Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the cost per household of the target to reach net zero in each of the next three years.
Answered by Lord Whitehead - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Net zero is the economic opportunity of the 21st century. Meeting climate targets will cost less than failing to deal with climate change. The Climate Change Committee estimates the cost of meeting net zero targets will be on average the equivalent of 0.2% of UK GDP per year and the OBR estimates the cost of failing to deal with climate change will be around 5% of UK GDP by the 2070s.
The 0.2% cost also does not take into account the wider beneficial growth impacts of net zero investment. Since July 2024, £60bn of private investment has been announced in our clean energy industries.
The OBR is clear that the costs of climate damage are getting higher, while the cost of the net zero transition is getting lower. Only by investing in the transition now can we reduce costs in future
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to extend the length of placements for resident doctors; and what assessment they have made of the benefits of continuity in training posts for doctors.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises the importance of continuity in postgraduate medical training for both doctors and patients.
Following the 2024 Resident Doctors Agreement, the Department, working in partnership with NHS England and the British Medical Association, established a review of rotational training. This review drew on some 13,000 responses to surveys and found that rotations can provide valuable breadth of experience, but in some cases frequent moves can disrupt learning, wellbeing, team integration, and patient care.
NHS England is developing pilots under the Medical Training Review, and as set out in the 10-Point Plan, to test longer placements, smaller geographic footprints, and more flexible arrangements for less-than-full-time trainees.
These pilots will inform future policy decisions on placement length and continuity benefits.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what the balance is between nature recovery and growth in domestic farm production in the Environmental Improvement Plan 2025.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government’s Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP) 2025 ensures that nature’s recovery is a key priority, fundamental to the Government’s approach to economic growth. This Government is committed to deliver for nature, taking action to meet our Environment Act targets, to restore and protect our natural world.
The EIP explains how nature and the actions we take to protect and restore it can enable, drive and protect economic growth.
The Government has allocated a record £11.8 billion to sustainable farming and food production over this parliament. The Government is targeting public money where it delivers most value, supporting nature. By investing in nature, we are helping secure the foundations of long-term food security.
The Government is working with farmers, farming and environmental organisations to develop the Farming Roadmap, which will set the course of farming in England for the next 25 years. The aim is to maintain food production, meet our environmental outcomes, and deliver a thriving and profitable farming sector.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the cost of fly tipping to private landlords in each of the past three years.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government has not made an estimate of the cost of fly-tipping to private landlords for the last three years.
Local authorities in England are required to report fly-tipping incidents and enforcement action to Defra, which the department have published annually since 2012, at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fly-tipping-in-england. We expect that this data excludes the majority of private-land incidents. Data for the 2024/25 reporting year is currently being processed.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to work with Chester Zoo on global conservation and species recovery work.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government recognises the important role Chester Zoo plays in global conservation and species recovery. Chester Zoo has a strong partnership with Defra through the Darwin Initiative, which funds some of the zoo’s international conservation efforts. Since 2007, Chester Zoo has delivered 10 Darwin-funded projects worth £2 million across five countries, focusing on human-wildlife conflict, forest restoration, and community livelihoods. It has also partnered on a Darwin Plus project in Montserrat to help save the critically endangered mountain chicken frog.
In addition, Chester Zoo is an active stakeholder under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) through the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums (BIAZA) and undertakes significant work to support the conservation of CITES-listed species.
New rounds of Defra’s challenge funds, including the Darwin Initiative and Darwin Plus, are expected to open in 2026 for applications, and we would welcome applications from Chester Zoo.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what recognition and support they will give to schemes that promote conservation and recovery of threatened native species, including the harvest dormouse, the large heath butterfly and other endangered species.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We are committed to delivering our statutory biodiversity targets including supporting the recovery of threatened species such as the harvest dormouse and large heath butterfly. A key delivery programme for threatened species in England is Natural England’s (NE) Species Recovery Programme which, since the early 1990s, has funded targeted action for over 1000 species and prevented the national extinction of at least 35.
