Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Spen Valley)
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 ensure packaging EPR costs support investment in UK recycling infrastructure while minimising regulatory burdens on businesses.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging raised £1.4 billion for local authorities in its first year and is already supporting investment in recycling infrastructure
We are committed to proportionate implementation. Smaller producers are protected by exemption thresholds, and we continue to improve guidance, communications and digital services to reduce administrative burdens.
Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Spen Valley)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, what steps his Department has taken to advance the mutual recognition of veterinary licenses with the EU.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade) (Jointly with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government remains committed to improving recognition of professional qualifications with the EU, including for vets.
The UK’s veterinary regulator, the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS), is responsible for recognising overseas qualifications and currently recognises EU qualifications from veterinary schools accredited under the European Association of Establishments for Veterinary Accreditation.
The UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement contains provisions which allow the UK and EU to agree mutual recognition of professional qualifications arrangements for specific professions where jointly proposed by UK and EU regulators. We encourage and support all UK regulators, including RCVS, to use this framework to agree mutual routes for recognition.
Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Spen Valley)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what progress her Department has made on the implementation of the Private Rented Sector Ombudsman.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Regulations, which can be found on gov.uk here, came into force on 17 September 2026 allowing the Secretary of State to designate or approve a private landlord redress scheme which will provide private tenants with free and impartial access to redress.
The government’s intention is that the existing Housing Ombudsman Service, which currently provides mandatory redress for social housing tenants, will set up and operate the service.
The regulations in question do not require landlords to join a scheme immediately. The scheme will be prepared for designation, and the necessary digital and operational functionality will be developed before further regulations set out which landlords must join and when.
Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Spen Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department are taking to improve safeguarding surrounding people with complex mental health conditions who refuse treatment.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Later this year, the Government will publish its new Mental Health Strategy, setting out our plans to transform mental health care into a system that responds earlier, reduces waiting times for support, intervenes earlier, and supports people to stay active and participate in education, work, family, and community life.
We are also developing a Modern Service Framework for Severe Mental Illness, setting out what high-quality, evidence-based and equitable care should look like.
The Mental Health Act 2025 introduces new treatment safeguards to ensure that patients’ wishes, feelings, beliefs, and values play a more central role in clinical decision making. It maintains the power to give compulsory medication where necessary, with greater safeguards to ensure this power is used only when necessary and appropriate.
Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Spen Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to reform the delivery of mental health care.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Later this year, the Government will publish its new Mental Health Strategy, setting out our plans to transform mental health care into a system that responds earlier, reduces waiting times for support, intervenes earlier, and supports people to stay active and participate in education, work, family, and community life.
We are also developing a Modern Service Framework for Severe Mental Illness, setting out what high-quality, evidence-based and equitable care should look like.
The Mental Health Act 2025 introduces new treatment safeguards to ensure that patients’ wishes, feelings, beliefs, and values play a more central role in clinical decision making. It maintains the power to give compulsory medication where necessary, with greater safeguards to ensure this power is used only when necessary and appropriate.
Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Spen Valley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent progress her Department has made on a sanitary and phytosanitary agreement with the European Union.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Negotiations with the European Union on a sanitary and phytosanitary agreement are at an advanced stage. This Government remains committed to concluding the agreement ahead of the next UK-EU Summit on 20 November.
Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Spen Valley)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to support the participation of women and girls in sport.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
We are working across Government to ensure that as many women and girls as possible have access to, and benefit from, quality sport and physical activity opportunities.
The Government provides the majority of funding for grassroots sport through our Arm’s Length Body, Sport England, which invests over £250 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding each year to help people get active, including women and girls. This includes their This Girl Can campaign, which has inspired millions of women and girls to get active.
We are also introducing a new approach to PE and school sport, which will ensure girls have equality of access. All state-funded schools, will be able to access specialist support through a combination of universal provision and more targeted local schemes.
Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Spen Valley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to support Border Force officers at regional airports.
Answered by Jo White - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Border Force recognises the important role played by every officer in the organisation, including at regional airports. Border Force is committed to ensuring they have the resources, training and wellbeing support needed to carry out their duties effectively. Border Force colleagues have access to a range of wellbeing and mental health support, including 24/7 peer support, access to Police Treatment Centres, dedicated wellbeing programmes and the Home Office Employee Assistance Programme.
Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Spen Valley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to facilitate the retraining of current teaching staff as educational psychologists, with reference to a) financial implications and b) broader support.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
We are investing £26 million to train at least 200 educational psychologists per year from 2026 and 2027, with further investment to train more over the following three years, subject to future spending reviews. This is in addition to the £31 million already invested since 2023.
The training is open to anyone that meets the candidate specifications, including teachers. These candidate specifications, as well as application cycle dates and available support, are outlined on the Association of Educational Psychologists website at: https://www.aep.org.uk/EPFT.
The department funds the full three-year tuition fees and a first-year bursary payment, which is currently £16,266 (£16,715 in London). In years two and three, trainees are based on placements across England, with placement providers funding a bursary or salary for these years. After graduation, educational psychologists will be required to work within a local authority in England for a minimum period. This is three years for trainees who started from 2024.
Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Spen Valley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of support available to homeowners with children who are claiming Universal Credit, in the context of the difference between non‑repayable housing support for renters and loan‑based Support for Mortgage Interest for homeowners.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government) (Equalities)
The situations of homeowners and renters are not directly comparable. If a tenant does not pay their rent, they face the real possibility of eviction. Homeowners have more flexibility to negotiate repayments with their lenders during periods of financial difficulty, and their mortgage payments allow them to acquire a significant asset.
The help homeowners, with or without children, can receive towards their mortgage payments is designed to provide a level of support that protects them from the threat of repossession. We have broad agreement with the lending industry that the support we provide is sufficient to achieve this aim.
The department has recently published research looking at the impact and effectiveness of Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI) loans. This is available here: Impact Assessment of Support for Mortgage Interest loans and was published on 6th May 2025.