Asked by: Jack Rankin (Conservative - Windsor)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the estimated average cost of a prisoner's breakfast is according to the latest available data.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
Data about expenditure on food and specific meals is not held centrally. Prison food budgets are determined locally (by the Governor in public sector prisons or the Director in privately managed prisons). They are kept under review as part of normal non-pay budget allocation. Our policy sets out clear expectations to provide for three balanced nutritious meals a day, including breakfast and catering managers are provided guidance to support this.
Asked by: Jack Rankin (Conservative - Windsor)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to repair and restore footbridges along the Jubilee River; and what estimate she has made of the associated cost to the taxpayer.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Jubilee River is part of the Maidenhead, Windsor and Eaton Flood Alleviation Scheme which is operated and maintained by the Environment Agency. Footbridges along the Jubilee River are the responsibility of the respective local authorities including Buckinghamshire Council, Slough Council and the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead. The Environment Agency works closely with these councils; however, questions relating to plans to repair and restore these footbridges should be directed to the respective local authority, not the Environment Agency.
Asked by: Jack Rankin (Conservative - Windsor)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the empty home premium applies to (a) retirement and (b) care properties where the tenant has passed away and ownership has fallen to an executor.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Local authorities have the discretionary power to charge a council tax premium on long-term empty dwellings in their area. Where the premium is in place, it applies to properties that have been unoccupied and substantially unfurnished for one or more years. The government has introduced regulations on mandatory exceptions, which are explained in guidance here, including an exception where probate has been granted. Once the exemption period has ended, normal rules on empty properties apply.
Asked by: Jack Rankin (Conservative - Windsor)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the policy paper entitled UK and Palestinian strategic cooperation: memorandum of understanding, published on 28 April 2025, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the Palestinian Authority’s commitment to peaceful coexistence with neighbouring countries.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon Member to my response of 17 September to Question 74028.
Asked by: Jack Rankin (Conservative - Windsor)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of UK stamp duty on the level of share trading volumes in Metlen.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Stamp Duty and Stamp Duty Reserve Tax are forecast to raise up to £5.1bn per year combined to help fund vital public services. The framework of the taxes contains many reliefs and exemptions which are designed to provide a boost to growth, liquidity, and trading volumes in UK listed companies.
The government keeps this area of tax under review.
Asked by: Jack Rankin (Conservative - Windsor)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if she will take steps to establish a multi-year recruitment and retention strategy for the magistracy.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
In light of the Independent Review of the Criminal Courts and the Sentencing Review, Ministers are considering the implications for the magistracy, including how best to ensure sufficient capacity in magistrates’ courts to meet both current and future demand and how we can best give deserved recognition to the long term service that many of our existing magistrates provide.
We will set out further details of our approach following the publication of the Government response to the Independent Review of the Criminal Courts.
Asked by: Jack Rankin (Conservative - Windsor)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the adequacy of the Jubilee Flood Alleviation Channel.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Jubilee Flood Alleviation Channel is part of the Maidenhead, Windsor, and Eton Flood Alleviation Scheme, protecting over 3000 properties in those areas. Since opening in 2002 it has successfully protected local communities from flooding on multiple occasions. The scheme also provides valuable local amenity and recreation benefit.
The Environment Agency is currently undertaking mechanical & electrical refurbishment work to the structures which control the flow of water into the relief channel. This will ensure that the asset continues to provide protection to communities this winter and into the future.
Additionally, they are carrying out repairs to a section of riverbank which was damaged during high flows in 2024 and supporting Buckinghamshire County Council with their removal of a timber footbridge which collapsed into the channel earlier this summer.
Asked by: Jack Rankin (Conservative - Windsor)
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 promote the UK’s Swap to Stop scheme at the World Health Organisation Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Eleventh Session of the Conference of Parties.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The health advice is clear, that whilst vapes can be an effective quit aid for adult smokers, children and non-smokers should never vape. The Swap to Stop scheme is a national smoking cessation programme through which the Department provides adult smokers access to free vape start kits alongside behavioural support to help them quit.
The Government has regularly set out our position on vaping at the Conference of the Parties to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and will do so at the next conference in Geneva in November 2025.
Asked by: Jack Rankin (Conservative - Windsor)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what representatives his Department plans to send to the World Health Organisation Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Eleventh Session of the Conference of Parties by (a) job title and (b) name.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The World Health Organization Conference of the Parties of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control will take place in Geneva from Monday 17 to Saturday 22 November.
The United Kingdom’s delegation will consist of officials from the Department of Health and Social Care, as is usual practice for this conference.
A decision on who will attend is yet to be made. However, it is departmental policy not to name officials below Senior Civil Service grades who attend these events.
Asked by: Jack Rankin (Conservative - Windsor)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 15 May 2025 to Question 50803 on Heathrow Airport: Money, how much cash was seized by the Border Force (a) at Heathrow Airport and (b) nationally in the last year for which figures are available.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
In the interests of maintaining border security, Border Force does not routinely disclose information of a port-specific nature, and the requested national information is not available from published statistics.