Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question
To ask the hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney, representing the Restoration and Renewal Client Board, with reference to the proposed relocation and permanent reprovision of the Education Centre, what assessment the client board has made of the potential merits of relocating the Education Centre as part of the core Restoration and Renewal scope rather than retaining or upgrading its temporary arrangements; what the estimated capital and lifecycle costs of relocation are; whether alternative options involving refurbishment of existing facilities were costed; and how relocation contributes to (a) fire safety, (b) building services, (c) asbestos remediation and (d) fabric conservation.
Answered by Nick Smith
As set out in the Restoration and Renewal (R&R) Client Board’s recent report, Delivering restoration and renewal of the Palace of Westminster: the costed proposals (HC Paper 1576), the preferred scope for the R&R works will deliver a permanent Education Centre. Early designs propose that the centre is based within the Palace.
The current Education Centre on the Victoria Tower Gardens site was always intended to be a temporary facility and it is not sited on Parliamentary estate land. The land is owned by the Royal Parks and Parliament’s license for its use is with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. The temporary planning and license agreements for the Victoria Gardens site expire at the end of 2030. The relevant statutory bodies have said that any further application for extension of the current Education Centre temporary permission and licence will not be granted. A new location for the centre is therefore required after this date.
The proposed Education Centre accounts for 0.3% of Palace construction costs under the full decant option and 1.6% under the enhanced maintenance and improvement plus (EMI+) option. This is based on the base construction costs for the Palace project set out in Annex 2, table 2 of the report, which exclude risk and inflation.
The net reduction in Palace lifecycle costs as a result of the renewal of the Palace does not isolate a specific change for the Education Centre. The cost of refurbishing existing facilities was not considered given their temporary nature and the known requirement to move the facility.
The location of the new education centre has been considered as part of the wider fire strategy, though its provision does not directly contribute to the fire safety, building services, asbestos remediation or fabric conservation outlined in the R&R Client Board’s report.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps is she taking as a result of HM Governments report titled Global biodiversity loss, ecosystem collapse and national security, published on 20 January 2026.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Nature security assessment forms part of routine cross-government resilience planning and complements the UK’s National Security Strategy, National Risk Register and Chronic Risk Analysis.
Climate change and nature loss act as risk multipliers, increasing pressures on food systems, water security and global stability. Assessing these risks helps ensure the UK is better prepared to anticipate, respond to, and mitigate future challenges.
Defra, along with other Government Departments, is already taking action to address the potential risks identified in the assessment.
Internationally, the UK is investing in forest and ocean protection and is on track to invest £11.6bn of International Climate Finance between 2021 to 2026, including £3bn for vital habitats such as tropical rainforests, and marine ecosystems, and to support indigenous communities.
The UK is also taking action domestically: tree planting in England is at its highest rate in over twenty years; we are restoring peatlands, improving water quality, protecting pollinators, and have introduced landmark legislation to safeguard our marine environment.
We are strengthening supply chain resilience through the Critical Imports and Supply Chains Strategy and supporting food security by backing British farmers through new technology, streamlined regulation, and nature-friendly farming schemes that reward sustainable production.
Asked by: Lord Cameron of Lochiel (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Hanson of Flint on 9 February (HL13910), whether they will provide an annual breakdown of how many of the 950 small boats and engines related to Channel crossings were seized by the National Crime Agency and the Border Security Command in each year since 2023.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Border Security Command oversees a system-wide, comprehensive strategy aimed at disrupting all elements of the business model that makes small boats crossings possible. Seizing small boats equipment, which is often conducted in collaboration with international partners, forms one strand of this approach.
Due to the operational nature of this data and the frequency of revision as a result of ongoing reporting, we cannot provide an accurate breakdown of this data on an annual basis.
This data includes information provided by international partners, working with the NCA and the Border Security Command, which may be revised as on-going reporting is received. Accordingly, seizures are reported over a longer time period to ensure accuracy.
Asked by: Sarah Hall (Labour (Co-op) - Warrington South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that survivors of sexual exploitation are supported during the grooming gangs inquiry process.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Victims and survivors are central to the Independent Inquiry into Grooming Gangs, and it is essential that their voices are heard in a safe and trauma‑informed way. The Independent Inquiry is responsible for leading its own engagement and support arrangements throughout the course of its work.
As set out in the draft Terms of Reference, the Inquiry will develop and publish a charter for victims and survivors, that outlines how victims and survivors can participate, and how their views, experiences and testimony will be used to inform and shape the nature of the Inquiry’s work.
