Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to paragraph 3.36 of the policy paper entitled UK Infrastructure: A 10 Year Strategy, published on 19 June 2025, when she plans to request the Climate Change Committee's advice on whether a third runway at Heathrow airport is consistent with the UK's net zero framework.
Answered by Mike Kane - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The government has been clear that any airport expansion proposals need to be delivered in line with the UK’s legally binding climate change commitments.
The government has invited proposals for a third runway at Heathrow to be brought forward by the summer. Once proposals have been received, the government will review the Airports National Policy Statement. As part of this process, we will consider how and when to engage with the Climate Change Committee.
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make it his policy to provide British citizens in Tehran with the necessary authorisation to allow them to be evacuated via third countries in the region.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) Travel Advice is under constant review and includes information for British nationals in Iran, including those who wish to leave the country. The FCDO's Consular Contact Centre is available 24/7 for those who need consular assistance.
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans the Government has for departmental funding arrangements for the recruitment of 8,500 additional mental health workers.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
To reform the National Health Service and make it fit for the future, we will publish a 10-Year Health Plan as part of the Government’s five long-term missions. We are listening to and co-designing the plan with the public and health and care staff. A central part of the 10-Year Health Plan will be our workforce and how we ensure we train and provide the staff, technology and infrastructure the NHS needs to care for patients across our communities.
Our mission is to improve mental health care across the spectrum of need which fluctuates across the life course from poor wellbeing to common mental health disorders to severe mental illness. Therefore, we are focusing on ensuring the NHS is providing the right support to the right people at the right time.
The NHS has funding to pay for staff recruited in 2025/26 because the Government has maintained the Mental Health Investment Standard. Future funding for the NHS, including mental health services, will be determined by my Rt. Hon. friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, in the Spending Review for 2026/27 and beyond.
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of eligible families were in receipt of Healthy Start in Brighton Pavilion constituency on 9 June 2025.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) operates the Healthy Start scheme on behalf of the Department. Monthly figures for the number of people on the digital Healthy Start scheme are published on the NHS Healthy Start website, which is available at the following link:
https://www.healthystart.nhs.uk/healthcare-professionals/
The NHSBSA does not hold data on the number of families receiving Healthy Start and does not currently hold data on the number of people eligible for Healthy Start. The NHSBSA does not hold data on local constituencies. The table below shows the number of people on the digital scheme in the relevant local authorities as of 23 May 2025:
Local authority | Number of people on the digital scheme |
Blackpool | 1,434 |
City of Bristol | 2,778 |
County of Herefordshire | 736 |
Southampton | 1,677 |
Worthing | 348 |
Brighton and Hove | 1,041 |
East Suffolk | 1,129 |
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the installation of wood burning stoves in newbuild homes on levels of public health.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government recognises that the use of solid fuel appliances in domestic settings is a major source of air pollution and is committed to cleaning up our air and protecting public health by developing a series of interventions to reduce emissions so everyone’s exposure to air pollution is reduced. That is why the government has launched a rapid review of the Environment Improvement Plan (EIP) to make sure it is fit for purpose to deliver legally binding targets to improve air quality. We published a statement of the rapid review’s key findings on 30 January 2025, to be followed by publication of a revised EIP later this year. As part of the EIP, we are developing a series of intervention to reduce emissions of fine particulate matter (PM2.5), including from domestic combustion.
Legislation is currently in place to restrict the sale of the most polluting fuels used in domestic burning. This includes restrictions on the sale of small volumes of wet wood for domestic burning; limits on the emission of sulphur and smoke from manufactured solid fuels; and phasing out the sale of bituminous coal (traditional house coal). These regulations aim to move people to cleaner fuels: from wet wood to dry wood, and from traditional house coal to smokeless coal and low sulphur manufactured solid fuels, resulting in lower particulate matter emissions.
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many people in the UK have signed up to receive air pollution alerts from UK-AIR; and what mechanisms he is using to monitor the effectiveness of the air quality alert system at (a) reaching the intended audience and (b) meeting its other goals.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
450 people are currently signed up to receive air pollution alerts from UK Air. Metrics to monitor the effectiveness of the new system are being considered as part of the design process.
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will include PM2.5 in the UK Air quality alerts.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
PM2.5 is one of the pollutants already included in the Daily Air Quality Index (DAQI). The department is currently in the process of making improvements to our air quality alert system to more closely align to the DAQI
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
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 adequacy of the (a) powers and (b) funding available to local authorities to enforce smoke control areas.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra continues to support local authorities who have declared or are exploring declaring smoke control areas.
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 26 March 2025 to Question 39813 on Air Pollution, whether the discussions his Department is having with the Met Office on areas for improvement includes the Air Quality Information Systems Review recommendation to review, update and expand the existing alert systems.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The department is engaging with the Met Office to deliver improvements to the pollution forecasts and alerts service.
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that people who do not (a) sign up to receive alerts and (b) actively check the UK-AIR website are alerted to high air pollution events.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The department has begun work to develop, test and launch a new air quality alert system which will make it easier for the public to sign up to receive alerts when high levels of pollution are expected.