Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the Auror crime intelligence platform in supporting police forces to tackle shoplifting and repeat retail offending.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office has not undertaken a formal assessment of the effectiveness of the Auror crime intelligence platform. Retail crime reporting platforms are commercial products procured and operated independently of government.
Digital reporting platforms can, however, support retailers and police by improving the sharing of evidence and intelligence, including information that can help identify repeat and organised offenders. We are working with policing and retailers to improve digital retail crime reporting, with a platform-agnostic approach focused on improving evidence quality, reducing duplication and enabling information to be acted on more efficiently.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to support local enforcement action against the illegal use of off-road bikes and antisocial vehicle use in Bedfordshire.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government is clear that the illegal and anti-social use of off-road bikes causes significant nuisance to communities.
The Crime and Policing Act 2026 strengthens the powers available to police to tackle anti-social behaviour, including making it easier for officers to seize vehicles used anti-socially. These measures will help police respond more quickly and robustly to the anti-social use of off-road bikes and other vehicles and help prevent reoffending.
The Home Office continues to work closely with policing partners to support them in taking effective enforcement action. Decisions on operational activity and the deployment of resources in Bedfordshire, including action against the illegal use of off-road bikes, are matters for the Chief Constable of Bedfordshire Police, who is best placed to assess and respond to local concerns.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
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 support farmers and landowners affected by fly-tipping on private land.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Available support includes advice and good practice provided through the National Fly-tipping Prevention Group, EA awareness raising activities, insurance products that can cover clearance costs. We encourage councils to investigate fly-tipping and prosecute offenders. Where convictions are secured, courts can order offenders to reimburse landowners' clearance costs.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to reduce inappropriate polypharmacy.
Answered by James Frith - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Inappropriate polypharmacy is one of the aspects of overprescribing that the Department is seeking to tackle alongside NHS England and other health partners, as set out in the response of 15 September to Question 21812.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department is having discussions with her Faroese counterparts on the potential merits of banning dolphin hunting.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK strongly opposes the hunting of all cetaceans other than some limited activities by indigenous people for clearly defined subsistence needs. Defra officials most recently raised the UK's opposition to Faroese cetacean hunting at official level in June 2026 as part of the UK-Faroe Islands fisheries intersessional. This will be raised again at head of delegation level during formal UK-Faroe Islands bilateral fisheries negotiations in November 2026. Defra officials will attend the next meeting of the Joint Committee established under the UK–Faroe Islands Free Trade Agreement. Ministers and senior officials will continue to raise the issue with the Faroese at every appropriate opportunity.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether officials from her Department will attend the next meeting of the Joint Committee established under the UK–Faroe Islands Free Trade Agreement.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK strongly opposes the hunting of all cetaceans other than some limited activities by indigenous people for clearly defined subsistence needs. Defra officials most recently raised the UK's opposition to Faroese cetacean hunting at official level in June 2026 as part of the UK-Faroe Islands fisheries intersessional. This will be raised again at head of delegation level during formal UK-Faroe Islands bilateral fisheries negotiations in November 2026. Defra officials will attend the next meeting of the Joint Committee established under the UK–Faroe Islands Free Trade Agreement. Ministers and senior officials will continue to raise the issue with the Faroese at every appropriate opportunity.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, when her Department plans to bring forward reforms to enable community energy schemes to sell electricity directly to local households and businesses.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government recognises the barriers community energy schemes face in selling their energy directly to local households and businesses. The Government is exploring policy and regulatory options that will enable better market access for community energy groups, including enabling routes to directly supply local households and businesses.
The Government is monitoring Ofgem’s developments relating to code modification P441, which is intended help community energy groups and other local renewable energy projects identify and understand different routes to selling energy in their local markets.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether she plans to review restrictions on the consumption of alcohol within sight of the pitch at designated football matches.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
This is a matter for the Home Office to consider. The Government keeps alcohol-related issues at football matches under review, however there are currently no plans to change the law.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure equitable access to community eye care services across England.
Answered by James Frith - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer provided on 10 September in response to Question 26133.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to improve the detection and management of hypertension in primary care.
Answered by James Frith - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Cardiovascular Disease Modern Service Framework (CVD MSF), published on 7 July, sets out 12 immediate priorities for the next three years to drive measurable improvements in outcomes and reduce inequalities. This includes a priority on hypertension treatment to target for people without cardiovascular disease. A delivery plan to support the system to implement the CVD MSF will be published later this year. More information about the CVD MSF is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cardiovascular-disease-modern-service-framework
The Quality and Outcomes Framework incentivises general practitioners to identify, monitor and manage patients with hypertension, while the CVD Prevention Audit helps practices improve blood pressure detection and control through data-driven quality improvement. The framework and audit are available respectively at the following two links:
https://cks.nice.org.uk/topics/hypertension/goals-outcome-measures/qof-indicators/
https://www.cvdprevent.nhs.uk/
The National Health Service outcomes and oversight architecture supports better hypertension outcomes by creating national accountability for cardiovascular outcomes and, through the NHS Oversight Framework 2026/27, by holding systems to account for improving blood pressure control among people with diagnosed hypertension. This framework is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/nhs-oversight-framework-2026-27/