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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to require imported pork to meet the UK's animal welfare standards.

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

The Government shares the public’s high regard for the UK’s environmental protections, food standards and animal welfare and recognises farmers’ concerns about imports produced using methods not permitted in the UK. We have been clear that we will use our Trade Strategy to promote the highest food production standards.

All pork imported into the UK must meet standards at least equivalent to the key requirements set out in the protection of animals at the time of killing legislation.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of extending the Warm Home Discount to include all disabled members of an eligible household.

Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The Warm Home Discount currently focuses support towards those on lowest incomes who receive means-tested benefits and living in a property estimated to be relatively high cost to heat. The eligibility criteria are set to make best use of the data available to identify households at greatest risk of fuel poverty. This winter's scheme opened on 14 October, and we expect it to support over three million households. We are exploring options to improve the design of the scheme beyond the current regulations which expire in 2026.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of ensuring future housing developments provide electronic vehicle charging facilities for residents.

Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

Since June 2022, Part S of Schedule 1 to the Building Regulations 2010 requires new residential properties with associated parking to have access to electric vehicle chargepoints.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to help end child homelessness.

Answered by Rushanara Ali - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

Homelessness levels are far too high. This Government recognises the devastating impact this can have on those affected. We are already taking the first steps to get back on track to ending homelessness. As announced at the Budget, funding for homelessness services is increasing next year by £233 million compared to this year (2024/25) and brings total spend to nearly £1 billion in 2025/26. Allocations for individual local authorities in England will be set out later in December, which will include Slough, West Dorset, the Thames Valley region and wider rural communities.

The Deputy Prime Minister is leading cross-government work to tackle the underlying causes of homelessness and deliver long-term solutions to end all forms of homelessness, including rural and child homelessness. This includes chairing a dedicated Inter-Ministerial Group, bringing together ministers from across Government to develop a long-term homelessness strategy.

We have also established an Expert Group to bring together representatives from across the homelessness and rough sleeping sector, local and combined authorities and wider experts. The role of this expert group is to provide knowledge, analysis and challenge to help Government understand what is working well nationally and locally and where improvements are needed.

The department also has a lived experience forum to ensure the voices of those with lived experience of homelessness are reflected in the homelessness strategy.

More widely, we are taking action to tackle the root causes of homelessness by delivering the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation and building 1.5 million new homes over the next parliament.

The Government is also abolishing Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions, preventing private renters being exploited and discriminated against, and empowering people to challenge unreasonable rent increases.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the number of (a) children of school age with complex SEND needs and (b) specialist educational places required for such children in the next five academic years.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

This government has inherited a growing tide of unmet need amongst children and young people.

The government does not forecast the number of school-aged pupils with complex needs as a specific category, but has produced national level estimates of the number of all children and young people with education, health and care (EHC) plans. As noted in the National Audit Office report, the department’s central estimate is that, without policy interventions, the number of EHC plans will nearly double from approximately 518,000 in 2022/23 to just over 1,000,000 in 2032/33.

Starting from summer 2023, for the first time, the department has collected data from local authorities on capacity in special schools and special educational needs (SEN) units and resourced provision (attached to mainstream schools), which have been published on GOV.UK. This shows that the government has inherited a landscape of rising demand for specialist provision within mainstream and special schools which is not being met. There were 148,000 special school places reported, with an additional 9,000 places reported in SEN units and 18,000 in resourced provision. Around 63% of special schools are at or over capacity. On average schools that are over capacity have around 12% more pupils than reported capacity.

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

That is why earlier this month, the department announced £740 million in high needs capital funding for 2025/26. Local authorities can use this funding to adapt classrooms to be more inclusive and accessible and create specialist facilities within mainstream schools, alongside continuing to support placements in special schools for pupils with the most complex needs. It will pave the way for the government’s wide-ranging long term plans for reform to help more pupils with SEND to have their needs met in mainstream schools.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the merits of ensuring that the Staying Close programme is accessible to all Looked After Children.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

This government is committed to providing support for care leavers to ensure they have the practical and emotional support they need as they move towards independence. The department intends to legislate, when parliamentary time allows, to ensure all local authorities consider whether care leavers (up to age 25) in their area require Staying Close support and, if their welfare requires it, provide that support.

Evaluation of the initial Staying Close pilots found clear improvements in outcomes for care leavers, including a 20% improvement in mental health outcomes, a 13% reduction in the number of young people who were not in education, employment or training (NEET), and a 21% reduction in anti-social behaviour. The independent evaluations also found that Staying Close supported young people to develop and build the skills needed to prepare for independent living. Feedback showed that young people’s life skills had improved after six months of participating in the project and that young people felt happier in themselves, had better stability in their accommodation and there was increased participation in activities, whether education, employment or wider activities.

