Asked by: Ben Goldsborough (Labour - South Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans the Department has to implement a National Listing system to recognise precision bred seeds.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
A consultation was held from 14 February to 17 April 2025 seeking feedback on a proposed plant varieties and seed framework for precision bred plant varieties. The proposal included a Precision Bred Plant Varieties List for England. The main agricultural and vegetable plant varieties require evaluating and registering on a variety list before seed and other plant reproductive material can be marketed to ensure that they are new and improved. A new list in England is required for precision bred plant varieties in addition to the existing GB and Northern Ireland variety lists.
This Government is negotiating a Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Agreement with the EU to make agrifood trade with our biggest market cheaper and easier, cutting costs and red tape for British producers and retailers. The agreement will cover SPS standards and controls, including plant varieties and seeds. The EU have accepted there are several areas where GB will retain its own rules. The details of these are subject to negotiations, but we have been clear about the importance of being able to support the use of new innovative technologies.
Asked by: Ben Goldsborough (Labour - South Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the Department will set out a date by which the sale of precision bred seeds will be made legal.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
A consultation was held from 14 February to 17 April 2025 seeking feedback on a proposed plant varieties and seed framework for precision bred plant varieties. The proposal included a Precision Bred Plant Varieties List for England. The main agricultural and vegetable plant varieties require evaluating and registering on a variety list before seed and other plant reproductive material can be marketed to ensure that they are new and improved. A new list in England is required for precision bred plant varieties in addition to the existing GB and Northern Ireland variety lists.
This Government is negotiating a Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Agreement with the EU to make agrifood trade with our biggest market cheaper and easier, cutting costs and red tape for British producers and retailers. The agreement will cover SPS standards and controls, including plant varieties and seeds. The EU have accepted there are several areas where GB will retain its own rules. The details of these are subject to negotiations, but we have been clear about the importance of being able to support the use of new innovative technologies.
Asked by: Ben Goldsborough (Labour - South Norfolk)
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 will make an economic and environmental impact assessment on the alternatives to peat-free growing media.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This question has been interpreted as whether Defra will make an economic and environmental impact assessment on peat-free alternatives in growing media.
This Government is committed to protecting our nature-rich habitats, including peat bogs and to this end, the Government has pledged to legislate for a ban on the sale of peat and peat-containing products when Parliamentary time allows. This commitment is embedded within our Carbon Budget planning and, most recently, reflected in the current version of the Environmental Improvement Plan. Whilst an Impact Assessment (IA) was prepared in support of the previous Government’s consultation on ending the sale of peat and peat containing products, IA procedures have changed and this Government would be required to carry out a new IA as part of any legislative process for a ban to end the sale of peat.
Using the Responsible Sourcing Scheme for Growing Media methodology to assess the environmental impact of different types of growing media, it has been shown that whilst all materials have an environmental impact, for the most part, this is lower in peat-alternatives.
Asked by: Ben Goldsborough (Labour - South Norfolk)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that heating failures on the secure estate are fixed promptly.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
We continue to work with prison Governors to ensure appropriate contingency measures are in place to mitigate the impact of heating and hot water systems at a prison becoming inoperative.
Contingency plans are in place with the Ministry of Justice’s Facilities Management providers to enable them to respond to any incidents that impact upon heating, hot water, or loss of critical services to site as a priority and these plans are regularly reviewed.
Asked by: Ben Goldsborough (Labour - South Norfolk)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if his Department will work with prison governors to implement appropriate contingency plans for inmate wellbeing in the event of heating failures.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
We continue to work with prison Governors to ensure appropriate contingency measures are in place to mitigate the impact of heating and hot water systems at a prison becoming inoperative.
Contingency plans are in place with the Ministry of Justice’s Facilities Management providers to enable them to respond to any incidents that impact upon heating, hot water, or loss of critical services to site as a priority and these plans are regularly reviewed.
Asked by: Ben Goldsborough (Labour - South Norfolk)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the safety of inmates at HMP Holme House when the heating is not functioning.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The Ministry of Justice treats any disruption to the heating and hot water supply to any prison as a priority and implements contingency measures to rectify incidents that occur as soon as practically possible.
Safety and decency remained the primary focus throughout the recent disruption of the heating system at HMP Holme House, with staff instructed to monitor residential conditions closely and escalate any concerns immediately.
Asked by: Ben Goldsborough (Labour - South Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, a) whether Voluntary Controlled schools will be eligible for nomination under the school rebuilding programme and b) which responsible body would need to nominate a Voluntary Controlled school for the next round of the school rebuilding programme.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government is investing almost £20 billion in the School Rebuilding Programme (SRP) from 2025/26 through to 2034/35, delivering rebuilding projects at over 500 schools across England within the existing programme and expanding the SRP with a further 250 schools to be selected.
The department plans to launch a nomination process early this year to identify schools for the next 250 places. Responsible bodies will be invited to submit schools for assessment at that point. We will publish full details on GOV.UK when the process launches.
Voluntary controlled schools are eligible for consideration under the SRP, alongside other state funded schools and sixth form colleges in England. The responsible body for a voluntary controlled school is the relevant local authority.
Asked by: Ben Goldsborough (Labour - South Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to Written Parliamentary Questions 98665, 98666 and 98668, what recourse exists for Voluntary Controlled schools to carry out urgent repairs to the school estate when the local authority fails to provide funding.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department is investing almost £3 billion per year in capital maintenance by 2034/35 to improve the condition of the school and college estate, rising from £2.4 billion in 2025/26.
As part of this, Norfolk Council received a School Condition Allocation of almost £5.5 million for the 2025/26 financial year to invest across its maintained schools, including voluntary controlled schools in South Norfolk constituency. We expect to set out allocations for the 2026/27 financial year in the spring.
The department expects local authorities to carefully prioritise investment based on evidence of need, so that school buildings remain safe, operational and compliant with relevant regulations. Voluntary controlled schools should speak to their local authority about any issues so that they are considered when prioritising current and future investment.
The department provides additional advice and support to responsible bodies on a case-by-case basis where there are significant and urgent safety issues with buildings that cannot be managed independently.
Asked by: Ben Goldsborough (Labour - South Norfolk)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to take steps to ensure Enhertu remains available on the NHS.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed
Decisions on whether new medicines should be routinely funded by the National Health Service in England are made on the basis of recommendations from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) following an evaluation of a treatment’s costs and benefits. These are very difficult decisions to make, and it is important that they are made independently and on the basis of the available evidence.
NICE has recommended Enhertu (trastuzumab deruxtecan) for use through the Cancer Drugs Fund for the treatment of HER2-positive unresectable or metastatic breast cancer after one or more anti-HER 2 treatments and for treating HER2-positive unresectable or metastatic breast cancer after two or more anti-HER2 therapies. Enhertu is now funded for eligible patients in England through the Cancer Drugs Fund in line with NICE’s recommendations. NICE will consider the evidence collected on the use of Enhertu through the Cancer Drugs Fund into account in making recommendations for the NHS on whether it should be routinely funded by the NHS.
NICE published guidance in July 2024 on the use of Enhertu for the treatment of HER-2 low metastatic and unresectable breast cancer and was unfortunately unable to recommend it for routine NHS funding.
Asked by: Ben Goldsborough (Labour - South Norfolk)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve community healthcare in rural areas.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government’s 10 Year Health Plan commits to three big shifts which includes increasingly moving services away from centralised hospitals into the wider community. Integrated care boards are responsible for the planning and commissioning of health services. In doing so ICBs must take into account the needs of their local population, which includes meeting the healthcare needs of their rural populations.