Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent assessment he has made of the (a) effectiveness (b) adequacy and (c) efficiency of the performance of the Motor Ombudsman in carrying out its functions.

Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The Motor Ombudsman is a non-statutory ombudsman, set up as a voluntary scheme by the industry and independent of government.

The Motor Ombudsman's activities are documented in their annual reports, complying with the Alternative Dispute Resolution for Consumer Disputes (Competent Authorities and Information) Regulations 2015. These reports are accessible on its website.

DBT funds the Chartered Trading Standards Institute who accredit and regularly audit The Motor Ombudsman against key principles including neutrality and effective complaints handling under a voluntary framework in the 2015 ADR Regulations.

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 has made an assessment of the value for money of funding the National Federation of Young Farmers Clubs.

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

Encouraging more young people into farming and land-based careers is vital to ensure a skilled workforce is in place and the longer-term viability of the sector.

Defra works closely with the National Federation of Young Farmers’ Clubs (NFYFC). Defra provides funding of up to £30,000 per year for specific project-based activity which supports skills development and training.

My officials continue to work very closely with the NFYFC to deliver the 2025-26 grant to ensure value for money.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department is taking steps to help prevent slugs entering traffic light controller boxes.

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

Responsibility for the design, installation and maintenance of traffic signal equipment, including controller cabinets, lies with the relevant local traffic authority. It is for them to ensure they procure equipment suitable for the conditions in which it is likely to be used.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will include motorcycling in all its forms as a specific element within the forthcoming integrated national transport strategy; and what her timetable is for publishing the strategy.

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

Later this year, the department will publish the Integrated National Transport Strategy (INTS) and set the long-term vision for transport across England, placing people at the heart of how we plan, build, and operate transport. The Strategy will aim to address fragmentation and inefficiency across the transport system to ensure that people can easily, reliably, and safely carry out the journeys they want to make, however they choose to travel.

We have conducted extensive engagement with stakeholders and members of the public, including motorcyclists and motorcycle user representative groups, through a Call for Ideas, Regional Roadshows, and targeted sessions with seldom heard groups. As the Strategy is still in development, I am unable to comment on specific policy questions, but all the insights gathered through our engagement activities have been analysed and are being considered as the Strategy continues to evolve.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much funding his Department has provided to the National Federation of Young Farmers Clubs in each of the last five years.

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

In each of the last five financial years, Defra has provided the National Federation of Young Farmers’ Clubs (NFYFC) with the following amounts of funding:

Young farmers' organisations across the United Kingdom

Digital ID

Extinction of the slender-billed curlew

Chinook helicopter crash at Mull of Kintyre