Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will place in the Library Defra-held correspondence and assessments supporting the evidential basis that NEER155 underwent rigorous peer review.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The redactions made to Natural England’s response to EIR2026/00223, were applied because the material contained third-party personal data, which is exempt from disclosure under the Environmental Information Regulations. In addition, some material was outside the scope of the requestor’s EIR enquiry and was removed on that basis.
The Department does not consider it necessary to place the requested documents in the Library.
The NEER155 evidence review was carried out by Natural England, the Government’s statutory adviser on nature. As the statutory adviser responsible for the review, the tasks associated with carrying out that review including the peer review element were matters for Natural England. NEER155 built on Natural England’s 2013 review (NEER004) by incorporating 102 new studies on the effects of burning on peatlands. The external peer reviewers for NEER155 were leading peatland experts at major universities and other expert institutions.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, for what reason two pages were redacted in Natural England’s response to EIR2026/00223 on its report on managed burning.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The redactions made to Natural England’s response to EIR2026/00223, were applied because the material contained third-party personal data, which is exempt from disclosure under the Environmental Information Regulations. In addition, some material was outside the scope of the requestor’s EIR enquiry and was removed on that basis.
The Department does not consider it necessary to place the requested documents in the Library.
The NEER155 evidence review was carried out by Natural England, the Government’s statutory adviser on nature. As the statutory adviser responsible for the review, the tasks associated with carrying out that review including the peer review element were matters for Natural England. NEER155 built on Natural England’s 2013 review (NEER004) by incorporating 102 new studies on the effects of burning on peatlands. The external peer reviewers for NEER155 were leading peatland experts at major universities and other expert institutions.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
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 adequacy of the peer review for the Natural England Evidence Review with reference NEER155.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The redactions made to Natural England’s response to EIR2026/00223, were applied because the material contained third-party personal data, which is exempt from disclosure under the Environmental Information Regulations. In addition, some material was outside the scope of the requestor’s EIR enquiry and was removed on that basis.
The Department does not consider it necessary to place the requested documents in the Library.
The NEER155 evidence review was carried out by Natural England, the Government’s statutory adviser on nature. As the statutory adviser responsible for the review, the tasks associated with carrying out that review including the peer review element were matters for Natural England. NEER155 built on Natural England’s 2013 review (NEER004) by incorporating 102 new studies on the effects of burning on peatlands. The external peer reviewers for NEER155 were leading peatland experts at major universities and other expert institutions.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information her Department holds on seating capacity on all routes operated by London North Eastern Railway in each of the last 12 months, broken down by month.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department does not hold information on seating capacity on all routes operated by London North Eastern Railway in each of the last 12 months, broken down by month.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of reducing VCT Income Tax relief on the outcomes from doubling the lifetime investment limit for qualifying companies.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
At Budget, the government announced a comprehensive package of entrepreneurship tax measures designed to provide substantially enhanced support for scaling businesses across the UK. This includes doubling the maximum amount that a company can raise through the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) and the Venture Capital Trust (VCT) scheme. These increases are expected to lead to around £100 million per year of extra investment into the most successful scaling companies, supporting their further growth and development.
The Government recognises that there may be other ways we could support companies to scale in the UK. We have therefore launched a Call for Evidence on tax policy support to gather views and evidence from founders, entrepreneurs, scaling companies and investors. This will assess the impact, accessibility, and generosity of existing schemes, and explore potential policy options to go-further.
A Tax Information and Impact Note published at Budget outlines the policy rationale and expected impacts of these measures. It can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/enterprise-investment-scheme-eis-and-venture-capital-trusts-vct-changes/venture-capital-trusts-enterprise-investment-scheme-investment-limit-increase-and-restructure
The Policy Costings document contains further information on the costing methodology. This can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/692872fd2a37784b16ecf676/Budget_2025-Policy_Costings.pdf
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of reducing upfront VCT income tax relief on (a) future Venture Capital Trust fundraising and (b) investor behaviour across other tax-advantaged investment schemes, including EIS and SEIS.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
At Budget, the government announced a comprehensive package of entrepreneurship tax measures designed to provide substantially enhanced support for scaling businesses across the UK. This includes doubling the maximum amount that a company can raise through the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) and the Venture Capital Trust (VCT) scheme. These increases are expected to lead to around £100 million per year of extra investment into the most successful scaling companies, supporting their further growth and development.
The Government recognises that there may be other ways we could support companies to scale in the UK. We have therefore launched a Call for Evidence on tax policy support to gather views and evidence from founders, entrepreneurs, scaling companies and investors. This will assess the impact, accessibility, and generosity of existing schemes, and explore potential policy options to go-further.
A Tax Information and Impact Note published at Budget outlines the policy rationale and expected impacts of these measures. It can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/enterprise-investment-scheme-eis-and-venture-capital-trusts-vct-changes/venture-capital-trusts-enterprise-investment-scheme-investment-limit-increase-and-restructure
The Policy Costings document contains further information on the costing methodology. This can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/692872fd2a37784b16ecf676/Budget_2025-Policy_Costings.pdf
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of changes to Venture Capital Trust tax relief and lifetime investment limits on investment in qualifying companies.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
At Budget, the government announced a comprehensive package of entrepreneurship tax measures designed to provide substantially enhanced support for scaling businesses across the UK. This includes doubling the maximum amount that a company can raise through the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) and the Venture Capital Trust (VCT) scheme. These increases are expected to lead to around £100 million per year of extra investment into the most successful scaling companies, supporting their further growth and development.
The Government recognises that there may be other ways we could support companies to scale in the UK. We have therefore launched a Call for Evidence on tax policy support to gather views and evidence from founders, entrepreneurs, scaling companies and investors. This will assess the impact, accessibility, and generosity of existing schemes, and explore potential policy options to go-further.
A Tax Information and Impact Note published at Budget outlines the policy rationale and expected impacts of these measures. It can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/enterprise-investment-scheme-eis-and-venture-capital-trusts-vct-changes/venture-capital-trusts-enterprise-investment-scheme-investment-limit-increase-and-restructure
The Policy Costings document contains further information on the costing methodology. This can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/692872fd2a37784b16ecf676/Budget_2025-Policy_Costings.pdf
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will meet with manufacturers from the heating, refrigeration and air conditioning industries to discuss mandatory training on flammable refrigerants as part of the GB F Gas consultation process.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 10 February 2026 to the honourable Member for Bridlington and The Wolds in PQ UIN 111494.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
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 necessary safety measures required for the transition to alternative refrigerants with flammability or toxicity characteristics.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
I refer the honourable Member to the answer given on 10 February to the honourable Member for Newbury, PQs 111542 and 111543.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the answer of 2 December 2025, to Question 93748, on 10 Downing Street: Repairs and Maintenance, how much has been spent from public funds by Cabinet Office, HM Treasury or the Government Property Agency on the Chancellor’s official Ministerial residence in 10 Downing Street since 4 July 2024.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Following the departure of previous occupants, the official Ministerial residence was provided unfurnished. To address this, £19,759.61 was spent since 4 July 2024 on furnishings which remain government property and will be retained for future occupants.