Asked by: David Chadwick (Liberal Democrat - Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the Family Court Quarterly Statistics, published on 27 March 2025, for what reason 8,150 bereaved families waited over six months for the Probate Registry to issue grants of (a) probate and (b) administration in 2024.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) retains complaint data concerning lost documentation for a period of five years. HMCTS conducts regular meetings with our bulk scanning provider to review occurrences of lost documents and is committed to continually enhancing our systems to minimize these incidents.
The open probate caseload includes individual cases that may experience delays due to various factors such as family disputes or insufficient information being provided by the applicants. HMCTS actively contacts users to facilitate the progression of cases requiring additional information. Official statistics on the open caseload are regularly published via the following link: Family Court Statistics Quarterly - GOV.UK.
Asked by: David Chadwick (Liberal Democrat - Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what information her Department holds on the number of documents lost by the Probate Registry in each of the last ten years.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) retains complaint data concerning lost documentation for a period of five years. HMCTS conducts regular meetings with our bulk scanning provider to review occurrences of lost documents and is committed to continually enhancing our systems to minimize these incidents.
The open probate caseload includes individual cases that may experience delays due to various factors such as family disputes or insufficient information being provided by the applicants. HMCTS actively contacts users to facilitate the progression of cases requiring additional information. Official statistics on the open caseload are regularly published via the following link: Family Court Statistics Quarterly - GOV.UK.
Asked by: David Chadwick (Liberal Democrat - Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps he is taking with the Welsh Government to ensure full gigabit coverage by 2030 in Brecon, Radnor and Cwm-Tawe constituency.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government has recently reconfirmed its commitment to achieving nationwide gigabit coverage and now expects 99% of premises to have access to a gigabit-capable connection by 2032.
As part of Project Gigabit, Openreach is already delivering a contract across North West, Mid and South East Wales to bring gigabit-capable broadband to homes and businesses that would otherwise miss out. This contract currently includes approximately 3,500 premises in the Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe constituency.
Building Digital UK (BDUK) will continue to work closely with the Welsh Government to improve broadband connectivity across Wales as we refresh our delivery plans for the remaining premises in the UK.
Asked by: David Chadwick (Liberal Democrat - Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he is taking to encourage (a) domestic and (b) international investment in green hydrogen.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The UK is well placed to support a thriving hydrogen economy, with a robust and growing pipeline of production projects in development in the coming decade, providing an opportunity for domestic and international investors. My department has been working closely with the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero to showcase the opportunities for investment in the UK hydrogen sector.
We recently announced 27 shortlisted green hydrogen projects across the UK for the second Hydrogen Allocation Round (HAR2), marking a key milestone and reaffirming the Government’s commitment to the sector. Our upcoming industrial strategy will provide support for global investors.
Asked by: David Chadwick (Liberal Democrat - Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to ensure (a) cross-border coordination and (b) strategic support for (i) species reintroductions, (ii) ecological corridor planning and (iii) access to funding between (A) England and the devolved administrations and (B) mid-Wales and the Welsh Marches.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This is a devolved matter, and the information provided therefore relates to England only.
Defra has not taken steps on cross-border co-ordination or strategic support for reintroductions between England and the devolved administrations, including mid-Wales and the Welsh Marches.
All reintroductions in England are expected to follow the Code for Reintroductions and other Conversations Translocations. The Code states that, while it is specific to England, cross-border co-operation and engagement with relevant authorities and stakeholders is essential where releases occur close to England’s neighbours or involve a reintroduction of a species to Great Britain. We would therefore expect any reintroduction project to carry out cross-border coordination as part of the planning phase of their reintroduction project.
On strategic support for ecological corridors, delivering the Environment Act habitat target will create more ecologically functional, better-connected habitats. Creating and restoring wildlife-rich habitat can help improve habitat connectivity to support larger and more resilient species populations, especially in the context of a changing climate.
The Four Countries’ Biodiversity Group (4CBG) provides a forum to take forward substantive and policy-development issues relating to biodiversity common to all four countries.
Asked by: David Chadwick (Liberal Democrat - Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions his Department has had with (a) devolved administrations and (b) local communities on the potential merits of providing (i) funding and (ii) funding through the (A) Shared Prosperity Fund and (B) other environmental or rural development mechanisms to support the reintroduction of (1) beavers, (2) pine martens, (3) elk and (4) golden eagles in Wales.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra has not had discussions with devolved administrations and local communities on the potential merits of providing funding to Wales to support the reintroduction of beavers, pine martens, elk, and golden eagles. This is because this is a devolved matter, and funding is therefore the responsibility of the Welsh Government.
