Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to increase investment in pancreatic cancer research; and what assessment she has made of the potential impact of that research on improving treatment options and survival rates for pancreatic cancer patients.
Answered by James Frith - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer for provided on 15 July in response to Question 16704.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing legislation to require supermarkets to donate edible unsold food to charities and community organisations instead of disposing of it.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government supports food waste reduction through WRAP’s UK Food and Drink Pact and Food Waste Reduction Roadmap, helping businesses measure, reduce, report waste and increase surplus food redistribution. Businesses should prioritise redistribution; in 2024 retail redistributed 97,889 tonnes, 46% of surplus food redistributed in the UK.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps her Department is taking to increase the speed of short-term measures to reduce emissions and improve climate resilience.
Answered by Katie White - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Government is committed to greater climate resilience and mitigation, and is investing £97m for the biggest upgrade of national resilience capabilities in nearly twenty years, including specialist equipment, dedicated off-road vehicles, enhanced incident management and wildfire training for firefighters.
This summer has been the hottest on record, and preparing for more extreme weather is part of building a more resilient country. That is why we have extended the Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant to air-to-air heat pumps, which can cool as well as heat a home, we have made plug-in solar available across Great Britain, and we are investing significantly to upgrade the school estate.
Alongside this, our Energising Britain plan provides households with clear, accessible and impartial information about the everyday actions people can take to cut bills, reduce emissions, and protect the environment.
The Prime Minister also announced measures to support farmers in August, including up to £15m funding to build on-farm reservoirs, and temporary adjustments to Environmental Land Management Agreements.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment she has made of the compatibility of Government support for carbon capture and storage projects associated with new gas-fired power stations with the UK's net zero commitments.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
CCUS will decarbonise industry and power in a way that drives growth, supports high productivity jobs and accelerates towards net zero. Through CCUS we can produce flexible, low-carbon power which will displace the use of unabated gas when renewable energy sources like solar and wind are not available. CCUS will be essential to meeting our climate commitments, with the Climate Change Committee (CCC) saying they “cannot see a route to Net Zero that does not include CCS.” Our modelling shows that CCUS forms part of the lowest-cost pathway to meeting carbon budgets and net zero.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of declassifying First Class accommodation on Great Northern and Thameslink services serving Cambridge on passenger capacity and crowding levels during peak periods.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Decisions on how First Class accommodation is used during peak periods are operational matters for the relevant operator, which keeps capacity and passenger demand under review. While declassifying First Class can help relieve crowding on individual busy services, it does not increase overall train capacity. GTR has increased peak-time capacity between Cambridge, Letchworth and London through the December 2025 timetable changes, providing additional space for passengers. Staff may declassify First Class where services are exceptionally busy, and the rear First Class compartment on Class 700 Thameslink trains is already permanently declassified.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, what assessment they have made of whether the UK's Sovereign Tech and Sovereign AI funding programmes are adequately supporting the UK's digital sovereignty; and what criteria are used to assess applications to those programmes.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Technology)
The Sovereign AI Fund, backed by £500 million, seeks to grow and anchor strategically important UK AI companies, helping them scale in the UK while supporting economic resilience, high-quality jobs and growth. Alongside direct equity investment, Sovereign AI can help companies access public compute, R&D funding, talent support, procurement opportunities and wider government support.
The Fund focuses on areas where the UK has existing underlying strengths and government action can materially improve scaling outcomes; These areas include compute and infrastructure, foundation models, AI for life sciences, AI for scientific discovery, and AI assurance. Applications are assessed against published written criteria and the Fund’s broader strategic objectives.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of requiring as-built specifications to be lodged as a condition of building control completion for new homes.
Answered by Florence Eshalomi - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
For buildings below 18m, the Building Regulations 2010 already take a proportionate approach to requirements for as-built specifications. Regulation 38 of the Building Regulations 2010 requires that a person carrying out building work involving the erection or extension of a building to which the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 applies must handover relevant fire safety information to the responsible person for the building. The requirements of regulation 38 must be satisfied before a completion certificate can be given. The Government recently closed a consultation on requirements for plan approval in new dwellings, but this did not include consideration of extending regulation 38 or requiring full as-built plans for new dwellings. A response will be issued later this year.
For residential buildings that are 18m or above, the client must provide information to the Building Safety Regulator as part of their completion certificate application. Completion certificate applications must include documents that reflect the ‘as-built’ building together with confirmation that the building work complies with building regulations. This includes drawings and plans of the as-built building. This information forms part of the ‘golden thread’ must be maintained throughout design and construction and handed over to the building owner to help them manage building safety risks when the building is in use.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether the review of AI deployment in electricity networks will include an assessment of the net effect on electricity demand of (a) AI-enabled grid efficiencies and (b) data-centre consumption.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Review’s Terms of Reference state that consideration of data centre energy usage is out of scope for the purposes of the review.
The Terms of Reference also state that the review will "assess the potential system benefits of AI including for affordability, energy security, flexibility, and decarbonisation, and the potential risks and challenges that could undermine delivery of these benefits".
Any recommendations to emerge from the review would be subject to their own assessments by Government, including the consideration of net impacts to electricity demand.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of pavement delivery robots on pedestrian safety, accessibility, and the overall use of public footways, particularly for people with disabilities, older residents, and those using pushchairs or mobility aids.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Advances in technology have the potential to boost our economy and undertake dangerous jobs such as highways maintenance, but it is important the safety of pedestrians and vulnerable road users is put first.
We have announced that we intend to trial pavement robots using powers the Government is seeking through the Regulating for Growth Bill. A key part of the trial will be understanding the impact on pedestrians, particularly the most vulnerable groups.
No permanent regulations will come into force without detailed public consultation and a full assessment of the impacts.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of Animal Health Certificate requirements for pet travel between the UK and EU on pet owners; and whether she has considered the potential merits of introducing a multi-trip pet travel document or seeking arrangements comparable to the previous pet passport scheme.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Securing less burdensome arrangements for non-commercial pet travel remains a UK Government priority.
As announced at the UK-EU Leaders' Summit on 19 May 2025, the UK and EU have agreed to work towards a common Sanitary and Phytosanitary Area, which will mean taking pets on holiday into the EU will be easier and cheaper. Instead of getting an Animal Health Certificate each time they travel, pet owners will be able to get a multiuse pet passport valid for travel to the EU.
Discussions on the SPS agreement are progressing and the department has committed, with the EU, to conclude negotiations before the next UK-EU Summit. Whilst these negotiations are ongoing, Defra is unable to provide detailed updates on the talks.