The department has commissioned the Centre for Homelessness Impact to undertake a further evaluation of Staying Close’s impact. This is due to report in early 2025.

The government supports the use of supported lodgings for care leavers. When working with the young person to review their individual needs and a suitable package of support through Staying Close they will be able to decide the best form of accommodation together. Any decisions should be tailored to the needs of the young person to help develop their confidence and skills for independent living and for their emotional health and wellbeing.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of supported lodgings in supporting the aims of the Staying Close programme.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

This government is committed to providing support for care leavers to ensure they have the practical and emotional support they need as they move towards independence. The department intends to legislate, when parliamentary time allows, to ensure all local authorities consider whether care leavers (up to age 25) in their area require Staying Close support and, if their welfare requires it, provide that support.

Evaluation of the initial Staying Close pilots found clear improvements in outcomes for care leavers, including a 20% improvement in mental health outcomes, a 13% reduction in the number of young people who were not in education, employment or training (NEET), and a 21% reduction in anti-social behaviour. The independent evaluations also found that Staying Close supported young people to develop and build the skills needed to prepare for independent living. Feedback showed that young people’s life skills had improved after six months of participating in the project and that young people felt happier in themselves, had better stability in their accommodation and there was increased participation in activities, whether education, employment or wider activities.

The department has commissioned the Centre for Homelessness Impact to undertake a further evaluation of Staying Close’s impact. This is due to report in early 2025.

The government supports the use of supported lodgings for care leavers. When working with the young person to review their individual needs and a suitable package of support through Staying Close they will be able to decide the best form of accommodation together. Any decisions should be tailored to the needs of the young person to help develop their confidence and skills for independent living and for their emotional health and wellbeing.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has made an estimate of the number of e-passports that do not work at UK airports; and what steps she is taking to help resolve that issue.

Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

It has never been Government practice, for reasons of law enforcement, to comment on operational issues relating to border security and immigration controls. This includes offering commentary on the performance of border systems and of ePassport Gates data specifically.

However, the Hon Member with be pleased to know that the Home Office is making significant investment to improve the underlying technical infrastructure which performs border checks to identify individuals more precisely. This will reduce the number of individuals unable to use the ePassport Gates. These improvements have begun to be introduced, and further improvements are envisaged to identify persons of interest more precisely.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of embedding (a) social and (b) emotional learning interventions into curriculums.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

The government has established an independent Curriculum and Assessment Review, covering ages 5 to 18, which is chaired by Professor Becky Francis CBE.

The review will seek to deliver a curriculum that ensures children and young people leave compulsory education ready for life and work, building the knowledge, skills and attributes young people need to thrive.

The review group ran a call for evidence, receiving over 7000 responses, and held events over the autumn term to gather the views of education professionals and other experts and stakeholders, as well as parents, children and young people. The feedback received will help the review group to consider its next steps and recommendations.

The curriculum currently provides many opportunities for schools to promote pupils’ social and emotional development. For example, through the national curriculum for citizenship at key stages 3 and 4, pupils should be taught about the diverse national, regional, religious and ethnic identities in the United Kingdom and the need for mutual respect and understanding.

Health education, which is compulsory for pupils in all state-funded schools, has a strong focus on mental wellbeing, including a recognition that mental wellbeing and physical health are linked. Health education should also support a school’s whole-school approach to fostering pupil wellbeing and developing pupils’ resilience and ability to self-regulate.

At primary school, pupils learn to recognise and talk about their emotions, the benefits of exercise and simple self-care techniques. At secondary school, pupils will learn about common types of mental ill-health and how to recognise the early signs of mental wellbeing concerns. Pupils are taught where and how to seek support, including recognising the triggers for seeking support. They receive guidance on who they should speak to in school if they are worried about their own or someone else’s mental wellbeing or ability to control their emotions.

The department is separately reviewing the relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) statutory guidance in addition to recommendations from the independent Curriculum and Assessment Review.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps to ensure that homeless children have the same rights of access to (a) education and (b) health care as looked-after children in corporate parentship.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The department knows that homelessness levels are far too high, and this can have a devastating impact on those affected, especially children. Too many children are spending years in temporary accommodation, at a point in their lives when they need space to play and develop, nutritious food to thrive and access to education.

