Asked by: Charlotte Cane (Liberal Democrat - Ely and East Cambridgeshire)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, pursuant to the answer of 20 May 2026 to question 1351, if she will set a timeline for updating the House on considerations of conversion rights between civil partnerships and marriages for opposite-sex couples.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The government cannot provide any further information on a specific timeline, and as outlined in response to question 1351 on 20 May 2026, will provide an update in due course.
Asked by: Charlotte Cane (Liberal Democrat - Ely and East Cambridgeshire)
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 19 May 2026 to question 1352, if she will set out a timeline for including Battery Energy Storage Systems as an activity within the Environmental Permitting Regulations.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra plans to consult Summer 2027 on detailed regulatory policy proposals for including Battery Energy Storage Systems as an activity within the Environmental Permitting Regulations, following further policy development, including through an Industry Liaison Group.
Asked by: Charlotte Cane (Liberal Democrat - Ely and East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what consideration he has given to the introduction of a price cap for heating oil.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
We have requested that the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) undertake a detailed examination of the heating oil market and we will work closely with the CMA to understand their findings and develop options to increase consumer protection.
Asked by: Charlotte Cane (Liberal Democrat - Ely and East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what population size Neighbourhood Health Centres should serve in rural areas.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Neighbourhood health centres (NHCs) will bring together general practice with a mix of community, local authority, adult social care, and civil society services, allowing staff to deliver more coordinated and effective care for better patient outcomes and experiences.
As set out in the NHC guidance for regions and integrated care boards, integrated care boards should plan for NHCs to serve a population footprint at a scale in line with the Neighbourhood Health Framework, approximately 50,000, whilst recognising the need for local flexibility.
Delivery of neighbourhood health will be locally led, with health and wellbeing boards agreeing the geography around which services should be delivered. We expect neighbourhood health teams and services to be designed in a way that reflects the specific needs of local populations. While there will be a consistent focus on personalised coordinated care, the service will look different in different places, for example, in rural communities, coastal towns, or deprived inner cities.
Asked by: Charlotte Cane (Liberal Democrat - Ely and East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the answer of 20 May 2026 to question 900062, when the Women in Tech taskforce will make its first recommendations on education and career pathways.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Women remain underrepresented across the tech sector, with the gap beginning in education, where fewer than 20% of A-level Computer Science entrants are girls.
The Women in Tech Taskforce was established to address the barriers holding women back: to support more women to enter, stay and lead in tech. The Taskforce is currently focused on retention and progression, and is developing policy recommendations in these areas. It will turn to education and career pathways later this year, with recommendations to follow in due course.
The Taskforce will draw on insights from its Call for Evidence and members' expertise in developing recommendations. The Government is also reaching one million pupils through TechYouth, inspiring girls to consider AI and frontier technology careers.
Asked by: Charlotte Cane (Liberal Democrat - Ely and East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the answer of 21 May 2026 to question 1353, if he will provide a timeline for the publication of Golden Hello scheme data.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave on 21 May 2026 to Question 1353, which remains the current position.
Asked by: Charlotte Cane (Liberal Democrat - Ely and East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to support rural police forces.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
This Government is introducing the most radical and comprehensive policing reforms in nearly 200 years. We will modernise policing in this country – equipping it to tackle more sophisticated, online, and cross-border crimes (like wildlife crime and organised equipment theft), while also restoring neighbourhood policing.
With the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee every neighbourhood, rural or urban, now gets named and contactable officers dedicated to tackling crime and anti-social behaviour locally. Every rural area will also be covered by a Local Policing Area under a commander responsible for emergency response, local crime investigation and neighbourhood policing. They will be set targets to ensure they answer 90% of 999 calls within 10 seconds and attend 90% of the most serious incidents within 20 minutes in rural areas.
Last financial year (FY25/26) we provided £800,000 of funding to the National Rural Crime Unit and the National Wildlife Crime Unit, and we will be providing the same level of funding in 26/27. These capabilities play key roles in helping police across the UK tackle organised theft and disrupt serious and organised crime groups, which can pose unique challenges for policing in large and isolated rural areas.
The Government recognises that there can be challenges in responding to rural crime, which is why we worked closely with the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) to deliver the next iteration of their Rural and Wildlife Crime strategy and sets out operational and organisational policing priorities in respect of tackling those crimes that predominantly affect our rural communities.
Asked by: Charlotte Cane (Liberal Democrat - Ely and East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of making regulations under Section 28 of the National Health Service Reform and Health Care Professions Act 2002 to provide regulatory oversight of the General Medical Council and the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has not made any recent such assessment. The Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care (PSA) oversees the ten statutory bodies that regulate healthcare professionals in the United Kingdom and social workers in England.
It scrutinises the work of the regulatory bodies by monitoring and reporting on their performance against its Standards of Good Regulation; auditing decisions made during investigations into complaints about registrants’ practise; and making referrals or appeals to the relevant court if it considers that a final fitness to practise decision is insufficient to protect the public.
The PSA can use powers under Section 29 of the Act to refer final fitness to practise panel decisions to court where it believes the decision was insufficient to protect the public, maintain public confidence in the profession and/or maintain proper professional standards.
Asked by: Charlotte Cane (Liberal Democrat - Ely and East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if his Department will consider suspending all trade between the UK and Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Israel's illegal settlements and decisions designed to further them are a flagrant violation of international law. We make businesses aware of the UK position to discourage trade with settlements, as outlined in the Overseas Business Risk Guidance.
We also continue to consider a wide range of measures in relation to how we respond to the situation in the West Bank. This remains a priority for this Government and we welcome Parliament’s continued engagement on this matter. We will inform the House of any developments in our position.
Asked by: Charlotte Cane (Liberal Democrat - Ely and East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what consideration her Department has given to the issuing of nationwide guidance on school uniform policy, to permit the removal of blazers, jumpers and ties when pupils are uncomfortably hot.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The department has published non-statutory guidance on school uniform, which encourages schools to ensure their policies are reasonable, inclusive and practical. This includes taking account of the needs and comfort of pupils, for example by allowing flexibility in uniform requirements during periods of very hot weather. The guidance is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-uniform/school-uniforms.