Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to coordinate policy on the development, validation and uptake of non-animal methods.

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

The Department is working closely with colleagues across Government to strengthen coordination on the development, validation and uptake of non‑animal methods. The first cross‑departmental ministerial meeting on the delivery of the strategy is scheduled to take place next month and will provide a formal mechanism to drive progress and ensure alignment across policy areas.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what data her Department collects on the number of unadopted roads going through the Section 38 process by local authority.

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

The Department does not collect data on the number of roads that have been, or are currently being, adopted by local authorities. Decisions on whether to adopt a road rest with the relevant local authority, provided the road meets the necessary design standards for adoption. The Department is aware of a decline in the adoption of roads within new developments and is undertaking research to better understand the adoption process under the Highways Act 1980 and how it might be improved in the future. We will aim to publish the findings of the project as soon as possible this year.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions he has had with relevant stakeholders on the Competition and Markets Authority recommendations on unadopted roads in its Housebuilding Market Study, published in 2024.

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

My Department engages regularly with a range of stakeholders about our ongoing reforms to the leasehold system, including to freehold estates and unadopted infrastructure.

This week, I met with Home Owners Rights Network to hear their views on the two comprehensive consultations launched in December seeking views on how best to implement new consumer protections for homeowners on freehold estates and the ways in which we might reduce the prevalence of privately managed estates over the coming years. For further information about those consultations, I refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement made on 18 December 2025 (HCWS1210).

Found: Q13 Alex Mayer: Who did they seek advice from that came back inconclusive?