We understand the physical and mental health impacts of poor housing on children and families. The Child Poverty Unit is exploring options with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), the Department for Work and Pensions and the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC), to encourage greater integration of health, housing, education and care services at a local level which will better meet the needs of children and families in poverty.

More detail on the approach and priorities for the Child Poverty Strategy is set out in the 23 October publication ‘Tackling Child Poverty: Developing Our Strategy’, which is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tackling-child-poverty-developing-our-strategy.

Through the supporting families programme and our reforms to family help from April 2025, we will ensure that more children and families can access the help and support they need at the earliest opportunity. Support will be delivered by community based, multi-disciplinary teams, made up of professionals from relevant agencies. This could include specialist homelessness advisors.

My right hon. Friend, the Deputy Prime Minister and the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, is leading cross-government work to deliver the long term solutions we need to get back on track to ending all forms of homelessness. This includes chairing a dedicated Inter-Ministerial Group, bringing together ministers from across government to develop a long term strategy.

We are also tackling the root causes of homelessness, including by delivering the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation and building 1.5 million new homes over the next parliament.

MHCLG are already taking the first steps to get back on track to ending homelessness. As announced in the Autumn Budget, funding for homelessness services is increasing next year by £233 million compared to this year (2024/25). This increased spending will help to prevent rises in the number of families in temporary accommodation and help to prevent rough sleeping. This brings total spend to nearly £1 billion in 2025/26.

This government will also abolish Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions with immediate effect, preventing private renters being exploited and discriminated against, and empowering people to challenge unreasonable rent increases.

In relation to healthcare, clearly homeless children have the same right to healthcare as children in any other situation in England. All children have equal access to use the NHS, and DHSC and the NHS are working together to ensure health inequalities in ease of access are mitigated.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will bring forward legislative proposals to require building and health and safety standards in (a) emergency and (b) temporary accommodation provided to homeless families.

Answered by Rushanara Ali - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

All tenants deserve a safe and decent home, and the Government is working to improving standards across all sectors with a commitment to introduce a new Decent Homes Standard.

Local authorities must ensure temporary accommodation is suitable and should keep the suitability of accommodation under review. Housing authorities should as a minimum ensure that all temporary accommodation is free of Category 1 hazards as identified by the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS). To enable effective enforcement, we have given local authorities strong powers, including financial penalties of up to £30,000, extending rent repayment orders and introducing banning orders for the most serious and prolific offenders.

The Renters’ Rights Bill will drive significant improvements to conditions in the private rented sector. Ensuring landlords adhere to a legally binding Decent Homes Standard and extending ‘Awaab’s Law’ to private landlords will significantly reduce the number of poor-quality privately rented homes and empower tenants to raise concerns about damp, dangerous and cold homes.

Through the Bill, the Government has introduced powers to apply the Decent Homes Standard to the private rented sector, which includes new powers to bring temporary accommodation into scope of the DHS. This will ensure that safe, secure housing is the standard people can expect in temporary accommodation.

The Renters’ Rights Bill will also make it possible to apply Awaab’s Law to temporary accommodation occupied under licence through regulations. We will consult in due course on how best to apply Awaab’s Law to such accommodation occupied under licence to make sure we strike the right balance by providing protections to residents while maintaining ambitions on supply.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will take steps to increase the funding for services supporting victims of domestic abuse.

Answered by Rushanara Ali - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

On 28 November, the Government announced a funding increase of £30 million to the Domestic Abuse Safe Accommodation Grant, bringing the total investment in this Grant to £160 million in 2025-26. This funding will enable local authorities in England to continue to invest in essential support within frontline safe accommodation services, ensuring victims of domestic abuse can access the support they need.

This is part of the Government’s commitment to tackling domestic abuse, and our manifesto commitment to halve violence against women and girls within a decade, with improved support for victims.

Funding from April 2026 will be a matter for the Spending Review.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will widen the eligibility of free school meals to all children whose parents are in receipt of Universal Credit.

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

The government has a central mission to break down barriers to opportunity for every child.

The government has inherited a trend of rising child poverty and widening attainment gaps for children eligible for free school meals and their peers. Child poverty has increased by 700,000 since 2010, with over four million children now growing up in a low-income family. The government is committed to delivering an ambitious strategy to reduce child poverty, by tackling the root causes and giving every child the best start at life. To support this, a new ministerial taskforce has been set up to develop a Child Poverty Strategy, which will be published in spring 2025. The taskforce will consider a range of policies in assessing what will have the greatest impact in driving down rates of child poverty. As with all policies, the government keeps the approach to free school meals under review.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to increase collaborative working at local authority level to improve school attendance.

