Written questions by Mayer.

Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions his Department has had with animal welfare organisations on the potential merits of phasing out the use of enriched cages for laying hens.

We remain firmly committed to maintaining and improving animal welfare and want to work closely with the farming sector to deliver high standards. The use of cages and other close confinement systems for farmed animals is an issue which we are currently considering very carefully. The Department has initiated a series of meetings with key stakeholders, including animal welfare organisations, as part of the development of an animal welfare strategy to be published later this year.

What information her Department holds on average cab temperatures on buses in periods of hot weather; and if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of average cab temperatures on the health of bus drivers.

The Department for Transport does not hold this information. The Government recognises the importance of ensuring all transport workers have access to suitable working conditions. The majority of bus services in England outside London are provided on a commercial basis by private operators, who are responsible for ensuring their employees have access to healthy and safe working conditions.

Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to encourage local authorities to undertake high street rental auctions.

The government is working with eleven early adopter councils who are taking steps to implement High Street Rental Auction powers to showcase their benefits and provide a source of best practice for other councils. My officials are also providing practical support and guidance to other councils and we have made up to £1 million available in 2025/26 to support the creation of vacancy registers and fund property refurbishments, as well as new burdens funding for local authority administrative costs.

What recent discussions his Department has had with Integrated Care Boards on (a) increasing vaccination rates for and (b) prevention of measles.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) declared a national standard incident response for measles on 10 July 2025 to oversee the risk assessment and public health response to the increase of measles cases in England and coordinate the multi-agency input to the response nationally with the aim of limiting further spread. The Department, UKHSA and the National Health Service are already working with local partners to undertake community and stakeholder engagement to raise awareness that measles is circulating, promote the importance of measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccination and target catch-up efforts at key under vaccinated communities and in a range of settings.NHS England is working with local health teams, including integrated care boards, to monitor reported measle cases, provide advice and support local communities to be aware of action they can take to protect themselves, including getting vaccinated.Building on the MMR coverage gains achieved in 2023/24, NHS England continues to deliver national and regional improvement plans that include activities to strengthen the routine vaccination offer and to address inequalities by supporting MMR catch up vaccination by school age vaccination services in schools and community settings, for example, summer ‘catch up’ immunisation clinics are being stood up in some of the areas of England with the lowest MMR uptake including Liverpool, Knowsley, Sefton and St Helens.  In London, childhood vaccination clinics have been stood up in outbreak areas including targeted community clinics, pharmacies offering MMR and we are working with school immunisation services to deliver some MMR catch up in schools once term starts. Additional steps are being taken which will strengthen efforts to reduce the risk of future measles outbreaks, including bringing forward MMR vaccination for children so they are protected sooner. There are also plans to explore new ways of delivering vaccinations such as greater use of community pharmacies and during at health visits. Further to this, a new national communications and marketing campaign will kick off in August 2025 with a brand-new programme of always on activity to reach parents, pregnant women and multicultural audiences and encourage uptake of MMR as well as other vaccinations. It is vitally important that everyone takes up the vaccinations they are entitled to, for themselves, their families, and wider society.

Representing the House of Commons Commission, when the external windows were last cleaned on (a) Norman Shaw South, (b) Portcullis House and (c) Richmond House.

The external windows were last cleaned on the following dates.(a) Norman Shaw South: South, East and West façade were last cleaned in February 2025, with the next clean scheduled in August 2025. The North façade is unable to be cleaned due to reach and wash equipment unable to access due to the Norman Shaw North works.(b) Portcullis House: Internal façade (overlooking the Atrium) was cleaned in June 2025 and the external façade was cleaned in May 2025; both areas scheduled to be cleaned in November 2025.(c) Richmond House windows last cleaned in April 2025 with the next clean scheduled for October 2025.

What assessment her Department has made of the potential impact the Pension Schemes Bill on the savings of people in (a) Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard constituency and (b) East of England.

The Pension Schemes Bill could mean nationally an average earner saving over their career may have around £29,000 more in their Defined Contribution pension pot at retirement. In total, around 20 million savers could benefit from the Bill and around 2 million are estimated to be in the East of England. Breakdowns by constituency are not available. See page 52-53 of the Pension Schemes Bill Impact Assessment for further details.

What recent progress he has made on consulting animal welfare organisations on the review of fireworks legislation.

I have met with several animal charities in recent months, including Dogs Trust, the RSPCA and Redwings, through the fireworks working group. I continue to engage with businesses, consumer groups and charities to gather evidence on the issues and impacts of fireworks. It is important that we ensure the safe, responsible and considerate use of fireworks for business and consumers alike.

What assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of the report entitled Annual Shared Micromobility Report 2024 published by CoMoUK.

We are committed to growing shared micromobility in Great Britain. The Government continues to trial rental e-scooters so we can learn what works, and on 21 July I announced these trials will be extended to May 2028, and for the first time since the trials began, I am offering new towns and cities the opportunity to join. Cycle sharing is already here and growing, as highlighted by this report. The English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill introduced on 10 July included a measure to regulate on-street micromobility services which will give our local leaders the powers to regulate shared micromobility so they can shape these schemes around their needs, connect people to public transport, and ensure they are used safely and responsibly.

