Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether his Department has received representations from fossil fuel companies on the Global Plastics Treaty.

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

Details of Ministers’ and Permanent Secretaries' meetings with external individuals and organisations are published quarterly in arrears on GOV.UK.

Published declarations include the purpose of the meeting and the names of any additional external organisations or individuals in attendance.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she plans to launch a further consultation on changes to the National Planning Policy Framework to reduce the cost and complexity for community-led housing providers aiming to build small numbers of affordable homes in rural communities.

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

The government recognises that community-led housing delivers a wide range of benefits, including additional housing supply, empowering communities, achieving high quality design and strengthening the co-operative economy. We are committed to making it easier for community-led developers to develop new affordable homes and to improving the quality of life for people living and working in rural areas.

I am committed to working with representatives of the community-led housing sector to consider how the government may support the growth of community led housing over the long term and I recently met with the Chief Executive of the Community Land Trust Network and other stakeholders to that end.

Our revised National Planning Policy Framework, published on 12 December, strengthened provisions to support community-led housing, providing extra clarity and flexibility on the groups that may bring forward community-led housing and on the size of community-led exception sites.

We intend to give further consideration to how policy can better promote rural affordable housing as part of our work to produce a set of national policies for decision making in 2025.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential implications for her policies of differences in levels of funding between 14-16-year-old students who undertake their Key Stage 4 education at a (a) mainstream school and (b) further education college.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Further education (FE) and sixth form colleges are able to enrol students aged 14 to 16 on a full time study programme and receive funding from the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA). If they wish to do so, colleges need to meet specific criteria, including Ofsted rating, and have to put in place necessary requirements. It is up to localities to judge the need for this provision and colleges are expected to have discussed their intent to directly enrol 14 to 16 year-olds with relevant local authorities before making the necessary arrangements to be able to offer this provision. Currently there are 14 colleges across England which offer full time education for 14 to 16-year-olds. The department’s published guidance on the full time enrolment of 14 to 16 year-olds in FE and sixth form colleges in the 2024/25 academic year can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/full-time-enrolment-of-14-to-16-year-olds-in-further-education-and-sixth-form-colleges/full-time-enrolment-of-14-to-16-year-olds-in-further-education-and-sixth-form-colleges-2023-to-2024-academic-year.

Colleges are also funded where they make part time provision for children aged 14 years or older who are currently electively home educated. They can also receive funding for the education of those aged 14-16 who have achieved qualifications at least equivalent to a full level 2, and who want to enrol on a level 3 course.

Funding for 14 to 16 year-olds in FE colleges is based on the same approach as for 16 to 19 year-olds. A modified version of the 16 to 19 funding formula is used to calculate allocations for directly recruited, full time 14 to 16 year-olds to reflect their circumstances. This includes provision of pupil premium funding where these young people qualify. This year, 2024/25, there will be a significant increase of £750 per full time 14 to 16 student that has not yet achieved GCSE English and mathematics. This is as a result of extending to programmes at all levels the English and mathematics funding only previously available for those on level 3 programmes without grade 4 in the subjects.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of 14-16 year old provision in further education colleges.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Further education (FE) and sixth form colleges are able to enrol students aged 14 to 16 on a full time study programme and receive funding from the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA). If they wish to do so, colleges need to meet specific criteria, including Ofsted rating, and have to put in place necessary requirements. It is up to localities to judge the need for this provision and colleges are expected to have discussed their intent to directly enrol 14 to 16 year-olds with relevant local authorities before making the necessary arrangements to be able to offer this provision. Currently there are 14 colleges across England which offer full time education for 14 to 16-year-olds. The department’s published guidance on the full time enrolment of 14 to 16 year-olds in FE and sixth form colleges in the 2024/25 academic year can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/full-time-enrolment-of-14-to-16-year-olds-in-further-education-and-sixth-form-colleges/full-time-enrolment-of-14-to-16-year-olds-in-further-education-and-sixth-form-colleges-2023-to-2024-academic-year.

