Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps his Department is taking to (a) divest public funds from fossil fuels and (b) support community-owned renewable energy initiatives.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
As part of our mission to make Britain a clean energy superpower, we are delivering the largest public investment in clean energy and nature recovery in UK history which will cut bills, provide energy security, create jobs, and boost growth. At COP29, The UK joined the Coalition on Phasing out Fossil Fuel Incentives, including Subsidies which further demonstrates our continued engagement on inefficient fossil fuel subsidy reform. At the same time, we are ensuring the North Sea transition sets a global benchmark for a just and prosperous energy future.
Since its establishment, Great British Energy has invested over £280 million into local and community energy with the UK government.
Great British Energy announced that £5 million will be allocated to the Great British Energy Community Fund in 2025/26, a grant funding scheme to support community energy groups to generate their own clean power projects.
On 21 May, we published a working paper on community benefits and shared ownership of low carbon energy infrastructure. The working paper sought evidence on current shared ownership practices in the UK and whether introducing a legal requirement to offer shared ownership using powers in Section 38 Part 6 of the Infrastructure Act 2015 is appropriate. We are currently reviewing responses.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the forthcoming National Cancer Plan for England will include (a) targets to improve the early diagnosis of (i) myeloma and (ii) other blood cancers, and steps to (b) reduce the number of GP visits prior to diagnosis and (c) the proportion of patients diagnosed via emergency departments.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Early diagnosis is a key focus of the National Cancer Plan. It is a priority for the Government to support the National Health Service to diagnose cancer, including blood cancers, as early and quickly as possible, and to treat it faster, to improve outcomes.
To tackle the late diagnoses of blood cancers, the NHS is implementing non-specific symptom pathways for patients who present with symptoms such as weight loss and fatigue, which do not clearly align to a tumour type. Blood cancers are one of the most common cancer types diagnosed through these pathways.
We will get the NHS diagnosing blood cancers earlier and treating them faster, and we will support the NHS to increase capacity to meet the demand for diagnostic services through investment, including for magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography scanners.
The National Cancer Plan will include further details on how we will improve outcomes for cancer patients, including speeding up diagnosis and treatment, ensuring patients have access to the latest treatments and technology, and driving up this country’s cancer survival rates. The Plan will be published in early 2026.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that UK airports provide autism-friendly (a) facilities and (b) support; and whether she plans to introduce national standards for accessibility provision for neurodiverse passengers.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Aviation must be accessible to all. To support this, the Department for Transport established the Aviation Accessibility Task and Finish Group, which published 19 recommendations on 16 July to improve aviation accessibility.
Two of these focus on non-visible impairments, including neurodivergence. One calls for pan-impairment requirements in airport accessibility reviews to ensure facilities, services, and support meet the needs of all passengers. The other recommends awareness campaigns to build confidence among passengers with non-visible impairments and improve understanding among staff and the public.
The Group will now support the sector in championing and implementing these recommendations.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she has made an assessment of the adequacy of legal powers held by councils to tackle pavement-parked cars.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Department has been considering all the views expressed in response to the 2020 pavement parking consultation and is currently working through the policy options and the appropriate means of delivering them. We will announce the next steps and publish our formal response as soon as possible.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department plans to introduce free bus travel for people under the age of 22; and what assessment he has made of the potential impact of transport costs on young people’s access to education, training, and employment.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government knows how important affordable and reliable bus services are in enabling people to get to education, work and access vital services. On 1 January, we introduced a £3 cap on single bus fares in England outside London to help passengers continue to access cheaper bus services and better opportunities. At the Spending Review we announced the cap would be extended until March 2027.
At present, the majority of bus services operate on a commercial basis by private operators, and any decisions regarding the level at which fares are set outside the scope of the £3 bus fare cap are commercial decisions for operators. Bus operators can choose to offer discounted fares for young people, and in the year ending March 2025, youth discounts were offered by at least one commercial bus operator in 73 out of 85 local authority areas in England outside London.
As part of the Autumn 2024 Budget, the Government allocated over £1 billion to support and improve bus services in 25/26 and make fares more affordable. This includes £712 million for local authorities, this can be used to expand services and improve reliability, which are currently massive obstacles for too many people. Liverpool City Region Combined Authority has been allocated £20.8 million of this funding. Funding allocated to local authorities to deliver better bus services can be used in whichever way they wish to improve services for passengers, which could include introducing new fares initiatives to reduce the cost of bus travel for young people.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much from the public purse has been spent on legal representation in public inquests and inquiries in each year between 2020 and July 2025.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
For statutory inquiries, section 40 of the Inquiries Act 2005 gives the Chair the power to award funding for legal representation subject to conditions imposed by the Sponsoring Minister. Details of these costs and of the cost of an inquiry’s legal support are available on individual inquiry websites. The Cabinet Office does not keep centralised records of expenditure on legal representation in public inquiries and inquests.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 8 May 2025 to Question 49250 on Plants: Disease Control, what assessment he has made of the the potential impact of the UPOV 1991 convention on small holder and subsistence farmers globally?.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
Signatories to the 1991 UPOV convention are part of a global plant variety protection system. UPOV’s mission is to encourage the development of new plant varieties for the benefit of society. The assurance that intellectual property will be respected encourages plant breeders to invest in new varieties, critical for all in the face of climate change and food security.
Requirements under UPOV91 apply to new varieties and not existing traditional varieties. The protection of new varieties is voluntary and is a decision made by the plant breeder. To become a member, regulations must align to UPOV91, but there is some degree of flexibility in how national policies are implemented, allowing for local needs to be reflected.
Furthermore, Article 15(2) of the convention contains an optional exception to the Breeder’s Right, allowing farmers to use seed collected from their own crops for their own use with enforcement via domestic legislation.
The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, Department for Business & Trade, and Defra are working together to find a balance between protecting plant breeders’ rights, the need for smallholder farmers to have access to better seed varieties, and the sovereignty of informal seed systems, upon which many smallholder and subsistence farmers rely.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of how many and what proportion of patients aged over 75 presenting at A&E in England were screened for delirium in the last 12 months.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The information requested is not available centrally.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent estimate he has made of the (a) the number and (b) the percentage of people over 60 presenting at A&E who waited over 12 hours to be (a) transferred, (b) admitted or (c) discharged in the last 12 months.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England publishes data on the number of accident and emergency attendances and admissions by age. Data is also published on 12-hour accident and emergency attendances, although this is not available by age.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of how many and what proportion of patients aged over 75 presenting at A&E in England were screened to assess their risk of falling in the last 12 months.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The information requested is not available centrally.