Jenny Riddell-Carpenter

Since coming into office, this Government has taken action to ensure rural communities begin to feel the benefits of change they voted for at the last election.

We have allocated £1.9 billion into broadband and 4G connectivity, and £2.3 billion of transport funding for local places, across rural communities.

The Cabinet Office plays an important role in convening Ministers across Government and deploying the record £10.5 billion we have invested in flood defences; and to support rural communities through our Flood Resilience Partnership.

The new High Streets Illegality Taskforce is currently being established and will bring together departments and agencies to develop an intelligence led understanding of organised crime on our high streets, and a strategic long-term policy response to money laundering and associated criminality on UK high streets.

As well, Companies House works with a wide range of partners across Law Enforcement and Government to identify and disrupt economic crime. Where criminality is suspected, information and intelligence are shared with relevant partners.

The capability and capacity of Companies House’s Intelligence Hub has continued to grow, with increased use of the new data sharing powers to disseminate relevant intelligence to key partners, including the National Crime Agency, HMRC, the Insolvency Service and policing in the UK.

The Government recognises the vital contribution that breweries and local supply chains make to pubs and remains committed to supporting a sector that is diverse, competitive, and rooted in local communities.

Small Producer Relief (SPR) supports smaller producers by allowing those producing up to 4,500 hectolitres of pure alcohol per year to pay reduced duty on products below 8.5% ABV. At Budget 2025, the Government increased the cash discount for small producers, maintaining the value of SPR relative to main duty rates.

The Government works closely with industry and across departments to monitor risks to food and drink supply chain resilience, supported by regular engagement to prepare for and respond to potential disruptions

Additionally, we have reviewed the beer market to assess whether structural barriers are preventing small breweries from accessing pubs. The findings are being considered, and I will announce the outcome in due course.

The Government recognises the significant role rural pubs play in driving economic growth, employment and community cohesion across the UK. That is why we are offering targeted support for the sector.

Following the Budget, we recently announced an additional 15% reduction in the business rates bill for pubs, alongside the permanent reduction in the business rates multiplier for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure properties.

We recognise that pubs are at the beating heart of communities, providing not just a place to socialise but essential services and local jobs. That's why we're investing £440,000 with Pub is The Hub to help rural pubs diversify, aiming to support rural communities, create new jobs and services.

We have announced a new Hospitality Support Fund, with £10 million of funding over three years. This fund will aim to help over 1000 pubs to diversify their business models, improve efficiency and productivity in the sector; and support people who are furthest from the labour market to move into jobs in hospitality.

Trading Standards are provided by local authorities who operate independently from central government and make enforcement decisions according to local need. The department continues to engage with Trading Standards and supports their efforts and work in tackling rogue high street traders.

The Department for Business and Trade does not hold this information. Trading Standards inspections are the responsibility of individual Local Authorities.

The measures taken in the Autumn Budget reduce the cost of electricity and therefore benefit all households with a domestic electricity meter, including those not on the gas grid. In addition, on 30 January, we announced the continuation of the Warm Home Discount scheme until 2030/31, providing around 6 million eligible households with the £150 rebate on their energy bills each winter.

The Department keeps heating oil prices and market conditions under review and produces official statistics on petroleum and crude oil prices, including prices of gas oil and standard grade burning oil on a monthly basis which can be found here.

The government has published a consultation on alternative heating solutions which seeks to gather evidence on the role that these technologies could play in ensuring that every household has a low-carbon option that is right for them. The consultation will run until 10 February and can be found here: Exploring the role of alternative clean heating solutions - GOV.UK.

The government will consider the evidence from this consultation before making any decisions on whether to support the use of renewable liquid fuels in heating, including through an obligation.