Natural England, NatureScot and Natural Resources Wales meet quarterly to discuss all species reintroductions projects in their respective countries including beavers. The agencies have an informal agreement to consult each other for any proposal that would impact cross-border. This has already been done for pine marten and white-tailed eagle reintroductions.
Regarding beaver reintroductions, the agencies consult with each other on licence applications near borders. For the English licensing scheme, licence applicants are required to consult Natural Resources Wales or NatureScot as well as impacted cross-border stakeholders prior to submitting an application to Natural England. Natural England will then carry out their own formal cross-agency consultation once the licence application has been received.
Asked by: David Chadwick (Liberal Democrat - Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department is taking steps to develop (a) fiscal and (b) regulatory frameworks to support (i) private and (ii) blended finance for large-scale rewilding and nature recovery projects in (a) England, (b) Scotland, (c) Wales and (d) Northern Ireland.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK Government is committed to scaling up private and blended finance for nature recovery and sustainable farming.
In England, we are actively working to strengthen regulatory frameworks for high-integrity nature markets. This includes a Call for Evidence (published 12 June) on clarifying demand from nature-dependent sectors, and a public consultation (27 April) on improving standards and oversight for carbon and nature markets. The deadline for submitting comment to the Call for Evidence is 7 August.
Environmental and agricultural policy are devolved matters. However, the UK and Devolved Governments are collaborating to ensure coherence across the UK, including through joint governance of the British Standards Institution’s UK Nature Investment Standards programme.
Asked by: David Chadwick (Liberal Democrat - Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to support the native (a) timber and (b) hardwoods market through (i) sustainable woodland creation, (ii) supply chain development and (iii) local processing infrastructure.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Timber in Construction Innovation Fund has awarded £2.3 million to support 14 projects to show the suitability and viability of England’s woodlands resource. We will continue our current approach of funding the establishment of native broadleaf woodlands and supporting the planting of well-designed and managed mixed and conifer-dominated woodlands. We aim to increase the use of both softwood and hardwood sourced from domestic forests in construction projects. We are working in collaboration with the forestry, wood processing and construction sectors to boost the use of timber in construction and drive innovation in the sector through the Timber in Construction Roadmap.
Asked by: David Chadwick (Liberal Democrat - Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe)
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 excess sewage sludge on levels of river pollution.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Sludge (Use in Agriculture) Regulations 1989 (SUiAR) supported by the Sewage Sludge Code of Practice provide environmental and health protections from sludge spreading.
The Government is continuing to work with the Environment Agency to assess the regulatory framework for spreading sludge.
Asked by: David Chadwick (Liberal Democrat - Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to NHS England awarding contracts for Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) services to three of six planned regional centres, if she will undertake a review of NHS England's recompression service contract; if she will take steps to ensure equitable geographic access to hyperbaric chambers across the UK; and if she will make it her policy to include (a) diver safety organisations and (b) medical experts in future consultations on HBOT services.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are committed to ensuring equitably accessible, high-quality services, for any patient who requires Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy. NHS England set out their assessment of service requirements in their commissioning intentions during the public consultation which took place in September 2024. The reconfiguration of services ensures service provision which meets optimal time to treatment guidelines, in which providers must be located no more than four hours, based on 200 miles radial distance, from the coast and four hours from the next nearest commissioned provider. More information on the consultation is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/reviewing-hyperbaric-oxygen-services-consultation-guide/
We actively encourage individuals and organisations to register as stakeholders to ensure a full range of views are included in any service developments. Stakeholders can register their interest in services commissioned by NHS England on their website, which includes a special interest group for Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy. The website is available at the following link:
https://www.engage.england.nhs.uk/application/crg-stakeholder-reg-april-2019/
Any individuals or organisations who sign up are kept informed when NHS England engages on potential changes to the way that these services are commissioned. NHS England also encourages stakeholders to cascade invitations to provide feedback across their networks.
NHS England consulted with a range of stakeholders in the update of the service specification in line with the published Full Methods Process which requires clinically led design, full public consultation and targeted stakeholder engagement. The methods process is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/methods-national-service-specifications/
The engagement report for this service includes the range of stakeholders who provided feedback on the specification and the service model, and is available at the following link: