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 - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
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 - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
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 - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
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 - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
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 (Home Office)
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 - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
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.
Asked by: Josh Newbury (Labour - Cannock Chase)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many and what proportion of vehicles rented by her Department are electric vehicles.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Department makes use of the Government Car service, which provides vehicles to a number of Government departments. MHCLG does not hold information on the number of electric vehicles utilised.
Asked by: Josh Newbury (Labour - Cannock Chase)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many and what proportion of vehicles rented by his Department are electric vehicles.
Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
As of 19th May 2025, 2,588 of the Ministry of Defence's 11,572 vehicles leased through the Phoenix II contract are fully electric, representing 22.36% of the fleet. This does not include hybrid vehicles as the Department is moving towards 100% zero emission vehicles by 2027 in accordance with the Greening Government Commitment.
Asked by: Josh Newbury (Labour - Cannock Chase)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of vehicles rented by her Department are electric vehicles.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Department currently leases 705 vehicles; of which 57 are electric. This equates to 8% of total leased vehicles.
The Ministry of Justice is committed to transitioning towards full electrification of its fleet vehicles in line with the Government Greening Commitment 2027.
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 his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of implementing schedule 3 of the Flood and Water Management Act 2010 on the (a) number and (b) effectiveness of sustainable drainage systems in new developments.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is strongly committed to requiring standardised Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) in new developments. These should be to designs that cope with changing climatic conditions as well as delivering wider water infrastructure benefits, offer reuse opportunities, reduce run off and help to improve water quality, amenity and biodiversity. It is also important to ensure appropriate adoption and maintenance arrangements are in place.
We believe that these outcomes can be achieved through either improving the current planning led approach using powers now available or commencing Schedule 3 to the Flood and Water Management Act 2010. A final decision on the way forward will be made in the coming months.
We will review the planning system holistically and consider whether further changes are required to address SuDS when we consult on further planning reform, including national policy related to decision making, in 2025.