Support may be available to houseboats dwellers via the Industry Initiative element of the Warm Home Discount Scheme. These are energy-related and financial measures that energy suppliers can deliver to their own customers or working with industry partners. These include energy efficiency measures, energy advice, boiler and central heating replacements, financial assistance payments and debt write-off,

Each participating supplier has a spending obligation towards Industry Initiatives. This allows them to help customers who are fuel poor or at risk of fuel poverty through a variety of activities and third parties. Households are encouraged to contact any participating supplier about the Industry Initiatives they offer, without the need to be an existing customer.

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero is taking a more strategic approach to energy infrastructure. Through the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, we are ensuring National Policy Statements remain up to date and streamlining decision-making, while maintaining fairness and transparency. We are consulting on new guidance to strengthen community engagement. All large projects must address cumulative impacts as part of the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project regime, with Local Impact Reports from authorities. The National Energy System Operator is developing the Strategic Spatial Energy Plan (2026) and Centralised Strategic Network Plan (2027) to ensure holistic, coordinated planning across Great Britain.

I refer my hon Friend to the answer given to my hon Friend the Member for Stroud (Dr Simon Opher) on 20^th October to question UIN (14374).

The Labour Manifesto commits to “partner with scientists, industry, and civil society as we work towards the phasing out of animal testing. The strategy was developed with regulators, industry, academia and civil society and this engagement will continue during implementation of the strategy. Regulators will be represented within new governance structures as part of the implementation process, and we will work closely with experts across these sectors to ensure the strategy remains science‑led, up to date and focused on driving the development, validation and uptake of advanced non‑animal methods.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 1 December 2025 to Question UIN 94115.

Transparent targets and milestones and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for the delivery of the Replacing Animals in Science Strategy will be published later in 2026. It is not yet possible to replace all animal use due to the complexity of biological systems and regulatory requirements for their use. Any work to phase out animal testing must be science-led, in lock step with partners, so we will not be setting arbitrary timelines for overall reduction, but we will publish timelines for specific actions.

Transparent targets and milestones and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for the delivery of the Replacing Animals in Science Strategy will be published later in 2026. It is not yet possible to replace all animal use due to the complexity of biological systems and regulatory requirements for their use. Any work to phase out animal testing must be science-led, in lock step with partners, so we will not be setting arbitrary timelines for overall reduction, but we will publish timelines for specific actions.

The Government has announced £75m of funding to accelerate alternatives and innovation, with new capabilities being developed across the UK. This funding will help bring forward advanced testing methods that can save lives and support a faster, science‑led route to regulation. £60 million of this is ring‑fenced, multi‑year funding secured through the 2025 Spending Review to provide long‑term stability for strategic programmes. The Department remains fully committed to delivering the actions set out in the Replacing Animals in Science strategy through the funding secured in the Review.

DCMS is working closely with the Charity Commission to reduce administrative burdens for charities. On 31 October 2025 we published our response to the consultation on financial thresholds in charity law; setting out how we will reduce burdens for charities, while ensuring appropriate scrutiny and oversight. The changes, which should be implemented later this year, will save charities an estimated £47m per year.

Officials in the department engaged with the Department for Transport when developing the updated Relationships Sex and Health Education guidance.

The updated guidance, published in July 2025 has a new section on personal safety which includes how to recognise risk and keep safe around roads. The Department for Transport has dedicated interactive websites for schools with materials that focus on their THINK! campaign.

Officials also engage on active travel for schools. Bikeability, the government owned cycle training programme, is funded by Active Travel England in schools across England. Up to £30 million was allocated to the programme for 2025/26 and funding for the forthcoming 3-year period is due to be announced shortly. Almost 6 million children have received Bikeability cycle training since 2007, with 500,000 children booking onto training in 2024/25.

Adult further education and skills learner participation by age is published in the further education and skills statistics publication which can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/further-education-and-skills/2024-25. However, participation figures for the 60+ age group specifically are not published

In 2024/25, there were 307,750 further education and skills learners aged 50 and above. The following table presents numbers of further education and skills learners by age for academic years between 2019/20 and 2024/25: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/dc701901-2aeb-421f-4a31-08de398c3998.

