Asked by: John Whitby (Labour - Derbyshire Dales)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will take legislative steps to expand access rights for swimming and non-motorised craft on inland waters.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government recognises the importance of access to nature for people’s health and well-being, and is considering the best approach to improving that, including access onto unregulated inland waterways. We are committed to working with stakeholders as this develops.
Asked by: John Whitby (Labour - Derbyshire Dales)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how much funding Sport England is providing to support the development of Futsal in 2025-2026 financial year.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
In the 2025-2026 financial year, Sport England has allocated a total of £165,325 across 17 multi-sport awards where Futsal is specifically included as one of the supported sports or activities.
In addition, Sport England is providing a total investment of £37.9 million into The Football Association over the five-year period from 2022 to 2027. This long-term commitment supports the development of all formats of football, including Futsal.
Asked by: John Whitby (Labour - Derbyshire Dales)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many hectares of privately-owned Plantations on Ancient Woodland Sites have received public subsidies to restore them into good ecological condition in the last 2 years.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier (CSHT) scheme supports the restoration of Plantations on Ancient Woodland Sites (PAWS).
In 2023 there was around 1,100 ha that received subsidies for the restoration of Plantations on Ancient Woodland Sites (PAWS) under the Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier scheme which increased to around 1,900 ha of land in 2024. It is not possible to differentiate between publicly and privately owned land within this figure.
To Note: The payment window for existing CSHT agreements opens on the 01 December and receive annual payments. Applicants with a New CSHT agreement will receive quarterly payments.
Asked by: John Whitby (Labour - Derbyshire Dales)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of introducing device-level protections to prevent children from sending and viewing nude or explicit images on their phones.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Protecting children from harmful content like nude or explicit images is a priority for this government. The government welcomes industry innovation in developing new ways to keep children safe online, such as nudity detection software. We will continue to build evidence about the application and effectiveness of device level controls to ensure we take the action needed to protect children.
We will continue to focus on implementing the protective measures contained within the Online Safety Act, while considering the potential benefits and impacts of this technology and others like it in parallel. Any future interventions will be proportionate and evidence based.
Asked by: John Whitby (Labour - Derbyshire Dales)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the 2017 Electronic Communications Code reforms on the time taken for the roll out of 5G masts in rural communities.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The aim of the 2017 reforms was to encourage investment in digital networks and improve coverage and connectivity across the UK.
Our ambition is that all populated areas will have higher-quality standalone 5G by 2030. We are committed to removing barriers to the digital infrastructure, including reviewing where planning rules could be relaxed to support the deployment of 5G.
No specific assessment has been made of the potential impact of the 2017 Electronic Communications Code reforms on the time taken for the roll out of 5G lasts in rural communities. However, analysis from the EU Commission showed 5G households' coverage in the UK at the end of 2024 (95%) was on par with India, China and ahead of France (94%) and the EU (94.3%), but behind South Korea (100%), Japan (99.2%), Norway, Iceland and Germany (all 99%) as well as USA (97.0%). Since this assessment, UK 5G coverage outside premises has increased to 96%.
Asked by: John Whitby (Labour - Derbyshire Dales)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that (a) all plastic bottles sold in the UK are fully recyclable and (b) 100 per cent of such bottles are recycled by 2030.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) is coming to England, Northern Ireland, and Scotland in October 2027 and will focus on increasing recycling and reducing littering.
A new organisation called UK Deposit Management Organisation Ltd (UK DMO) will run the scheme. It’s a not-for-profit group, led by businesses. They were officially appointed in May 2025 (England & NI) and June 2025 (Scotland).
Once the DRS is introduced, the Deposit Management Organisation will be required to reach a return rate of 90% in year 3 of the scheme.
International DRSs have seen recycling rates increase to over 95%.
Asked by: John Whitby (Labour - Derbyshire Dales)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when she expects the Deposit Return Scheme for drinks containers to be implemented across the UK; and what assessment he has made of its expected impact on plastic bottle recycling rates.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) is coming to England, Northern Ireland, and Scotland in October 2027 and will focus on increasing recycling and reducing littering.
A new organisation called UK Deposit Management Organisation Ltd (UK DMO) will run the scheme. It’s a not-for-profit group, led by businesses. They were officially appointed in May 2025 (England & NI) and June 2025 (Scotland).
Once the DRS is introduced, the Deposit Management Organisation will be required to reach a return rate of 90% in year 3 of the scheme.
Asked by: John Whitby (Labour - Derbyshire Dales)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of providing match-funding for incentive payments to Stepladder PLUS.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department wants to ensure that children leaving care have stable homes, access to health services, support to build lifelong loving relationships, and are engaged in education, employment and training.
We recognise the importance of financial skills, such as those provided through the Stepladder Plus programme, in achieving this aim. The department currently supports the use of this programme through its contract, for the provision of Junior ISA savings accounts to children in care, with the Share Foundation. We do not currently have any plans to assess the merits of match-funding.
Asked by: John Whitby (Labour - Derbyshire Dales)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment his Department has made of potential challenges to decarbonise (a) homes and (b) businesses that (i) use alternative energy sources and (ii) are off the main gas grid.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Clean Heat Market Mechanism is focused on developing the market and supply chain for upgrading homes with hydronic heat pumps – a core technology for the UK’s transition to cleaner heating since around 90% of UK homes have water-based central heating systems. The Government will keep the scope of the scheme under regular review.
The Government has published a response to the consultation on proposed Boiler Upgrade Scheme changes, confirming grants of £2,500 for air-to-air heat pumps in domestic properties, starting in 2026. This will increase consumer choice and support the UK’s transition towards low carbon heating systems.
Asked by: John Whitby (Labour - Derbyshire Dales)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether her Department has made provisions for the recovery of public funds from contractors who fail to deliver on Building Digital UK contracts.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Payments to suppliers for delivery under Project Gigabit contracts are made once a gigabit capable connection is available to the premises. Where a supplier fails, the supplier is required to repay any public money paid through the contracts for premises which do not reach this point.
In May 2025, Building Digital UK (BDUK) and Full Fibre mutually agreed to terminate the Project Gigabit contract for the Peak District, which included some premises in the Derbyshire Dales constituency. This contract did not reach a stage where gigabit-capable connections were being delivered and therefore there was no requirement for any funding to be repaid by the supplier.