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 plans to introduce measures to manage bottom trawl fishing in the 41 English marine protected areas consulted on in 2025; and if she will set out a timeframe for introducing these measures.

Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Ely and East Cambridgeshire on 13 November 2025, PQ 88509.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if his Department will list ML3 arms export licences to Israel licensing the transfer of ammunition for civilian use extant between 1 January 2025 and 31 September 2025.

Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The Department does not hold continuous records on the number of export licences extant at any point over historic periods, but publishes data regularly based on decisions taken and has, on an exceptional basis, periodically published further detail on licences for Israel extant as at a point in time.

In August 2025 the Department published informed on the 347 licences involving Israel which were extant on 31 July. This total included 5 licences with an ML3 rating. Any ammunition covered under such licences was assessed as not having utility in military operations in Gaza, either because the items were to be re-exported to third countries, or because the items covered related to training ammunition or non-military purposes.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Deposit Return Scheme on small retailers in rural areas.

Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Defra published the Final Impact Assessment on DRS, including its assessment of impact on retailers, for England and Northern Ireland in 2024. This can be found at: The Deposit Scheme for Drinks Containers (England and Northern Ireland) Regulations 2024.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure that exemption arrangements under the Deposit Return Scheme are accessible to rural retailers.

Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The regulations set out rules requiring all grocery retailers that sell drinks that are included in the scheme to host a return point, unless they qualify for an exemption.

Retailers, including those in rural communities, will be able to apply to the deposit management organisation, Exchange for Change, for an exemption to operating a return point on their premises if they qualify under the relevant criteria. These include being in close proximity to another return point or not having suitable premises for operating a return point safely.

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 promote water literacy training.

Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Defra works closely with Waterwise, an independent not-for-profit, non-governmental organisation who are spearheading the Water Literacy Training Pilot, which aims to equip professionals with the knowledge and tools to play their part in tackling water scarcity and its environmental impact in the UK, and to support their pilot and consider next steps.

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 mitigate water demand from new housing developments in water-stressed regions.

Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Department is taking forward a number of steps to mitigate water demand from new housing developments in water stressed regions.

Policy options on amendments to Water Efficiency Standards in Building Regulations have been tested through a public consultation which ran from September to December 2025. The Government response will set out how we will tighten water standards in new homes to protect water stressed regions.

Defra has established a Water Delivery Taskforce to ensure that water companies deliver on their planned investments to provide water and wastewater capacity for the development of new homes and businesses. The Taskforce has seen excellent work across departments to resolve blockers where water scarcity issues have stalled development. For example, in Cambridge, one of the most water-stressed regions of the UK the Taskforce is facilitating innovation through a series of testbed projects to help resolve local water supply challenges.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to improve the reliability of broadband and mobile connectivity for businesses in rural areas.

Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The government recognises that high quality digital connectivity is essential for businesses in the UK, including in rural areas. Our ambition is for all populated areas to have access to higher quality standalone 5G by 2030 and we have a target to deliver nationwide (99%) gigabit broadband coverage by 2032.

By phasing out copper-based connections and rolling out gigabit-capable fibre broadband, we are enabling faster and more resilient connectivity. Through Project Gigabit, we are delivering fast, reliable broadband to UK homes and businesses not included in suppliers' commercial plans, complementing commercial market delivery. As of the end of December 2025, over 1.3 million homes and businesses in rural areas across the UK had been upgraded to gigabit-capable broadband through government-funded programmes.

Standalone 5G has the potential to offer high speed, high capacity, reliable connectivity, allowing communities and businesses to thrive. Where reliable 4G is not available, the Government’s Shared Rural Network programme continues to deliver 4G coverage, thereby improving the reliability and resilience of mobile connectivity. The programme has already met its interim target ahead of schedule, extending 4G coverage to over 95% of the UK landmass, with delivery continuing to January 2027 to address remaining not‑spots. This is improving day‑to‑day connectivity for rural businesses.

We recognise that power cuts can affect services, especially in rural areas. Ofcom are completing a detailed regulatory review of the resilience of mobile networks to power cuts, and Government is supporting collaboration between the electricity and telecommunications sectors to further reduce the likelihood and duration of any loss to mobile services from power cuts.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment he has made of the resilience of electricity networks serving rural businesses.

Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

Energy resilience is one of our top priorities. The Government is working with the industry to continually improve and maintain the resilience of old and new energy infrastructure, networks and assets, including the ones in rural areas. This will reduce vulnerabilities and ensure an effective response to actual or potentially disruptive incidents.

