Asked by: Shivani Raja (Conservative - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment has the Department made of the adequacy of the operational readiness of the maritime sector for inclusion in the UK ETS, in the context of July 2026 implementation timelines.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The UK ETS Authority first signalled intent to include maritime in the UK ETS in March 2022. This was followed by two consultations including bespoke engagement sessions for each. Operators of ships of 5,000 gross tonnage and above are already equipped to undertake monitoring, reporting and verification, with years of experience under existing regimes.
The Government has built a digital-first system for onboarding, with free-of-charge voluntary onboarding open since November 2025. More than 96% of expected participants can voluntarily onboard now to set up accounts and become familiar with requirements.
We encourage any operator to get in touch with their regulator now in preparation for the expansion on 1 July 2026.
Asked by: Shivani Raja (Conservative - Leicester East)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what criteria an area must meet to be eligible for a multi-year growth fund allocation; and whether areas that have submitted an expression of interest in devolution but have not yet established a combined authority are eligible to apply.
Answered by Nesil Caliskan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Local Growth Fund targets 11 Mayoral Strategic Authorities in the North and Midlands with the highest productivity catchup and agglomeration potential. There were two eligibility criteria: 1) places must have had an existing Mayoral Strategic Authority at the point when the fund was announced, 2) their GDP per head was below the UK average. Further information on the place selection methodology is available here. The totality of the Local Growth Fund has now been allocated and any future funding will be subject to fiscal events.
Asked by: Shivani Raja (Conservative - Leicester East)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what support is available to local authorities in Leicester and Leicestershire to develop and publish a Local Growth Plan; and what timeline is expected for the publication of such a plan.
Answered by Nesil Caliskan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Local partners play an important role in driving growth in their region, and many local authorities already have a local economic strategy in place. While the duty to produce Local Growth Plans set out in the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act is placed upon Mayoral Strategic Authorities, I welcome the positive steps local authorities across Leicester and Leicestershire have taken in working together to develop a Strategic Growth Plan. The Government has published guidance for Local Growth Plans which all authorities are welcome to refer to as they continue to work on their own growth plan.
Asked by: Shivani Raja (Conservative - Leicester East)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what per capita infrastructure funding was allocated to (a) Leicester and Leicestershire, (b) the East Midlands Combined County Authority area, (c) the West Midlands Combined Authority area, and (d) Greater Manchester Combined Authority area in 2025-26.
Answered by Nesil Caliskan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Several HMG departments provide infrastructure funding to local government across a range of priority sectors including transport, housing and regeneration, economic development, utilities and digital infrastructure. The Government does not yet hold a complete published dataset for infrastructure funding allocations for 2025‑26. Details of the 2025-26 allocations will be published in due course and will be available via the "Local authority capital expenditure and receipts", as per precedent.
Asked by: Shivani Raja (Conservative - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to prevent declines in manufacturing output.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Last year this government published our 10-year Modern Industrial Strategy, setting out our long-term approach to strengthening domestic capability. Alongside it, Government published the Advanced Manufacturing Sector Plan, which outlines both sector-specific and cross-cutting measures – including on energy, skills, innovation, tech adoption and access to finance - to make the UK the best place to start and grow a manufacturing business. Through this plan, Government committed £4.3 billion to support manufacturers over 5 years, including up to £2.8 billion for R&D alone, alongside £4 billion in funding available from the British Business Bank Industrial Strategy Growth Capital and £27.8 billion available from the National Wealth Fund to help manufacturing business access the finance they need to expand.
Asked by: Shivani Raja (Conservative - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what support his Department is providing to manufacturers.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Last year this government published our 10-year Modern Industrial Strategy, setting out our long-term approach to strengthening domestic capability. Alongside it, Government published the Advanced Manufacturing Sector Plan, which outlines both sector-specific and cross-cutting measures – including on energy, skills, innovation, tech adoption and access to finance - to make the UK the best place to start and grow a manufacturing business. Through this plan, Government committed £4.3 billion to support manufacturers over 5 years, including up to £2.8 billion for R&D alone, alongside £4 billion in funding available from the British Business Bank Industrial Strategy Growth Capital and £27.8 billion available from the National Wealth Fund to help manufacturing business access the finance they need to expand.
Asked by: Shivani Raja (Conservative - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to support neurodivergent and SEND pupils with their studies in (a) Leicester, (b) the East Midlands and (c) England.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
From September, the government is providing upfront investment for schools, colleges and early years providers to intervene early in meeting the needs of children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), through the inclusive mainstream fund worth £1.6 billion over three years. Over time, this will be supported through the development of National Inclusion Standards, enabling teachers to draw on evidence-based strategies to identify and support children and young people with additional needs, including those with neurodivergent conditions such as autism and ADHD.
In addition, every local area is being funded to create a new Experts at Hand service, providing mainstream education settings with access to healthcare professionals like speech and language therapists and education experts such as educational psychologists to work directly with children and support staff to put in place appropriate support and interventions.
The department will roll out a new national training programme supporting educators to identify and respond to children’s needs backed by £200 million investment, to train staff across nurseries, schools and colleges with the first wave of training materials coming online from September.
This is supported by investment to create an additional 60,000 school places for children with SEND through inclusion bases, new special or alternative provision school places and adaptations to mainstream, ensuring appropriate education facilities for all our children. As part of this, we will publish inclusive design guidance to support local authorities and settings to use their estate to support inclusion, by improving accessibility for children with neurodivergence, disabilities, or other types of SEN.
Asked by: Shivani Raja (Conservative - Leicester East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether HMRC has conducted a formal equality impact assessment of the policy granting Gender Recognition Certificate holders access to the Public Department 1 (PD1) helpline.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
HMRC considers its Equality Act 2010 obligations when designing and delivering its services. Special Customer Record classifications arise from the Gender Recognition Act 2004. The decision to assign these customers to PD1 was taken in 2005 and has not changed under successive governments.
Asked by: Shivani Raja (Conservative - Leicester East)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the answer of 31 March 2026 to Question 123236 on Ministers: Official Cars, whether there is any HM Government guidance on this matter.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
In common with the Department of Transport, the Cabinet Office has not issued formal guidance regarding the provision of official cars outside the Government Car Service (GCS).
Asked by: Shivani Raja (Conservative - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many Greater Anglia trains have been fitted with advanced monitoring equipment since early 2026; and what the timeline is for the remainder of the fleet to be retrofitted.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Greater Anglia has now fitted six units with advanced monitoring equipment. The goal remains to have an estimate of eight to twelve units fitted with advanced monitoring equipment by the end of the year and work continues to deliver on this.