Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Epping Forest)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the potential merits of providing further funding for its planned National Biosecurity Centre to meet the required level of funding specified in the National Audit Office's Improving the UK’s science capability for managing animal diseases Report in 2022.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra received the funding it requested in the current Spending Review to 2029-30 for the next stage of the National Biosecurity Centre, Weybridge Programme. Programme delivery is on track and in line with Government Project Delivery Functional Standards. Further funding in future Spending Reviews will be requested to secure operational delivery of the new facility by 2034.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Epping Forest)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to support pupils with SEND in Epping Forest.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
On 16 January, the government announced a £200 million investment over the course of this Parliament to upskill staff in every school, college and nursery, ensuring a skilled workforce for generations to come. This builds on the landmark £3 billion investment to create more specialist places and ensure more children and young people can thrive at a setting close to home.
We are also determined to deliver reform that stands the test of time and rebuilds the confidence of families, which is why we are currently engaging a wide range of people and organisations, including parents and young people, in every region of the country to inform development of our proposals and ensure that lived experience and partnership are at the heart of our solutions.
We will set out our proposals for reform in the upcoming Schools White Paper, and we will consult widely on these proposals and continue to work with a wide range of partners to refine them and deliver them.
Essex is currently undergoing a local area special educational needs and disabilities inspection by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission, the results of which will be published in due course.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Epping Forest)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to support animal rescue and rehoming centres.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
As set out in the Animal Welfare Strategy, Defra will launch a consultation on licensing domestic rescue and rehoming organisations. The consultation will include a consideration of the potential impacts on the sector.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Epping Forest)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what she is taking to help support the enforcement of legislation on the compulsory microchipping of (a) cats and (b) dogs.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Local authorities and the police have powers to enforce breaches of the Microchipping of Cats and Dogs (England) Regulations 2023.
It will be for each local authority and police force to determine on a case-by-case basis whether enforcement action is proportionate.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Epping Forest)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact o changes to the Listed Places of Worship Scheme on the number of places of worship in England and Wales.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme is a £23m scheme that gives grants covering VAT on eligible works. We estimate that changes to the Scheme this year, including the introduction of a 25k cap on claims, affected around 6% of claims as most claims are under £5,000. The Department has not made an assessment of the potential impact of changes to the scheme on the number of places of worship in England and Wales. However, the Department has commissioned an evaluation of the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme which will be published soon.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Epping Forest)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to help address safety risks from the abandonment of e-bikes on pavements.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
We understand that e-bikes parked obstructively on pavements are not just an inconvenience but a real safety risk, particularly for vulnerable pavement users.
That is why the licensing regime for shared cycle schemes which we are bringing forward through the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill will create a legal requirement for shared e-cycle schemes to be licensed by local leaders and will include minimum standard conditions to ensure a national baseline of safety. This will provide local leaders with greater powers to combat street clutter and misuse of shared vehicles.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Epping Forest)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to his Department's press release entitled Boost to mental health services from thousands of extra staff, published on 27 June 2025, how the recruitment of 6,700 mental health staff in the most recent year compares with the number recruited in each of the previous five years.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England publishes monthly data on the National Health Service Hospital and Community Health Service (HCHS) workforce in England. This includes data on the NHS mental health workforce employed by NHS provider trusts and integrated care boards.
Within the NHS Monthly Workforce Statistics series, data on the mental health workforce is included in the file titled “Preliminary – NHS HCHS Workforce Statistics, Trusts and core organisations – data tables, September 2025”. The file is available at the following link:
Tab 21 within the file contains information on the mental health workforce broken down by staff groups, NHS England region, and care setting or specialty, including a monthly time series from January 2024 onwards and earlier annual figures for each September.
Further data on the mental health workforce is included in the file titled “HCHS Mental Health Workforce in NHS Trusts and core orgs June 2025”. The file is available at the following link:
This file provides quarterly FTE data from 30 September 2009 to 30 June 2025.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Epping Forest)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve access to routine tissue freezing for brain cancer patients in a) Epping Forest and b) England for even access to advanced treatments, diagnostics and research.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Epping Forest)
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 potential impact of UK weather patterns on crop production in 2025.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We publish annual harvest estimates. Provisional estimates of cereal and oilseed rape production covering the 2025 harvest in England were published on 9 October 2025: Cereal and oilseed rape production - GOV.UK.
Initial good weather meant that the 2025 harvest progressed quickly, with many growers finishing ahead of a typical year. However, in September, wet weather hindered the ability to harvest remaining crops towards the end of the season, resulting in a mixed picture across the country with considerable variability in yield between regions.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Epping Forest)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he has had discussions with the National Fire Chiefs Council on the potential risk of wildfires crossing into urban areas.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) works closely with the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) on the full range of wildfire risks to strengthen preparedness and improve response, including potential impacts on urban areas. We also continue to work closely with partners across government, including the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and wider stakeholders, to identify policy options for addressing wildfire risk at the national level.
Since 2024, the Government has funded a National Resilience Wildfire Advisor to assess what additional wildfire national capabilities might be needed to increase resilience to wildfire risk and to ensure coordination of approaches across the sector.