Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of trends in the level of theft in rural areas.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Rural crime can have devastating consequences for countryside communities and the agricultural sector. That is why this Government is committed to reducing crime in rural areas. The Home Office works in partnership with DEFRA to improve the response to rural crime. Together, we supported the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) to deliver the Rural and Wildlife Crime strategy for 2025-28. The strategy sets out operational and organisational policing priorities in respect of tackling rural crimes.
We are improving the safety of rural communities with tougher measures to clamp down on equipment theft, anti-social behaviour, strengthened neighbourhood policing and stronger measures to prevent farm theft and fly-tipping.
We are committed to implementing the Equipment Theft (Prevention) Act 2023 and fully support its aims to tackle the theft and resale of ATVs, quad bikes and GPS systems. We will introduce the necessary secondary legislation when Parliamentary time allows.
We are also introducing, through the Crime and Policing Bill, a new power for the police to enter and search premises to which items have been electronically tracked by GPS or other means, where the items are reasonably believed to have been stolen and are on those premises, and where it has not been reasonably practicable to obtain a warrant from a court. This will provide a valuable tool for police in tackling stolen equipment and machinery.
Our Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee means there will be an additional 3000 officers in neighbourhood policing teams in England and Wales by March 2026, whilst also ensuring each community, including rural communities, has a named, contactable officer to turn to.
This financial year the Home Office has provided the first funding since 2023 for the National Rural Crime Unit (NRCU) as well as continuing funding for the National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU). This funding boost of over £800,000 will help these specialist policing units tackle those crimes that predominantly affect our rural communities.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help tackle rural crime.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Rural crime can have devastating consequences for countryside communities and the agricultural sector. That is why this Government is committed to reducing crime in rural areas. The Home Office works in partnership with DEFRA to improve the response to rural crime. Together, we supported the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) to deliver the Rural and Wildlife Crime strategy for 2025-28. The strategy sets out operational and organisational policing priorities in respect of tackling rural crimes.
We are improving the safety of rural communities with tougher measures to clamp down on equipment theft, anti-social behaviour, strengthened neighbourhood policing and stronger measures to prevent farm theft and fly-tipping.
We are committed to implementing the Equipment Theft (Prevention) Act 2023 and fully support its aims to tackle the theft and resale of ATVs, quad bikes and GPS systems. We will introduce the necessary secondary legislation when Parliamentary time allows.
We are also introducing, through the Crime and Policing Bill, a new power for the police to enter and search premises to which items have been electronically tracked by GPS or other means, where the items are reasonably believed to have been stolen and are on those premises, and where it has not been reasonably practicable to obtain a warrant from a court. This will provide a valuable tool for police in tackling stolen equipment and machinery.
Our Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee means there will be an additional 3000 officers in neighbourhood policing teams in England and Wales by March 2026, whilst also ensuring each community, including rural communities, has a named, contactable officer to turn to.
This financial year the Home Office has provided the first funding since 2023 for the National Rural Crime Unit (NRCU) as well as continuing funding for the National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU). This funding boost of over £800,000 will help these specialist policing units tackle those crimes that predominantly affect our rural communities.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the revised National Planning Policy Framework published on 16 December 2025, what assessment has been made of the effect of that Framework on planning applications and planning enforcement for traveller sites.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government is currently consulting on a new National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) that includes clearer, ‘rules based’ policies for decision-making and plan-making.
The draft Framework incorporates policies relating to traveller sites, currently set out in Planning Policy For Traveller Sites, within relevant chapters.
The government recognises that there are particular concerns about the ability of local planning authorities to deal with intentional unauthorised development. The consultation on the revised NPPF seeks views on strengthening the policy on intentional unauthorised development.
The consultation is open for responses until 10 March 2026 and can be found on gov.uk here.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to bring high skilled jobs to former coalfield areas.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government is committed to revitalising former coalfield areas by driving local growth and creating high-skilled, long-term employment through targeted industrial and regional strategies. In the Industrial Strategy we announced £1.2 billion of additional investment in skills per year by 2028-29.
On 23 June 2025, the Government published the Industrial Strategy Zones Action Plan, which consolidates previous Freeport and Investment Zone programmes. Several Investment Zones are located in or near former coalfield heartlands, including the East Midlands, South Yorkshire, and the North East. These zones receive up to £160 million over 10 years for tax incentives and interventions in skills and infrastructure.
The Government continues to work with the Coalfields Regeneration Trust, which supported over 7,200 people in 2024/25 to improve their skills and job opportunities. In Wales, the Welsh Government provides specific capital grants to safeguard and improve community facilities in coalfield communities.
