Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps his Department is taking to regulate emissions produced by organisations.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The UK Emissions Trading Scheme is an essential regime to cut emissions and drive green investment. By setting a limit - the cap - on emissions and creating a carbon price for power, industry and aviation, the scheme incentivises investment in clean technologies that will power and supply the economy of the future. The UK ETS Authority is currently evaluating responses to recent consultations on expanding the scheme. Further energy audit and reporting policies, including the Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme and Streamlining Energy and Carbon Reporting, require disclosure of specified energy and emissions information by large or listed UK businesses.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to help support improvements to (a) local transport links and (b) networks across (i) Yorkshire and (ii) Northern Lincolnshire.

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

The Department is committed to improving local transport across the Yorkshire and Humber. The Chancellor announced in the Autumn Statement on 30 October a range of funding to support local transport, including funding that will provide for development of West Yorkshire Mass Transit and renewal of the Supertram in Sheffield. This includes an uplift to national City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement (CRSTS) funding in 2025-26 by £200m, helping to improve the local transport in our largest city regions and drive growth and productivity across the country. This is in addition to the £570m and £830m already allocated to South Yorkshire and West Yorkshire for CRSTS1.

Additionally, the Chancellor announced over £650m of funding for local transport beyond City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements to ensure that transport connections improve in our towns, villages and rural areas as well as in our major cities. This includes funding to progress transport-related Levelling Up Fund projects through to 2025/26 including schemes such as Connecting West Leeds which will provide multi-modal enhancements to capacity, efficiency, safety and accessibility for all users of the A6120 Leeds Outer Ring Road.

Furthermore, the government has committed to delivering better bus services, and in the Budget confirmed investment of over £1 billion in 2025/26 to support and improve bus services and keep fares affordable.

This investment sits alongside the measures we are already undertaking to reform the bus system, including through the introduction of the Buses Bill later in this Parliamentary session, as we seek to ensure local leaders have the powers they need to deliver the better, more reliable services that passengers deserve.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether her Department plans to make electric vehicle owners eligible to pay car tax.

Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

Vehicle Excise Duty (VED), also sometimes referred to as car tax, is a tax on car ownership from which electric vehicles are currently exempt. As announced by the previous Government at Autumn Statement 2022, from April 2025, electric and hybrid cars, vans and motorcycles will begin to pay VED in the same way as petrol and diesel vehicles.

Revenue from motoring taxes helps ensure we can continue to fund the vital public services and infrastructure that people across the UK expect.

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 is taking steps to help increase the affordability of cat neutering services.

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

The Competition and Markets Authority, which is independent from Defra, is currently undertaking a market investigation into veterinary services, which includes the cost of veterinary care. Defra will review any recommendations that are made by the CMA when their process concludes in 2025. Some animal charities support the cost of neutering in certain circumstances.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help tackle the abandonment of domestic animals.

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

Defra regularly meets animal welfare stakeholders to understand issues and trends that are affecting the sector, including the impact of the rise in the cost of living on pet keepers and welfare organisations. Defra welcomes the support that the animal sector has provided through pet food banks and financial support with veterinary treatment.

The animal sector offers helpful advice to potential pet owners on the responsibilities that come with pet ownership including free guides on the estimated lifetime costs of owning a pet.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing legislation to allow victims of crime to express impact statements to convicted people directly.

Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

As set out in the Victims’ Code, victims and survivors have the right to make a Victim Personal Statement (VPS) to explain in their own words how a crime has affected them. The judge or magistrate will decide whether and what sections of a personal statement should be read aloud at the sentencing hearing. The judge or magistrate will always take the victim’s preference into account when making their decision, unless there is good reason not to do so. The entitlement to make a VPS at the sentencing hearing is enabled by a Criminal Practice Direction; this provides guidance to judges and specifies that the court will take the VPS into account when determining sentence, as well as additional procedure surrounding the VPS.

Where the statement is read out and the offender is at the sentencing hearing they will hear the statement directly. We recognise that for some victims and survivors it may be distressing where the offender is not at the hearing and the Government is committed to legislating to require offenders to attend their sentencing hearings, so that criminals hear first-hand the impacts of their crime and victims, survivors and bereaved family members of deceased victims see criminals face the consequences of their actions. This measure will be included in the Victims, Courts and Public Protection Bill, which the Government intends to introduce in the first parliamentary session.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to help support business investment into (a) Yorkshire and (b) northern Lincolnshire.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The Department works across the UK, including Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire, to showcase strong commercial investment opportunities to potential investors and support business to grow, and provides extensive support to small businesses through the network of Growth Hubs. This government is developing a modern industrial strategy to deliver the certainty and stability for business to invest and creating the National Wealth Fund to support its delivery and mobilise billions of pounds of investment in the UK’s growth industries. Through the Government owned British Business Bank, we are also investing over £1billion through their regional Investment Fund programmes, including supporting growing businesses across Yorkshire and northern Lincolnshire.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps Department is taking to help support economic growth across (a) Yorkshire and (b) northern Lincolnshire.

Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

This Government is developing a modern industrial strategy to deliver the certainty and stability for business to invest and creating the National Wealth Fund to support its delivery and mobilise billions of pounds of investment in the UK’s growth industries. The Government is investing in total over £2.5 billion over 30 years in West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire and York and North Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authorities to support growth and business investment. Through the Government owned British Business Bank, we are also investing over £1 billion through their regional Investment Fund programmes, including supporting growing businesses across Yorkshire and northern Lincolnshire.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps her Department is taking to support economic growth across (a) Yorkshire and (b) northern Lincolnshire.

Answered by Tulip Siddiq - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

At Autumn Budget 24 the government set out the first major steps in our approach to regional growth, through devolution, investment and reform.

The Government is investing in total over £2.5 billion over 30 years in West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire and York and North Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authorities to support growth and business investment.

In 26/27 we will introduce integrated settlements in West Yorkshire and South Yorkshire Combined Authorities, giving mayors greater control of their budgets. We are investing in transport by securing delivery of the TransPennine Route Upgrade between York and Manchester, via Leeds and Huddersfield, and have invested £1.3 billion capital through the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements to unlock growth-enhancing transport projects such as the Mass Transit system in West Yorkshire.

The Government also confirmed the designation of the first customs site in the Humber Freeport, enabling the release of seed capital funding to support the Freeport to build upon the £1bn of investment it has attracted so far, with a particular focus on renewable energy and advanced manufacturing.

Through the Government owned British Business Bank, we are also investing over £1billion through their regional Investment Fund programmes, including supporting growing businesses across Yorkshire and northern Lincolnshire.

The purpose of this short inquiry is to hear from representatives of those affected by the Department's review of post-16 qualification reforms; to influence the Department's review before it concludes by the end of the year; to establish the full extent of the Department's plans for level 3 qualifications reform; and to provide clarity to schools, colleges, and students who face uncertainty about which courses will be available to them in the coming years.