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

The statutory ‘working together to improve school attendance’ guidance sets out that schools, trusts and local authorities should work together to tackle absence. The guidance makes clear that local authorities are expected to work with the child’s parents and school to support them to return to regular and consistent education.

Local authorities are expected to build strong and collaborative relationships across a range of services and partners that can help pupils and families with specific attendance barriers. These services and partners can include health, youth justice, the voluntary and community sector, early help, children’s social care, local safeguarding partnerships, special educational needs, educational psychologists, the police and housing support. Local authorities should encourage shared ownership of attendance improvement across these partners.

The guidance also includes the expectation that local authorities will hold regular targeting support meetings with schools as an opportunity to work collaboratively with them to discuss and agree support approaches for persistently absent pupils.

To support local authorities to implement the expectations in the guidance, including improving collaborative working, the department has offered each authority the support of an expert attendance adviser.

The guidance can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/working-together-to-improve-school-attendance.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of parent-delivered early language interventions for young children with Down Syndrome.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

Parents and carers have an important role to play in the learning and development of their child. Practitioners should work jointly with parents and carers to support a child’s speech, language and communication needs in the home environment.

The department is strengthening the evidence base of what works to improve inclusive practice in mainstream settings, which will also consider the important role that parents and caregivers can play in defining and implementing these interventions. The department has also published guidance for local authorities about the expectations around the support they should make available through Family Hubs. This could include, for example, special education needs and disabilities appropriate parenting programmes, peer support for parents, respite provision and support for siblings or specialist health services. In some cases, parent-carer forums and respite provision may be located at the Family Hub, where appropriate.

This should be further supported by statutory guidance published by the NHS in May 2023 requiring that every Integrated Care Board (ICB) must identify a member of its board to lead on supporting the ICB to perform its functions effectively in the interest of people with Down syndrome.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the e-Visa scheme on (a) older people, (b) those with learning difficulties, (c) non-English speakers and (d) those with limited access to technology.

Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

The Home Office has implemented a comprehensive engagement strategy to smooth the transition to eVisas and to maximise awareness raising across various sectors. This includes collaboration with key stakeholders including migrant organisations.

The Home Office is committed to ensuring everyone, including the elderly, those with learning disabilities, those with limited English and the most vulnerable, are properly supported as we transform our immigration system.

On 18 September 2024, we announced that the Government is providing up to £4m in dedicated grant funding to a UK wide network of voluntary and community sector organisations to deliver valuable support to those who need it, during the transition from physical immigration documents to eVisas. The list of organisations is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/evisa-community-support-for-vulnerable-people.

We have ensured that the wording used to explain how to create a UKVI account and get access to an eVisa is simple and can be easily translated using various free online services. In consultation with stakeholders, we are also considering providing some information about the transition to eVisas in other languages.

People can nominate a ‘helper’ and give them limited access to their account, so that they can assist with creating a UKVI account to access an eVisa, and with any immigration application. Where a person is unable to manage their own affairs due to, for example, age or disability, an authorised ‘proxy’ can create and manage the account on behalf of the person. People can also contact the UK Visas and Immigration Resolution Centre (https://www.gov.uk/contact-ukvi-inside-outside-uk for support via email and webchat, and telephone.

For those inside the UK our Assisted Digital service is available to provide support by phone and email to those who need help with IT-related aspects of creating a UKVI account and accessing an eVisa. Access needs can include any disability that requires support to use online services, a lack of device or a lack of internet access. More information is available here: https://www.gov.uk/assisted-digital-help-online-application

We are also taking further steps to reduce the number of circumstances where people need to provide evidence of their immigration status, by developing services to make the relevant immigration status information available automatically through system to system checks with other government departments and the NHS.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has had recent discussions with representatives of migrant organisations on the development of a digital solution for the e-visa scheme.

Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

The Home Office has implemented a comprehensive engagement strategy to smooth the transition to eVisas and to maximise awareness raising across various sectors. This includes collaboration with key stakeholders including migrant organisations.

The Home Office is committed to ensuring everyone, including the elderly, those with learning disabilities, those with limited English and the most vulnerable, are properly supported as we transform our immigration system.

On 18 September 2024, we announced that the Government is providing up to £4m in dedicated grant funding to a UK wide network of voluntary and community sector organisations to deliver valuable support to those who need it, during the transition from physical immigration documents to eVisas. The list of organisations is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/evisa-community-support-for-vulnerable-people.

