Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to take steps to help reduce the skills gap in rural areas.

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

The government is developing a comprehensive strategy for post‐16 education and skills, to break down barriers to opportunity, support the development of a skilled workforce and drive economic growth through our Industrial Strategy across all areas of the country, including rural areas.

The department has established Skills England to ensure we have the highly trained workforce needed to deliver the national, regional and local skills needs of the next decade. It will work together with regional and local governments, employers, education providers, trade unions and regional organisations to ensure that regional and national skills needs are met.

This builds on the work of Local Skills Improvement Plans (LSIPs), which provide an agreed set of actionable priorities that help to better align provision of post-16 technical education and training with local labour market needs. LSIPs cover all areas of England, supporting local innovation and growth so that every part of the country is able to succeed in its own unique way. In rural areas, plans recognise the importance of developing skilled workforces and expertise in priority local industries that can support these areas' growth and sustainability. For example, the Cumbria LSIP highlights the need for specific skills relevant to land-based industries, as well as addressing immediate skills challenges in the visitor economy and care sectors.

The Greater Lincolnshire LSIP identifies priority actions to help develop a localised workforce that can sustain infrastructure projects and technological and environmental opportunities across the area. LSIPs are also helping to support rural areas and communities through the removal of local barriers, such as poor digital connectivity, deprivation and economic inactivity. For example, the Heart of the South West LSIP reviewed ways that local and regional stakeholders can collaborate to leverage funding to help resolve how a lack of accommodation and transport in rural areas impacts on recruitment, development and retention of employees, tutors and students.

The Norfolk and Suffolk LSIP, which is led by Norfolk Chambers of Commerce and includes the constituency of South West Norfolk, is designed to help ensure investors and businesses in rural areas across Norfolk and Suffolk have access to a competitive and diverse pool of highly skilled employees, especially in key local industries such as agri-food tech and low carbon energy.

Specifically, the Norfolk and Suffolk LSIP has helped to develop various training programmes and prioritises continuous training opportunities, including vocational training in specific industries, staff training programmes in green technologies and sustainability curriculum integration. The LSIP also plays a key role in upskilling and reskilling the local workforce in the cross-cutting needs employers have said they need most, such as digital skills and soft skills.

The department is committed to making a success of T Levels and extending the opportunity they provide to as many young people as possible. 21 T Levels are now being delivered in providers across the country, many of which are in rural locations, creating opportunities for young people to develop skills for work and life.

The department funds the Careers & Enterprise Company (CEC) to support schools and colleges to deliver modern, high quality careers education through a national network of 44 careers hubs and over 3,800 business volunteers. Almost 400 leading employers, including the National Trust, National Farmers Union and Worldwide Fruit, provide local leadership in Careers Hubs to increase opportunities for meaningful employer encounters and workplace experiences. The CEC collaborates with the Institute for Agriculture and Horticulture, ensuring that careers information is promoted to schools via its digital platform and Careers Hub Networks.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to ensure national scale cavity nesting habitat is (a) preserved and (b) created to stabilise populations of red listed birds reliant on buildings to breed.

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

I refer the hon. Member to the answer to Question UIN 22080 on 15 January 2025.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of potential impact of intensive animal farming on (a) water ways and (b) agricultural land.

Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Agriculture and rural land management is one of the greatest pressures on the water environment, impacting 45% of water bodies in England.

We recognise intensive farming is not without risk. Intensive pig and poultry farms above specified size thresholds must hold an Environmental Permit requiring operators to adopt best available techniques to reduce pollution. Regulations, including the Farming Rules for Water, set the standards farmers must meet in order prevent and mitigate pollution risks. The EA works with farmers through advice-led enforcement to improve compliance. They have conducted over 4,800 inspections in the last fiscal year (2023/24) and over 2,300 in the first half of the current fiscal year (2024/25). These inspections are targeted to areas of the greatest risk, including the catchments of protected sites.

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 potential merits of the use of AI in farming.

Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Government recognised AI as an opportunity of a generation in its response to the AI Opportunities Action Plan. The application of AI in agriculture will help to inform farmers’ decision making, automate operations and reduce costs for a more productive, profitable and resilient farming sector. Defra’s Farming Innovation Programme will support this through the development of agri-tech innovation, including AI, machine learning and data management applications.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has commissioned recent research on the potential impact of the use of lead shot on the environment.

