Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many claims for judicial review were brought against (a) her Department and (b) National Highways regarding the Lower Thames Crossing.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
No claims for judicial review have been made against either the Department for Transport or National Highways regarding the Lower Thames Crossing.
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of increased funding support needed for local authorities to speed up the completion of non-cladding remediation works in social housing.
Answered by Florence Eshalomi - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
As part of our Decade of Renewal for Social Housing we have announced measures to rebuild the financial capacity of social housing providers, including to support their investment in existing homes. We have set a stable long-term rent policy of CPI+1% for 10 years plus social rent convergence, confirmed over £1 billion of building safety funding (between 2026-2027 and 2029-20 30), and just under £1.15 billion has been offered to retrofit social homes across 138 projects under Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund Wave 3 across England. In April 2026, the government announced it will be providing a further £100 million for solar panel installations.
For the non-cladding defects, the Government expects the party responsible to meet remediation costs. Where an 11m+ social housing building was not developed by the social housing provider directly, the building owner can apply for a remediation contribution order against the developer to reimburse remediation costs. Many developers have agreed voluntarily to remediate defects they have created. Where the social housing provider is responsible for the defect they are responsible for funding remediation independently.
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, to provide details of the distribution so far of funding from the December 2025 announcement from the National Institute for Health and Care Research of £13.7 million for brain tumour research, including (a) the funding allocated to research to date, and (b) the funding actually paid out for research to date.
Answered by James Frith - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In January 2026, the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) announced increased investment of over £25 million in the NIHR Brain Tumour Research Consortium. This includes an initial investment of £13.7 million announced in December 2025, and a further investment of a minimum of £11.7 million through funding of work packages announced in January 2026.
Future payments will be issued over the period of the award contracts, which range from five to 10 years, as per the schedule of payments agreed between the NIHR and the consortium.
Information on all awards will be made publicly available in due course. The NIHR is working to ensure that new investments can get up and running as soon as possible.
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department has taken steps to assess and act upon the recommendations in the June 2026 report from the APPG for Cycling and Walking, on illegal e-bikes, in particular around police and local authority enforcement.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Enforcement of road traffic law is an operational matter for the police, but the Government has strengthened the tools available to them through the Crime and Policing Act 2026, including new powers to seize vehicles, including illegal e-bikes used antisocially, without first issuing a warning. Local authority Trading Standards services are supported by the Office for Product Safety and Standards which works with them to remove unsafe products from the market.
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to assess and improve the standards under which laboratory animals, including dogs, are bred and kept in extreme heat episodes.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 (ASPA) provides robust protections for animals bred, supplied or used in scientific procedures. Under ASPA, licensed establishments are responsible at all times for ensuring the welfare of animals in their care, and establishments must comply with the standards set out in the Code of Practice for the care and accommodation of animals bred, supplied or used for scientific purposes, and the terms of their licences. This includes ensuring appropriate arrangements are in place during periods of extreme weather including effective monitoring, contingency planning and sufficient trained staff to maintain animal welfare and facility standards.
Standard licence conditions mandate that daily checks of animal welfare and environmental conditions are undertaken by competent and appropriately trained personnel. Any concerns identified must be assessed and acted on promptly to minimise avoidable harm or distress to animals.
The Home Office Regulator assesses compliance with ASPA through a programme of announced and unannounced audits, which inspect the health, welfare and environmental conditions of animals at licensed establishments. Where required, ASRU may request updates from establishments on environmental conditions, including temperature monitoring, to ensure that appropriate standards of animal welfare are maintained.
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, with reference to the Draft Conversion Practices Bill published on 25 June 2026, what assessment she has made of the potential impacts of clause 1(9)(b) which includes “procedures similar to forms of medical or surgical care” within the definition of “health care services” on individuals subject to relevant conduct.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government published its draft Conversion Practices Bill on 25 June for pre-legislative scrutiny. The draft Bill sets robust thresholds to target clear instances of harmful and abusive acts. Officials have assessed a range of evidence and research to develop and deliver measures that comprehensively protect people from abusive conversion practices.
We welcome cross-party engagement and scrutiny on all aspects of this draft legislation including through the pre-legislative scrutiny process. This includes engagement and scrutiny of the healthcare provisions.
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, with reference to the Draft Conversion Practices Bill published on 25 June 2026, what is meant by “procedures similar to forms of medical or surgical care” in clause 1(9)(b).
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government published its draft Conversion Practices Bill on 25 June for pre-legislative scrutiny. The draft Bill sets robust thresholds to target clear instances of harmful and abusive acts. Officials have assessed a range of evidence and research to develop and deliver measures that comprehensively protect people from abusive conversion practices.
We welcome cross-party engagement and scrutiny on all aspects of this draft legislation including through the pre-legislative scrutiny process. This includes engagement and scrutiny of the healthcare provisions.
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which organisations, departments and practitioners the Department is consulting in the development of the forthcoming Youth Custody Transformation Plan; what the planned timeline is for developing and publishing that plan; and what arrangements the Department will make for sector engagement, including consultation with youth justice services, children’s charities, practitioners, academics, and children with lived experience.
Answered by Jake Richards - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
As set out in the White Paper Cutting Youth Crime, Changing Young Lives, the Government is developing a Youth Custody Transformation Plan as part of the wider programme of youth justice reform.
The Plan will set out how the youth custody estate can best protect the public, support rehabilitation and improve outcomes for children in custody, consistent with the White Paper’s vision for a more preventive, evidence-led youth justice system. Publication will be the starting point of a long-term transformative programme of work, setting out fundamental plans to improve current provision as well as decade-long ambitions.
Work is being informed through continuing engagement across the system, drawing on operational and policy expertise, as well as that of delivery partners. The Ministry of Justice recognises the value of engagement with a wide range of stakeholders, and is now engaging sector bodies, youth justice services and others with relevant expertise and experience as part of the development process. We also recognise the importance of understanding the views and experiences of children and young people.
The Youth Custody Transformation Plan will be informed by these exercises and will be published later this year.
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, with reference to the Draft Conversion Practices Bill published on 25 June 2026, how “standards reasonably expected of a person in their position” will be defined with regards to the exemption for health care providers set out in clause 1(3) of the draft bill.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government published its draft Conversion Practices Bill on 25 June for pre-legislative scrutiny. The draft Bill sets robust thresholds to target clear instances of harmful and abusive acts. Officials have assessed a range of evidence and research to develop and deliver measures that comprehensively protect people from abusive conversion practices.
We welcome cross-party engagement and scrutiny on all aspects of this draft legislation including through the pre-legislative scrutiny process. This includes engagement and scrutiny of the healthcare provisions.
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, with reference to the Draft Conversion Practices Bill published on 25 June 2026, whether specialists in the impacts of conversion practices will be involved in assessing whether conversion practices meet the criteria to be considered abusive.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government published its draft Conversion Practices Bill on 25 June for pre-legislative scrutiny.
In developing the draft Bill, the Government has engaged with a wide range of stakeholders, including LGBT+ organisations, victim and survivor groups and criminal justice specialists. We have also assessed a range of evidence and research to develop measures that comprehensively protect people from abusive conversion practices.
The pre-legislative scrutiny process will test and strengthen our draft Bill ensuring it is effective in the long term and we welcome cross-party engagement and scrutiny on all aspects of this draft legislation including through the pre-legislative scrutiny process.