From April 2023 to March 2026, the Species Recovery Programme allocated £32.2 million to projects which supported recovery of more than 600 species. In October 2025, NE launched a call for ideas for projects to be funded by the Programme. Shortlisted projects will shortly be invited to apply for funding over the next three years.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the resilience of infrastructure and flood defences to recent and future flood events, and what plans they have to increase such resilience.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We inherited flood defences in the worst condition on record, putting lives and livelihoods at risk. We are investing a record £10.5 billion into our flood and coastal defences by 2035/36 to improve flood resilience and better protect nearly 900,000 properties. The Environment Agency has reprioritised £108 million into urgent maintenance, halting the decline of our assets.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Crime and Policing Bill in its current form will see the protection of workers in quick service restaurants and food-to-go-style operators whose work has a functional overlap with their retail counterparts; and what, if any, impact assessment of such provisions has been undertaken.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
Through our Crime and Policing Bill, we are introducing a new offence of assaulting a retail worker to protect the hardworking and dedicated staff that work in stores.
This definition of a retail worker captures someone working in or about retail premises for or on behalf of the owner or occupier of the retail premises.
Our definition is intentionally narrow and does not include hospitality staff, given the vital need to provide legal clarity and ensure there is no ambiguity for courts in identifying whether an individual is a retail worker and impacted during their job.
Those workers whose roles are not included within the definition are already covered under other legislation such as the Offences against the Person Act 1861, which also covers more serious violence, such as actual bodily harm and grievous bodily harm.
There is also a statutory aggravating factor for assault against any public facing worker in the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022. This ensures the courts treat the public-facing nature of a victim’s role as an aggravating factor when considering the sentence for an offence.
Alongside this, we are ending the effective immunity that currently applies for theft of goods under £200 by repealing section 176 of the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014.
We are also providing over £7 million over the next three years to support the police and retailers tackle retail crime, including continuing to fund a specialist policing team to disrupt organised retail crime gangs and identify more offenders.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how "retail" work is defined for the purposes of the Crime and Policing Bill; and whether that definition includes hospitality premises with a functional overlap, such as pubs which run village shops and restaurants selling branded products on the premises.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
Through our Crime and Policing Bill, we are introducing a new offence of assaulting a retail worker to protect the hardworking and dedicated staff that work in stores.
This definition of a retail worker captures someone working in or about retail premises for or on behalf of the owner or occupier of the retail premises.
Our definition is intentionally narrow and does not include hospitality staff, given the vital need to provide legal clarity and ensure there is no ambiguity for courts in identifying whether an individual is a retail worker and impacted during their job.
Those workers whose roles are not included within the definition are already covered under other legislation such as the Offences against the Person Act 1861, which also covers more serious violence, such as actual bodily harm and grievous bodily harm.
There is also a statutory aggravating factor for assault against any public facing worker in the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022. This ensures the courts treat the public-facing nature of a victim’s role as an aggravating factor when considering the sentence for an offence.
Alongside this, we are ending the effective immunity that currently applies for theft of goods under £200 by repealing section 176 of the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014.
We are also providing over £7 million over the next three years to support the police and retailers tackle retail crime, including continuing to fund a specialist policing team to disrupt organised retail crime gangs and identify more offenders.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what specific protections are in place to address abuse and theft in (1) retail, (2) hospitality, and (3) leisure businesses.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
Through our Crime and Policing Bill, we are introducing a new offence of assaulting a retail worker to protect the hardworking and dedicated staff that work in stores.
This definition of a retail worker captures someone working in or about retail premises for or on behalf of the owner or occupier of the retail premises.
Our definition is intentionally narrow and does not include hospitality staff, given the vital need to provide legal clarity and ensure there is no ambiguity for courts in identifying whether an individual is a retail worker and impacted during their job.
Those workers whose roles are not included within the definition are already covered under other legislation such as the Offences against the Person Act 1861, which also covers more serious violence, such as actual bodily harm and grievous bodily harm.
There is also a statutory aggravating factor for assault against any public facing worker in the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022. This ensures the courts treat the public-facing nature of a victim’s role as an aggravating factor when considering the sentence for an offence.
Alongside this, we are ending the effective immunity that currently applies for theft of goods under £200 by repealing section 176 of the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014.
We are also providing over £7 million over the next three years to support the police and retailers tackle retail crime, including continuing to fund a specialist policing team to disrupt organised retail crime gangs and identify more offenders.