Colleges are also funded where they make part time provision for children aged 14 years or older who are currently electively home educated. They can also receive funding for the education of those aged 14-16 who have achieved qualifications at least equivalent to a full level 2, and who want to enrol on a level 3 course.

Funding for 14 to 16 year-olds in FE colleges is based on the same approach as for 16 to 19 year-olds. A modified version of the 16 to 19 funding formula is used to calculate allocations for directly recruited, full time 14 to 16 year-olds to reflect their circumstances. This includes provision of pupil premium funding where these young people qualify. This year, 2024/25, there will be a significant increase of £750 per full time 14 to 16 student that has not yet achieved GCSE English and mathematics. This is as a result of extending to programmes at all levels the English and mathematics funding only previously available for those on level 3 programmes without grade 4 in the subjects.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department plans to take to contribute to the target of halving violence against women and girls in ten years.

Answered by Andrew Gwynne

The Government is committed to halving violence against women and girls in a decade. My Department is working closely with NHS England, the Home Office, and others on a coordinated approach to achieve this goal and improve the health response to victims and perpetrators.

NHS England has launched a national campaign to raise awareness of sexual assault referral centres and encourage survivors of sexual assault and abuse to seek help. These specialist services offer dedicated care and support to anyone who has been raped, sexually assaulted, or abused.

All integrated care boards have now appointed Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence leads to review their policies, training, and support systems for patients and staff. NHS England has also introduced a comprehensive package of measures to tackle sexual misconduct in the workplace.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether (a) he and (b) officials in his Department have had discussions with the fossil fuel and petrochemical industries on the UN Global Plastics Treaty.

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

The UK Government, at all stages of the INC process, has made it a priority to engage with a broad range of stakeholders across the plastics value chain, including trade associations representing fossil fuel and petrochemical industries.

We partnered with the Ocean Plastics Leadership Network to run the UK Treaty Dialogues ahead of each round of negotiations, bringing together a wide range of stakeholders to help us understand the variety of views on the draft treaty.

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 make it his policy to support the introduction of a binding global target to cut all forms of primary plastic polymer production.

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

The UK supports a global target on the sustainable production of primary plastic polymers. Last year, at the fifth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on a treaty to end plastic pollution, the UK endorsed a statement calling for all countries to commit to achieving sustainable levels of primary plastic production and for a global target.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what progress she has made on delivering a mandatory short term let registration scheme.

Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The Government is keen to introduce the registration scheme for short-term lets in England as soon as possible; the initial phase of digital development is now complete, and public testing is planned to start in the next 12 months. During the next phase of work, we will test the user interface of the scheme with a small number of users to ensure our systems and processes are robust and effective, before publicly launching a voluntary pilot of the service. The registration scheme will enable us to reap the benefits of a thriving tourist economy whilst protecting the spirit and fabric of communities, including by giving local authorities valuable data on short-term lets in their area to help address housing impacts.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs on the negotiations for a global plastics treaty.

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

The Secretary of State has regular discussions with Cabinet colleagues on a range of issues, and Cabinet discussions are considered confidential.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of enabling community-owned small-scale energy generators to sell electricity directly to local consumers on (a) energy prices, (b) grid stability and (c) the transition to net zero.

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

Small-scale generation sites, including many community energy groups, can benefit from an exemption, which means that they do not require a licence from Ofgem to generate electricity or to supply to local customers.

Local energy is unlikely to impact national energy prices, because these are driven by wholesale markets. In addition, given the scale of generation, local energy is unlikely to have a significant impact on grid efficiency overall. The Government recognises that local energy will play an important role in achieving the Government’s mission to make Britain a clean energy superpower by 2030. To help deliver this, Great British Energy will support the development of up to 8GW of local and community energy projects.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will make it his policy to enable community-owned small-scale energy generators to sell electricity directly to local consumers.

