Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what proportion of people live in private rented accommodation in Ashfield constituency.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 4th July is attached.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many incidents regarding dangerous dogs have been reported in (a) Ashfield constituency, (b) Nottinghamshire and (c) England in each of the last 5 years.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This information is collected by the NHS, individual police forces or local authorities.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether his Department has made an estimate of the number of jobs that could be lost as a result of artificial intelligence.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Government is working to harness the benefits that AI can bring in terms of economic growth, rising living standards, and improved worker wellbeing; while mitigating the risks. Government is planning for a range of plausible outcomes and closely monitoring the data that will help us track and prepare for these. We will continue to work closely with other government departments through the AI Opportunities Action Plan to ensure we shape AI to deliver economic prosperity for the UK.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to help tackle train fare dodging.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Train Operating Companies are responsible for reducing fare evasion and are measured on this as part of their contractual obligations. We work closely with each operator to ensure they have robust plans in place.
Through the creation of Great British Railways (GBR), we’re bringing operators together to establish oversight and better standardise practices, putting an end to inconsistent prosecutions and making sure passengers are treated fairly.
We’re working at pace to simplify ticketing and developing plans for GBR to sell tickets online, to alleviate confusion and make it easier for people to buy the right fare.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure that French authorities uphold agreements on stopping asylum seekers attempting to cross the English Channel.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
Our current cooperation with France on irregular and illegal migration is underpinned by the commitments made in the UK-France Joint Leaders' Declaration - GOV.UK. Any future agreements will be published in the normal way in due course.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what data her Department holds on the total value of stock lost through shoplifting in each of the last five years.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office has published data from the Commercial Victimisation Survey (CVS) which collects data from business premises in England and Wales about their experience of crime.
The data includes an assessment, made by the business, of the level of the financial impact of crime they experienced in the previous year as a result of being the victim of crime. This includes incidents theft committed by customers. Separate estimates were published for the retail sector. Data is not collected on the exact value of any goods stolen by customers, or the impact of customer theft separate from other types of crime. The most recent data is from 2023, and can be found here: Crime against businesses statistics - GOV.UK
Through our Safer Streets Mission, we are committed to ensuring that people feel safe on our streets and in their communities. To help tackle retail crime, we will provide £5 million over the next three years to continue to fund Opal, the national policing intelligence unit for serious organised acquisitive crime.
We will also invest £2 million over the next three years in the National Business Crime Centre which provides a resource for both police and businesses to learn, share and support each other to prevent and combat crime.
Through our Crime and Policing Bill, this Government has introduced a standalone offence of assaulting a retail worker to protect the hardworking and dedicated staff that work in stores. We will also end the effective immunity for shop theft of and below £200 sending a clear message that any level of shop theft is illegal and will be taken seriously.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment he has made of the level of preparedness in the event of a coordinated cyber-attack on public service infrastructure.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Government is working tirelessly to improve the cyber resilience of the public sector, which includes some of the UK’s Critical National Infrastructure (CNI). Cyber risks are kept under review, through the internal, classified National Security Risk Assessment (NSRA), and the external facing version, the National Risk Register (NRR), to ensure that we effectively plan at the national and local levels. The NSRA assesses a number of cyber risks, including the impact of a cyber-attack against government systems on the delivery of public services.
We face a persistent and evolving threat landscape, the intent and capability of both state and non-state threat actors is increasing, and the pace of this change has accelerated considerably over the last 24 months. Public service infrastructure and systems remain an attractive target for our adversaries and criminals, with recent incidents clearly highlighting the risk posed by cyber attacks on both private and public sector organisations.
Responding to a cyber incident is a cross-government responsibility with roles and responsibilities identified in the National Cyber Incident Management Framework. As well as developing a more sophisticated understanding of cyber risk across UK CNI, the Government is focussed on ensuring that CNI operators are prepared to respond to and recover from incidents through better planning and regular exercises across Government and as part of the National Exercising Programme. The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) also works with partners to help public and private CNI operators detect and respond to attacks.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment he has made of the potential risk of a coordinated cyber-attack on public service infrastructure.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Government is working tirelessly to improve the cyber resilience of the public sector, which includes some of the UK’s Critical National Infrastructure (CNI). Cyber risks are kept under review, through the internal, classified National Security Risk Assessment (NSRA), and the external facing version, the National Risk Register (NRR), to ensure that we effectively plan at the national and local levels. The NSRA assesses a number of cyber risks, including the impact of a cyber-attack against government systems on the delivery of public services.
We face a persistent and evolving threat landscape, the intent and capability of both state and non-state threat actors is increasing, and the pace of this change has accelerated considerably over the last 24 months. Public service infrastructure and systems remain an attractive target for our adversaries and criminals, with recent incidents clearly highlighting the risk posed by cyber attacks on both private and public sector organisations.
Responding to a cyber incident is a cross-government responsibility with roles and responsibilities identified in the National Cyber Incident Management Framework. As well as developing a more sophisticated understanding of cyber risk across UK CNI, the Government is focussed on ensuring that CNI operators are prepared to respond to and recover from incidents through better planning and regular exercises across Government and as part of the National Exercising Programme. The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) also works with partners to help public and private CNI operators detect and respond to attacks.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
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 with Cabinet colleagues to help encourage the building of wildlife-friendly neighbourhoods.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra is working closely with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to deliver planning reforms and unlock the housing this country urgently needs while improving outcomes for nature. We already expect local planning authorities to plan for development incorporating green infrastructure.
Biodiversity net gain ensures development has a measurably positive impact on biodiversity, compared to what was there before development, and became mandatory (under the Environment Act 2021) in England for most major developments and small sites in early 2024. This means protecting existing habitats and ensuring that lost or degraded habitats are compensated for by enhancing or creating habitats with a greater overall value to wildlife and people, and with rules incentivising delivery on development sites.
The revised National Planning Policy Framework we published in December also expects planning policies and decisions to minimise impacts on and provide gains for biodiversity, including through incorporating features that support priority or threatened species such as swifts, bats and hedgehogs.
As part of our work to develop a set of national policies for decision making, the Government has committed to consulting on changes which require swift bricks to be incorporated into new buildings unless there are compelling reasons which preclude their use, or which would make them ineffective. As an interim step ahead of the consultation the government have published updated Planning Practice Guidance setting out how swift bricks are expected to be used in new development.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to protect hedgehog populations.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Government-led action is focused on addressing the main known drivers of hedgehog decline including habitat loss and fragmentation due to removal of field margins, hedgerows and scrub; the use of herbicides and insecticide; and road traffic.
The Environment Act 2021 introduced several policies, such as Biodiversity Net Gain, Local Nature Recovery Strategies, and a strengthened biodiversity duty on public authorities, which will work together to support the creation and restoration of habitats which will support a range of species including hedgehogs and their prey species.
Natural England is co-funding the National Hedgehog Monitoring Programme. The information gathered will produce insights into the factors causing hedgehog population decline, leading to the implementation of future practical conservation measures to address this challenge.