Josh Newbury

We are absolutely clear that trans people should be able to live openly with dignity and respect.

We have set out our immediate priorities in our Plan for Change. Our priorities for trans people are to pass a trans-inclusive ban on conversion practices, strengthen protections from hate crime for trans people and improve their healthcare. This Government is committed to delivering gender recognition reform, and we will deliver on that.

IPSA's proposed budgets are scrutinised each year by the Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Authority and approved by the House of Commons.

MPs' staffing budgets have increased by 63.3% between 2018-19 and 2024-25. In 2018-19, the London Staffing Budget was £164,460 and the non-London Saffing Budget was £153,620. In 2024-25, the London Staffing Budget was £268,550 and the non-London Saffing Budget was £250,820.

IPSA staffing expenditure has increased by 47.8% between 2018-19 and 2023-24 (the most recent year for which there is a full year expenditure) in response to MPs clearly expressed wish to see service standards significantly improved.

In our manifesto, we committed to reforming gender recognition law. We will remove indignities for trans people who deserve recognition and acceptance whilst retaining the need for a diagnosis of gender dysphoria.

We will set out our next steps on this work in due course.

The Attorney General’s Office does not rent vehicles. Vehicles used by the department are owned by the Government.

The Cabinet Office will publish detailed guidance on the application of social value criteria in central government procurement in the autumn.

Departments are allocated a combination of electric and hybrid vehicles which are owned by the Government Car Service based on operational and security requirements. However, details of the specific vehicles allocated to individual Ministers are not disclosed. Sharing this information, particularly when combined with other publicly available details, could compromise the security of Ministers and their transport arrangements.

For travel by civil servants, the Cabinet Office does not rent a fleet of vehicles. It does have a contract in place for the provision of hire vehicles. These are for short term vehicle hire and used for official travel. In 24/25 (the latest period where information is available), the Cabinet Office had 1,504 individual hires, covering 3,175 days of hire. Of these, 14 vehicles were fully electric, with a hire period of 29 days.

The Government is committed to removing barriers to the sustainable growth of the co-operative and mutuals sector, including barriers to accessing finance.

Co-operatives and mutuals can access British Business Bank-backed Start Up Loans and the Growth Guarantee Scheme, while Community ENABLE Funding supports community development finance institutions serving co-operatives, social enterprises and other underserved businesses.

The Department will also shortly be publishing its response to the call for evidence on business support co-operatives and non-financial mutuals.

The Government is committed to reducing regulatory barriers to establishing and growing co-operatives. We will shortly publish our response to the call for evidence on business support for co-operatives and non-financial mutuals, which will set out our approach to easing regulatory barriers more generally.

In September, the Department published a consultation on modernising corporate reporting, including considering how reporting requirements can be made more proportionate and better suited to member-owned businesses.

Separately, the Law Commission is reviewing co-operative and community benefit society law, including provisions on share capital and external investment, and is expected to report in early 2027.

The Government has engaged extensively with businesses, representative trade bodies and local authorities following the introduction of the statutory guidelines on the sale of disposable barbecues on 14 August. Feedback from local authorities, retailers and representative organisations, indicates that disposable barbecues have generally been removed from sale. Local authorities are responsible for enforcement at a local level and can take appropriate action where non-compliance is identified. The guidelines have been welcomed by Fire and Rescue Services as a proportionate measure supporting wider efforts to reduce the risk of wildfires and fire-related incidents.

The British Industry Supercharger cuts electricity costs for around 600 of the most electricity-intensive businesses, including Goodfish, a plastics manufacturer in Cannock. Last April, the Government uplifted relief from network charges for Supercharger recipients from 60% to 90%, raising the average electricity discount to around £65 to £87 per megawatt hour.

Around 120 of the most electricity-intensive and trade-exposed businesses also benefit from the EII Compensation Scheme, which provided a discount of around £24 per megawatt hour in 2025.

From 2027, the British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme will reduce electricity costs for over 10,000 manufacturers by up to £40 per megawatt hour.

The Department has a contract with Enterprise for car hire. In the 2024/25 financial year there were 672 rentals, of which 4 were electric vehicle (EV) rentals (0.61%). All vehicle types were rented for 1672 days in total, of which 7 were EV rental days (0.42%).

A home’s suitability for a heat pump depends on several factors such as sufficient internal and external space, peak current draw of the grid connection, and the home’s peak heat loss.