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

The Government recognises the role that access to local energy will play in achieving net zero. The Government’s licence exemption regimes already allow small scale suppliers, including many community energy groups, to come to market to supply local customers. One general exemption is the Class A Small Supplier exemption, under which a producer of energy who produces no more than 5MW of energy, of which no more than 2.5MW is provided to domestic consumers, does not need a licence to supply.

In addition. Ofgem has flexibility to award supply licenses to generation sites that are above the exemptions threshold when they are restricted to specified local area.

Proposals to forcibly displace and ethnically cleanse Palestinians from Gaza

Certificate of Common Sponsorship

Found: of State for Food, Security and Rural Affairs at HOC in November by Lib Dem Councillor GCC, Dr Simon Opher

Found: Eastwood Siân Berry Jess Asato Bell Ribeiro-Addy Caroline Voaden Ellie Chowns Chris Law Dr Simon Opher

Found: _NC5 Dr Simon Opher Zarah Sultana Mrs Sharon Hodgson Florence Eshalomi Jon Trickett Ellie Chowns

Found: Eastwood Siân Berry Jess Asato Bell Ribeiro-Addy Caroline Voaden Ellie Chowns Chris Law Dr Simon Opher

Found: _NC5 Dr Simon Opher Zarah Sultana Mrs Sharon Hodgson Florence Eshalomi Jon Trickett Ellie Chowns

Found: Eastwood Siân Berry Jess Asato Bell Ribeiro-Addy Caroline Voaden Ellie Chowns Chris Law Dr Simon Opher

Found: Darlington Steve Witherden Laura Kyrke-Smith Caroline Voaden Pam Cox Charlotte Nichols Dr Simon Opher

Found: Darlington Steve Witherden Laura Kyrke-Smith Caroline Voaden Pam Cox Charlotte Nichols Dr Simon Opher

Found: Darlington Steve Witherden Laura Kyrke-Smith Caroline Voaden Pam Cox Charlotte Nichols Dr Simon Opher

Found: Eastwood Siân Berry Jess Asato Bell Ribeiro-Addy Caroline Voaden Ellie Chowns Chris Law Dr Simon Opher

Found: Darlington Steve Witherden Laura Kyrke-Smith Caroline Voaden Pam Cox Charlotte Nichols Dr Simon Opher

Found: Eastwood Siân Berry Jess Asato Bell Ribeiro-Addy Caroline Voaden Ellie Chowns Chris Law Dr Simon Opher

Found: Darlington Steve Witherden Laura Kyrke-Smith Caroline Voaden Pam Cox Charlotte Nichols Dr Simon Opher

Found: Eastwood Siân Berry Jess Asato Bell Ribeiro-Addy Caroline Voaden Ellie Chowns Chris Law Dr Simon Opher

Found: Fenton-Glynn Emily Darlington Steve Witherden Caroline Voaden Pam Cox Charlotte Nichols Dr Simon Opher

Found: Eastwood Siân Berry Jess Asato Bell Ribeiro-Addy Caroline Voaden Ellie Chowns Chris Law Dr Simon Opher

Found: Eastwood Siân Berry Jess Asato Bell Ribeiro-Addy Caroline Voaden Ellie Chowns Chris Law Dr Simon Opher

Found: Fenton-Glynn Emily Darlington Steve Witherden Caroline Voaden Pam Cox Charlotte Nichols Dr Simon Opher

Found: Roberts Sorcha Eastwood Siân Berry Jess Asato Bell Ribeiro-Addy Ellie Chowns Chris Law Dr Simon Opher

Found: Ruth Cadbury Josh Fenton-Glynn Emily Darlington Caroline Voaden Pam Cox Charlotte Nichols Dr Simon Opher

Found: submission outlines our support for New Clause 10 tabled by Jess Asato MP and New Clause 2 tabled by Simon Opher

Found: · We support Dr Simon Opher MP’s NC2 amendment to this bill calling for Free School Meals for all