Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of Natural England's resources to run the Nature Restoration Fund, as outlined in the Planning and Infrastructure Bill.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra is working closely with Natural England and the wider Government to ensure appropriate resources are in place to administer the Nature Restoration Fund.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Nature Restoration Fund on the size of populations of (a) great crested newts, (b) bats, (c) dormice and (d) other protected species.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In December, we published a working paper on our proposal to establish a Nature Restoration Fund through the Planning and Infrastructure Bill. We have listened carefully to feedback from the working paper and engagement with the development industry, nature conservation organisations and other stakeholders in developing this legislation. We continue to engage stakeholders and will work with private providers and land managers, including district licensing scheme providers, to ensure competition and innovation in securing impactful and good value for money interventions.
We are committed to delivering a win-win for nature and the economy. An Environmental Delivery Plan can only be put in place where the Secretary of State is satisfied the delivery of conservation measures will outweigh the negative effects of development.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Nature Restoration Fund on district licensing schemes.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In December, we published a working paper on our proposal to establish a Nature Restoration Fund through the Planning and Infrastructure Bill. We have listened carefully to feedback from the working paper and engagement with the development industry, nature conservation organisations and other stakeholders in developing this legislation. We continue to engage stakeholders and will work with private providers and land managers, including district licensing scheme providers, to ensure competition and innovation in securing impactful and good value for money interventions.
We are committed to delivering a win-win for nature and the economy. An Environmental Delivery Plan can only be put in place where the Secretary of State is satisfied the delivery of conservation measures will outweigh the negative effects of development.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he had with (a) NGOs and (b) district licensing scheme providers other than Natural England on the potential impact of the inclusion of species in the Planning and Infrastructure Bill on (i) protected species and (ii) farming revenues.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In December, we published a working paper on our proposal to establish a Nature Restoration Fund through the Planning and Infrastructure Bill. We have listened carefully to feedback from the working paper and engagement with the development industry, nature conservation organisations and other stakeholders in developing this legislation. We continue to engage stakeholders and will work with private providers and land managers, including district licensing scheme providers, to ensure competition and innovation in securing impactful and good value for money interventions.
We are committed to delivering a win-win for nature and the economy. An Environmental Delivery Plan can only be put in place where the Secretary of State is satisfied the delivery of conservation measures will outweigh the negative effects of development.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 3 March 2025 to Question 32022 on Schools: Pay, whether the new productivity initiatives include consideration of the use of AI technology to reduce the employment of (a) teaching and (b) teaching assistant staff.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
High quality teaching is the within-school factor that makes the biggest difference to a young person’s educational outcomes. This is why the department will recruit 6,500 new expert teachers.
The department is committed to supporting schools in driving high standards for every child and addressing workload challenges. Our productivity initiatives include the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and other evidence-based technology to reduce the time teachers spend marking, planning and form filling so that their drive, energy and passion is fully focused on delivering change for children.
AI, when made safe and reliable, represents an exciting opportunity to give our schools leaders and teachers a helping hand with classroom life. The department wants our teachers and support staff to not only stay in our classrooms, but to thrive in them.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the impact of the abolition of NHS England on the Federated Data Platform and Associated Services contract awarded to the consortium led by Palantir Technologies.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Ministers will work with the new transformation team at the top of NHS England, led by James Mackey, to lead this transformation. As we work to return many of NHS England’s current functions to the Department, we will ensure that we continue to evaluate impacts of all kinds.
The abolition of NHS England will strip out the unnecessary bureaucracy and cut the duplication that comes from having two organisations doing the same job, we will empower staff to focus on delivering better care for patients, driving productivity up and getting waiting times down.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to replace support for (a) adopted and (b) special guardianship children receiving therapy for early trauma when the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund closes.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department will shortly be finalising business planning decisions on how its budget will be allocated for the next financial year. All decisions regarding the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund are being made as part of these discussions. An announcement will be made as soon as possible.
The department will always consider the impact of decisions on vulnerable children.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of closing the Adoption and special guardianship support fund on children receiving support from that fund.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department will shortly be finalising business planning decisions on how its budget will be allocated for the next financial year. All decisions regarding the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund are being made as part of these discussions. An announcement will be made as soon as possible.
The department will always consider the impact of decisions on vulnerable children.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of climate change on water security.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Water companies are required by law to publish a water resources management plan (WRMP) that sets out how they will provide secure public water supplies for a 25-year period (as a minimum). This includes a detailed assessment of the effect of climate change on water supply (and demand). Water companies have just published the latest WRMPs, and this assessment shows that, in England, the quantity of water needed to replace water that will be lost due to the impacts of climate change on water supplies by 2050 is 642 million litres per day. Water companies outline in WRMPs how they plan to manage water supplies to ensure that they are resilient to climate change and other factors such as improving resilience to droughts, population growth, business growth needs and protecting and improving the water environment. The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs provides permission to publish the WRMPs, once he is satisfied the plans produced by water companies demonstrate a secure supply of water.
In addition, the Environment Agency’s National Framework for Water Resources published in March 2020, set out the strategic water needs for England up to 2050 and beyond. This included an assessment of the likely effect of climate change on water availability. The Framework sets out how water security will be maintained through actions such as halving leakage, reducing demand and developing new water supply infrastructure. A new framework will be released in late spring/early summer.
The most recent WRMPs (WRMP24) have been assessed by the Environment Agency and a summary published (A summary of England’s revised draft regional and water resources management plans - GOV.UK).
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has sought legal advice on the compatibility of the use of (a) predictive policing and (b) risk prediction systems by police forces with (i) national and (ii) international human rights obligations.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
AI, and other technologies, can provide a wide range of benefits to improve efficiency and productivity in policing, as well as boosting public confidence by improving the prevention, detection and investigation of crime. However, the procurement and deployment of AI technology to assist with forecasting potential areas of crime or disorder, commonly known as ‘predictive policing’, must always be subject to strong safeguards.
The AI Covenant for Policing was agreed at National Police Chiefs Council in September 2023. This provides practical high-level principles that, if followed, will ensure that the police develop and use AI tools that are lawful, transparent, explainable, responsible, accountable and robust. The Home Office has provided funding to support the National Police Chiefs Council AI Portfolio to drive consistency and create guidance for forces to develop and deploy AI tools, and we are undertaking further detailed work in this area. There are a number of essential wider protections in place, including the Public Sector Equality Duty, to ensure that all Government policies take account of the human rights impacts on individuals.