Asked by: Josh Newbury (Labour - Cannock Chase)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department has engaged the Sport, Leisure and Culture Consultancy (SLC) as an external provider.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Department has not engaged the Sport, Leisure and Culture Consultancy (SLC) as an external provider.
Asked by: Josh Newbury (Labour - Cannock Chase)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent progress her Department has made on increasing international cooperation to help tackle organised immigration crime.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
This government has strengthened co-operation on organised immigration crime with countries near and far – forging new and deeper partnerships through action such as our landmark border security statement with Iraq.
Deals have been struck that no other government thought possible, including the returns deal with France and new agreements with Germany to stop the warehousing of small boats by criminal gangs.
Asked by: Josh Newbury (Labour - Cannock Chase)
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 the potential impact of battery enabled boilers could make on decarbonising domestic heating in smaller homes.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Heat batteries, sometimes referred to as ‘battery enabled boilers’, can utilise time-of-use tariffs and do not require outside space; however, they are less efficient than heat pumps. Heat batteries could meet the needs of some smaller homes, however if they do not have sufficient storage capacity they could draw electricity at peak times, adding burden on the electricity network and increasing energy bills.
Government will continue to review our position on heat batteries, as the supporting evidence base develops, including considering evidence from the Homes for Net Zero project.
Asked by: Josh Newbury (Labour - Cannock Chase)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what recent steps she has taken with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care to reform the Gender Recognition Certificate process.
Answered by Nia Griffith
We are absolutely clear that trans people should be able to live openly with dignity and respect.
We have set out our immediate priorities in our Plan for Change. Our priorities for trans people are to pass a trans-inclusive ban on conversion practices, strengthen protections from hate crime for trans people and improve their healthcare. This Government is committed to delivering gender recognition reform, and we will deliver on that.
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 steps he is taking with the Northern Ireland Executive to support sustainable agriculture.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
Agriculture is a devolved policy in the UK. Defra and the other UK nations work closely together through the consensus-based and well-established governance arrangements we have set up and operate under the Agricultural Support Framework. The regular meetings established under this Framework provide an opportunity for Defra and Northern Ireland Government officials to meet regularly and discuss emerging issues, share good practice, and proactively discuss and coordinate policy innovation.
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 proportion of vehicles rented by his Department are electric vehicles.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
The below table shows the number and proportion of lease cars that are electric vehicles. Please note that:
- Lease cars relate to the Department for the Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs, Environment Agency, Animal & Plant Health Agency, Rural Payments Agency, Natural England, Marine Management Organisation, and Yorkshire Dales National Park only.
- These figures do not include hire cars.
Description | Volume | Electric Vehicles | Proportion |
Lease Cars | 3,051 | 1,971 | 65% |
Asked by: Josh Newbury (Labour - Cannock Chase)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure local authorities use the foster to adopt pathway for children in care.
Answered by Janet Daby
Fostering to adopt, also known as early permanence, is a crucial way to offer children stability at a very early stage, preventing multiple moves in the care system. The department has provided funding of £250,000 in 2025/26 for Adoption England to promote this practice and it is encouraging that the number and proportion of early permanence placements has increased from 14% (400) in 2020/21 to 23% (676) in 2023/24. This is avoiding delays and minimising disruption for more children, allowing them to bond with their adoptive family at an earlier stage. Adoption England have also published national standards in this area. The purpose is to promote and shape effective early permanence practice in all adoption agencies across the country to ensure families receive a consistent and high-quality approach no matter where they live, and enable more children to benefit from early permanence placements.
Asked by: Josh Newbury (Labour - Cannock Chase)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of the foster to adopt pathway for (a) adopted children and (b) the stability of adoptive placements.
Answered by Janet Daby
Fostering to adopt, also known as early permanence, is a crucial way to offer children stability at a very early stage, preventing multiple moves in the care system. The department has provided funding of £250,000 in 2025/26 for Adoption England to promote this practice and it is encouraging that the number and proportion of early permanence placements has increased from 14% (400) in 2020/21 to 23% (676) in 2023/24. This is avoiding delays and minimising disruption for more children, allowing them to bond with their adoptive family at an earlier stage. Adoption England have also published national standards in this area. The purpose is to promote and shape effective early permanence practice in all adoption agencies across the country to ensure families receive a consistent and high-quality approach no matter where they live, and enable more children to benefit from early permanence placements.
Asked by: Josh Newbury (Labour - Cannock Chase)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of mandating blunt-tipped kitchen knives for domestic use on rates of knife crime.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government’s mission to halve knife crime over a decade will be delivered through tougher enforcement and stronger prevention. However, we have been clear nothing is off the table when it comes to getting lethal blades off our streets and keeping people safe. We are actively exploring options and pursuing changes in this area, and I will be meeting with retailers and manufacturers to develop next steps on the promotion of rounded tipped knives.
Asked by: Josh Newbury (Labour - Cannock Chase)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of vehicles rented by her Department are electric vehicles.
Answered by Janet Daby
0.11% of cars rented by the department were electric vehicles over the past two years, which equated to a total of five.
The department will have a new vehicle hire contract in place from 2026 and, working with suppliers and other government departments, it is our intention to update our current vehicle hire policy to include a strategy of ‘electric first’. This will direct our drivers to seek electric vehicles as a first option, hybrids as a second option and finally combustion engine vehicles where there are no alternatives available.