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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has plans to publish an (a) Green Paper and (b) public consultation on access to nature; and what steps he has taken to improve people's access to nature.

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

We are currently developing policy to improve access to nature, working closely with other Government departments and key stakeholders, and further information will be available in due course. In addition, we are already delivering key initiatives aimed at improving people’s access to nature, including:

• Completing the King Charles III England Coast Path, which will become the longest waymarked and maintained coastal walking route in the world. With over 2,400 miles of the route now approved and 1,430 miles already open, this will also create 250,000 hectares of new open access land within the coastal margin.
• Designating Wainwright’s Coast to Coast route as a National Trail across the north of England.
• Delivering the £16 million ‘Access for All’ programme, which is designed to make our protected landscapes, national trails, forests, and the wider countryside more inclusive and accessible to all.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department plans to meet disabled people to discuss the proposals set out in the Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper, published on 26 March 2025.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

We have set out proposals to reform the health and disability benefits proposals in the Pathways to Work Green Paper published on 18 March 2025. A full 12-week consultation will begin from the point all accessible versions are published on GOV.UK. We would like to hear views from a wide group of people, in particular disabled people and people with health conditions and disability organisations, and encourage responses to the consultation through the online form, email and post.

We also intend to run a number of accessible virtual and face-to-face events on the Green Paper to hear from stakeholders, including disabled people and their representative organisations, directly. More information on these events and registration will be advertised on the consultation pages on GOV.UK in due course.

In the Green Paper, we have also announced that we will set up collaboration committees to develop parts of our reforms further. This will involve bringing together disabled people and other experts with civil servants around specific issues to collaborate, provide ideas, challenge, and input into recommendations.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, in reference to the Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper, published on 18 March 2025, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the proposals costs for disabled people.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Department published a Policy Rationales Impact report “Spring Statement 2025 health and disability benefit reforms – Impact” alongside the Spring Statement on 26 March 2025.

A further programme of analysis to support development of the proposals in the Green Paper will be developed and undertaken in the coming months.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to her Department's Pathways to Work Green Paper, published on 18 March 2025, what estimate her Department has made of the number of disabled people who will lose access to PIP following changes to the daily living assessment criteria.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Information on the impacts of the Pathways to Work Green Paper will be published in due course, with some information published alongside the Spring Statement. These publications can be found in ‘Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper’. The publication ‘Spring Statement 2025 health and disability benefit reforms – Impacts’ may be of interest. In particular, Table A4 on page 9.

A further programme of analysis to support development of the proposals in the Green Paper will be developed and undertaken in the coming months.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of working with co-operative movements (a) in the UK and (b) globally.

Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The Government recognises the important contribution cooperatives have made in serving local communities around the world. Cooperatives are a tried-and-tested model in international development, that can enable citizens and producers to access services or markets and strengthen their voice in local processes. Cooperatives can enable sustainable and inclusive development centred on self-help, democratic ownership, and concern for the community. The UK has supported cooperatives and producer organisations in developing countries, including, for example in agriculture through funding to the Global Agriculture and Food Security Programme (GAFSP), which supports producer organisations, and the Commercial Agriculture for Smallholders and Agribusiness Programme (CASA), which partners with cooperatives and small agribusinesses in low-income countries to improve smallholder farmers' access to markets.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of supporting the Fund for International Co-operative Development.

Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The Government recognises the important contribution cooperatives have made in serving local communities around the world. Cooperatives are a tried-and-tested model in international development, that can enable citizens and producers to access services or markets and strengthen their voice in local processes. Cooperatives can enable sustainable and inclusive development centred on self-help, democratic ownership, and concern for the community. The UK has supported cooperatives and producer organisations in developing countries, including, for example in agriculture through funding to the Global Agriculture and Food Security Programme (GAFSP), which supports producer organisations, and the Commercial Agriculture for Smallholders and Agribusiness Programme (CASA), which partners with cooperatives and small agribusinesses in low-income countries to improve smallholder farmers' access to markets. We will set out our spending plans following the completion of the spending review.

47th anniversary of the murder of Altab Ali

Trans+ History Week

Second state visit by Donald Trump

Pesticides in public spaces

Avanti West Coast ticket offices and station staffing

Changes to Great Western Railway ticket offices and stations

Fee waivers for ILR applications

Households below average income

DARC in Wales

Found: present: Ruth Jones (Chair); Ann Davies; Simon Hoare; Claire Hughes; Llinos Medi; Andrew Ranger; Steve Witherden

Found: Jones (Chair); Ann Davies; Gill German; Claire Hughes; Ben Lake; Andrew Ranger; Henry Tufnell; Steve Witherden

Found: Members present: Ruth Jones (Chair); Ann Davies; Gill German; Claire Hughes; Andrew Ranger; Steve Witherden

Found: all schools teach the same core curriculum “are common sense to most parents and carers”.220 Steve Witherden

Found: _10 Neil Duncan-Jordan Steve Witherden Paula Barker Alex Sobel Marsha De Cordova Siân Berry Zarah

Found: _10 Neil Duncan-Jordan Steve Witherden Paula Barker Alex Sobel Marsha De Cordova .

Found: _10 Neil Duncan-Jordan Steve Witherden Paula Barker .

Found: _10 Neil Duncan-Jordan Steve Witherden .

Found: all schools teach the same core curriculum “are common sense to most parents and carers”.220 Steve Witherden

Found: Not called_NC61 Andy McDonald Apsana Begum Jon Trickett John McDonnell Chris Law Steve Witherden