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 steps to prevent the importation of factory farmed octopus food products.

Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

We have no current plans to prevent the import of farmed octopus products to the UK.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to item 2.1 of the minutes of the 25 April 2025 meeting of the Advisory Panel on Consumer Prices (Stakeholder), what recent progress the Office for National Statistics has made on evaluating the potential impact of the use of groceries scanner data on the headline rates of (a) CPI, (b) CPIH and (c) RPI.

Answered by Josh Simons - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of the 1st December is attached.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent progress has been made on the determination of the future of Birmingham's PFI roads contract.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Department has taken careful note of the High Court ruling relating to the previous Government’s decision not to support the PFI arrangements for Birmingham City Council’s highway maintenance services.

The Department has subsequently conducted a consultation with the Council about the PFI contract and we have been carefully reviewing the Council’s detailed representations, with the Council’s support on clarification questions.

We are continuing to engage with the Council on the PFI with a view to confirming the decision on whether or not to support the continuation of the PFI contract as soon as possible.

I am committed to working together with Birmingham City Council to find a way forward which is in the best interests of the people of Birmingham and the taxpayer.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether her Department plans to monitor and report on its progress towards phasing out animal testing; and whether industry stakeholders will be involved in assessing the effectiveness of the strategy once implemented.

Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

We will establish governance structures to oversee strategy delivery, including a cross-governmental Ministerial group on alternative methods, chaired by the Science Minister, key performance indicators (KPIs) and a publicly available dashboard of progress against the strategy’s key deliverables. From 2026 we will also report biennially on updated research and development priorities, alternative methods accepted by regulatory agency and priorities for future development and validation.

We will work closely with experts from across many fields including regulators, academics, industry and civil society organisations, to ensure that this strategy remains up to date, focused on the key issues and delivers on track.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment the Government has made of the feasibility of replacing animal testing in the UK with Non-Animal New Approach Methodologies (NAMs); and if this will be reflected in the upcoming strategy to phase out animal testing.

Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

I refer the hon. Member for Birmingham Northfield to the answer of 01.12.2025 to Question 92600.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if she will make an assessment of the potential merit of redirecting existing funding and resources to support the transition to Non-Animal New Approach Methodologies (NAMs) to support the phasing out of animal testing.

Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Government’s publication “Replacing animals in science: A strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods” is supported by new funding from the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology including £30 million to set up a translational hub and £30 million for the UK centre for the validation of alternative methods.

£11.4m has also been committed by the Medical Research Council (MRC) and Innovate UK’s core budgets and £4.5m from the Wellcome Trust to support strategy implementation to build a world-class UK research system by enhancing investment.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent progress the Office for National Statistics has made on the development of the Household Costs Indices.

Answered by Josh Simons - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of the 1st of December is attached.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information her Department holds on the number of ticket sales for season tickets from (a) Longbridge, (b) Northfield and (c) Kings Norton to (i) Birmingham stations, (ii) Redditch and (iii) Bromsgrove in the 2024-2025 financial year.

Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The number of season tickets is shown below

The Birmingham stations group includes Birmingham Moor Street, Birmingham New Street and Birmingham Snow Hill.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether the broadband provider BRSK has recently contacted her Department regarding a customer data breach.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

BRSK has not recently contacted my department regarding a customer data breach. I understand BRSK has reported a data breach to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK’s independent regulator for the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR).

Under PECR, public electronic communications service providers are required to take appropriate technical and organisational measures to safeguard the security of their services. They are required to notify the ICO of any personal data breach without undue delay, and where feasible, not later than 72 hours after having become aware of the breach.

Found: ; Mrs Elsie Blundell; Jacob Collier; Olly Glover; Alex Mayer; Baggy Shanker; Rebecca Smith; Laurence Turner

Found: ; Mrs Elsie Blundell; Jacob Collier; Olly Glover; Alex Mayer; Baggy Shanker; Rebecca Smith; Laurence Turner

Found: ; Mrs Elsie Blundell; Jacob Collier; Olly Glover; Alex Mayer; Baggy Shanker; Rebecca Smith; Laurence Turner

Submit Evidence (by 30 Jan 2026)

The Transport Committee is examining how effectively the transition to electric vehicles (EVs) is progressing, considering the range of factors that are influencing uptake. This includes the effectiveness of existing financial incentives (such as the Electric Car Grant) the potential effect of the recently announced Electric Vehicle Excise Duty (eVED), and the role of second-hand markets in shaping demand. The inquiry will also consider the rollout of charging infrastructure across the country including the equity of availability in urban and rural areas, the availability of grid connections and wider factors influencing consumer confidence.