Asked by: Siobhan Baillie (Conservative - Stroud)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if his Department will support wetlands-focused research on barriers relating to (a) private finance for, (b) land use change affecting and (c) long-term management of wetland sites.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Government has a goal of stimulating at least £500m per year of private investment into nature recovery in England by 2027, rising to at least £1bn per year by 2030. Defra is putting in place interventions to set the conditions for this to happen, including publishing a nature markets framework, partnering with the British Standards Institute on nature investment standards, stimulating a pipeline of investable nature projects (including multiple projects in wetland areas), and enabling public funding for nature to crowd-in private investment.
The Government is also supporting eight blue finance projects with around £750,000 of grants through the Natural Environment Investment Readiness Fund. This funding is being used to develop a pipeline of projects that can demonstrate viable private-sector investment models, ultimately working to restore important coastal and marine habitats such as saltmarsh. Four of the five Protected Site Strategy Research and Development Pilots involve pressures affecting wetlands, including long-term management and financing, while Natural England is additionally progressing two projects on peatland National Nature Reserves on selling carbon using the Peatland Code.
Defra already supports a range of research projects relating to wetlands, including a recent collaboration with the British Trust for Ornithology modelling the impacts of different land use change scenarios on a range of wetland species. We also fund the Wetlands Bird Survey through grant in aid via JNCC. Through the UK Blue Carbon Evidence Partnership, UK Administrations are working with DESNZ and Defra to address key research questions relating to blue carbon habitats.
Internationally, we provide regular financial and in-kind support to the Ramsar Wetlands Convention to promote the protection and wise use of wetlands.
Asked by: Siobhan Baillie (Conservative - Stroud)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department plans to celebrate World Wetlands Day.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Yes, my Department will be marking World Wetlands Day, including through a variety of communications and engagement activities. Wetlands play a crucial role in sustaining life globally - they benefit water, food, livelihoods, climate, cultural pursuits, and biodiversity – and this day marks an opportunity to promote these benefits.
This year’s World Wetlands Day theme is ‘Wetland and human wellbeing’, reflecting that Wetlands positively impact mental wellbeing by promoting mindfulness and emotional balance through the connection to nature they provide and offer recreational opportunities, contributing to stress management and relaxation.
Asked by: Siobhan Baillie (Conservative - Stroud)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how often the Health and Safety Executive reviews and updates the UK REACH Candidate List of substances of very high concern for authorisation; and what estimate he has made of when the next update of that list will be published.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Although the Health and Safety Executive annually reviews substances for potential inclusion in the UK REACH Candidate List of substances of very high concern for authorisation, it is not anticipating an update to the list before 2025.
Asked by: Siobhan Baillie (Conservative - Stroud)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to tackle anti-social behaviour.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
In March, the Government launched the Anti-Social Behaviour Action Plan, backed by £160m of funding overseen by the ASB taskforce. This includes funding Police and Crime Commissioners to increase patrolling in ASB hotspot areas and to run immediate justice schemes.
In July we launched Round 5 of the Safer Streets Fund funding PCCs to deliver ASB and crime prevention measures.
Asked by: Siobhan Baillie (Conservative - Stroud)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent estimate she has made of the number of parents who have been unable to return to the workforce due to being unable to access school-aged childcare.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department understands that parents may struggle to return to work or may work fewer hours when their children are of school age. A key barrier is the availability of school-age wraparound childcare. In 2022, 43% of non-working mothers with children aged 5 to14 said that if they could arrange good quality childcare that was convenient, reliable and affordable, they would prefer to go out to work.
The availability of wraparound childcare differs across schools and local authorities. In March 2023, only 60% of primary schools reported to currently offer childcare at both ends of the day. This means that although there is some excellent provision, whether delivered by schools or providers, not all families are receiving the support that they need to enable them to work.
For this reason, the government is investing £289 million in a new wraparound childcare programme to support local authorities to work with primary schools and private providers to set up and deliver more wraparound childcare before and after school in the term time. This is the first step in the government’s ambition for all parents of primary school children who need it to access childcare in their local area from 8am to 6pm. Successfully meeting this objective will go some way to ensuring that parents have enough childcare to work full time, more hours and more flexible hours.
