Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the EU’s proposed restrictions of PFAS.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
As set out in the PFAS Plan published on 3 February 2026, this Government will consider our approach towards further UK REACH restrictions. The Government will reform UK REACH to enable protections that address chemical pollution to be applied more quickly, efficiently and in a way that is more aligned with our closest trading partners, especially the EU, by December 2028.
It is not yet clear what the EU’s final proposed more comprehensive restriction of PFAS will cover. Several stages remain before an EU restriction is adopted, including a further consultation period and provision for derogations.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to help tackle the decline in the numbers of British birds.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We are committed to delivering our statutory biodiversity targets which will support the recovery and conservation of native wild birds.
Nationally, government actions to restore and create more than 500,000 hectares of wildlife-rich habitat by 2042, along with projects funded through Natural England’s Species Recovery Programme, will support the conservation and recovery of a wide range of bird species. Within the farmland environment, Environment Land Management schemes include actions that provide food, shelter, and nesting habitat for a range of bird species.
In addition, to support delivery of our statutory species targets, Defra is developing a detailed Threatened Bird Recovery Plan which aims to improve coordination, and drive the delivery, of actions to recover our most threatened bird species.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to help tackle the decline of British birds.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We are committed to delivering our statutory biodiversity targets which will support the recovery and conservation of native wild birds.
Nationally, government actions to restore and create more than 500,000 hectares of wildlife-rich habitat by 2042, along with projects funded through Natural England’s Species Recovery Programme, will support the conservation and recovery of a wide range of bird species. Within the farmland environment, Environment Land Management schemes include actions that provide food, shelter, and nesting habitat for a range of bird species.
In addition, to support delivery of our statutory species targets, Defra is developing a detailed Threatened Bird Recovery Plan which aims to improve coordination, and drive the delivery, of actions to recover our most threatened bird species.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of climate change on UK wildlife.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Under the UK Climate Change Act 2008, the Government must complete a Climate Change Risk Assessment every five years, followed by a National Adaptation Programme outlining how identified risks will be addressed. The fourth Climate Change Risk Assessment will be published in 2027, informed by the independent assessment and advice provided by the Climate Change Committee. This will include a Technical Report outlining UK climate risks, including risks to terrestrial, coastal, freshwater, marine and soil ecosystems, and a Well-Adapted UK Report that will advise on how to address them.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether passenger demand forecasts for Thameslink services have been updated to reflect the approved expansion of London Luton Airport, planned housing growth along the route and the proposed Universal Studios development in Bedfordshire; and how those factors are being incorporated into long-term capacity planning for the Thameslink corridor.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Govia Thameslink Railway has shared demand modelling with the Department which does include projections for planned developments along the Thameslink network. The Department requires all operators to plan future timetables that reflect expected demand and provide value for money for the taxpayer. In the longer term, under Great British Railways’ directing mind, timetables and services will be optimised to drive up network performance and improve passenger journey experience.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to help ensure the 30 by 30 on land in England nature recovery target is met.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK Government is committed to protecting 30% of land and sea in the UK by 2030 (30by30). Progressing this target on land in England means ensuring that our most important and wildlife-rich habitats are benefiting from effective, long-term conservation and management.
In October 2024 we set out our vision for progressing 30by30 on land in England and the criteria for land and inland water areas which can count towards this target. Our 30by30 Delivery Plan will set out how we will lead, support, and inspire action across England to deliver this vision. We will publish the 30by30 Delivery Plan later this year.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what proportion of a) government departments b) critical public services and c) critical national infrastructure rely on US-owned cloud infrastructure; and what assessment her Department has made of the risks to UK data sovereignty and service continuity this poses.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Survey results in the State of Digital Government Review state that around 55% of central government organisations reported that over 60% of their estate is now on the cloud. All survey participants indicated that they use one of two leading cloud providers, both of whom are US based.
Critical public services, including those delivered by arm’s length bodies and local authorities, operate under a range of governance and assurance arrangements. Responsibility for digital infrastructure decisions rests with the relevant accountable bodies, and there is no centralised record of the proportion of such services that use US-owned cloud infrastructure.
The government works closely with critical national infrastructure operators alongside our national technical authorities and industry partners. The government does not generally comment on national security or commercial matters related to CNI, including the use of individual suppliers.
‘Data sovereignty’ could cover numerous UK interests, including but not limited to economic, security, resilience, privacy, and diplomatic considerations. We will continue to seek to balance these objectives in our approach, to ensure the robustness of our digital services. UK public sector buyers of cloud services are advised to review their technology requirements against the Technology Code of Practice and consider the specific risk management and controls they need when procuring those services.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department plans to publish an equalities impact assessment of the Child Poverty Strategy, including its impact on groups at highest risk of poverty.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
A full summary Equalities Analysis was published alongside the Strategy and is available at: Child Poverty Strategy: Summary Equalities Analysis - GOV.UK.
The impacts of policies contributing to the Child Poverty Strategy will be kept under review and monitored on an ongoing basis by departments using their own established approaches to considerations made under the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED).
The ongoing Monitoring and Evaluation of the Child Poverty Strategy will also continue to assess the poverty risk and prevalence for groups with protected characteristics, as far as the data and evidence gathering allow. The Monitoring and Evaluation framework published alongside the Strategy set out that a baseline report will be published in Summer 2026, with annual reporting on progress thereafter.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of State Pension age changes for 1950s-born women living in Harpenden and Berkhamsted constituency.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
All women born since 6 April 1950 have been affected by changes to State Pension age.
Estimates can be made with ONS 2022 Census Data of how many women born in the 1950s were resident in each constituency in that year.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what timeline her Department has for introducing regulations that ensure generative AI cannot be misused to create extreme sexual abuse material involving children.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Government recognises the serious and evolving threat posed by AI being misused to create child sexual abuse material. We know offenders will seek to exploit emerging technologies for their own sexual gratification.
AI-generated child sexual abuse is not a victimless crime. The material often includes depictions of real children, escalating the risk of contact abuse. The volume and realism of this material can make it increasingly challenging for safeguarding partners to identify and protect children. Offenders can also use these images to groom and blackmail children.
That is why this Government has introduced a measure within the Crime and Policing Bill to criminalise AI models that have been developed to create child sexual abuse material. These optimised models produce hyper-realistic indecent images that often contains the likeness of real children. This offence will carry a sentence of up to five years. To further ensure that generative AI models are not misused to create extreme child sexual abuse material, this Government has also sought to update the existing law criminalising ‘paedophile manuals’ to cover AI as well. Manuals which provide guidance on how to use AI to create child sexual abuse material will be punishable by up to three years in prison.
The Crime and Policing Bill is currently at the Lords Committee stage. Subject to parliamentary approval, the Crime and Policing Bill – and thus these two crucial measures to criminalise AI-generated child sexual abuse material – is expected to secure Royal Assent by the Spring of 2026.