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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of conflict involving Iran on UK farming and food security; and what steps she is taking to mitigate any such impact.

Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security) (Jointly with the Cabinet Office)

The UK has a resilient food supply chain. The Government is acting now to limit the impact of any disruption. This includes including cutting the duty on red diesel by a third, bringing it to its lowest rate in over 20 years, as well as extending the 5p freeze in fuel duty for the rest of the year. In addition, Government have reopened the Ensus CO2 production plant to secure CO2 supplies, and it is providing farmers with tools to boost the efficiency of their fertiliser use. Working people are also set to benefit from the Government’s cost of living support.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the England Tree Action Plan will include measures to promote tree equity.

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

The Government committed in the Environmental Improvement Plan 2025 to publish a new Trees Action Plan for England in 2026. The Trees Action Plan is currently being developed. It will set out how the government will invest in tree planting and the forestry sector to achieve our 2030 interim tree canopy and woodland cover target, improve the resilience and condition of our trees and woodlands, and deliver multiple benefits for nature, climate, people and the economy.

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 in response to the consultation on tail docking and castration in lambs.

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

The consultations on lamb castration and tail docking closed on 9 March. The Government is now carefully analysing consultation responses and will publish a formal response in due course.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she plans to set out plans for spatial prioritisation of ELM in line with the Land Use Framework.

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

We will include information about the spatial prioritisation of ELMS in the forthcoming Farming Roadmap. In the Land Use Framework we committed to publishing the assumptions and analysis underpinning potential changes later this year to ensure the sector has full sight of the evidence we are considering. Changes will be made incrementally to a clear timetable and will be subject to the findings of this published analysis.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what mechanisms businesses should use to differentiate between steel that can and cannot be made in the UK.

Answered by Chris McDonald - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The Government has published a provisional list of product codes covered by the steel trade measure on gov.uk. This will be updated shortly, following ongoing engagement with industry.

The measure is designed to only cover steel requirements that can be made in the UK. In some instances, this is not feasible for technical reasons, for example where single product codes contain different sizes of steel products with some of the sizes produced in the UK and potential for steel to be imported and then cut-down. In such cases, quotas are being designed with the aim of allowing for sufficient imports.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of proposed revisions to the National Planning Policy Framework on protections for wildlife and habitats.

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

The Environment Act 2021 requires Ministers to have 'due regard' to the policy statement on environmental principles when making policy. This is to ensure that environmental considerations are at the heart of policymaking across government.

The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) makes clear that to protect and enhance biodiversity and geodiversity, local plans should identify, map and safeguard components of local wildlife rich habitats and wider ecological networks such as chalk streams. It is for local planning authorities to apply this policy when planning for new development.

Between 16 December 2025 and 10 March 2026, we consulted on a new NPPF. That consultation, which can be found on gov.uk here, included proposals relating to wildlife and habitats. We are currently analysing the feedback received and will publish our response in due course.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when her Department plans to provide details of the scheme on the reimbursement mechanism for the Summer Free bus fares for children initiative to operators.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Department has already shared initial details of the proposed reimbursement mechanism for the Summer Bus Fare Offer with operators and further detail will be shared ahead of implementation.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has had discussions with her US counterpart regarding New York and New Jersey’s investigations into ticket prices for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The Government recognises the significant concerns that many supporters have raised about ticket prices for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Decisions on ticket pricing are a matter for FIFA and the tournament organisers and the Secretary of State has had no discussion with her counterparts.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether an agreement has been made between her Department and Universal Destinations and Experiences on transport links for workers during the construction of the Universal Theme Park in Bedfordshire.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Department has not entered a specific agreement with Universal Destinations and Experiences (UDX) regarding transport links for construction workers. The Department is, however, working closely with UDX, Bedford Borough Council and other local partners to support the transport arrangements associated with the development. This includes ongoing consideration of how construction workers can access the site safely and efficiently through the construction phase, including by public transport and other sustainable travel options where appropriate.

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 support biodiversity net gain policy to ensure market confidence and environmental integrity.

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

Government has recently announced reforms to Biodiversity Net Gain including actions to make it easier and cheaper for smaller developers to access the off-site market.

Government has also recently put in place the legal framework for mandatory BNG to apply to Nationally Significant Infrastructure projects (NSIPs) from November this year, providing a new source of demand.

Taken together, these new measures will support the off-site market and demonstrate this government’s commitment to BNG.

All registered biodiversity gain sites must be legally secured for at least 30 years providing confidence that biodiversity gains will be delivered.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment has been made of the effectiveness of the progress of the roll out of Project Gigabit in a) Bedfordshire and b) the East of England.

