Asked by: Charlotte Cane (Liberal Democrat - Ely and East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when his Department intends to respond to correspondence of 7 October 2025 from the hon. Member for Ely and East Cambridgeshire on supporting neurodivergent people into employment.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
I replied to the Hon. Member on 25 November.
Asked by: Charlotte Cane (Liberal Democrat - Ely and East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer to Question 89265 on Legal Aid Scheme: Ely and East Cambridgeshire, how many of the providers in each procurement area are based in Ely and East Cambridgeshire constituency.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
There are no legal aid providers with an office within the Ely and East Cambridgeshire constituency.
However, that does not mean that your constituents do not have access to legal aid and legal aid services both locally within the wider constituency or via national services provided on a remote basis.
As set out in the answer to Questions 86918 and 89265, the LAA does not commission services at constituency or individual town level. Services are commissioned and monitored at wider procurement area level. Constituents in Ely and East Cambridgeshire can access services locally within the wider procurement area which has more than the minimum number of contracts in each civil category. Additionally, the Cambridge Housing Loss Prevention Advice Service ensures that on the day emergency representation is available in respect of cases concerning eviction or loss of home is available to your constituents.
Local civil legal aid services are supplemented by national remote services such as Civil Legal Advice which provides access to free confidential advice on housing, debt, education and discrimination matters throughout England and Wales.
All duty slots on the Ely and East Cambridge duty solicitor scheme are covered. This means that anybody attending or arrested at a police station in your consituency will have access to a legally-aided solicitor.
Asked by: Charlotte Cane (Liberal Democrat - Ely and East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 17 November to Question 88055 on Humanitarian Aid, whether a specific proportion of the Official Development Assistance budget is ring-fenced for those purposes.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Data on Official Development Assistance (ODA) spend for the requested period is published in the Statistics on International Development on GOV.UK, and is broken down by sector, including for humanitarian aid. Further information and annual reviews on specific programmes can be found on GOV.UK's Development Tracker.
Asked by: Charlotte Cane (Liberal Democrat - Ely and East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of answered on 17 November 2025 to Question 88055, on Humanitarian Aid, how much funding has been provided through the Official Development Assistance budget for (a) immediate humanitarian needs and (b) crisis support in each of the last three years.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Data on Official Development Assistance (ODA) spend for the requested period is published in the Statistics on International Development on GOV.UK, and is broken down by sector, including for humanitarian aid. Further information and annual reviews on specific programmes can be found on GOV.UK's Development Tracker.
Asked by: Charlotte Cane (Liberal Democrat - Ely and East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will bring forward legislative proposals to permit (a) commercial companies and (b) property developers to offer collection and reuse of non-drinkable rainwater.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra are considering the recommendations set out in the Independent Water Commission including the ask for Government to work with regulators to develop a new policy and regulatory framework to drive the adoption of water re-use infrastructure in the household and non-household commercial market.
The Government recognises the benefits of water reuse within domestic properties through rainwater harvesting with the additional benefit of reduced demand on the sewerage system through attenuation of water within the system. Opportunities to harness these benefits will be considered as part of our review of Part H of the Building Regulations including the use of dual pipe systems providing both potable and treated, non-potable water which has the capacity of supplying rainwater, greywater and stormwater. The treated reused water can be used for non-drinking purposes such as toilet flushing, outdoor use and washing machines. Potable water is still supplied for human consumption, as well as other domestic uses such as showering and sinks.
Asked by: Charlotte Cane (Liberal Democrat - Ely and East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answers of 29 October 2025 to Question 84015 on Legal Aid Scheme: Ely and East Cambridgeshire and of 17 November 2025 to Question 88053 on Legal Aid Scheme: Ely and East Cambridgeshire, what criteria the Legal Aid Agency uses to assess the adequacy of access to legal aid services in Ely and East Cambridgeshire constituency.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 7 November to Question 86918 which sets out methodology used to assess supply of legal aid services.
As set out in that response civil legal aid services are commissioned and monitored at procurement area level and the basic criteria used is whether each category of law has at least the minimum number of contracts.
Criminal legal aid services are commissioned at a national level but as set out in the response to question 86918 the Legal Aid Agency ensures demand under the local duty scheme is met i.e. there is cover for all available slots on the duty solicitor rota.
Asked by: Charlotte Cane (Liberal Democrat - Ely and East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer to Question 88054 answered on 17th November 2025, how involve is defined with regard to consulting Fire and Rescue Services during public consultation.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The relevant part of the Planning Practice Guidance on expected interactions between local planning authorities and local fire and rescue services with respect to grid-scale batteries is at paragraph 35.
Asked by: Charlotte Cane (Liberal Democrat - Ely and East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer to Question 88051 answered on 17th November 2025, if he will consider publishing interim data on this topic.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Fuel poverty statistics are based on the English Housing Survey which is collected annually. The department does not hold interim statistics or data on fuel poverty collected between English Housing Survey samples. The date for the next publication in 2026 will be pre-announced in line with the standards for official statistics.
Asked by: Charlotte Cane (Liberal Democrat - Ely and East Cambridgeshire)
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 stakeholders on the potential merits of extending the Listed Places of Worship Scheme beyond March 2026.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Minister for Heritage and her officials have had numerous conversations with stakeholders about the Listed Places of Worship scheme. The scheme is funded until March 2026 or when the budget is spent, whichever is earlier.
The future of the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme after March 2026 will be announced when the outcome of the Spending Review and business planning processes have completed.
Asked by: Charlotte Cane (Liberal Democrat - Ely and East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he is taking to support women in the hospitality sector.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government is taking important steps through its Employment Rights Bill to protect workers from misconduct in the workplace, including women in the hospitality sector.
We are introducing measures that will restrict the use of non-disclosure agreements in cases of harassment and discrimination and strengthen protections for workers who ‘blow the whistle’ on sexual harassment.
The Bill will also require employers to take ‘all reasonable steps’ to prevent sexual harassment of their employees and introduce an obligation on employers not to permit the harassment of their employees by third parties.