Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what role neighbourhood mental health centre pilot schemes will play in improving (a) care and (b) support for people living with bipolar; and whether these centres will provide specialist support to help reduce delays in (i) diagnosis and (ii) treatment.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave to the Hon. Member for Bermondsey and Old Southwark on 10 June 2025 to Question 53884.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps he is taking to end the (a) exploration, (b) extraction, (c) export and (d) import of fossil fuels by the United Kingdom.

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

The Government has consulted on the implementation of its commitment to not issue new oil and gas licences to explore new fields and will respond in due course. It does not intend to revoke existing licences.

The Government has announced it will introduce new legislation to restrict the future licensing of new coal mines in Great Britain. The last coal fired power station closed in October 2024.

The Government’s Clean Power 2030 Action Plan paves the way to decarbonising the wider economy by 2050 as it pursues the electrification of heat in buildings, transport, and industry.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to ensure that the country’s strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions minimises damage to ecosystems.

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

This Government knows that there is no route to tackling climate change that does not involve nature, and no pathway to nature recovery that does not consider climate change. This is why are committed to ensuring that the UK’s strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions supports, rather than harms, ecosystems.

Nature recovery and preserving our ecosystems are an essential part of the Clean Energy Superpower Mission. As we unblock barriers to the deployment of clean power projects, we are committed to ensuring that, wherever possible, nature recovery is incorporated in development stages and that innovative techniques can be used to encourage nature recovery.

Nature-based solutions which deliver for both climate and nature, such as tree planting and peatland restoration, are an essential part of the story. Later this year, the Government will set out our climate and nature priorities and policies in several key documents including an updated plan covering the policies and proposals which will deliver Carbon Budgets 4-6 and a revised Environmental Improvement Plan.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to take forward the spirit and substance of the Climate and Nature Bill.

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

This Government is absolutely committed to tackling the climate and nature crises. Though there is already a well-developed legislative framework in place, the Government agreed to several actions reflecting the spirit and substance of the Climate and Nature Bill, including an annual statement on the State of Climate and Nature.

On July 14 2025 the Secretary of State for the Department of Net Zero and Energy Security, alongside Defra’s Secretary of State, delivered this first of-its-kind statement, setting out with radical transparency the scale of the crises and how the choices we make influence global action. The written statement notes further steps taken on nature restoration, consumption emissions, public participation and collaboration between the Joint Nature Conservation Committee and Climate Change Committee.

This Government has restored the UK as an international leader on climate change and is reversing nature’s decline after years of neglect. In this year’s Spending Review, we secured the largest investment in clean power in a generation and record funding for nature restoration.

The Government’s climate and nature priorities and policies will be further set out this year in a revised Environmental Improvement Plan, updated delivery plan for Carbon Budgets 4-6 and our Nationally Determined Contributions, Net Zero Public Participation Strategy, Food Strategy, Farming Roadmap, and Land Use Framework.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether it is her Department's policy that all planning decisions should adhere to the Mitigation and Conservation Hierarchy.

Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The National Planning Policy Framework makes clear that when determining planning applications, local planning authorities should apply the principle that if significant harm to biodiversity resulting from a development cannot be avoided, adequately mitigated, or, as a last resort, compensated for, then planning permission should be refused.

Any mitigation or compensation would be set out in planning conditions and obligations associated with the relevant planning permission, enabling local planning authorities to monitor the development's implementation and, if necessary, take enforcement action.

More widely, the government is clear that the current approach to discharging environmental obligations is too often delaying and deterring development and placing unnecessary burdens on housebuilders and local authorities. It requires housebuilders to pay for localised and often costly mitigation measures, only to maintain the environmental status quo. By not taking a holistic view across larger geographies, mitigation measures often fail to secure the best outcomes for the environment.

The Nature Restoration Fund provided for by Part 3 of the Planning and Infrastructure Bill will end this sub-optimal arrangement. By facilitating a more strategic approach to the discharge of environmental obligations, in order to address the impact of development and improve the conservation status of the relevant environmental feature, it will streamline the delivery of new homes and infrastructure and result in improved environmental outcomes being delivered more efficiently.

In establishing an alternative to the existing system, the Nature Restoration Fund intentionally provides flexibility to diverge from a restrictive application of the mitigation hierarchy. We believe this flexibility should apply where, in Natural England's expert judgement, this would be appropriate and in line with the overarching objective of delivering better outcomes for the relevant environmental feature over the course of the EDP - including conservation measures being delivered at a different site to where the development impacts are being felt.

There will be a continued role for the mitigation hierarchy in the design of Environmental Delivery Plans, ensuring that local conservation measures are preferred unless there is a clearly articulated environmental basis to look further afield.

Mandatory ethnicity pay gap reporting and action plans

Found: Wednesday 27 November 2024 Members present: Sarah Owen, in the Chair David Burton-Sampson Rosie Duffield

Found: Equalities Committee members present: Sarah Owen (Chair); Alex Brewer; David Burton-Sampson; Rosie Duffield

Found: Women and Equalities Committee members present: Sarah Owen; Alex Brewer; David Burton-Sampson; Rosie Duffield

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Sarah Owen (Chair); Alex Brewer; David Burton-Sampson; Rosie Duffield

Found: Ian Lavery Jon Trickett Sorcha Eastwood Siân Berry Clive Lewis Alex Sobel Shockat Adam Rosie Duffield

Found: Ian Lavery Jon Trickett Sorcha Eastwood Siân Berry Clive Lewis Alex Sobel Shockat Adam Rosie Duffield

Found: Ian Lavery Jon Trickett Sorcha Eastwood Siân Berry Clive Lewis Alex Sobel Shockat Adam Rosie Duffield

Found: Ian Lavery Jon Trickett Sorcha Eastwood Siân Berry Clive Lewis Alex Sobel Shockat Adam Rosie Duffield

Found: Ian Lavery Jon Trickett Sorcha Eastwood Siân Berry Clive Lewis Alex Sobel Shockat Adam Rosie Duffield

Found: 80 Not called_9 Sarah Champion Apsana Begum Charlotte Nichols Rachel Gilmour Liz Jarvis Rosie Duffield

Submit Evidence (by 30 Sep 2025)

The Committee is following up its previous work on women’s reproductive health, with a focus on better meeting the needs of girls and young women. It is assessing progress in diagnoses, treatments and pain management of conditions including endometriosis, adenomyosis and heavy menstrual bleeding.