Eligible working parents can continue to access support with childcare costs when their children are of school age: through Tax Free Childcare, worth up to £2,000 per year for children aged up to 11, or £4,000 per year for children aged up to 17 with disabilities, and the childcare element of Universal Credit for children up to age 16.
Asked by: Siobhan Baillie (Conservative - Stroud)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to page 55 of the Spring Budget 2023, what the planned timescales are for spending the £289 million in start-up funding for childcare; and how much and what proportion of that funding will be allocated to childcare school-aged children.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
In the Spring Budget 2023, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, announced a transformative set of childcare reforms. This included the largest ever investment in childcare including expansions of early years entitlements and wraparound childcare.
The department is investing £289 million in a new wraparound childcare programme to support local authorities to work with primary schools and providers, including childminders, to set up and deliver more wraparound childcare before and after school in the term time. The department’s ambition is for all parents of primary school children who need it to access childcare in their local area from 8am to 6pm.
Parents should expect to see an expansion in the availability of wraparound care from September 2024, with every parent who needs it able to access term-time wraparound childcare by September 2026. Programme funding allocations will be announced at the necessary points to support local authorities and schools to meet these timescales.
Asked by: Siobhan Baillie (Conservative - Stroud)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of generative artificial intelligence on the (a) nature and (b) scale of harms associated with (i) inauthentic and (ii) non-verified social media accounts.
Answered by Paul Scully
Following the AI Regulation Whitepaper, the government is establishing a central AI risk function which will identify, measure and monitor existing and emerging AI risks using expertise from across government, industry, and academia. This will allow us to monitor risks — including online harms.
The Online Safety Bill will require services to tackle AI-generated content on services in scope. Content produced by AI bots on those services will be in scope of the regulation if they are controlled by a user and interact with other users.
In addition, adult users will have the choice to filter-out non-verified users, including generative AI bots that impersonate others or spread harmful content.
Asked by: Siobhan Baillie (Conservative - Stroud)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of (a) generative artificial intelligence and (b) in-authentic and non-verified social media accounts on the (i) nature and (ii) prevalence of online fraud; and whether she has made an assessment of the implications for her Department's policies of comments on generative artificial intelligence by the Chief Executive of Ofcom to the Lords Communications and Digital Committee on 11 July 2023.
Answered by Paul Scully
Following the AI Regulation Whitepaper, the government is establishing a central AI risk function which will identify, measure and monitor existing and emerging AI risks using expertise from across government, industry, and academia. This will allow us to monitor risks — including fraud.
All companies in scope of the Online Safety Bill will need to take action to prevent fraudulent content - including AI-generated content or content posted by AI bots - appearing on their platforms and swiftly remove it if it does.
As Ofcom recognised, the Bill provides Ofcom with a powerful set of tools to understand how bots are used, and how services are assessing their risks and appropriate safety measures. In line with requirements in the Bill, the Government will review the operation of the Online Safety framework two to five years after the safety duties come into force, and we expect AI to be an important part of this.
Asked by: Siobhan Baillie (Conservative - Stroud)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make an assessment of the monetary value of the benefits delivered by urban wetlands.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Hon lady Parliamentary Question of 22 May is attached.
Asked by: Siobhan Baillie (Conservative - Stroud)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what responsibilities (a) her Department, (b) the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and (c) Natural England have for research into the benefits of green and blue infrastructure.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
Natural England launched the Green Infrastructure Framework: Principles and Standards for England in January 2023. During the course of developing the Framework they produced and commissioned research, working with government Departments for: Environment Food and Rural Affairs; Levelling Up, Housing and Communities; Transport and Health and Social Care. They also sought wider from input from experts in public bodies and private organisations to steer and advise.
Natural England and Public Health England (Office for Health Improvement and Disparities) published a Rapid Scoping Review of Health and Wellbeing Evidence as part of the project. In addition, Defra has also funded research into the economic modelling of accessible green space across England and Wales, known as the Outdoor Recreation Valuation tool.
As set out in the Environmental Improvement Plan 2023, we will use the Green Infrastructure Framework to track progress in our commitment for everyone to have access to green or blue space within 15 minutes from their front door