Asked by: Josh Newbury (Labour - Cannock Chase)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of vehicles rented by her Department are electric vehicles.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
This information is not centrally collected, and could only be obtained for the purposes of answering this question at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Josh Newbury (Labour - Cannock Chase)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what proportion of vehicles rented by his Department are electric vehicles.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Department does not hold this information.
Asked by: Josh Newbury (Labour - Cannock Chase)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of vehicles rented by her Department are electric vehicles.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
In March 2025, out of a total of 1023 vehicles hired, 68 were hybrid electric vehicles, 1 was a purely electric vehicle. A percentage of 6.7% of the vehicles hired were either electric or electric-capable, with only one being fully electric.
DWP is committed to transitioning towards full electrification of the DWP fleet vehicles in line with the Government Greening Commitment 2027. This includes replacing Petrol and Diesel vehicles with Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs) where operationally viable. In addition, DWP is committed to ensuring the maximum use of Battery Electrical Vehicles during short term car hire where operationally viable and through seeking to ensure the increasing availability of those vehicles in the new Hire car contract.
Asked by: Josh Newbury (Labour - Cannock Chase)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of vehicles rented by her Department are electric vehicles.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Under the previous contract, which ended on 31 March 2025, the contract’s Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) did not differentiate between Electric Vehicle or Internal Combustion Engine hires so the Department for Transport does not hold the requested information.
However, the Department for Transport has recently started a new 3 year vehicle hire contract as of 1 April 2025. Within this contract it is mandated that EV provision is available to all hirers and the related data will be available quarterly going into the future.
Asked by: Josh Newbury (Labour - Cannock Chase)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, what proportion of vehicles rented by her Department are electric vehicles.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The Attorney General’s Office does not rent vehicles. Vehicles used by the department are owned by the Government.
Asked by: Josh Newbury (Labour - Cannock Chase)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of vehicles rented by his Department are electric vehicles.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
None of the 14 vehicles hired by the Department during the 2023/24 financial year were fully electric. The Department is setting up a vehicle hire contract with a new supplier that will increase the availability of electric hire vehicles for staff.
Asked by: Josh Newbury (Labour - Cannock Chase)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of EU Commission proposals to phase out (a) enriched cages and (b) farrowing crates on UK-EU trade of agricultural goods.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We remain firmly committed to maintaining and improving animal welfare and want to work closely with the farming sector to deliver high standards. The use of cages and other close confinement systems for farmed animals is an issue which we are currently considering very carefully.
All agri-food products must comply with our import requirements in order to be placed on the UK market and we work with our trade partners to achieve that in the least trade restrictive way possible. This includes ensuring imported meat products have been slaughtered to animal welfare standards equivalent to our domestic standards. We have been clear that we will use our Trade Strategy to support economic growth and promote the highest standards of food production.
Asked by: Josh Newbury (Labour - Cannock Chase)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the proposed Nature Restoration Fund will (a) supersede and (b) compliment the existing biodiversity net gain obligations for new developments under the Environment Act 2021.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Nature Restoration Fund will not supersede existing Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) obligations for new developments.
BNG is a requirement which applies to most new development across England, aiming to leave habitats in a measurably better state than they were beforehand by delivering a 10% net gain for biodiversity. It came into effect in February 2024. The 10% net gain can be delivered through on-site habitat enhancements, off-site through the new market for biodiversity units, or by purchasing statutory biodiversity credits from the government, as a last resort.
The Nature Restoration Fund will focus on enabling development in areas where that has stalled due to specific environmental obligations relating to impacts on protected sites and species in those areas. Developers would be able to discharge these obligations, such as those related to the Habitats Regulations, through a payment into a fund, where this can both streamline development and allow for more strategic and effective measures for nature protection.
BNG and the Nature Restoration Fund are intended to be complementary policies. We will ensure that developers receive a user-friendly experience and that BNG credit and the Nature Restoration Fund revenue is deployed in a joined-up manner to maximise environmental outcomes.