We have ensured that the wording used to explain how to create a UKVI account and get access to an eVisa is simple and can be easily translated using various free online services. In consultation with stakeholders, we are also considering providing some information about the transition to eVisas in other languages.

People can nominate a ‘helper’ and give them limited access to their account, so that they can assist with creating a UKVI account to access an eVisa, and with any immigration application. Where a person is unable to manage their own affairs due to, for example, age or disability, an authorised ‘proxy’ can create and manage the account on behalf of the person. People can also contact the UK Visas and Immigration Resolution Centre (https://www.gov.uk/contact-ukvi-inside-outside-uk for support via email and webchat, and telephone.

For those inside the UK our Assisted Digital service is available to provide support by phone and email to those who need help with IT-related aspects of creating a UKVI account and accessing an eVisa. Access needs can include any disability that requires support to use online services, a lack of device or a lack of internet access. More information is available here: https://www.gov.uk/assisted-digital-help-online-application

We are also taking further steps to reduce the number of circumstances where people need to provide evidence of their immigration status, by developing services to make the relevant immigration status information available automatically through system to system checks with other government departments and the NHS.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to restore funding to the Career Change Programme.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

Career changers make a valuable contribution to the teaching profession and the department remains committed to recruiting and supporting them into initial teacher training. The department’s wider offer to all potential teachers, including career changers, supports them through their journey to apply for teacher training and during the critical early years of teaching. This includes the ‘Get Into Teaching’ service which offers one-to-one support and advice to all candidates, including career changers.

The current contract for the Career Changers Programme will come to an end in autumn 2026.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, which authority is responsible for the recovery and disposal of boats that have sunk or are stranded near the shoreline when they do not present a navigation hazard.

Answered by Mike Kane - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

In the case of sunk or stranded vessels, the owner of that vessel is responsible for carrying out any actions required to mitigate environmental consequences under the Merchant Shipping Act 1995. This may be carried out in conjunction with an insurance company.

Sunk vessels that are not hazards to navigation may be assessed for their potential environmental impact by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) and Secretary of State's Representative for Maritime Intervention and Salvage (SOSREP).

Where vessels are stranded near the shoreline, the responsibility for the removal of the vessel still sits with the owner. In some cases, it is not possible to trace an owner for stranded vessels on the shoreline. In these cases, the responsibility for remediation may fall to the landowner. The landowner may choose to instigate legal action against the vessel's owner where possible. Regulations such as the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (England and Wales) may apply. In such cases, the vessel could also be salvaged voluntarily, by any person, to prevent further damage and in return for a salvage fee from the owner, or insurer.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much funding her Department plans to provide to help prevent (a) domestic abuse and (b) sexist and misogynistic attitudes that underpin domestic violence in the next financial year.

Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

This Government has committed to halving violence against women and girls, including domestic abuse, in a decade.

Addressing the attitudes and root causes of domestic abuse is fundamental to our approach. It is essential we have a comprehensive approach to prevention, from education to early intervention and targeting the most prolific and repeat offenders.

Following the spending review announcements in October, the Home Office is now deciding how the total funding settlement is allocated across the department to deliver the Government’s priorities. The Government has identified several priority areas for reform, which it will build on in Phase Two of the Spending Review. Phase Two will be mission-led, ensuring Departments work together to develop a shared strategy for delivering the Government’s priorities.

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 encourage local authorities to plant more trees.

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

Local authorities have an important role in contributing to England’s tree planting targets and maximising the benefits of these trees, for example through planting urban and street trees, which are often the closest green infrastructure to people’s homes. Defra supports local authorities’ tree planting activity through access to several of the Nature for Climate Fund grant schemes, as well as through support for the Community Forests.

Sexual violence in Sudan

Reform of electoral law

75th anniversary of National Parks

Knowsley Livv Housing industrial dispute

Cuckooing awareness

Prison maintenance insourcing

Ofwat price review

Uber and private hire drivers

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Found: _NC6 Paula Barker Kim Johnson Jeremy Corbyn Neil Duncan-Jordan Nadia Whittome Grahame Morris Steve

Found: _NC6 Paula Barker Kim Johnson Jeremy Corbyn Neil Duncan-Jordan Nadia Whittome Grahame Morris Steve

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Found: _NC6 Paula Barker Kim Johnson Jeremy Corbyn Neil Duncan-Jordan Nadia Whittome .

Found: _NC6 Paula Barker Kim Johnson Jeremy Corbyn Neil Duncan-Jordan Nadia Whittome .