Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will amend the Criminal Justice Act 1988 (Reviews of Sentencing) Order 2006 to include offences under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 within the scope of the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The Unduly Lenient Sentence (ULS) scheme is an exceptional power. Any expansion of the scheme must be carefully considered.
The Law Commission is currently undertaking a review of the law governing criminal appeals. As part of its public consultation, which ran from February to June 2025, the Commission sought views on a range of potential reforms to the ULS scheme, including whether additional offences, such as animal cruelty offences, should be brought within scope. The consultation closed in June 2025, and the Law Commission is expected to publish its final report in 2026.
The Government will carefully consider the Law Commission’s recommendations on possible reforms to the ULS scheme, including any proposals relating to offences under the Animal Welfare Act 2006, once the final report is published.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when she expects the reset of the High Speed Two programme to be completed.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The HS2 programme reset is underway and we are committed to updating parliament on progress on the reset in due course.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs on British nationals in the UAE who were unable to travel on scheduled commercial flights and subsequently travelled on FCDO charter flights; and what steps her Department is taking to ensure airlines meet their obligations to assist British passengers affected by flight cancellations overseas.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
My Department and I have worked in tandem with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and airlines, to ensure that any British National who wishes to leave the region can do so, whether via commercial routes or through Government-supported repatriation flights.
Throughout this situation my Department has continued to engage with the aviation sector to understand the impacts on their operations, the measures they are taking to minimise disruption, and the support they are providing to their customers.
This collaboration has included direct engagement by the Secretary of State and Ministers with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and major UK airlines and airports.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many full-time equivalent staff were assigned to the Competition and Markets Authority’s Sustainability Taskforce in (a) 2024–25, (b) 2025-26 and (c) 2026-27.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The number of full-time equivalent (“FTE”) staff assigned to the Competition and Markets Authority’s Sustainability Taskforce was 3.9 FTE in 2024-25 and 3.5 FTE in 2025-26. Data is not yet available for financial year 2026-27.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to page 17 of the report by the National Audit Office entitled Department for Transport overview 2024-25, published in November 2025, what the £478 million whole-life cost of the NO2 Programme comprises, by project, programme and local authority scheme; and how much of that cost has been spent to date.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Department for Transport (DfT) spend on the NO2 Programme up to the end of financial year 2024/25 was £450m.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much her Department has spent on international flights for officials in her Department since 4 July 2024; and how many such flights were taken in (a) economy, (b) premium economy, (c) business class and (d) first class.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department for Transport 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: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will publish a list of international flights undertaken by officials from her Department in the 2025 calendar year setting out the (a) destination, (b) date of travel, (c) number of officials travelling, (d) grade of those officials and (e) class of travel booked for each of those flights.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department for Transport 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: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, which body is responsible for measuring, collecting, reporting and validating greenhouse gas emissions across the Government estate.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
Individual Government departments are responsible for measuring and collecting greenhouse gas emissions data from their own estates. This data is reported to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) which coordinates the Greening Government Commitments (GGC) framework and publishes the annual GGC report. Validation of the data is conducted by DEFRA and its technical contractors at a cross-government level, while individual departments are responsible for the accuracy of their own underlying data.
To fulfill the statutory duty under Section 86 of the Climate Change Act 2008, the Cabinet Office utilises this data as part of its annual State of the Estate report on the efficiency and sustainability of the government estate.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 4 March 2026 to Question 116553 on the Highway Code, whether she plans to undertake an assessment of the effectiveness of Rule H1.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
As I set out in response to Question 116553, when the previous government introduced Highway Code rule H1 in 2022, they did not initiate or plan for any assessment of their introduction of the rule. Like the previous government, this government does not see the need to undertake any assessment of this common-sense rule on road safety.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of tickets sold on services operated by London North Eastern Railway in July 2024 excluding railcard discounts were at a) the fully flexible fare price, b) between 90 per cent and 100 per cent of the fully flexible fare price, c) between 80 per cent and 89.99 per cent of the fully flexible fare price, d) between 70 per cent and 79.99 per cent of the fully flexible fare price, e) between 60 per cent and 69.99 per cent of the fully flexible fare price, f) between 50 per cent and 59.99 per cent of the fully flexible fare price, g) between 40 per cent and 49.99 per cent of the fully flexible fare price and h) below 40 per cent of the fully flexible fare price.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department does not hold information on the proportion of tickets sold at these price points.