Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to extend funding for charities to redistribute food supplies to local (a) charities and (b) community organisations.

Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Defra recently announced grant funding of £13.6 million in 2025/26 to increase the capacity and capability of 12 charities to redistribute surplus food from farms into charitable networks. Applications were open to not-for-profit organisations redistributing surplus food including local charities and community organisations.

The longevity of the projects formed part of the selection criteria for funding, so we expect the funding to support the redistribution of farm surplus for many years to come.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent steps his Department has taken to protect (a) ancient woodlands, (b) coastal and estuarine habitats and (c) wetlands and reedbeds in Lancashire.

Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

We are investing up to £400 million each year for nature schemes. Defra recently conducted and published a review into how ancient woodland and ancient and veteran trees are protected by the National Planning Policy Framework. This revealed that the policy is not being consistently implemented and in collaboration with MHCLG, we are looking at how this can be improved. We continue to update the Ancient Woodland Inventory. It was most recently updated on 2 June 2025 and has recorded over 52,000 ancient woodland sites in England.

Natural England (NE) updated the Ancient Woodland Inventory for Lancashire, published earlier this year. This ensures all mapped areas are now protected from negative development impacts under the National Planning Policy Framework. NE has been supporting the responsible authority in Lancashire to prioritise ancient woodlands in the Local Nature Recovery Strategy, including a key measure for the restoration, protection, and expansion of ancient woodlands.

Working proactively with ‘Our Future Coast’ project, NE is supporting natural coastal protection for communities. It is working in partnership with coastal groups to raise awareness of more natural solutions, whilst providing pre-consultation and statutory advice on flood schemes and development along the coast to protect the unique natural environment and birds.

NE is supporting wetter farming in Lancashire through an EU funded partnership research project called Pallus Demos. It is also working with Rivers Trusts and United Utilities to create more wetlands and reedbeds in the area through Natural Flood Management. Farming schemes are an essential tool and the Brock and Calder Landscape Recovery Project will provide landscape scale improvements in the Wyre Catchment. NE continues to provide statutory advice to protect existing protected habitats, and species.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what comparative assessment her Department has made of the rate of re-offending (a) in Preston and (b) nationally; what steps she is taking to reduce this rate in Preston.

Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury

The overall proven reoffending rate for Preston was 34.5% for the July 22 - June 23 cohort (the latest reoffending data available by geography). By comparison, for the same cohort, the overall proven reoffending rate for England and Wales was 26.7%.

The Government is committed to tackling the causes of reoffending by giving people the tools to move away from crime. That's why we're investing in a wide range of interventions to directly support a prisoner’s rehabilitation journey, including employment, accommodation and substance misuse services.

We have, for example, recently launched regional Employment Councils, which for the first time will bring businesses together with probation services and the Department for Work and Pensions to support offenders in prison and the community. Preston is covered by the Cumbria & Lancashire Employment Council.

We are also delivering a transitional accommodation service (CAS3) to provide prison leavers who are under probation supervision and at risk of homelessness with up to 12 weeks of accommodation on release, and have recruited Health and Justice Partnership Coordinators to strengthen the links between substance misuse and health services in prisons and the community to support access to treatment. Both CAS3 and the Health and Justice Partnership Coordinators are in place across all 12 probation regions in England and Wales, with Preston falling under the North West probation region.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what his planned timetable is for the rollout of solar panels for schools in (a) Preston, (b) Lancashire and (c) the North West.

Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

​​Work is progressing on finalising the short lists of projects to participate in this first year of the Great British Energy Solar Partnership programme. We hope to have finalised the selection before the summer break with installs to complete in 2025/26. ​

​In the interim, we are providing support for all schools and colleges to start on their journey towards net zero via our new online sustainability support for education platform and our climate ambassador programme. More information can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/sustainability-leadership-and-climate-action-plans-in-education.

Where schools are considering the purchase of solar panels or other sustainable systems, our ‘Get help for buying’ service provides support to ensure that schemes procured are of high quality and value to the sector. More information can be found here: https://gethelpbuyingforschools.campaign.gov.uk/.

​Details of other government funding available to public bodies for sustainability can also be found at this website, prepared by the Crown Commercial Service: https://www.crowncommercial.gov.uk/social-value/carbon-net-zero/funding-and-grants.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department has taken to increase the number of school places for children with special educational needs in (a) mainstream and (b) maintained special schools.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

The department knows that many children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) struggle to find a suitable school placement that is close to their home and meets their needs.

We want more children and young people to receive the support they need to thrive in their local mainstream school, reducing the need for pupils to travel a long way to access a specialist placement. Many mainstream settings are already committed to delivering specialist provision locally, including through resourced provision and special educational needs units. We also recognise the vital role that special schools play in catering to children and young people with the most complex needs.

The department has published allocations for £740 million high needs capital in 2025/26 to support children and young people with SEND or who require alternative provision. Local authorities can use this funding to adapt classrooms to be more accessible for children with SEND, create specialist facilities within mainstream schools that can deliver more intensive support adapted to suit pupils’ needs, alongside continuing to provide places to support pupils in special schools with the most complex needs.

Switzerland and Liechtenstein APPG
Tuesday 10th June 2025

Found: Apologies 2.1 Apologies given by: Lord Northbrook, Lord Kamall, Christine Jardine M.P., Sir Mark Hendrick

Small Modular Reactors APPG
Wednesday 11th June 2025

Found: Catherine Atkinson MP (Officer) Andrew Bowie MP (Officer) Llinos Medi MP Josh MacAlister MP Sir Mark Hendrick

Japan APPG
Wednesday 11th June 2025

Found: Graham Brady MP, Deidre Brock MP, Rt Hon Greg Clark MP, Mark Garnier MP, Lord Harrington, Sir Mark Hendrick

Scientific APPG
Wednesday 11th June 2025

Found: Hon Vicky Ford MP, Conservative Barry Gardiner MP, Labour Mark Garnier MP, Conservative Sir Mark Hendrick

Scientific APPG
Wednesday 11th June 2025

Found: Hon Vicky Ford MP, Conservative Barry Gardiner MP, Labour Mark Garnier MP, Conservative Sir Mark Hendrick

Scientific APPG
Wednesday 11th June 2025

Found: details: Tel: 020 7219 5750 Email: hlscience@parliament.uk  Mark Garnier MP, Conservative Sir Mark Hendrick

Japan APPG
Wednesday 11th June 2025

Found: Election of Secretary: Sir Mark Hendrick was unanimously reappointed as Secretary of the APPG.

Mutuals APPG
Wednesday 11th June 2025

Found: Private Members’ Bill ‘Co -operatives, Mutuals and Friendly Societies Bill’ being introduced by Mark Hendrick

Japan APPG
Wednesday 11th June 2025

Found: Mr Hunt was elected unanimously. 3) Election of Secretary:Sir Mark Hendrick MP was nominatedto continue

Japan APPG
Wednesday 11th June 2025

Found: MP, Nigel Evans MP, David Simmons MP, Sir George Howarth, Kevin Hollinrake MP, Lord Howell, Sir Mark Hendrick