Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of road tolls on the cost of living in areas near toll bridges.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government has not carried out a formal assessment of the impact of bridge tolls on the cost of living in nearby areas. While tolls are an additional cost, users also enjoy significant benefits from the availability of such bridges, without which journeys would be substantially longer.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
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 reduce disparities in accepted materials for recycling across different local authorities.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Simpler Recycling reforms will ensure that across England, people will be able to recycle the same materials, whether at home, work or school.
Every household and workplace (businesses and relevant non-domestic premises like schools and hospitals) across England will be able to recycle the same materials in the following core waste streams: metal, glass, plastic (including cartons), paper and card, food waste, and garden waste (for households only).
These reforms will make recycling easier and ensure there is a comprehensive, consistent service across England. This will reduce confusion with recycling to improve recycling rates, ensuring there is more recycled material in the products we buy, and that the UK recycling industry will grow.
Simpler Recycling will be implemented as follows:
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
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 make it her policy to end the culling of badgers.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Work is progressing at pace on a comprehensive new bovine TB strategy, to drivedown bovine TB rates to save cattle and farmers’ livelihoods and end the badger cull by the end of this parliament.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
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 help preserve Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Ashfield constituency.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) continue to be one of the most effective tools for protecting and enhancing biodiversity and deliver a wide range of health and socio-economic benefits.
Natural England has an ongoing programme to assess the condition of SSSI features and implement restoration actions. Recent work in Ashfield includes monitoring at Teversal Pastures SSSI, where two units with species-rich neutral grassland are in favourable condition and managed through a Countryside Stewardship Mid-tier scheme consented by Natural England. At Friezeland Grassland SSSI, monitoring led to a new Countryside Stewardship scheme with capital works to restore lowland neutral grassland. Natural England also monitored Annesley Woodhouse Quarries SSSI, leading to a Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier scheme to increase grazing and management.
In the 2024 autumn budget we allocated £13m to Protected Site Strategies which will develop spatial restoration plans for priority sites, such as Sherwood Forest in the adjoining district of Newark and Sherwood. These strategies will put in place action to restore protected sites and manage the impact of environmental harm.
The Nature Restoration Fund in the Planning and Infrastructure Bill will allow a more strategic approach to SSSI restoration and deliver improved environmental outcomes.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the report by the Cancer Research UK and University College London entitled Cancer in the UK: Overview 2025, published in July 2025, and her Department's Tobacco statistics commentary, updated on 29 August 2025, what assessment she has made of the reason for the difference between the number of cigarettes (a) smoked and (b) cleared for sale in 2024.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Strong enforcement is essential in tackling the illicit tobacco market. HM Revenue and Customs and Border Force have had illicit tobacco strategies in place since 2000. Our latest strategy, “Stubbing out the problem”, was published in January 2024. The Department continues to investigate how the illicit tobacco market is evolving, including through its compliance activity, and the extent to which that may affect overall tax receipts seen.
The illicit tobacco market is dominated by organised crime groups that make money by smuggling and selling illicit tobacco products in the UK. Our latest estimate is that illicit tobacco costs the UK £1.8bn in lost revenue per year. HMRC recently published an updated version of their Measuring Tax Gaps publication which now includes tax gap estimates up to 2023/24. The illicit market volume for cigarettes is shown in Table 3.13 and the total consumption volume is shown in Table 3.12. The illicit market for hand rolling tobacco is shown in Table 3.17 and the total consumption volume is shown in Table 3.16.
Whilst tobacco duty has been progressively increased over time, successive illicit tobacco strategies have proven effective in tackling the size of the illicit tobacco market, reducing the tobacco duty tax gap from 21.7% in 2005/6 to 13.8% in 2023/24.
Tobacco duty raised almost £8 billion in 2024/25. High duty rates, making tobacco less affordable, have helped reduce smoking prevalence. ‘Cancer in the UK: Overview 2025’ published by Cancer Research cites an Office for National Statistics Adult Smoking Habits publication which shows that the percentage of adult smokers in the UK decreased from 20.2% in 2011 to 11.9% in 2023. The ONS smoking prevalence data shows the percentage of adults in the UK who smoke cigarettes but does not give any indication of how much or how often these adults smoke.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of illegal tobacco revenues on organised crime networks; and what discussions she has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the potential impact of the current tobacco excise regime on organised crime.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Strong enforcement is essential in tackling the illicit tobacco market. HM Revenue and Customs and Border Force have had illicit tobacco strategies in place since 2000. Our latest strategy, “Stubbing out the problem”, was published in January 2024. The Department continues to investigate how the illicit tobacco market is evolving, including through its compliance activity, and the extent to which that may affect overall tax receipts seen.
