Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she plans to respond to Question 82435 tabled by the hon. Member for South Cambridgeshire on 15 October 2025.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The response to Written Parliamentary Question 82435 was published on 4 November 2025.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of small modular reactors being made as load following energy sources.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The next generation of nuclear, including small modular reactors (SMR), offers new possibilities including faster deployment, lower capital costs, and greater flexibility.
Whilst nuclear energy has a unique role to play in delivering stable, low carbon baseload energy, SMRs may be able to serve the electricity grid more flexibly than traditional nuclear, as well as unlock a range of additional applications in energy sectors beyond grid electricity.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the (a) status and (b) timeline for completion of the (i) Greensands, South Cambridgeshire and (ii) Lime Academy, Fenland new special school is.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department is working at pace through these decisions to try and give all local authorities updates as soon as possible. We continue to be committed to ensuring that all children with special educational needs and disabilities receive the support they need to achieve and thrive.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the Advanced Learner Loan scheme on tackling skills shortages in the low-carbon heating sector.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Skills England is working closely with The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, which has set up the Office for Clean Energy Jobs to meet the governments Clean Energy Superpower mission. The government published its clean energy jobs plan on 19 October in which heating installer was identified as a priority role. Under the construction skills package the government is committing £625 million in England over 4 years to deliver up to 60,000 additional skilled construction workers, supporting a range of clean energy occupations including heating installers.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
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 has taken to tackle (a) bycatch and (b) illegal discarding by vessels in the last year.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We continue our effort to minimise and, where possible, eliminate the bycatch of sensitive species. Working in partnership with industry and eNGOs we have a range of activities in place including: continuation of the long-standing Bycatch Monitoring Programme (BMP) which reports annually on bycatch rates analysed by gear type; the Cetacean Stranding Investigation Programme (CSIP) that closely monitors UK-wide cetacean strandings and conducts post-mortems on stranded marine mammals; the Clean Catch programme which recently launched a bycatch monitoring and mitigation trial; a comprehensive evidence review analysing bycatch across sensitive marine species (cetaceans, seabirds, seals, elasmobranchs); and developing a seabird bycatch mitigation action plan for England.
The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) monitors discards and catches from all commercially licensed vessels in England. MMO collects this data alongside undertaking regular inspections of vessels. The Landing Obligation, introduced under the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy, has not met its goals; illegal discarding still happens, and discard patterns in the English fleet haven’t changed. To improve discards management and move away from the landing obligation in England, Defra and the MMO are conducting a paper trial of ‘catch accounting’. This is a new approach that accounts for the total removal of stock compared to the current system which only logs landings.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much funding the Marine Management Organisation has received in each of the last five years; what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the funding on the enforcement of fishing regulations; and what assessment she has made of the value for money of this funding for taxpayers.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
As set out in the Annual Report and Accounts of the Marine Management Organisation, total expenditure was £36.1 million in FY20/21, £42 million in FY21/22, £42.7 million in FY22/23, and £54 million in FY23/24.
Defra works closely with the Marine Management Organisation and other organisations to make sure the appropriate arrangements to enforce fisheries regulations are in place to protect our waters. This funding enables the organisation to operate an enforcement regime of fishing regulations amongst their other duties and is provided in line with the principles of managing public money, including the Accounting Officer’s duty to ensure spending decisions represent good value for money through the accountability and assurance processes Defra has in place.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
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 has taken to tackle known limitations of fisheries stock assessments since 2020; and whether she plans to allocate additional funding to help improve data collection in fisheries.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Department has invested significantly in research and development with an aim to improve fisheries stock assessments since 2020. Additionally, the Department has run a Fisheries and Science Partnership scheme, which provided grant funding to fishing industry and academia partnerships to undertake fishery science projects.
Fisheries Management Plans published by the Department include the identification and delivery of evidence to support known gaps. This financial year alone the Department has invested £2.5 million in filling these evidence gaps. The Department is also reforming the fisheries data collection programme to ensure its fit for purpose and further help to address these evidence gaps.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
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 fisheries authorities on the effectiveness of the steps they are taking to tackle (a) illegal, (b) unreported and (c) unregulated fishing in UK waters.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Whilst it is for each of the Devolved Administrations to assess how best to control its waters, Defra, the Scottish Government, Welsh Government, and Northern Ireland Executive work closely together. This cooperation includes discussions and review of appropriate policies and regulations at a UK level as well as regularly sharing and reviewing intelligence to deliver a robust approach to monitoring, compliance and enforcement across our waters to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
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 help meet the National Benefit objective of the Fisheries Act 2020.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK requires that vessels fishing against UK quota demonstrate a tangible economic contribution to the UK.
This is primarily achieved through the economic link licence condition, embedded in fishing licences. As part of the Quota Application Mechanism trial in England, we score applicants based on environmental commitments but also on delivered social and economic benefits.
We have begun independently evaluating new fishing opportunities to ensure they are realising the social and economic benefits intended. For instance, two recent reports show that bluefin tuna fisheries provide multiple social and economic benefits for coastal communities.
To ensure social and economic benefits in the national interest can be assessed, we have inaugurated a new Fishing Industry Social Survey to complement the existing economic fleet Survey. Over 400 fishermen responded this year, and results of the survey will be published in the near future.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she plans to provide resources to implementation groups responsible for the delivery of Fisheries Management Plans.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra is committed to working collaboratively with stakeholders in delivering Fisheries Management Plans (FMP). Defra resources and manages a number of FMP implementation groups, and funds Seafish to convene and support two further implementation groups. Defra and the Marine Management Organisation also organise ad hoc stakeholder meetings to further delivery as required.