Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
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 take steps to mitigate disturbance of blue carbon stores on the seabed by requiring marine developers to align with the Greenhouse Gas Assessment process.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
There are no current plans to require the inclusion of seabed carbon disturbance in marine developers' Greenhouse Gas Assessment processes. A recent Cefas study highlights that further research is needed to understand the release of carbon from seabed stores resulting from human activities. Defra is funding research through the Blue Carbon Evidence Partnership to improve understanding of UK seabed sediment carbon storage and sequestration, impacts of human activities, and management interventions.
England's marine plans contain policies supporting the conservation, restoration and enhancement of habitats providing carbon sequestration ecosystem services. Two of England's three Highly Protected Marine Areas, Allonby Bay and North East of Farnes Deep, contain blue carbon habitats, including seabed carbon.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the carbon emitted from disturbance of carbon stores on the seabed.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Cefas published a technical briefing in February 2026 on how human activities and climate change affect seabed carbon. The briefing explains that the result of disturbing seabed carbon depends on its reactivity, which varies according to its source, mineral associations and microbial activity. Around 10-35% of English seabed carbon stocks are considered reactive, with higher proportions in coastal and offshore areas. Stable seabed carbon will likely remain stored following disturbance, while reactive carbon may break down and release dissolved inorganic carbon into the water column. Further research is needed to understand how much of this carbon reaches the atmosphere.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to ensure that people with epilepsy are represented in the work of the Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
On 6 January 2026, NHS England published the Maternal Care Bundle, setting out best practice standards to tackle the leading causes of maternal death including epilepsy, thrombosis, mental health, and haemorrhage.
The National Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce is developing an action plan, to be published by the end of this year, to improve maternity and neonatal care across the country. All women and babies have a right to safe, personalised, and equitable care, which takes account of their individual needs, conditions, and preferences.
The taskforce and its supporting expert reference groups have been set up to ensure a representative breadth of voices inform its approach. The taskforce is comprised of experts and key stakeholders including families, clinicians, academics, royal colleges, charities, and grass-root organisations, including representation from Epilepsy Action, as well as those who can speak to health equity and international expertise.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to improve maternity care for women with epilepsy.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
On 6 January 2026, NHS England published the Maternal Care Bundle, setting out best practice standards to tackle the leading causes of maternal death including epilepsy, thrombosis, mental health, and haemorrhage.
The National Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce is developing an action plan, to be published by the end of this year, to improve maternity and neonatal care across the country. All women and babies have a right to safe, personalised, and equitable care, which takes account of their individual needs, conditions, and preferences.
The taskforce and its supporting expert reference groups have been set up to ensure a representative breadth of voices inform its approach. The taskforce is comprised of experts and key stakeholders including families, clinicians, academics, royal colleges, charities, and grass-root organisations, including representation from Epilepsy Action, as well as those who can speak to health equity and international expertise.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what information from individual farm animal welfare inspections is routinely published, and what assessment she has made of whether those arrangements provide adequate public scrutiny of animal welfare standards.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government understands the importance of transparency in relation to the welfare of farmed animals. Multi Annual National Control Plan (MANCP) reports include national data on the number of farm inspections completed by APHA, the welfare scores from those inspections and any subsequent enforcement action are reported at a national level. From 2026 Local Authority inspections will also be included in this report. This Government considers that this provides sufficient overview of animal welfare enforcement data.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what data her Department collects on (a) animal welfare breaches identified during farm inspections and (b) subsequent enforcement action taken; and whether she plans to publish those data.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government understands the importance of transparency in relation to the welfare of farmed animals. Multi Annual National Control Plan (MANCP) reports include national data on the number of farm inspections completed by APHA, the welfare scores from those inspections and any subsequent enforcement action are reported at a national level. From 2026 Local Authority inspections will also be included in this report. This Government considers that this provides sufficient overview of animal welfare enforcement data.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of (a) the adequacy of the number of approvals for people to become adoptive parents and (b) whether further steps should be taken to encourage more potential adopters to come forward.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government’s aim is that all children for whom adoption is considered to be in their best interests should be placed with a family as soon as possible.
While the number of adopter approvals (2,240) marginally increased in 2025/26 compared to the previous year, speeding up matches between approved adopters and children waiting is a key priority for this government and Adoption England.
The department has provided funding of £9.5 million to Adoption England for 2026/27 to support the delivery of high-quality adoption services across the country. This includes plans to improve recruitment of sufficient adopters, including through national adopter recruitment campaigns such as: https://www.youcanadopt.co.uk/.