Evidence suggests the vast majority of GB homes have sufficient insulation and electricity connections to install a heat pump, considering developments like heat pumps operating with higher flow temperatures enabling installation in less well insulated homes.

We have commissioned research on understanding different approaches to decarbonising complex housing archetypes, including alternative low carbon heating solutions, and expect it to be published in due course.

The Government is making strong progress in supporting off-gas-grid homes to switch to cleaner heating.

In response to the Middle East situation, the Government increased grants available for heat pump installations to up to £9,000 for homes currently heated by oil or LPG.

In total the Boiler Upgrade Scheme has supported over 90,000 installations across England and Wales, with 49% of funding delivered to rural areas and 38% to off-grid areas. The average cost of a heat pump installation has fallen by 11% in real terms since the Scheme launched in 2022.

The Warm Homes: Local Grant is also supporting low-income households living in EPC D-G homes, both on and off the gas grid, with energy performance improvements and low-carbon heating.

The GGSS budget is set to balance delivery of the intended benefits of biomethane with affordability for bill payers. In the context of the original budget envelope for the Green Gas Support Scheme being fully allocated, we are carefully considering our approach to budget setting for the GGSS, including the case for supporting new applications from 1 April 2028.

The Department is aware of the need to provide certainty on this as soon as possible.

The Department is aware of a range of evidence showing that increasing biomethane deployment is a cost-effective route to delivering net zero, whilst also offering wider system benefits, such as waste management. This includes the Biomass Strategy 2023 estimate of 30-40TWh of biomethane production in 2050.

The Department is carefully considering this evidence to inform future support for the biomethane sector.

The Department is aware of a range of evidence showing that increasing biomethane deployment is a cost-effective route to delivering net zero, whilst also offering wider system benefits, such as waste management. This includes the Biomass Strategy 2023 estimate of 30-40TWh of biomethane production in 2050.

The Department is carefully considering this evidence to inform future support for the biomethane sector.

AI is already creating new, well-paid jobs. And we have launched the Pro-worker AI Adoption Prize to promote UK organisations that adopt AI in ways that provide workers with new capabilities and create new jobs.

To ensure workers can access these jobs, we are equipping 10 million workers with AI skills, with over 1.7 million courses delivered since June 2025.

The recently established AI Economics Institute will continue to strengthen our evidence base on how AI affects productivity, labour markets, and growth.

The Department does not hold this information.

The Government is committed to supporting the uptake, development and evaluation of alternative methods to the use of animals in science and new approach methodologies. It is not yet possible to replace all animal use due to the complexity of biological systems and regulatory requirements for their use.

We recognise that any work to support the transition to new approach methodologies must be science-led and in lock step with partners, and so we are meeting with key stakeholders to pursue this work. We will make any announcements on our plans in due course.

The Department has not engaged the Sport, Leisure and Culture Consultancy (SLC) as an external provider.

For security reasons, specific details in relation to the use of official cars, including the make and model of vehicles, are not released.

Guidance relating to the use of official cars in the Government Car Service is set out in the Civil Service Management Code.

The Government recognises the potential of the UK esports industry and its impact on the economy, with major tournaments hosted across the UK this year, including in Manchester, Birmingham and London.

Kickstarting economic growth, and breaking down barriers to opportunity are two of this government's core missions. We are supporting the esports sector to grow, building on the success of our world-class creative industries. This includes support for the sector in looking at how to strengthen pathways into the esports workforce.

The Government has identified the creative industries, which includes video games and esports, as a growth-driving sector within the Industrial Strategy. My department will produce an ambitious and targeted Sector Plan for the creative industries to be published alongside the Spending Review in spring 2025.

We are fully committed to enabling our athletes to excel on the world stage. Decisions relating to training centres for elite athletes are a matter for the relevant martial arts governing bodies. We welcome sports working together to share expertise and resources where they feel there is mutual benefit for their sports and athletes.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport is supporting this Government’s mission to extend opportunities for children and young people.

As part of this, DCMS will support the Department for Education led Curriculum and Assessment Review to develop a broader curriculum so that children and young people have access to creative education such as music, the arts and drama and the enormous range of benefits they bring to a child's development from improved language development to confidence building.

Arts Council England has supported the development of cultural partnerships in Cannock Chase to help grow audiences, opportunities and cultural infrastructure. This has included funding of £10,000 to launch a cultural compact in the borough, led by the local Cultural Education Partnership.