Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
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 is taking to improve real time monitoring of water quality in (a) rivers and (b) lakes to support safe access for swimmers in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
There are currently no bathing waters designated by Defra in the Surrey Heath constituency. The Environment Agency undertakes regular monitoring of the water quality in Surrey Heath constituency; the assessment and proposed actions are set out in The Thames River Basin Management Plan. Impacts from wastewater pollution are highlighted as a key pressure resulting in many waterbodies not currently achieving good ecological status.
There have been significant pollution incidents at Camberley and Chobham Sewage Treatment Works in the last few years, and these are subject to ongoing Environment Agency investigations. The Environment Agency is currently transforming its regulatory approach including developing a larger specialised workforce and delivering a step change in inspections of Thames Water's permitted sites and associated enforcement.
Water company investment of over £10 billion will improve over 2,500 storm overflows, targeted at those affecting the most sensitive sites for ecological and human health. Protected Sites Strategies will also help improve biodiversity in our coastal areas.
Where a water body has been officially designated as a bathing water the Environment Agency will carry out regular testing of the water quality at each site, as well as inspecting for the presence of a range of pollutants. Information about water quality at each site is published online via the Swimfo service.
Asked by: Ben Goldsborough (Labour - South Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to reduce the number of young people classed as NEET in South Norfolk constituency.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Local authorities have statutory duties to support young people into education and training, including identifying and helping those who are currently not in education, employment or training (NEET).
Under the September Guarantee, local authorities are required to ensure that all 16 and 17-year-olds receive an offer of a suitable place to continue in education or training. The government monitors NEET data and liaises with local authorities regarding their duty to track and support young people who are NEET, or are at risk of becoming NEET.
We have invested over £7.5 billion in 16 to 19 programme funding during the 2024/25 academic year. However, we are aware of the particular challenges around access to education and training in Norfolk which relate to the local provider market. Departmental officials are working closely with these local authorities to actively address the issues.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 2 September 2025 to Question 69569 on Grasslands: Conservation, when she plans to start the review of irreplaceable habitats.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government intends to review the definition of irreplaceable habitats in due course, to ensure it remains robust.
Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of operating different deposit return scheme frameworks in different parts of the UK on costs for (a) producers and (b) retailers.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
A new organisation called UK Deposit Management Organisation Ltd (UK DMO) will run the scheme. It’s a not-for-profit group, led by businesses. They were officially appointed in May 2025 (England & NI) and June 2025 (Scotland).
The Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) across England, Northern Ireland and Scotland have been designed with interoperability in mind to ensure the schemes look and feel like one scheme in all three nations.
I and my officials remain in close working partnership with the Welsh Government as they develop further detail of their scheme, and it is reassuring that they have decided to align their scheme launch date with DRS in the rest of the UK.
Government will continue to work closely across the sector, and now with UK DMO, to ensure the smooth implementation of the DRS for businesses and consumers. We will also maintain regular engagement with retailers, producers and interested groups to monitor implementation progress.
Each nation has or will set out the costs of their schemes in their respective impact assessments. The full impact assessment for England and Northern Ireland was published when the regulations came into force in January of this year and can be found here.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 5 June 2025 to Question 52410 on Sewers, if she will set out the current obligations for housing developers are in respect of the installation of sustainable drainage schemes.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) requires all development to utilise Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) where they could have drainage impacts. These systems should be appropriate to the nature and scale of the proposed development. See paragraphs 181 and 182 of the NPPF.
The current legal and regulatory framework associated with SuDS adoption, maintenance and enforcement is via conditions attached to planning permissions. We intend to consult on National Planning Policy related to decision making later this year, including policies on flood risk and SuDS. The government also recognises the importance of long-term maintenance of SuDS.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact on E10 petrol production following the closure of the Vivergo bioethanol plant.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
On 15 August 2025 Vivergo announced the closure of its UK bioethanol production plant in Hull, which at full capacity could produce 420 million litres of bioethanol per year from wheat for blending with petrol.
Whilst the UK retains bioethanol production capacity elsewhere, the closure of Vivergo represents a significant loss. However, it is not considered likely to impact the production or supply of E10 petrol in the UK. It is expected that the supply of bioethanol for petrol suppliers will continue to be met by both bioethanol produced at the remaining UK plants and by imports.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate she has made of the proportion of UK cars powered solely by electric.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
In the 12 months ending June 2025, 4.4% of all licensed cars in the UK were zero emission battery electric cars, equivalent to 1.5 million cars.
Asked by: Iain Duncan Smith (Conservative - Chingford and Woodford Green)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with international partners on the ongoing detention of (a) Pastor Kim Jung-Wook, (b) Missionary Kim Kook-kie and (c) Missionary Choi Chun-gil in North Korea; and whether she is taking diplomatic steps to ensure their release.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Defending the right to freedom of religion or belief is a key strand of our human rights strategy in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the UK regularly raises its concerns about these issues both bilaterally via the embassy in London and in multilateral fora. On 23 September 2025, our Human Rights Ambassador issued a statement at the UN Human Rights Council calling on the DPRK to engage meaningfully with the international community on human rights issues.
Asked by: Edward Argar (Conservative - Melton and Syston)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of pupils were receiving SEN support at school in Leicestershire in July 2025.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The number and proportion of pupils receiving special educational needs support at schools in Leicestershire can be viewed in the table here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/5819b943-986a-45eb-62a4-08ddf03ad3ce.
The figures are from the January 2025 school census publication here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/special-educational-needs-in-england/2024-25.
Asked by: Josh Babarinde (Liberal Democrat - Eastbourne)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the average wait time is from initial assessment to an Education, Health, and Care Plan document being produced in East Sussex.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Information on the number and percentage of education, health and care (EHC) plans issued within the statutory 20 week deadline, with and without statutory exceptions to that deadline applying, can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/8a52558d-1cb4-4f5d-7ddd-08dde95299cd.