The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) is responsible for collecting and publishing data on the UK higher education (HE) sector. In the academic year 2023/24, across all modes of study, there were 7,415 postgraduate student enrolments aged 60+ across all UK HE providers. The following table presents numbers of HE students by age and permanent address for academic years between 2019/20 and 2023/24: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/students/table-58.

Data on the number of people aged 60 and over who have completed a PhD in each of the last ten years is not published, but has been produced using unpublished HESA data and, for qualifiers across all UK HE providers, is shown in the table below:

Note - Age taken at start of final year of study

The lifelong learning entitlement (LLE) will deliver transformational change to the current student finance system by broadening access to high quality, flexible education and training.

From January 2027, all undergraduate higher education courses, including integrated master’s courses, will be funded through the LLE. Tuition fee loans will be available for people up to the age of 60.

The government will continue to provide a dedicated loan package for postgraduate study. The postgraduate master’s loan, administered by Student Finance England, currently provides up to £12,858 for tuition fees and living costs for eligible students.

The government has committed to conducting a review of the whole parental leave system. This review was launched on 1 July and represents a much-needed opportunity to consider our approach to the system of parental leave and pay.

The department will also consider whether the support available meets the needs of other working families who do not qualify for existing leave and pay entitlements, such as kinship carers.

Foster carers who combine fostering with paid employment have a range of existing workplace rights and legal entitlements to help manage their dual responsibilities, including the right to request flexible working from day one, introduced through the Employment Rights Bill, and adoption leave where applicable. The department also supports The Fostering Network’s ‘Fostering Friendly Employers’ campaign.

It is vitally important that all professionals working with children, including social workers, can recognise and respond quickly to the signs of child sexual abuse.

While local authorities and other employers are responsible for the professional development of their workforces, we are supporting them to ensure that social workers are equipped to recognise and respond to signs of child sexual abuse, including those connected to online pornography.

The government recently launched a consultation on a new post-qualifying standards and training programme for child and family social workers, and we will be publishing our response shortly. This will support social workers new to the profession, including developing the knowledge and skills required to respond to cases of sexual abuse and exploitation.

In the future, we will expand on these post-qualifying standards to include those for advanced practice, which will look to increase social work expertise and leadership in child protection, including in relation to sexual abuse and exploitation.

The government has also committed, in the Home Office’s Progress Update on tackling child sexual abuse, to develop specialist child sexual abuse and exploitation training for all key members of the children’s services.

In our response to the consultation on amending the Bathing Water 2013 Regulations at the end of 2024, the Government noted the support for expanding the definition of a bather to include other recreational water users. Work has begun on an evidence review to consider the environmental and public health implications of any change.

A review of the Bathing Waters Regulations (2013) was undertaken in 2024-25. Following a consultation on potential reforms to the regulations from November-December 2024, the Bathing Water (Amendment) (England and Wales) Regulations 2025 came into force on 21 November 2025. Defra will continue to keep the implementation of the regulations under review.

In our response to the consultation on amending the Bathing Water 2013 Regulations at the end of 2024, the Government noted the support for expanding the definition of a bather to include other recreational water users. Work has begun on an evidence review to consider the environmental and public health implications of any change.

It is an offence to export horses from Great Britain for slaughter under the Animal Welfare (Livestock Exports) Act 2024. Through The Animal Welfare (Livestock Exports) Enforcement Regulations 2024, we have provided the Animal and Plant Health Agency and local authorities with the powers necessary to act against any non-compliance. We are working closely with industry to explore further measures to strengthen implementation of the ban for horses.

Since the ban came into force in July 2024, we have intercepted one consignment of 20 horses at Dover suspected of being exported for the slaughter market. Regulatory action was taken against the transporter involved and the abandoned horses rehomed by a charity.

This is a devolved matter, and the information provided therefore relates to England only.

The Government recognises the importance of the equine sector to the UK economy and to improving equine identification and traceability. The Department has no current plans to implement mandatory digital identification, but Defra officials remain in close contact with industry to look at potential improvements.