Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of the Access to Work scheme on the economy and society.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Access to Work (AtW) is a demand-led, personalised discretionary grant which supports the recruitment and retention of disabled people in employment. The Scheme has been providing support for over 30 years.

In 2024-2025, 74,190 people received a payment for an Access to Work provision. This is around a 10% increase when compared to 2023/24. Expenditure on Access to Work provision was around £320.7 million.

We recognise that Access to Work is providing a poor experience for some applicants with processing delays affecting employees’ ability to start or continue in employment, and employers’ ability to support them.

That is why in the Pathways to Work green paper, we consulted on the future of Access to Work and how to improve the scheme so that it helps more disabled people in work. We are reviewing all aspects of Access to Work as we develop plans for reform following the conclusion of the consultation.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when he plans to introduce reforms to Energy Performance Certificates, in the context of the development and implementation of the Home Energy Model.

Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The government consulted on reforms to EPCs to provide consumers with more useful information on the energy performance of buildings, and so that they better support our key objectives of achieving Clean Power by 2030 and accelerating to Net Zero.

We are analysing the feedback received to the consultation, and will publish a government response in due course.

The Home Energy Model (HEM) will replace the current Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP) as the methodology underpinning domestic EPCs. The government expects to introduce HEM and reformed domestic EPCs in 2026.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of stakeholder engagement mechanisms for the development of tree planting and woodland restoration policy.

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

Defra Ministers and officials regularly engage with stakeholders on tree planting and woodland restoration policy through one-to-one meetings and wider stakeholder engagement forums. In addition, the Forestry Commission carries out a broad set of stakeholder engagement such as through their Delivery Advisory Group and regional Forestry and Woodland Advisory Committees, as well as regular events across the country. This activity is amplified by extensive regional and national press coverage helping raise awareness of trees and woodlands.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what governance structures are in place to coordinate delivery of the Oxford-Cambridge Forest across local authority boundaries; and whether she plans to establish a dedicated coordination body.

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

The exact location of the new forest in the Oxford-Cambridge Corridor is subject to design work and discussion with partners. Further detail will be provided in due course.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the compatibility of EIP25 targets for improving plantations on ancient woodland soils with Forestry England’s 2044 target on PAWS restoration.

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

The Environmental Improvement Plan 2025 (EIP25) target and Forestry England’s Plantations on Ancient Woodland Sites (PAWS) restoration target are compatible.

The EIP25 target for improving PAWS is strategic, setting a national ambition to enhance biodiversity and resilience across these irreplaceable habitats.

Forestry England’s 2044 PAWS restoration target is more granular, requiring measurable improvement in Semi-Natural Scores. These objectives are entirely aligned: both aim to restore ecological integrity and native woodland character. Early soil eDNA investigations by Forestry England indicate that PAWS restoration works to restore soil health.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, in relation to the Oxford–Cambridge Forest, what assessment has been made of the impact of afforestation on hydrology in the region.

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

As part of our approach to the New National Forest in the OxCam region -spatial data will be used to prioritise sites for woodland creation that will deliver public benefits such as flood management and mitigation as well as other water management functions.

Afforestation projects above 0.5 hectares will also likely require an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) which will include a detailed assessment of potential impacts on the water environment. Further details on this new national forest will be announced in the coming months.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether indicators of progress for tree planting, canopy cover, ancient woodland condition, tree survival and biodiversity for the Oxford–Cambridge Forest will be published annually.

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

Forest Research publishes Forestry Statistics annually and these include comprehensive data on woodland creation, canopy expansion, species mix, and sustainability trends across England and the UK. These national reports provide an important context for progress on tree planting and canopy cover, complementing more detailed project monitoring undertaken by the Nature for Climate Fund.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what her planned timeline is for woodland creation for the Oxford–Cambridge National Forest; what interim milestones have been set; and when plans for boundaries and targets will be published.

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

The Government intends for woodland creation to commence in the Oxford Cambridge Corridor in November 2026. Further detail concerning milestones, targets and boundaries for this New National Forest will be made public in due course.

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 ensure that domestic timber production does not adversely impact biodiversity and habitat creation targets.

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

We encourage woodlands in England to be planted and managed in compliance with the UK Forestry Standard (UKFS) which is an agreed UK wide approach to sustainable forest management. In commercial woodlands which are managed in line with the UKFS or where specific biodiversity positive actions are taken, biodiversity benefits can be gained. We will continue to look at how all kinds of woodlands can contribute to our biodiversity targets through the upcoming Land Use Framework.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what her proposed timeline is for publishing the Tree Action Plan.

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

The Government will publish a new Trees Action Plan in 2026.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the Tree Action Plan intends to support the restoration of ancient woodland, particularly on smaller plantations on ancient woodland sites or sites that are harder to restore.

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

The Government will continue to support the restoration of ancient woodland. Woodlands as small as 0.5ha are now eligible for the Countryside Stewardship supplements “Manage and restore Plantations on Ancient Woodland Sites (PAWs)” and “Manage native woodland including Ancient Semi-Natural Woodlands”, ensuring support is available to landowners and managers of smaller ancient woodlands.

In 2025, we also updated our Countryside Stewardship offer by simplifying our baseline Woodland Improvement grant.

These steps will help to bring more of our smaller ancient woodlands into restoration and management.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the Tree Planting Taskforce's progress; and what involvement that Taskforce has had in the development of the Tree Action Plan.

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

The UK-wide Tree Planting Taskforce brings together the relevant ministers from across the four UK nations. It has made good progress, enabling cross-UK collaboration and furthered understanding of shared challenges and opportunities.

Given the UK-wide nature of the Taskforce, it is not directly involved in the development of the Trees Action Plan for England, although Defra is engaging with relevant delivery partners and arm’s-length bodies on the Action Plan. We will continue to engage with the Taskforce to identify opportunities for cross-UK working.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, where saplings planted to meet EIP25 interim targets will be sourced from.

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

Defra’s Nature for Climate Fund continues to invest working to increase the availability of domestically grown saplings for woodland creation through its Sector Capacity project. Forestry Commission publish annually the Tree Supply Report and Tree Nursery Directories to bring visibility to the market and work closely with the nurseries to assess trends in the market. There is an increasingly strong supply of trees from across the UK and beyond, as highlighted in the Tree Supply Report.

Through the Tree Supply Report, we estimate that over 161 million trees were grown in Great Britain in 24/25, 1,000,000 more than the previous year. This has built up resilience in our seed and tree supply, improving ability to meet the interim target of reaching 16.5% tree canopy and woodland cover by 2050. The Nature for Climate Fund funded grants this financial year of up to £7.8 million capital investment in tree production through the Tree Production Capital Grant; £7.8 million supporting innovation in tree production through the Tree Production Innovation Fund and £871K supporting tree seed sourcing through the Seed Sourcing Grant. We have also invested in Forestry England developing a state-of-the-art new Seed processing unit at Delamere. As well as processing seed for use in the nation’s forests, this facility will continue to make surplus seed from a limited number of species available to the private sector.

Halie Selassie and Bath

Peter Hill, visiting every pub in the CAMRA Good Beer Guide 2020

Brain cancer

Future of Cambridge Veterinary School

Iran protests

Deregistration of international non-governmental organisations in the Occupied Palestinian Territories

Earth Action North Devon

Homelessness support in Eastbourne

Bake Shop, Ely named Best Bakery in Cambridgeshire

Incident in Switzerland

UN Convention on the Rights of Older Persons

Parliamentary screening of The Removed and historic forced adoptions

Use of UK bases by the United States and international law in relation to Greenland

Less Survivable Cancers Week

Missing Evri deliveries