Asked by: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will bring forward legislative proposals in this Session to create a right of responsible access to the English countryside.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government recognises the importance of providing access to the outdoors for people’s health and wellbeing and is working to ensure this is safe and appropriate. That is why we have set out ambitious manifesto commitments to create nine new national river walks and three new national forests in England, expanding access to the great outdoors.
We have also announced plans to remove the 2031 cut-off date for the recording of historic rights of way to enhance public access to nature. This will ensure that the public can continue to use these routes for years to come, with the change being formally enacted when parliamentary time allows.
Asked by: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)
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 3 December 2024 to Question 16660 on Consumer Goods: Carbon Emissions, what discussions he has had with the (a) Circular Economy Taskforce and (b) Committees of Advertising Practice and Advertising Standards Authority on measures to limit climate emissions from advertising of high carbon products.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government recognises the importance of reducing emissions from high carbon products and will continue to bring forward proposals to do so. As the Circular Economy Taskforce develops recommendations for the strategy, it will consider the evidence for action right across the economy and evaluate what interventions may be needed. The Committee of Advertising Practice and Advertising Standards Authority operate independently of the Government.
Asked by: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make it his policy to require NHS hospitals to operate pay on exit parking.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The NHS car parking guidance 2022 for NHS trusts and NHS foundation trusts states that trusts should consider installing ‘pay on exit’ or similar schemes so that drivers pay only for the time that they have used.
National Health Service organisations should continue to work with their patients and staff, local authorities, and public transport providers to make sure that users can get to the site, and park, if necessary, as safely, conveniently, and economically as possible. Further information is available at the following link:
Asked by: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of implementing a scheme equivalent to Fuel Finder for the cost of charging electric vehicles.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government is committed to improving the transparency of public electric vehicle charging infrastructure costs. Under the Public Charge Point Regulations 2023, chargepoint operators are required to clearly provide the price of charging at public chargepoints in pence per kilowatt hour (or pound per kilowatt hour).
These regulations also require operators to share open data on charging costs free of charge, among other data fields. Both these measures allow drivers to compare public chargepoint costs and choose the best rate.
Asked by: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of the Planning and Infrastructure Bill on the UK's ability to meet its binding climate and nature targets.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The measures contained in the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, including a new Nature Restoration Fund and streamlined consultation requirements for Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects, will help deliver the government’s climate and nature commitments.
Asked by: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to reduce the time taken to reach decisions on Attendance Allowance applications.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Attendance Allowance is currently undergoing a significant modernisation through the piloting of an online digital claim process. We are using customer feedback to design a transformed application that is shorter and easier, which focuses on collecting only the information we need to make a decision. This pilot will also support decision makers to handle claims more quickly with a significant reduction in requests for further information from customers.
Asked by: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 20 March 2025 to Question 37932 on Gambling Commission, in what month this year she expects the Gambling Commission to concludes its investigation on allegations under section 42 of the Gambling Act 2005 relating to bets placed on the date of the 2024 General Election.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Gambling Commission is continuing its investigation into potential criminal offences of cheating under section 42 of the Gambling Act 2005 in relation to bets placed on the timing of the 2024 General Election. Responsibility for specific timings related to this investigation are a matter for the Gambling Commission and it would be inappropriate to comment whilst the matter is ongoing.