survey to be completed if a proposed development is likely to negatively affect bats or their habitats. Appropriate measures must be taken by developers to avoid, mitigate and, as a last resort, compensate for any negative effects on bats that could be caused by any proposed development. An example of a compensatory measure could be the erection of a bat box, whilst a mitigation measure could include carrying out works to a summer roost site in the winter when bats are not present.
The revised National Planning Policy Framework we published in December expects developments to minimise impacts on and provide net gains for biodiversity, including by establishing coherent ecological networks that are more resilient to current and future pressures and through incorporating features that support priority or threatened species such as bats.