The illicit tobacco market is dominated by organised crime groups that make money by smuggling and selling illicit tobacco products in the UK. Our latest estimate is that illicit tobacco costs the UK £1.8bn in lost revenue per year. HMRC recently published an updated version of their Measuring Tax Gaps publication which now includes tax gap estimates up to 2023/24. The illicit market volume for cigarettes is shown in Table 3.13 and the total consumption volume is shown in Table 3.12. The illicit market for hand rolling tobacco is shown in Table 3.17 and the total consumption volume is shown in Table 3.16.
Whilst tobacco duty has been progressively increased over time, successive illicit tobacco strategies have proven effective in tackling the size of the illicit tobacco market, reducing the tobacco duty tax gap from 21.7% in 2005/6 to 13.8% in 2023/24.
Tobacco duty raised almost £8 billion in 2024/25. High duty rates, making tobacco less affordable, have helped reduce smoking prevalence. ‘Cancer in the UK: Overview 2025’ published by Cancer Research cites an Office for National Statistics Adult Smoking Habits publication which shows that the percentage of adult smokers in the UK decreased from 20.2% in 2011 to 11.9% in 2023. The ONS smoking prevalence data shows the percentage of adults in the UK who smoke cigarettes but does not give any indication of how much or how often these adults smoke.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an assessment of the impact of the current tobacco excise duty regime on the levels of illegal tobacco consumption.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Strong enforcement is essential in tackling the illicit tobacco market. HM Revenue and Customs and Border Force have had illicit tobacco strategies in place since 2000. Our latest strategy, “Stubbing out the problem”, was published in January 2024. The Department continues to investigate how the illicit tobacco market is evolving, including through its compliance activity, and the extent to which that may affect overall tax receipts seen.
The illicit tobacco market is dominated by organised crime groups that make money by smuggling and selling illicit tobacco products in the UK. Our latest estimate is that illicit tobacco costs the UK £1.8bn in lost revenue per year. HMRC recently published an updated version of their Measuring Tax Gaps publication which now includes tax gap estimates up to 2023/24. The illicit market volume for cigarettes is shown in Table 3.13 and the total consumption volume is shown in Table 3.12. The illicit market for hand rolling tobacco is shown in Table 3.17 and the total consumption volume is shown in Table 3.16.
Whilst tobacco duty has been progressively increased over time, successive illicit tobacco strategies have proven effective in tackling the size of the illicit tobacco market, reducing the tobacco duty tax gap from 21.7% in 2005/6 to 13.8% in 2023/24.
Tobacco duty raised almost £8 billion in 2024/25. High duty rates, making tobacco less affordable, have helped reduce smoking prevalence. ‘Cancer in the UK: Overview 2025’ published by Cancer Research cites an Office for National Statistics Adult Smoking Habits publication which shows that the percentage of adult smokers in the UK decreased from 20.2% in 2011 to 11.9% in 2023. The ONS smoking prevalence data shows the percentage of adults in the UK who smoke cigarettes but does not give any indication of how much or how often these adults smoke.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
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 increase urban wildlife habitat.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Nature Towns and Cities, a new initiative, supported by Defra, is committed to bringing the benefits of nature and greenspace to everyone in the UK. It has recently awarded £15.4 million to 19 partnerships, covering 40 towns/cities, enabling local authorities, working with their communities to transform their urban environment for people and nature. Birmingham has successfully become the UK’s first official Nature City, with Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole collectively becoming the first Nature Towns.
Natural England’s Green Infrasturcture (GI) Standards include an urban nature recovery standard to expand and connect habitats and species in urban/urban fringe areas and reverse the decline in biodiversity. The GI Mapping Database provides a layered view of England’s green/blue spaces. Designed to support planning, policy, and nature recovery efforts by visualizing how natural assets are distributed and accessed.
Local Nature Recovery Strategies (LNRS) are a flagship measure in the Environment Act. A good example which is centred around urban nature recovery is NATURE FOR ALL. A Local Nature Recovery Strategy for Greater Manchester.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what information they hold on the number of workdays that were completed remotely in their Department in (a) 2024 and (b) 2025 to date.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
This information is not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of the current tobacco excise regime on the budgets of lower-income households.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
At Autumn Budget 2024, the Government renewed the commitment to a tobacco duty escalator, which increases duty by 2 per cent above RPI inflation at each Budget, until the end of the current Parliament. This is part of the Government’s focus on health prevention and to continue our drive to reduce smoking prevalence.
Tax changes are accompanied by a Tax Information and Impact Note which sets out the expected impacts on various groups.
Changes to tobacco duty rates from 30 October 2024 - GOV.UK