The Government will also publish an Energy Resilience Strategy in 2026 to set long term priorities for maintaining a secure and resilient energy system.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if his Department will list ML3 arms export licences to Israel licensing the transfer of bullets extant for August 2025.

Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

I refer the Member to the answer I gave on 5 March to question 117033.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether any UK military facilities have been used for the testing and training of the Watchkeeper X drone.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

No UK military facilities have been used for the testing and training of Watchkeeper X.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many times the incorporation SIEL, issued on 26 November 2024, for export to Israel by Thales UK has been used; on which dates; and whether that licence has been exhausted.

Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

Since September 2024 this Government has suspended licences for exports for the IDF that might be used in military operations in Gaza and we have continued to refuse relevant new licence applications on the same basis.

Not all military licences for Israel have been suspended, as many relate to items for re-export to third countries or are otherwise not assessed as being for use in military operations in Gaza.

We can confirm that the licence referenced remains extant. The Department does not hold comprehensive data on exports that have taken place under individual export licences. For goods export data, you should refer to HMRC, who publish UK trade in goods statistics by partner country and product which can be found on www.uktradeinfo.com.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many of the non-suspended extant military licences to Israel as at 31 July 2025 identified as (a) being for and (b) supporting re-export to third parties outside of Israel are incorporation SIELs.

Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

At 31 July 2025 there were 167 extant licences that include military items. Of these 84 were identified as being for, or supporting, re-export to third parties outside of Israel. These exports are defined as those where Israel is not the Ultimate End-User country, or where the re-export nature of the shipment is made clear in the licence detail.

Of these 84 licences, 51 were Standard Individual Export Licences covering Incorporation scenarios. However, this is not the only relevant licence type. Other licence types, including SIELs for both temporary and permanent exports, can cover, for example, the demonstration and testing of components, in support of the production of goods for onward export.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether he has assessed the risk of diversion for ammunition for civilian use licensed from the UK to Israel, including to settlers in the West Bank.

Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The UK Government has a clear position that Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories are illegal under international law.

All export licence applications are assessed for the risk of diversion in line with Criterion 7 of the Strategic Export Licensing Criteria which considers the ‘risk that the items will be diverted to an undesirable end-user or for an undesirable end-use'. This includes consideration, where relevant, of use in illegal settlements. Risk of diversion is complex, representing the single biggest reason export licences are refused, and all licences are kept under careful and continual review.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many export licences covering military training equipment to Israel were extant between 1 January 2025 and 31 September 2025.

Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The Department does not hold continuous records on the number of export licences extant at any point over historic periods, but publishes data regularly based on decisions taken and has, on an exceptional basis, periodically published further detail on licences for Israel extant as at a point in time.

In August 2025 the Department published information on the 347 licences involving Israel which were extant on 31 July. Of these, five licences for the IDF/Israeli Government involved training and testing goods.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of existing mechanisms for reporting retail crime by businesses in rural areas.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

The central aim of our police reforms is to protect and revitalise neighbourhood policing. We are lifting national responsibilities off local forces so they focus on tackling local issues, like fighting retail crime. All communities, including rural communities, will benefit from and are included in these reforms.

We are on track to deliver an additional 3,000 neighbourhood officers by March. We are giving them the powers they need, including making it a specific offence to assault retail workers and ending the treatment of theft under the value of £200 as a summary-only offence. Again, these changes are applicable to all types of communities, including those defined as rural.

With our Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee every neighbourhood, rural or urban, now gets a named contactable officer, dedicated to addressing the issues facing their communities, including shop theft, and a response to non-urgent queries in 72 hours.

Reporting crime to the police is the first crucial step in ensuring an appropriate police response. The Government is supporting the police and retailers. This work will set consistent standards for identifying, assessing and tackling retail crime across police and industry.

We are also encouraging closer local partnerships between police and retailers, for example through Business Crime Reduction Partnerships, to help local police respond effectively to crimes reported.

We are already seeing a difference. Whilst it is unacceptable that shop theft offences continue to trend upward, this is at a slower rate than we have seen in recent years. Police recorded crime figures recorded 519,381 shoplifting offences for the year ending September 2025. This represents a 5% increase from the previous year. The number of charges for shop theft rose by 21% (up to 111,559 charges). The charge rate also increased from 17.9% to 20.1%. However, this remains well below that seen in 2015/16 (29.6%). The number of charges for shop theft have increased at a greater rate over the same period [up to 111,559 charges or 21%]. This increase in the charge rate from 17.9% to 20.1% shows police are taking these crimes seriously.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to help improve police responses to retail crime in rural areas.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

The central aim of our police reforms is to protect and revitalise neighbourhood policing. We are lifting national responsibilities off local forces so they focus on tackling local issues, like fighting retail crime. All communities, including rural communities, will benefit from and are included in these reforms.