This year the Home Office has doubled funding for adult victims and survivors of child sexual abuse, to a total investment of £2.59 million in the Support for Victims and Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse (SVSCSA) Fund. This includes funding for support helplines, in-person and remote counselling, group support, and training for professionals working with victims.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for government’s most important contracts, Data for July to September 2025, published on 25 December 2025, and the (a) Provision of Merchant Acquirer Services and (b) Provision of Payment Gateway Services contracts with BARCLAYS BANK PLC trading as Barclays Payments, for what reason requiring Barclays Bank to be a Net zero company by 2050 is a key performance indicator for these specific contracts; and why net zero is relevant to the provision of payment gateway services.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The provision of Merchant Acquirer Services and the provision of Payment Gateway Services contracts were tendered in 2017/18 and awarded in 2019. The procurement policy, introduced by the previous government, required suppliers on significant contracts to align with the UK’s 2050 Net Zero target. This applies even when the service is not carbon intensive, because the policy requires that the government’s supply chain must support climate commitments.
A Key Performance Indicator (KPI) linking the contract to Barclays’ Net Zero trajectory ensures the supplier’s strategic direction aligns with government environmental policy and consistency across all major suppliers, regardless of the nature of the service. Using KPIs like this demonstrates responsible sourcing; signals that the government expects sustainability leadership from major partners and helps standardise expectations across all major suppliers, making compliance measurable and reportable.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if she will include a sub-commitment to nature and forests in the next round of international climate finance, ICF4.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Nature-based solutions, including forests, are among the most impactful and cost-effective climate solutions. Nature regulates our climate and is vital to climate resilience, both acting as a carbon source and sink, and helping us to adapt to the impact of climate change and boost our resilience to climate shocks. This is why a focus on nature is a core priority for our climate finance spend.
Our ICF4 commitment falls in the next Spending Review period. We are working through detailed decisions on how the Official Development Assistance (ODA) budget will be used from 2026/27 to 2028/29 and will set out those allocations in the near future.
Asked by: Roz Savage (Liberal Democrat - South Cotswolds)
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 adequacy of the public's understanding of increasing climate change and biodiversity loss; and what steps she is taking to help raise public awareness.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Government works with the cultural and heritage sector through the National Adaptation Programme to understand and address the impacts of climate change on the UK’s cultural heritage, including supporting heritage sites to assess physical risks such as flooding, coastal erosion and overheating
The Met Office supports public understanding of how climate change affects biodiversity by publishing accessible blogs and media content, and by working with partners such as The Wildlife Trusts and NatureScot to explain impacts on ecosystems in the UK and globally. [metoffice.gov.uk], [metoffice.gov.uk], [nature.scot]
Met Office science and communications also highlight practical risks to nature from a warming climate, including rising threats from pests and diseases and shifting species distributions. This work links climate science with biodiversity protection and supports wider public awareness, including through engagement with international processes such as IPBES. The Amazon: a hot spot for biodiversity and climate regulation - Met Office
Natural England works to build the evidence base on climate change in the context of biodiversity loss and provides advice to national and local government and professionals working in conservation and land management. The Climate Change Adaptation Manual - NE751 and Carbon Storage and Sequestration by Habitat 2021 - NERR094 illustrate this.
Asked by: Caroline Johnson (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the written statement on 26 February 2026 titled Data Linkage Study, whether he plans to complete the data linkage study before the Pathways puberty blockers trial commences.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The data linkage study is an important commitment within a wider national gender research programme, which is being jointly delivered by NHS England and the National Institute for Health and Care Research.
The data linkage study is observational in nature, linking and analysing existing, routinely collected healthcare data for adults who, as children, were referred into the former Gender Identity Development Service, previously operated by the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust. It is important to highlight that as the study is not designed as a comparative clinical trial, it will not provide direct evidence on the cause or effect of any individual treatment approach, nor provide evidence relating to any treatment’s safety or efficacy. Its findings will relate to a former, decommissioned model of NHS care and to a previous cohort of children and young people with gender incongruence.
The PATHWAYS suite of studies, including the currently paused clinical trial, and the data linkage study, have very different designs and will generate different types of new evidence. They remain separate elements of the wider national gender research programme, and their delivery timelines are not co-dependent.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, by what date will the formal investigation into the abscondment of Daniel Boakye be completed.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The formal investigation into the circumstances surrounding the escape from custody is due to be completed by 20 March.
Reports of internal investigations of this nature are not normally published.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 28 October 2025 to Question 84672, whether his Department was asked to respond to the Prevention of Future Death report of Stephen Sleaford in its own capacity and separately from the response by HM Prison and Probation Service.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The Prevention of Future Deaths report following the death of Stephen Sleaford was addressed to the Lord Chancellor and the Minister of State for Prisons. The Director General of Operations for HM Prison and Probation Service responded on their behalf because the matters of concern raised in the report were of an operational nature.
No separate response from the Ministry of Justice is considered necessary.