Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what impact her Department estimates GDPR regulations have had on productivity since they were adopted.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
There is currently no definitive empirical study specifying UK-wide GDPR impact on productivity since adoption in 2018.
However, UK GDPR strengthened individuals’ rights and trust in digital services, supporting long-term economic growth. The Data (Use and Access) Act is designed to maintain high standards of data protection while reducing unnecessary compliance burdens. Reforms expect to support UK productivity growth by lowering administrative costs for routine data processing, improving regulatory certainty, and enabling responsible data driven innovation. DSIT estimates net impacts of £1.2 billion over ten years from data protection and privacy reforms, including around £300 million in productivity-related gains.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the third Road Investment strategy (RIS3) can include specific funding to enable National Highways to pay its employees the £1,500 Pay Remit Guidance payment (which has been withheld by National Highways since 2022/23).
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
National Highways is responsible for setting pay awards that are both affordable and aligned within its overall RIS3 budget. During 2022, the organisation awarded a larger pay deal compared to the core Civil Service and as such took the decision to not offer the £1500 non-consolidated payment.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether any Department covered by the Pay Remit Guidance had its 2022/23 budget increased or altered to enable the £1,500 Pay Remit Guidance payment to be made.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Decisions on pay below Senior Civil Service are delegated to Departments. Cabinet Office does not have sight of Departments’ budgetary decisions.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if her Department will issue guidance to (a) the Environment Agency and (b) local authority officers setting out their respective powers to (i) identify an odour and (ii) take enforcement action against an alleged producer of an odour.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Owners of industrial, trade and business premises are expected to use the best practicable means available to reduce odours, effluvia and other potential sources of statutory nuisance emanating from their place of work in the first place. If this is not happening, then Local Authorities have powers through the Environmental Protection Act 1990 to investigate and issue abatement notices to stop the problem from re-occurring if they determine a statutory nuisance exists.
For certain categories of industrial installations regulated under the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016 (EPR), the Environment Agency (EA) and Local Authorities regulate odour pollution through conditions in environmental permits. Operators of these sites have to use appropriate measures or best available techniques (BAT or UKBAT where it exists) to develop management controls to prevent, or, where that is not possible, to reduce odour pollution.
The EA uses permitting and enforcement tools to tackle odour pollution from the sites it regulates. These are used on a sliding scale ranging from advice and guidance to criminal prosecutions for serious pollution incidents, principally through powers from the EPRs.
Statutory guidance, which is updated from time to time, is already available for the EA and local authorities on how the EPRs should be implemented.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether judges have been consulted about possible increased personal risks of replacing some jury trials with named judge trials as proposed in the Courts and Tribunals Bill.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The safety and security, welfare, and independence of the judiciary remain paramount. Engagement with the judiciary on the court reform measures in the Courts and Tribunals Bill included consideration of personal safety and security. We will continue to work with the judiciary as the Courts and Tribunals Bill progresses and these measures are implemented.
When implemented, judge‑only trials will operate within the existing robust HMCTS security framework. This already includes a range of judicial security policies and procedures, such as the Judicial Harassment Protocol, designed to protect judicial office holders in court, outside of court, and online as a result of their judicial role.
Last year, the Department invested over £20 million extra funding in judicial security, and HMCTS is continuing to improve its security procedures. We stand ready to do more if required.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of the level of risk to named judges who replace juries in trials.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The safety and security, welfare, and independence of the judiciary remain paramount. Engagement with the judiciary on the court reform measures in the Courts and Tribunals Bill included consideration of personal safety and security. We will continue to work with the judiciary as the Courts and Tribunals Bill progresses and these measures are implemented.
When implemented, judge‑only trials will operate within the existing robust HMCTS security framework. This already includes a range of judicial security policies and procedures, such as the Judicial Harassment Protocol, designed to protect judicial office holders in court, outside of court, and online as a result of their judicial role.
Last year, the Department invested over £20 million extra funding in judicial security, and HMCTS is continuing to improve its security procedures. We stand ready to do more if required.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the annual cost has been for the Bereavement Support Payment over the last five years, including regional breakdown, and the percentage of those eligible who claim this.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Official statistics for Bereavement Support Payment (BSP) can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/benefit-expenditure-and-caseload-tables-2025
Table 1: Annual cost for Bereavement Support Payment for the last five financial years rounded to the nearest million pounds
| 2020/21 | 2021/22 | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
Annual cost (£m) | 257 | 188 | 253 | 194 | 208 |
Further annual expenditure figures can be found in the outturn and forecast tables, in the ‘Bereavement_benefits’ sheet:
A regional breakdown of BSP alone is not available, but a regional breakdown for bereavement benefits as a whole can be found in the benefit expenditure by country and region, in the ‘BBWB’ sheet:
It is not possible to accurately measure take-up of BSP, out of those who are eligible, as this would require monthly data on deaths by age, marital status, cohabitee status, dependent children and National Insurance contributions.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help ensure that women can access toothpaste that is appropriate for their saliva's ph level.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Toothpaste and other consumer healthcare products are widely available to support a range of oral hygiene needs, including those of women. The main modifiable risk factors for dental caries are diet, consuming too much sugar too often, and lack of optimal fluoride. Managing the intake and frequency of sugar is particularly relevant for the pH of saliva. For caries prevention, it is the application of fluoride in toothpaste that is the most important aspect of brushing, as fluoride helps prevent, control, and arrest caries. Family or standard fluoride toothpaste at 1,350 to 1,500 parts per million fluoride is recommended. Higher strength fluoride toothpaste can be prescribed by a dentist if a patient requires it due to dental caries risk. The evidence for this and related advice for dental teams is set out at the following link:
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
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 make it her policy to reverse the 2014 increase in subsidy for grouse moorlands.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The payment increase announced in 2014 was an uplift in per hectare payments for moorland under the area-based Basic Payment Scheme, which has since closed in England.
Defra is targeting investments away from the old subsidy schemes towards improving Environmental Land Management schemes and investing in farmers, including upland farmers. Defra launched the new Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier last year, and an updated version of the Sustainable Farming Incentive will reopen later this year. Defra is also working with Dr Hilary Cottam on a new approach to the uplands, developing a place-based approach for what these communities need.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps she is taking to ensure that job applicants with protected characteristics are not discriminated against when AI is used to assess applications.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government is committed to removing barriers to AI adoption, unlocking new opportunities, and ensuring that equality is embedded at the heart of every mission. We want AI to work for everyone, and that means supporting innovation while ensuring technologies are fair, inclusive and accessible.
We have published Responsible AI in Recruitment guidance which sets out good practice procuring and deploying AI systems for HR and recruitment. This guidance highlights the mechanisms that can be used to ensure the safe and trustworthy use of AI in recruitment.
As highlighted in the AI Opportunities Action Plan: One Year On, we have taken steps to build the AI assurance ecosystem that underpins safe and responsible use of AI. This includes establishing a new Centre for AI Measurement at the National Physical Laboratory, designed to accelerate the development of secure, transparent and trustworthy AI.