Asked by: Hannah Spencer (Green Party - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential mental health benefits of increasing men’s talking groups within prisons.
Answered by Jake Richards - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Provision of these groups is determined locally by Governors, in partnership with NHS providers, which are responsible for statutory mental health services. The Ministry of Justice has not formally evaluated or assessed the effectiveness of such groups to date.
H M Prison & Probation Service takes an evidence-informed approach to interventions, and recognises the contribution that well-structured peer support can play in rehabilitation.
Asked by: Hannah Spencer (Green Party - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of an El Niño weather event on (a) food security and (b) critical infrastructure in the UK.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Defra-funded Food, Farming and Natural Environment climate service, delivered by the Met Office Hadley Centre, provides climate modelling services to Government. Defra published the Met Office High-Impact Low-Likelihood Outcomes paper last year which highlighted the potential impacts of strong El Niño years on net global crop production and how they may amplify any other global food production shocks.
Defra is monitoring the potential impacts of this year’s predicted El Niño, on both domestically produced food and imports. This includes considering potential impacts on food supply chain dependencies, including transport, ports, storage and other food industry infrastructure.
Asked by: Hannah Spencer (Green Party - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the El Niño weather event on the cost of food for British consumers.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
We are aware of the potential impact that an El Niño can have on global agricultural production and therefore the price of food in the UK. There remains considerable uncertainty about its impact at this stage. We will continue to monitor the situation.
Asked by: Hannah Spencer (Green Party - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what his planned timetable is for Awaab's Law to be implemented within the private rented sector.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the roadmap for implementing the Renters' Rights Act 2025 published on 13 November 2025 which can be found on gov.uk here.
Asked by: Hannah Spencer (Green Party - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing maximum statutory workplace temperatures.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government) (Equalities)
I refer the Rt Hon Member to PQ 3463.
Asked by: Hannah Spencer (Green Party - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of new Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards in the private rented sector on private rent inflation.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government published a response to the consultation on improving the energy performance of privately rented homes on 21 January 2026. The government response is accompanied by the Department’s Impact Assessment which provides an estimated impact of the final policy and can be found on GOV.UK.
Rental prices are not determined by a single factor, and as outlined in the final impact assessment, wider market factors alongside this regulation may affect the rental prices of properties whether or not they are required to make upgrades under the MEES regulations. The government’s priority is to give landlords the regulatory certainty and advice they need to plan efficiency upgrades over the coming years, in consultation with tenants. More broadly, we are committed to protecting tenants’ rights by giving them the right to challenge unreasonable rent increases under the Renters’ Rights Act 2025
Asked by: Hannah Spencer (Green Party - Gorton and Denton)
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 4 June 2026 to Question 3739, how many allegations of piglet thumping were investigated by the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) in each of the last 3 years; and if she will take steps to record data on prosecutions in a way that would enable cases to be identified.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) take all complaints of illegal slaughter, other forms of on-farm killing and serious breaches of animal welfare, seriously. On receipt of a complaint, APHA will triage the details provided to determine the action required. The number of allegations specifically related to piglet thumping is not publicly available.
Local authorities lead on enforcement and prosecutions with support from APHA where needed to provide veterinary expertise and evidence. Any successful prosecution for welfare offences taken by a local authority is published in the annual Section 80 report under the Animal Health Act 1981 which is laid in Parliament. The data for this report is held and provided by the local authorities.
Asked by: Hannah Spencer (Green Party - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Child Poverty Strategy in the absence of statutory targets for reducing child poverty.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Our Child Poverty Strategy sets out the steps we are taking to reduce child poverty this Parliament, lifting 550,000 children out of poverty in 2029/30. These interventions are set to lead to the largest expected reduction in child poverty over a Parliament since comparable records began.
The Monitoring and Evaluation Framework (Child Poverty Strategy: Monitoring and Evaluation Framework - GOV.UK), published alongside the Strategy, sets out how progress will be assessed through a clear framework, including headline metrics on relative low income and deep material poverty, alongside a comprehensive programme of analysis and cross‑government working. Further details on our approach will follow in a baseline report this summer, alongside the latest statistics and evidence.
The Government already has a statutory duty to publish poverty statistics annually and we also hold ourselves to account on our progress through the monitoring and evaluation arrangements we have put in place. This means that from this year and in future years, the progress we make is transparent for all.
Asked by: Hannah Spencer (Green Party - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has issued guidance to universities on the Employment Rights Act; and what steps she is taking to prevent university employers engaging in fire and rehire practices before January 2027.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Universities are autonomous institutions and, as such, like any other employer, are expected to comply with UK employment laws. The government has not issued specific guidance to universities on the Employment Rights Act, but clearly they should comply with it as they should any other law.
The government does not have an intervening role with specific providers or in resolving disputes between providers and their staff. Providers are however expected to work with their staff to develop sustainable models that retain talent and expertise, and provide stability for the workforce and the institution.
Asked by: Hannah Spencer (Green Party - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will ensure no compulsory redundancies among staff who cannot relocate from her Department's offices which are closing.
Answered by Olivia Bailey
The department is committed to supporting colleagues affected by the closure of six office locations and have developed a package of mitigations to support those affected, resulting in the majority of colleagues accepting moves to one of our remaining eight nationally based offices. We continue to work with all staff to reach a workable solution with the aim to avoid compulsory redundancies wherever possible.