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

In Spring 2021, Defra asked the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) and the Environment Agency (EA) to prepare a UK REACH restriction dossier for lead ammunition, including lead shot, in all habitats. The HSE and the EA have considered the evidence of risk posed by lead in ammunition on human health and the environment, as well as the socioeconomic impact that would result from introducing further restrictions on lead in ammunition. They also considered the effectiveness, practicality, monitorability and enforceability of the potential restriction.

The HSE has now formed a final Opinion on their restriction proposal for lead in ammunition, informed by information from public consultations, as well as independent scientific advice. Now Defra has received HSE’s final Opinion on the proposed restriction, we are assessing the proposals, and a decision will follow. This decision will be taken with consent from the Devolved Governments of Scotland and Wales.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to increase funding for services for children with eating disorders.

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

Too many people are not receiving the mental health care they need, and we know that waits for mental health services are far too long. As part of our mission to build a National Health Service that is fit for the future, we will recruit an extra 8,500 mental health workers across child and adult mental health services to cut waiting times and ensure that people can access treatment and support earlier.

We will provide access to specialist mental health professionals in every school in England, so every young person has access to early support to address problems before they escalate. We are also rolling out Young Futures Hubs in every community to provide open access mental health support for children and young people. These commitments will provide appropriate support for children and young people with a range of mental health needs, including eating disorders.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress he has made on phasing out lead ammunition for gamebird shooting.

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

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has now published a final Opinion on their restriction proposal for lead in ammunition, informed by information from public consultations, as well as independent scientific advice. Now Defra has received HSE’s final Opinion on their proposed restriction, we are assessing their proposals, and a decision will follow. This decision will be taken with consent from the Devolved Governments of Scotland and Wales.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 25th February to Question 31290 on Housing: Standards, whether levels of lead standardisation will be be included in the Decent Homes Standard for the social and private rented sectors.

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

The government will consult this year on a reformed Decent Homes Standard for the social and private rented sectors.

The existing Decent Homes Standard, which applies to social housing, makes clear that a home is not decent if it contains category 1 (serious) hazards under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS).

Tenants who believe their rented home is in a seriously dangerous condition can inform their local authority. Local authorities must take enforcement action under the Housing Act 2004 if they find category 1 hazards assessed using the HHSRS. These include those relating to the presence of lead.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many road traffic accidents involving horses took place between 2019 and 2024 in (a) England, (b) East Anglia and (c) South West Norfolk constituency.

Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The department publishes statistics on road injury collisions which occur on the public highway and are reported by police via the STATS19 system.

The number of such collisions involving ridden horses are shown in the table below for 2019 to 2023, which is the latest year for which data is available.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the most effective steps to protect copyright and the creative industries against the increase of artificial intelligence usage.

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

The government recognises the importance of the UKs copyright regime to the economic success of the cultural and creative industries, one of eight growth-driving sectors as identified in our Industrial Strategy. We also recognise the basic principle that rights holders should have control over and seek payment for their work, including when thinking about the role of AI. The current UK Copyright Framework enables creative right holders to prevent the use of protected works, but we are aware that this can be very difficult to implement in the context of AI, especially for individual firms and creators.

Responses to our consultation on the impact of AI on the copyright regime, which was published on 17 December and closed on 25 February, will inform our approach to the design and delivery of a solution to these issues. Our aim is to clarify the copyright framework for AI – delivering certainty through a copyright regime that provides creators with real control and transparency, and helps them licence their content, while supporting AI developers' access to high-quality material. We will now consider the full range of responses we have received through our consultation.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to publish the outcomes from the 2025/26 NHS Payment Scheme consultation, which closed on 28 February 2025.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The outcome of the consultation will be published shortly, once all responses received have been fully considered and any decisions made about the final payment scheme.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many parents or young people have taken Norfolk City Council to appeal at a tribunal against an Education, Care and Health Plan decision in each of the last five years; and what (a) number and (b) proportion of those appeals were (i) determined in favour of the appellants, (ii) determined in favour of the local authority, (iii) withdrawn, (iv) conceded before the hearing and (v) still awaiting a hearing.

Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

Information about appeal outcomes to SEND is published at: Tribunals statistics quarterly: July to September 2024 - GOV.UK.

Appeal outcomes are not broken down by Local Authority in the routinely published data as requested in this PQ. These data are provided for academic years September to August as follows:

1. Data for Norfolk is held locally as Norfolk County Council.

2. (ii) is the total of cases where the appellant wins the majority of the appeal (i.e. the appellant may be successful in 2 out of the 3 sections they appeal against).

3. In addition to the categories requested appeals can be struck out. This is included in the total number of appeals.

The information provided has been extracted from local management information.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps she is taking to tackle the First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability) backlog in (a) England and (b) South West Norfolk constituency.

Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

Although the First-tier Tribunal (SEND) has responded well to the significant increase in appeals it has experienced in recent years, we acknowledge that more needs to be done to reduce the time parents and young people have to wait to have their appeals determined. An additional 70 judges have been recruited for this chamber and began sitting from September 2024, with further recruitment scheduled.

The pressures facing the Tribunal are indicative of wider pressures in the SEND system. We are working with the Department for Education in the longer term to reduce the demands on the tribunal so that the outstanding caseload, and the time within which the tribunal can determine appeals, reduces in accordance with our key performance indicators.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of the Housing Ombudsman suggesting in January 2025 that there should be a pilot study to test and sample properties for levels of lead.

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

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the Question UIN 27855 on 6 February.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what information her Department holds on the number of education, health and care plan tribunals that were lost by Norfolk County Council in each year since 2019.

Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

Information about appeal outcomes to SEND is published at: Tribunals statistics quarterly: July to September 2024 - GOV.UK.

Appeal outcomes are not broken down by Local Authority in the routinely published data as requested in this PQ. These data are provided for academic years September to August as follows:

1. Data for Norfolk is held locally as Norfolk County Council.

2. (ii) is the total of cases where the appellant wins the majority of the appeal (i.e. the appellant may be successful in 2 out of the 3 sections they appeal against).

3. In addition to the categories requested appeals can be struck out. This is included in the total number of appeals.

The information provided has been extracted from local management information.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, when he plans to publish the Copyright and Artificial Intelligence Governance consultation.

Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Government published its consultation on Copyright and Artificial Intelligence (AI) on 17 December 2024. This closed on 25 February 2025.

The Government’s priority now is to review all responses to the consultation, to help inform its approach to copyright and AI. The Government will continue to engage extensively as it considers next steps, and its proposals will be set out in due course.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps he is taking to ensure copyright protections remain (a) robust and (b) fit for purpose from artificial intelligence.

Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

Copying protected material in the UK will infringe copyright unless it is licensed, or an exception to copyright applies.

The Government recently consulted on several topics relating to the interaction between copyright and artificial intelligence (AI), including seeking views on a range of approaches to clarify copyright law for both the creative industries and AI innovators.

This consultation closed on 25^th February.

The Government’s priority now is to review all responses to the consultation, to help inform its next steps. The Government will continue to engage extensively on this issue and its proposals will be set out in due course.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to protect UK (a) military personnel and (b) armed forces bases from potential drone attacks from Russia.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)

The UK employs a broad approach to deterring and defeating air and missile threats, including those from Uncrewed Air Systems (UAS or drones). The Ministry of Defence (MOD) collaborates closely with the Home Office on Homeland C-UAS issues, providing expertise on threat identification and capability requirements to ensure a whole of Government approach to defending against these threats.

We pursue counter-proliferation and military activities to counter threats before an attack is ever launched. However, if those approaches fail, we can employ a range of active and passive defence measures to intercept the threat and increase our resilience.

Given the significant threat posed by UAS to our personnel and bases, counter-UAS (C-UAS) remains a crucial component of our Defence approach. UK Defence has developed and procured a broad range of cutting-edge C-UAS capabilities, including from UK industries, much of which is now operationally proven. Alongside this we are perusing a variety of further C-UAS projects, for example the Navy’s Dragonfire programme.

We are committed to enhancing our capabilities and modernising our Air Defence approach to ensure our Armed Forces have the capabilities they need to meet current and future threats. As part of this commitment, a Strategic Defence Review is being conducted with C-UAS capabilities forming a vital part of our inputs to this review.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure adequate (a) training and (b) support for GPs in helping to diagnose cancer.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to Question 28805 on 14 February 2025.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps he is taking to help protect the use of children’s personal data on social media.

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

We are taking steps in the Data (Use and Access Bill) to require the ICO to have regard to the fact that children merit specific protection because they may be less aware of the risks in relation to the processing of their personal data. The ICO will need to take account of the new duty when carrying out its regulatory functions – for example, when providing guidance for organisations and enforcing the legislation.

We have also placed a similar duty on Information Society Service providers likely to be accessed by children. These providers will now have clear legal duties to consider how best to protect and support children when designing their data processing activities. Providers will be assisted to comply with the new duty by the ICO’s Age Appropriate Design Code, which provides practical guidance for relevant providers on complying with their obligations under the data protection legislation in relation to children who are likely to access those services.

Found: The debate will be opened by Terry Jermy MP.