Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps she is taking to encourage alternative providers to use the broadband infrastructure installed by Freedom Fibre in North Shropshire constituency.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
As part of Project Gigabit, Freedom Fibre delivered gigabit-capable broadband to approximately 1,900 premises in North Shropshire constituency. All infrastructure assets deployed through Building Digital UK (BDUK) subsidy have to be made available to other providers, as this is a contract obligation. BDUK undertook a market consultation with suppliers across England and Wales on their interest and capability for further delivery and is now following up with suppliers on the potential for further projects through the Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme, utilising existing available infrastructure wherever possible.
Asked by: Ian Roome (Liberal Democrat - North Devon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her department is taking to strengthen flood resiliency around major transport routes in the South West.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Delivering on the Plan for Change, this Government is investing at least £10.5 billion until 2036 to construct new flood schemes and repair existing defences, helping to avoid disruption to transport and other infrastructure damage, as well as continuing to protect communities from the devastating impacts of climate change.
As published in the Flood and coastal erosion risk management (Section 18) report – in 24/25 – Wessex, and Devon, Cornwall, and the Isles of Scilly received a combined £173 million, better protecting 4,036 properties across these regions.
The final list of schemes to benefit in 2026/27 is due to be published on GOV.UK in March 2026.
Asked by: Jeremy Corbyn (Independent - Islington North)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the work carried out at MOD Bicester; how many of his Department’s personnel are stationed there; and who owns the site.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Bicester site is owned by the Ministry of Defence (MOD) via the Defence Infrastructure Organisation. There are a number of different units and organisations located in Bicester performing a wide range of tasks and services, and as such there is no overall assessment of the effectiveness of the work carried out at Bicester. If the right hon. Member has an area of particular interest, I would be happy to provide further information.
There are currently 183 MOD civilian personnel and 725 trade trained Armed Forces personnel located at MOD Bicester.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what recent estimate his Department has made of the proportion of curtailment costs borne by domestic consumers.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Data relating to curtailment caused by constraints including costs is provided in the National Energy System Operator (NESO) Annual Balancing Report at this link: neso.energy/document/362561/download. Constraint costs, as with other interventions taken by NESO to balance the electricity system, are recovered from consumers through Balancing Service Use of System Charges. Both domestic and non-domestic consumers pay these balancing costs, in proportion to their energy consumption. Although the most energy intensive industries receive additional support with these costs.
The current extent of grid constraints reflects years of underinvestment, with new network infrastructure development having lagged the expansion of new generation. We are already taking action to reduce constraints with the biggest upgrade to Great Britain’s electricity network in decades.
Asked by: Julia Buckley (Labour - Shrewsbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how the Railways Bill will ensure that access rights to the network are fair, transparent and enforceable, particularly where Great British Rail will both manage infrastructure and operate services.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The new access framework within the Railways Bill will ensure that GBR will determine the best use of the network capacity for all operators in accordance with its statutory duties. New legislation will include key safeguards for third party operators, ensuring that GBR’s decisions on network access are fair and transparent with a strong route of appeal to the ORR. GBR will be required to design and consult with industry on its access and use policy which will set out the processes and criteria on how it will take access and capacity allocation decisions, and on which the ORR will be a statutory consultee.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
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 considered the potential impact of alternative rooftop land uses, including solar panels and energy infrastructure, on the (a) valuation of properties hosting telecommunications equipment and (b) landowners’ willingness to continue hosting mobile network infrastructure.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
No assessment has been made.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
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 assessed the potential impact of the removal, relocation and temporary decommissioning of rooftop telecommunications equipment as part of programmes to install rooftop solar panels, heat pumps and other energy infrastructure on mobile network coverage, including 5G.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
No assessment has been made.
Asked by: Connor Naismith (Labour - Crewe and Nantwich)
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 introducing zonal electricity pricing on (a) consumer energy bills in regions with high renewable generation, such as those with significant offshore wind capacity, (b) the cost to the public purse of constraint payments to wind generators and (c) future private-sector investment in energy infrastructure in areas of high demand, including the South East.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
In July 2025, we announced that we would not be implementing zonal pricing as part of the Review of Electricity Market Arrangements (REMA) and had decided instead to retain a single Great Britain wide wholesale electricity market. We plan to set out the potential impact of zonal pricing − with respect to areas such as consumers, generators and investment, including South East England – in the REMA Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA), which will be published later this year.
Asked by: Sarah Dyke (Liberal Democrat - Glastonbury and Somerton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment has been made of the effectiveness of attenuation ponds in reducing both the volume and flow of run from major roads where such works were not considered necessary pre-1990.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Attenuation ponds are deployed by Risk Management Authorities as a flood alleviation measure; they are determined by a range of factors including cost to benefit ratio and the standard of protection that can be achieved. In recent years, the highway sector has been innovative in its use of sustainable drainage and green infrastructure to help manage road flooding.
A new three-year £4.2 billion Flood and Coastal Risk Investment Programme will start in April 2026, where new projects will align with the strategic objectives set out in the Government’s new funding rules announced in October 2025. This means investment goes where it is most needed, accounting for flood risk, value for money, natural flood management opportunity and additional contributions to make Government investment go further. This investment will benefit properties, infrastructure and agriculture.
The Government and the Environment Agency are committed to improving England’s picture of flood and coastal erosion risk, including from surface water. The Environment Agency published its new National Flood Risk Assessment (NaFRA) data in 2025.
Asked by: Sarah Dyke (Liberal Democrat - Glastonbury and Somerton)
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 relative cost benefit of attenuation ponds compared with repeated flood damage to (a) properties, (b) infrastructure and (c) agricultural land.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Attenuation ponds are deployed by Risk Management Authorities as a flood alleviation measure; they are determined by a range of factors including cost to benefit ratio and the standard of protection that can be achieved. In recent years, the highway sector has been innovative in its use of sustainable drainage and green infrastructure to help manage road flooding.
A new three-year £4.2 billion Flood and Coastal Risk Investment Programme will start in April 2026, where new projects will align with the strategic objectives set out in the Government’s new funding rules announced in October 2025. This means investment goes where it is most needed, accounting for flood risk, value for money, natural flood management opportunity and additional contributions to make Government investment go further. This investment will benefit properties, infrastructure and agriculture.
The Government and the Environment Agency are committed to improving England’s picture of flood and coastal erosion risk, including from surface water. The Environment Agency published its new National Flood Risk Assessment (NaFRA) data in 2025.