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

Through a combination of commercial market and government subsidised delivery, government is ensuring 99% of UK premises will have access to gigabit-capable broadband by 2032.

Project Gigabit delivery across the East England region is primarily being taken forward through several Project Gigabit contracts, including those covering Suffolk, Norfolk and Bedfordshire, Northampton and Milton Keynes, alongside wider cross-regional interventions to reach remaining premises.

As a result of these Project Gigabit contracts, over 43,740 premises across the East England region have already received a gigabit-capable connection, with an additional 72,420 still expected to be given coverage. Across the county of Bedfordshire, over 5430 premises already have access to a gigabit-capable connection, with a further 1140 expected to receive a gigabit-capable connection via Project Gigabit contracts.

For the remaining premises which are not within the scope of suppliers’ commercial plans or existing Project Gigabit contracts, Building Digital UK (BDUK) is working to put in place further coverage solutions as soon as possible. A market engagement consultation for suppliers was published on 1 June to confirm supplier interest in relation to the premises that still need coverage in Bedfordshire and other areas of central, eastern and south-eastern England.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the potential merits of taking steps to ensure that that fossil fuel companies fund the costs of climate recovery.

Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

My Rt hon Friend the Secretary of State has regular discussions with Ministerial Colleagues on a number of issues.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Transport on the rate of VAT charged on electricity used at public electric vehicle charging points.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

VAT is a broad-based tax on consumption, and the 20 per cent standard rate applies to most goods and services.

The supply of energy for domestic use attracts the reduced rate of VAT (5 per cent). Whilst this relief was not designed or introduced for charging EVs at home, it applies for all uses of domestic energy, as it is not easy for energy companies to distinguish between electricity used to charge an EV and electricity used for general domestic purposes. Public EV charging, on the other hand, is subject to the standard rate of VAT (twenty per cent). This matches the VAT treatment of petrol and diesel, as well as all non-domestic electricity.

The Government will review the cost of public electric vehicle charging, looking at the impact of energy prices, wider cost contributors, and options for lowering these costs for consumers. Terms of Reference for the review will be set out in due course, and the review will report later in 2026.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when a funded delivery plan will be published to support the restoration of 30% of land and sea for nature by 2030.

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).

Defra publishes funded delivery plans under its Environmental Improvement Plan to deliver Environment Act targets including the Marine Protected Area (MPA) target which supports 30by30 at sea. Around 40% of English waters are designated as MPAs. Our focus is on strengthening management and undertaking a network review to ensure sites effectively contribute to 30by30 and wider priorities.

For land, we are developing a 30by30 Delivery Plan, setting out how we will lead, support and drive action across England.

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 allow local authorities to treat connected entities as a single undertaking in cases where arrangements have been created primarily to avoid Extended Producer Responsibility obligations.

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

Local authorities do not play a role in the compliance and enforcement of Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging (pEPR). PEPR is regulated by the Environment Agency in England and by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, Natural Resources Wales and Northern Ireland Environment Agency in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland respectively.

The pEPR regulations contain a de-minimis threshold of £2 million turnover and 50 tonnes of packaging handled, to avoid placing disproportionate burden on small businesses.

A broad range of enforcement options are available, including civil sanctions, to support a fair and effective system. We are working closely with the regulators to monitor compliance with pEPR and will keep this under regular review.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent discussions she has had with sporting bodies on the affordability of ticket prices for major sporting events.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

Ministers and officials at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport regularly engage with a wide range of sports governing bodies, event organisers and consumer groups to discuss the accessibility, inclusivity and affordability of major sporting events.

While ticket pricing is ultimately a commercial decision for individual sporting bodies and rights holders, the Government is firmly committed to putting fans back at the heart of sport and ensuring that major events remain accessible to everyone.

To protect fans from being priced out by exploitative practices, the Government has recently introduced the Sporting Events Bill to Parliament. This legislation will establish a unified framework to support the delivery of major sporting events in the UK, alongside robust measures to deter and prohibit ticket touting and unfair ticket reselling.

Found: Cadbury (Chair); Steff Aquarone; Dr Scott Arthur; Mrs Elsie Blundell; Jacob Collier; Olly Glover; Alex Mayer

Found: Uttoxeter) Olly Glover (Liberal Democrat; Didcot and Wantage) Katie Lam (Conservative; Weald of Kent) Alex Mayer

Submit Evidence (by 23 Jul 2026)

The Government has published a draft of the National Policy Statement (NPS) that would be used as the basis for making a decision on whether to grant planning consent for a third runway at Heathrow Airport.