Dave Robertson

I am proud that we have finally ended the injustice of the Mineworkers’ Pension Scheme. Miners across the country powered our economy for decades, working in the toughest environments. They should not have had to fight so long for a fair pension. The party opposite had 14 years to end this injustice but did nothing. Within 4 months we have ended the scandal. That’s the difference a Labour government makes.

The Spending Review confirmed Defra’s budget for 2024-25 and 2025-26. The settlement provides £5 billion total departmental expenditure limit over two years (2024-25 and 2025-26) to support the transition towards a more productive and environmentally sustainable agricultural sector in England, ensuring food security. It also confirms £208 million funding across 2024-25 and 2025-26 to support the transformation of the Government’s biosecurity facilities at Weybridge. More detailed budgets will be set following the department’s business planning exercise. The department does not hold constituency level spending information for the farming budget.

Defra is working with the police, local authorities and animal welfare groups to help prevent dog attacks by encouraging responsible dog ownership, making sure dog control issues are addressed before they escalate and that the full force of the law is applied.

We have no plans currently to reintroduce a mandatory dog licence. The old licensing system was repealed by the Local Government Act 1988 because it cost more to administer than the revenue it generated. The old licensing system was in effect an ownership registration scheme. Now that microchipping is mandatory, this is no longer necessary.

We engage regularly with our international partners on irregular migration, with a commitment to tackling people trafficking and the gangs profiting from it. In July we announced steps to reinforce our cooperation with Europol and, through our new Border Security Command, we will intensify efforts in transit countries to break the business models of these gangs.

The government expects that police officers will be used in tackling crime and protecting the public.

It is for Chief Constables and directly elected PCCs, and Mayors with PCC functions to make operational decisions based on their local knowledge and experience, including how best to allocate resources.

Mr Speaker, the criminal smuggling gangs are international operations and it will require international cooperation from governments and law enforcement agencies to dismantle their networks, and disrupt their supply chains.

Our new Border Security Command is already building and strengthening partnerships across the world to tackle this evil trade in human lives, signing new agreements from Germany to Iraq, and using every opportunity we have on the global stage to put this issue on the agenda, and drive collective action.

The government is committed to supporting the effective planning and management of road works to mitigate disruption. Local highways departments play a crucial role in maintaining and managing the road network within their local areas during development to minimise disruption. As set out in national planning guidance, developers are encouraged to engage with local issues at the earliest opportunity during the application process for national and local infrastructure projects to identify potential impacts of road closures.