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 help encourage peatland restoration on the West Pennine Moors.

Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Government recognises the importance of England’s peatlands, and in our manifesto, we committed to expanding nature-rich habitats such as peatlands. This will contribute to ensuring nature’s recovery, one of Defra’s five priorities. We have ambitions to restore hundreds of thousands of hectares of peatlands across the country, and we are working to ensure that we have the most effective mechanisms in place to go further than we have before.

Peatland restoration works across England are carried out by local peatland partnerships, such as Lancashire Peat Partnership who are responsible for managing the peatlands in the West Pennine Moors. Peatland restoration is currently funded via the Nature for Climate Peatland Grant Scheme, and going forwards will be primarily funded through Environmental Land Management schemes, such as the Landscape Recovery and Countryside Stewardship schemes.

Private finance will also be vital if we are to meet our peatland restoration ambitions. To support peatland restoration, the Government is implementing a range of policies that will mobilise private investment. These include working with the IUCN to attract investment through the Peatland Code.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on levels of patient demand at Leigh walk-in centre.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department does not hold the information requested. NHS England publishes official statistics for accident and emergency attendances at a provider, National Health Service trust level. Information for the Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Foundation Trust is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/ae-waiting-times-and-activity/ae-attendances-and-emergency-admissions-2024-25/

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on General Practice coverage per population (a) in Leigh, (b) in each region and (c) in England.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The following table shows the number of full time equivalent (FTE) general practitioners (GPs), direct patient care staff (DPC), and nurses per 10,000 registered patients in Leigh and in each region of England:

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 to mitigate against wild fires on the West Pennine Moors.

Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

I was concerned to see there was a wildfire last month in part of the hon. Member’s constituency, at Longworth Road.

Defra encourages landowners and land managers to adopt good quality wildfire management plans and use sustainable methods to manage habitat, such as restoring peatlands. Evidence shows that wetter, healthy-functioning peatlands are more resilient to the impacts of wildfire.

We are currently consulting on proposed changes to The Heather and Grass etc. Burning (England) Regulations 2021, which would extend protections to a broader area of upland peat. The consultation is open until 25 May.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average waiting time was in accident and emergency (a) at Bolton Hospital, (b) in each region and (c) in the UK in the latest period for which data is available.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

NHS England publishes information on accident and emergency waiting times in England, although not at a hospital site or regional level. The following table shows the provisional median total time waited in accident and emergency at the Bolton NHS Foundation Trust, and the national figure for England, in February 2025:

Source: NHS England’s Provisional Accident and Emergency Quality Indicators for England, February 2025, by provider, available at the following link:
https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/provisional-accident-and-emergency-quality-indicators-for-england/february-2025-by-provider

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether her Department has made an estimate on the number of individual households who were in council tax arrears while also in receipt of Council Tax (a) support and (b) reduction, in each tax year since 2019.

Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The Department does not collect data on the number of people or the number of households who are in council tax arrears. Therefore, the Department does not hold data with specific characteristics requested, including those in receipt of council tax support or reduction.

The Department only collects data on the level of arrears of council tax in England. The most recent data can be found here.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if his Department will make an estimate for the number of people who are in council tax arrears broken down by (a) gender, (b) ethnicity, (c) age and (d) family composition in each tax year since 2019.

Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The Department does not collect data on the number of people or the number of households who are in council tax arrears. Therefore, the Department does not hold data with specific characteristics requested, including those in receipt of council tax support or reduction.

The Department only collects data on the level of arrears of council tax in England. The most recent data can be found here.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many liability orders were (a) sought by local authorities and (b) granted by courts for council tax debt, in each tax year since 2019.

Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

The information requested is not collated or maintained centrally in a manner that could reliably be reported.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps her Department is taking to reduce the backlog of applications for Specified Adult Childcare Credits.

Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

HMRC recognises the difficulties that delays can cause customers and are deploying additional resources to process Specified Adult Childcare Credits.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of including council tax debt collection in the scope of the Government Debt Fairness Charter.

Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Debt Fairness Charter outlines principles for the fair and reasonable treatment of individuals who owe personal debt to central government. The first version was published in March 2024, with a commitment to ongoing review and updates as needed, and a review is currently underway.

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Emily Thornberry (Chair); Alex Ballinger; Aphra Brandreth; Phil Brickell

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Emily Thornberry (Chair); Alex Ballinger; Phil Brickell; Dan Carden