Asked by: Jack Rankin (Conservative - Windsor)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many apprentices his Department recruited in (a) 2025, (b) 2022, (c) 2023 and (d) 2024.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
(a) 9 apprentices were recruited in 2025
(d) 13 apprentices were recruited in 2024
Due to the machinery of Government changes which created the Department in February 2023 DESNZ is unable to provide an answer to questions (b) & (c).
Asked by: Jack Rankin (Conservative - Windsor)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many apprentices her Department recruited in (a) 2025, (b) 2022, (c) 2023 and (d) 2024.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The number of apprentices has fallen for a number of reasons:
HM Treasury remains committed to apprenticeships as one pathway to break down barriers to opportunity. External recruitment campaigns for AO & EO grades are considered for a level 3 apprenticeship where appropriate.
As a result, the department has recruited the following number of apprentices:
2022 - 12
2023 - 4
2024 - 4
2025 – 0
Asked by: Jack Rankin (Conservative - Windsor)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many apprentices his Department recruited in (a) 2025, (b) 2022, (c) 2023 and (d) 2024.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
On 1st July 2023 due to a Machinery of Government Change, the Department of International Trade (DIT) became the Department for Business and Trade (DBT), alongside parts of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS). We therefore only hold information from DBT from 1st July 2023.
Information included for 2022 only captures former DIT apprenticeship starts. Information for 2023 includes starts from January to June for former DIT. Data provided is sourced from internal-to-DBT management information trackers.
Response relates to apprentices recruited/onboarded onto Apprenticeship Programmes. Years here are taken to mean calendar years, not financial years.
Year | Apprenticeship Starts on Programme |
2022 (DIT Only) | 88 |
2023 | 76 |
2024 | 102 |
2025 | 119 |
Asked by: Jack Rankin (Conservative - Windsor)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many apprentices her Department recruited in (a) 2025, (b) 2022, (c) 2023 and (d) 2024.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) recruited the following number of apprentices in the specified years:
Year | Number of Apprentices recruited |
(a) 2025* | 31 |
(b) 2022 | 25 |
(c) 2023 | 30 |
(d) 2024 | 15 |
*Note that figures for 2025 are as of 17/03/2026 and are not yet final.
Asked by: Jack Rankin (Conservative - Windsor)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether her Department will examine whether the options chosen for the restoration and renewal programme have been developed in accordance with HM Treasury’s Green Book guidance.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Parliament is responsible for the Restoration and Renewal programme.
Asked by: Jack Rankin (Conservative - Windsor)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she plans to integrate citizen science with statutory monitoring within Regional Systems Planners to more effectively monitor the water environment.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In the recent Water White Paper, the Government committed to strengthening regional water planning to enable a more holistic, coordinated approach to water environment and supply planning. A fundamental part of this is supporting catchment partnerships across England, which are civil society-led and bring together cross-sectoral stakeholders to address water system issues at a local level. The value of citizen science as a key tool for catchment partnerships is widely recognised, and as such the Environment Agency has published the first ever Citizen Science Technical Advisory Framework to support and guide stakeholders when utilising citizen science. This ensures consistency and quality across the board and helps to identify where citizen science information can be used to inform the design of statutory monitoring programmes.
The Catchment Data Explorer brings together the evidence used in River Basin Management Plans, showing the status of our waters, the objectives we are working towards, and the reasons some places are not yet meeting them. Some of that evidence is already informed by citizen science, which add valuable local insight that helps build a fuller picture of what’s happening in our catchments. We are working closely with a wide range of partners to improve how we share data with each other, including to support catchment and regional planning reforms. As these collaborations grow, it will become easier to bring citizen generated evidence into our core decision making, helping us plan and manage the water environment in a more joined up and informed way.
Asked by: Jack Rankin (Conservative - Windsor)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether citizen science will be embedded in the (a) Water Reform Bill and (b) Transition Plan.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In the recent Water White Paper, the Government committed to strengthening regional water planning to enable a more holistic, coordinated approach to water environment and supply planning. A fundamental part of this is supporting catchment partnerships across England, which are civil society-led and bring together cross-sectoral stakeholders to address water system issues at a local level. The value of citizen science as a key tool for catchment partnerships is widely recognised, and as such the Environment Agency has published the first ever Citizen Science Technical Advisory Framework to support and guide stakeholders when utilising citizen science. This ensures consistency and quality across the board and helps to identify where citizen science information can be used to inform the design of statutory monitoring programmes.
The Catchment Data Explorer brings together the evidence used in River Basin Management Plans, showing the status of our waters, the objectives we are working towards, and the reasons some places are not yet meeting them. Some of that evidence is already informed by citizen science, which add valuable local insight that helps build a fuller picture of what’s happening in our catchments. We are working closely with a wide range of partners to improve how we share data with each other, including to support catchment and regional planning reforms. As these collaborations grow, it will become easier to bring citizen generated evidence into our core decision making, helping us plan and manage the water environment in a more joined up and informed way.
Asked by: Jack Rankin (Conservative - Windsor)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the National Catchment Data Platform will include citizen science data.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In the recent Water White Paper, the Government committed to strengthening regional water planning to enable a more holistic, coordinated approach to water environment and supply planning. A fundamental part of this is supporting catchment partnerships across England, which are civil society-led and bring together cross-sectoral stakeholders to address water system issues at a local level. The value of citizen science as a key tool for catchment partnerships is widely recognised, and as such the Environment Agency has published the first ever Citizen Science Technical Advisory Framework to support and guide stakeholders when utilising citizen science. This ensures consistency and quality across the board and helps to identify where citizen science information can be used to inform the design of statutory monitoring programmes.
The Catchment Data Explorer brings together the evidence used in River Basin Management Plans, showing the status of our waters, the objectives we are working towards, and the reasons some places are not yet meeting them. Some of that evidence is already informed by citizen science, which add valuable local insight that helps build a fuller picture of what’s happening in our catchments. We are working closely with a wide range of partners to improve how we share data with each other, including to support catchment and regional planning reforms. As these collaborations grow, it will become easier to bring citizen generated evidence into our core decision making, helping us plan and manage the water environment in a more joined up and informed way.
Asked by: Jack Rankin (Conservative - Windsor)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, when he will publish the response to the consultation entitled Make Work Pay: trade union right of access, published on 23 October 2025.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Officials are in the process of reviewing the responses to the consultation, and the government will publish a formal response in due course.
Asked by: Jack Rankin (Conservative - Windsor)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the Adam Smith Institute's report entitled Knock, Knock: The Effects of the New Union Access Regime on SMEs, published on 6 February 2026, what assessment he has made of the implications for his Department's policies of that report’s findings of the potential impact of the proposed trade union access on the level costs for SMEs; and if he will make it his policy to implement the mitigations recommended in the report, including raising the trade union access threshold to businesses with a minimum headcount of 250 employees.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
My officials have considered the Adam Smith Institute’s report, alongside other relevant evidence, as part of the policy development process. Our consultation, Make Work Pay: trade union right of access, proposed an exemption for employers with fewer than 21 employees, with the aim of ensuring access is directed toward workplaces where recognition is most likely to be viable, while taking account of the practical implications for smaller employers.
We are currently reviewing responses to the consultation and will set out the Government’s final approach in our formal response, which will be published in due course.