Asked by: Sadik Al-Hassan (Labour - North Somerset)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of making UK AISI / Thorn's guidance, Recommended Practice for AI-G CSEA Prevention, published in December 2025, mandatory for all AI developers to prevent the creation of AI-generated child sexual abuse material.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government recognises the importance of tackling AI-generated CSAM. Creating, possessing, or distributing CSAM, including AI Generated CSAM, is illegal. The Online Safety Act requires services to proactively identify and remove this content. We are taking further action in the Crime and Policing Bill to criminalise CSAM image generators, and to ensure AI developers can directly test for and address vulnerabilities in their models which enable the production of CSAM.
The AISI / Thorn joint publication guidance (Recommended Practice for AI-G CSEA Prevention) sets out practical steps that AI developers, model hosting services and others in the AI ecosystem can take to reduce the risk that their systems are misused to generate CSAM. This guidance is informed by input from industry and child protection organisations, and many of the world’s leading AI developers (including OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and Meta) have signed up to the principles of earlier forms of this guidance.
The Government is clear: no option is off the table when it comes to protecting the online safety of users in the UK, and we will not hesitate to act where evidence suggests that further action is necessary.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with refence to his Department's oral statement of 18 December 2025 on Local Government Reorganisation, Official Report col 1130, what recent discussions his Department has had regarding financial support for whichever restructured council area inherits the debts of Thurrock, Basildon, and Essex Councils.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Thurrock Commissioners were involved in the development of reorganisation proposals and my officials met with them in the course of those and other responsibilities.
The Department met with councils following the submission of proposals on 26 September, and officers from Basildon attended the meeting on the five unitary authority proposal meeting in November.
Baroness Taylor of Stevenage visited Basildon on 12 December, where local government reorganisation was raised.
On the wider question of Thurrock’s debt and the general handling of council debt, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 77936 on 13 October 2025.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with refence to his Department's oral statement of 18 December 2025 on Local Government Reorganisation, Official Report col 1130, what discussions his Department have had with Basildon Council regarding the financial viability of the 5 council model where Basildon and Thurrock would merge.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Thurrock Commissioners were involved in the development of reorganisation proposals and my officials met with them in the course of those and other responsibilities.
The Department met with councils following the submission of proposals on 26 September, and officers from Basildon attended the meeting on the five unitary authority proposal meeting in November.
Baroness Taylor of Stevenage visited Basildon on 12 December, where local government reorganisation was raised.
On the wider question of Thurrock’s debt and the general handling of council debt, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 77936 on 13 October 2025.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with refence to his Department's oral statement of 18 December 2025 on Local Government Reorganisation, Official Report col 1130, what discussions his Department have had with the commissioners at Thurrock Council on the preferred option for which councils Thurrock should merge with.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Thurrock Commissioners were involved in the development of reorganisation proposals and my officials met with them in the course of those and other responsibilities.
The Department met with councils following the submission of proposals on 26 September, and officers from Basildon attended the meeting on the five unitary authority proposal meeting in November.
Baroness Taylor of Stevenage visited Basildon on 12 December, where local government reorganisation was raised.
On the wider question of Thurrock’s debt and the general handling of council debt, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 77936 on 13 October 2025.
Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the risk of using rubber crumb infill in synthetic turf pitches in schools, in light of the ban on safety grounds on disposing of shredded tyre material in landfill sites and with reference to possible (a) inhalation, (b) ingestion and (c) skin absorption of toxic particles.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Responsible bodies are responsible for managing premises, including for health and safety. They should ensure risk assessments are conducted and measures taken to minimise known critical risks, following Health and Safety Executive (HSE) guidance.
Guidance on promoting good hygiene when taking part in physical activity is available to schools at: https://resources.thegma.org.uk/sportshygiene.
The department’s technical guidance, due to be updated early 2026, outlines alternative pitch materials. While primarily intended for new build schools, this advice is available for wider use and outlines the merits of each material.
The department continues to work with other government departments, including the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Department for Culture Media and Sport, the UK Health Security Agency and HSE, to ensure any advice and guidance in this area aligns with best practice and the latest scientific evidence.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to a) reduce public access to and b) ensure the online security of the Children Not in School Register proposed in the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Section 436C of the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill prohibits information from a local authority Children Not in School register being published or made public in a way that would include the name or address of a parent or eligible child or that would identify them.
The department will highlight in statutory guidance that we expect registers to be held securely on local authority systems. Local authorities should have an appropriate data protection policy document and privacy notice regarding the processing of personal data and its secure storage and destruction. We are continuing to engage with the Information Commissioner’s office to ensure that appropriate mitigations are in place for any risks identified.