Asked by: Perran Moon (Labour - Camborne and Redruth)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what information her Department collects on the accessibility of essential services for transgender people, including public toilets and changing facilities; and what recent assessment she has made of whether service providers are meeting their legal obligations in this regard.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
We engage with a broad range of stakeholders, including trans organisations, regarding equality matters, which may sometimes cover access to essential services.
The EHRC has confirmed that monitoring of the Code of Practice for Services, Public Functions and Associations is in their forward plan. The EHRC also has statutory powers to investigate cases where duty bearers may have acted unlawfully.
Asked by: Perran Moon (Labour - Camborne and Redruth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if his Department will consider the creation of a working group to enable the use of Cornish in local courts, administrative proceedings and legal documentation.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The UK Government is committed to protecting minority languages and continues to support the Cornish language and culture through a range of measures from education to broadcasting and in international forums like the British-Irish Council.
At present, the Government does not have plans for a specific working group on the use of Cornish in local courts, administrative proceedings and legal documentation.
Asked by: Perran Moon (Labour - Camborne and Redruth)
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 adequacy of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and Environmental Protection Act 1990 in reducing the impact of noise disruption from bird cannons on (a) rural tourism businesses and (b) local residents; and if she will consider introducing a statutory framework regulating the use of bird cannons, including requirements relating to operating hours, acoustic baffling, identification of the owner, and proximity to residential and tourism premises.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Responsibility for investigating complaints about issues that could be a statutory nuisance, including bird cannons, rests with local authorities. The National Farmers Union produced a voluntary Code of Practice for minimising noise nuisance from auditory bird cannons, and local authorities are likely to take this guidance into account when assessing whether a bird cannon constitutes a nuisance or not. They may still find that a nuisance has occurred where the guidance has been followed. The Government believes that current legislation provides councils with the necessary powers to deal with problems caused by noise and there are no plans for legislative change at this time.
Asked by: Perran Moon (Labour - Camborne and Redruth)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of a new ring-fenced funding stream for Cornish-medium education.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The study of languages is compulsory under the national curriculum at key stages 2 and 3 for all maintained schools, and for academies from 2028, following the passing of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act. Decisions about language provision are made locally by schools and academy trusts, enabling them to respond to the needs of their pupils and communities. The government recognises the importance of local language and cultural heritage, but has not assessed the merits of placing a statutory duty on Cornwall Council to provide Cornish language instruction in maintained primary schools and academies, and does not have plans to introduce a new ring-fenced funding stream for Cornish-medium education.
Asked by: Perran Moon (Labour - Camborne and Redruth)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of placing a statutory duty on Cornwall Council to provide Cornish language instruction in maintained primary schools and academies.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The study of languages is compulsory under the national curriculum at key stages 2 and 3 for all maintained schools, and for academies from 2028, following the passing of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act. Decisions about language provision are made locally by schools and academy trusts, enabling them to respond to the needs of their pupils and communities. The government recognises the importance of local language and cultural heritage, but has not assessed the merits of placing a statutory duty on Cornwall Council to provide Cornish language instruction in maintained primary schools and academies, and does not have plans to introduce a new ring-fenced funding stream for Cornish-medium education.
Asked by: Perran Moon (Labour - Camborne and Redruth)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 6 July 2026 to Question 14651 on Electric Vehicles: Charging Points, how many public charge points have been subject to in-service metrological verification in the last three years; and what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of using the powers under the Product Regulation and Metrology Act 2025 to introduce a requirement for in-service metrological verification.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Minister of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade)
Public electric vehicle chargepoints are not currently subject to metrological verification at prescribed intervals once they are in service. Accordingly, the Department does not hold the requested verification data. However, safeguards are in place including conformity assessment requirements, market surveillance and enforcement powers, for most chargepoints which are in scope of relevant legislation.
The Government recognises the importance of ensuring that meters used at public charge points remain accurate throughout their service life. We will continue to monitor this issue while considering whether further measures, including use of powers under the Product Regulation and Metrology Act 2025, are required.
Asked by: Perran Moon (Labour - Camborne and Redruth)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of mandating year-round quality monitoring at designated bathing waters for sewage, pollution, and other harmful contaminants; and whether she will bring forward legislative proposals to amend the Bathing Water Regulations 2013 to extend protections to all water users.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency (EA) monitors designated bathing waters during the bathing water season for E. coli and intestinal enterococci, indicators of faecal contamination. The EA monitors bathing waters more frequently than the statutory minimum sampling requirements.
In November 2025, Defra introduced greater flexibility to bathing season dates through reforms to the Bathing Water Regulations 2013, enabling the opportunity for monitoring periods to better reflect local use. Defra and the EA are assessing how this could work in practice, including the impacts of changes to season lengths.
We continue to consider whether to expand "bather" to include other water users.
Asked by: Perran Moon (Labour - Camborne and Redruth)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will ensure that the next BBC Royal Charter reflects the recognition of the Kernewek in the Media Act 2024.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
The BBC has a duty to reflect the diversity of the United Kingdom, both in its output and services. As set out in the recent Charter Review Green Paper, it is this Government’s ambition for the BBC to tell a unifying national story that represents all communities across the UK, and to drive growth in the nations and regions. This includes supporting the sustainability of minority language broadcasting and local media.
The Media Act ensures that, for the first time, indigenous and minority languages - including Cornish – form part of the public service remit for television in the UK, including for the BBC. It is for Ofcom, the independent regulator, to monitor compliance.
The Charter Review is considering a range of measures to ensure the BBC can continue to serve all audiences, including how it continues to support Minority Language Broadcasting.
Asked by: Perran Moon (Labour - Camborne and Redruth)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the VAT burden on hospitality businesses.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with HM Treasury)
At £90,000, the UK has the second highest registration threshold among all 38 OECD countries, which keeps the majority of businesses, including hospitality businesses, outside the VAT system.
VAT is a broad-based tax on consumption, and the 20 per cent standard rate applies to most goods and services. The UK’s standard VAT rate is close to the OECD average of 19.3 per cent.
The Government is supporting hospitality through targeted measures, including permanently lower business rates multipliers, a £4.3 billion business rates support package to protect ratepayers seeing large bills increases as a result of the 2026 revaluation, and the temporary Great British Summer Savings scheme, which will reduce VAT from 20 per cent to 5 per cent on eligible family attractions and children's menu meals between 25 June and 1 September.
Asked by: Perran Moon (Labour - Camborne and Redruth)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department has considered extending electric vehicle salary sacrifice schemes to Crown and Civil Servants; and whether the Department has assessed the impact of an extension on public sector recruitment and retention.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Currently, electric vehicle salary sacrifice schemes are not available to central Civil Service departments, and HM Treasury approval would be required for any such framework to be implemented. As no such scheme currently exists for the Civil Service, the Cabinet Office has not made an assessment of the potential impact of such a scheme on recruitment and retention in the Civil Service.
Cabinet Office does not monitor the use of Electric Vehicle Salary Sacrifice Schemes in the wider public sector.