Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will review the definition of irreplaceable habitats to ensure it is (a) robust and (b) comprehensive to support decision makers.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government has stated its intention to review the definition of irreplaceable habitats in due course, to ensure it remains robust and supports decision making.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will add priority species-rich grasslands to the list of irreplaceable habitats.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government has stated its intention to review the definition of irreplaceable habitats in due course, to ensure it remains robust and supports decision making.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if she will ensure that independent celebrants are included in the Government response to the Law Commission’s report entitled Celebrating Marriage: A New Weddings Law, published on 18 July 2022.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Law Commission’s 2022 report on weddings made 57 recommendations for reform of weddings law, including how independent celebrants could conduct legally binding weddings. The Government appreciates the importance of this issue and will provide an update in due course.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer of 3 March 2025 to Question 31833 on Mineworkers' Pension Scheme, when he expects discussions with Mineworkers' Pension Scheme trustees to conclude on the future of the surplus sharing arrangements.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The then Minister for Industry (Sarah Jones) met the Mineworkers’ Pension Scheme Trustees in April and July to discuss their proposals and the analysis we had jointly commissioned. The Government is keen to reach agreement with the Trustees as swiftly as possible on changes to take effect from the September 2026 scheme valuation.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the decision to pause the next phase of electrification of the Midland Main Line on rail (a) times and (b) investment in the East Midlands.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Spending Review prioritised investment across all government spending, taking account of business cases and affordability. While I appreciate the investment opportunities that further electrification of the Midland Main Line could bring to the East Midlands, schemes that would have a more significant impact on economic growth were prioritised for funding. There is still significant investment being made in rail and we will continue to keep this project under review as part of our longer-term pipeline of schemes.
Ahead of further funding becoming available to complete electrification of the route, EMR’s new intercity bi-mode trains will provide a step change in journey quality for rail passengers travelling between South Yorkshire, the East Midlands and London. The new trains will be quieter, more comfortable and will reduce carbon emissions by running using electric overhead lines between London and Wigston, south of Leicester. When fully operational they will provide a 46 per cent increase in capacity through a mixture of a greater number of seats and units.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to help support indoor tennis facilities.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is determined to ensure that everyone has access to quality sport and physical activity opportunities.
The Government provides the majority of support for grassroots sport through Sport England, which annually invests over £250 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding. This includes long term investment to the Lawn Tennis Association, the National Governing Body for tennis, which receives up to £10.2 million for five years to invest in community tennis initiatives.
The Government has also announced another £400 million to transform facilities across the UK following the Spending Review. We will work closely with sporting bodies and local leaders to establish what communities need and will then set out further plans. I have met with the Lawn Tennis Association, along with representatives from other sports, to discuss this.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment has he made of the potential merits of increasing parental bereavement leave from two weeks to four weeks.
Answered by Justin Madders
The entitlement to Parental Bereavement Leave and Pay represents a floor, not a ceiling, and the Government strongly encourages employers to go beyond the statutory minimum wherever they are able to.
The Government is also committed to taking a holistic look at the parental leave and pay system to consider how it can better support working families via the Parental Leave Review, which launched in July and will run for 18 months.
All current parental leave and pay entitlements are in scope of the review, including Parental Bereavement Leave and Pay.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of the amount of water lost due to leaking toilets in the UK; and if he will take steps to help reduce this.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Waterwise, the lead environmental non-governmental organisation for water efficiency, estimates to 8% of toilets are leaking around 400 litres a day each.
The Government is committed to reducing leakage by 50% by 2050 as part of our legally binding target to reduce water use per person by 20% by 2038. This includes taking steps to reduce water wastage from toilets. Our recent update to our government response on a Call for Evidence on leaking toilets, conducted in 2022 outlined we are reviewing initial discussions with stakeholders as part of a ‘leaky loos taskforce’ to understand the steps needed to reduce toilet leakage.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment has he made of the reasons for the exemption of the Advanced Research and Invention Agency from the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
Answered by Feryal Clark
ARIA is a small body with limited administrative capacity to handle Freedom of Information Act requests. It is important that ARIA is focused on funding long-term transformational research for the benefit of the UK.
ARIA is, however, dedicated to transparency. ARIA has other statutory commitments to transparency, including requirements for it to submit an annual report and a statement of accounts, which are laid before Parliament and audited by the National Audit Office or a commercial auditor. In addition to this, ARIA regularly publishes transparency information on its website, including on its financial transactions, contracts and funding recipients.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of existing flood-related resources for fire and rescue services; and whether she plans to increase guaranteed resources.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
Protecting communities from flooding is a key priority for this government. Fire and Rescue Authorities already have duties under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 to prepare for emergencies, including major flooding. However, we recognise the interest in creating a statutory duty for flood rescue and officials are working with DEFRA, as lead government department for flooding, to consider the wider implications of this.
MHCLG supports Fire and Rescue Authorities in responding to flood incidents by providing national resilience High Volume Pump (HVP) capabilities. These are available to be used by Fire & Rescue Services across the country during major flood incidents. Additionally, DEFRA hold the Flood Rescue National Asset Register, a list of teams or assets that voluntarily join the register and maintain availability for national deployment in England.
The 2025/26 Local Government Finance Settlement set out funding allocations for all local authorities, including Fire and Rescue Authorities (FRAs). Standalone FRAs will see an increase in core spending power of up to £69.1m in 2025/26.