We are on track to deliver an additional 3,000 neighbourhood officers by March. We are giving them the powers they need, including making it a specific offence to assault retail workers and ending the treatment of theft under the value of £200 as a summary-only offence. Again, these changes are applicable to all types of communities, including those defined as rural.

With our Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee every neighbourhood, rural or urban, now gets a named contactable officer, dedicated to addressing the issues facing their communities, including shop theft, and a response to non-urgent queries in 72 hours.

Reporting crime to the police is the first crucial step in ensuring an appropriate police response. The Government is supporting the police and retailers. This work will set consistent standards for identifying, assessing and tackling retail crime across police and industry.

We are also encouraging closer local partnerships between police and retailers, for example through Business Crime Reduction Partnerships, to help local police respond effectively to crimes reported.

We are already seeing a difference. Whilst it is unacceptable that shop theft offences continue to trend upward, this is at a slower rate than we have seen in recent years. Police recorded crime figures recorded 519,381 shoplifting offences for the year ending September 2025. This represents a 5% increase from the previous year. The number of charges for shop theft rose by 21% (up to 111,559 charges). The charge rate also increased from 17.9% to 20.1%. However, this remains well below that seen in 2015/16 (29.6%). The number of charges for shop theft have increased at a greater rate over the same period [up to 111,559 charges or 21%]. This increase in the charge rate from 17.9% to 20.1% shows police are taking these crimes seriously.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to ensure that Local Government Reorganisation take account of the needs of rural businesses.

Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

Strong local government will help grow the economy and drive up living standards – the government’s number one mission.

We understand communities, including rural businesses, should be able to have their say on the future of their local public services so we have been clear on the importance of councils engaging with local residents and organisations as they developed their proposals. Proposals should show how councils in the area have sought to work together in coming to a view that meets local needs and is informed by local views.

Local businesses are also able to respond to the statutory consultation on proposals for their area. Following the consultation, proposals will be considered carefully alongside the responses received and all other relevant information.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of local infrastructure planning on the sustainability of retail businesses in rural areas.

Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 112724 on 3 March 2026.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, progress his department has made on testing personalised employment support in the Wakefield Pathfinder pilots; and whether an assessment has been made of the potential impact on user experience.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

As part of the first Jobs and Careers Service Pathfinder, launched in Wakefield in April 2025, we have been testing personalised employment support, including through a new Get Britain Working Coaching Academy and changes to claimant commitment appointments. Evaluation is ongoing and will focus on how personalised employment support is delivered both from a user and operational perspective. We are committed to publish evaluation findings in line with Government Social Research processes.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the in-house digital replacement for the DWP's Find a Job service, whether an assessment has been carried out of its potential impact on (a) jobseeker outcomes and (b) employers ability to find workforce, were it to launch with a reduction in provision when compared with the existing service.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The new service is designed to provide a parity of service from day one. We do not expect any negative impact on Jobseeker outcomes. The Department is continuously reviewing the readiness of the new service, and it remains on track. Over time the new service will be iterated in to provide a more enhanced experience for customers, in line with the ambition for the Jobs and Careers Service as outlined in the Get Britian Working White Paper.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the in-house replacement for the Department’s Find a Job digital service will (a) offer additional functions to the current service, (b) if those additional functions will be available on launch, and (c) if not available on launch, when such functions will be incorporated.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

At the point of launch, the in-house replacement service will support equivalent functionality to the existing Find a Job service. After launch the service will go through regular test and learn iterations to introduce new innovations.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the Delivery Model Assessment undertaken by his Department for the new Jobs and Careers Service included an assessment of existing AI-powered technologies available in the private sector.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

For the new jobs and careers service the Department considered a range of delivery options and enabling technologies to support service design and delivery, including the potential role of digital and data‑driven tools such as automation and artificial intelligence.

The Department is preparing to undertake a market engagement exercise to understand the range of digital products and services that could support and enhance the Jobs and Career Service. The outcome of this engagement will help inform the future delivery strategy for the Jobs and Career Service.

Any consideration of AI‑powered solutions is subject to the Department’s established governance, assurance, and ethical frameworks, including requirements on data protection, security, transparency, and value for money. The Department continues to monitor developments in AI‑enabled technologies and will consider their appropriate use where they can safely and effectively support delivery of the Jobs and Careers Service.