Whether his Department has made a recent assessment of the potential impact of moving to (a) single and (b) double summer time on cumulative carbon emissions.

The Government believes the current daylight-saving arrangements represent the optimal use of the available daylight across the UK. Therefore, we have no plans to introduce single summertime, double summertime, or other such changes. Since the Government does not intend to make changes to the existing system, we have not conducted a recent assessment of the impact on cumulative carbon emissions. The Government is fully committed to complying with the statutory duties outlined in the Climate Change Act and reaching net zero by 2050.

Whether her Department is considering taking steps to reform the escalation process for Penalty Charge Notices in cases where the original notice was for a minor offence and was not received by the registered keeper.

With regard to on-street parking, local highway authorities are responsible for enforcing parking restrictions under the system of Civil Parking Enforcement (CPE). Penalty charge notices must be issued in line with the Secretary of State’s ‘Statutory Guidance on the Civil Enforcement of Parking Contraventions’ which is available at:www.gov.uk/government/publications/civil-enforcement-of-parking-contraventions/The Department has no plans to change the process for issuing Penalty Charge Notices.With regard to private and off-street parking, policy on this including enforcement is the responsibility of the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government.

What steps her Department is taking to improve the provision of basic life support education in schools.

All state-funded schools are required to teach first aid as part of the statutory health education curriculum, as part of relationships, sex and health education. This includes basic treatment for common injuries, life-saving skills, including how to administer CPR and the purpose of defibrillators and when one might be needed.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to introduce species-specific requirements for the slaughter of farmed fish.

Since publication of the Animal Welfare Committee’s updated Opinion on the welfare of farmed fish at the time of killing a GB-wide joint government-industry working group on farmed trout has been examining the issues raised in the report. This co-design work has made good progress on exploring potential options for more detailed welfare at killing requirements. We are now exploring all the potential next steps, including options for creating detailed guidance and new legislation. The Scottish Government is also working closely with the salmon industry on more detailed welfare at killing requirements.

Whether she has had discussions with Cabinet colleagues on the potential merits of transferring responsibility for the licensing of animal testing to the (a) Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and (b) Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.

It is the responsibility of the Cabinet Office to consider the benefits of any changes to the allocation of responsibilities between different government departments.

How many arm’s-length bodies provided funding to Understanding Animal Research in the 2024–25 financial year, broken down by the amount of funding provided by each body.

Information on how issued funding is spent by arms length bodies, including any membership of third party organisations, is not gathered centrally.

If she will publish a list of locations with enforceable School Keep Clear road markings in each local authority area.

The Government has no plans to publish such a list. Local authorities are responsible for these markings and maintaining their own records.

Whether her Department plans to include the safety of road workers in its Road Safety strategy.

This Government takes the safety of all road users seriously, including those who work on our roads. We are developing a Road Safety Strategy and further details will be shared in due course.

If she will make an assessment of the effectiveness of the system of recording abuse against roadworkers.

Assaults against a person are already an offence (Common Assault) under the Criminal Justice Act 1988, and are covered under other legislation such as the Offences against the Person Act 1861, which also covers more serious violence, including actual bodily harm and grievous bodily harm.Section 156 of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 creates a statutory aggravating factor in sentencing cases of assault against public facing workers. It applies where an assault is committed against those providing a public service, performing a public duty or providing a service to the public

Communities and Local Government, what her Department's planned timetable is for reviewing the national wildfire framework.

The Government is taking a joined-up approach to enhancing resilience to wildfires. Prior to the transfer of fire functions to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), the Home Office convened a number of stakeholder workshops with the Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (Defra), its agencies, and other stakeholders to identify policy options for addressing wildfire risk. This included reviewing existing frameworks and governance. The outcomes of this work are currently being considered.Improvements are being driven in wildfire data collection through the introduction of the new Fire and Rescue Data Platform – a new incident reporting tool used by Fire and Rescue Services. This will introduce a formal definition for ‘wildfire’ for the purpose of fire incident reporting, which will enable Government to collect official data on the number of incidents and publish official statistics. These improvements will allow us to track data trends, the concentration of wildfire events and provide a solid evidence base for future wildfire policy and operational planning.Officials continue to engage actively with key stakeholders including landowners, land managers and wildfire specialists through established forums including the England and Wales Wildfire Forum (EWWF).

Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of creating standardised wildfire (a) definitions and (b) recording protocols.

The Government is taking a joined-up approach to enhancing resilience to wildfires. Prior to the transfer of fire functions to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), the Home Office convened a number of stakeholder workshops with the Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (Defra), its agencies, and other stakeholders to identify policy options for addressing wildfire risk. This included reviewing existing frameworks and governance. The outcomes of this work are currently being considered.Improvements are being driven in wildfire data collection through the introduction of the new Fire and Rescue Data Platform – a new incident reporting tool used by Fire and Rescue Services. This will introduce a formal definition for ‘wildfire’ for the purpose of fire incident reporting, which will enable Government to collect official data on the number of incidents and publish official statistics. These improvements will allow us to track data trends, the concentration of wildfire events and provide a solid evidence base for future wildfire policy and operational planning.Officials continue to engage actively with key stakeholders including landowners, land managers and wildfire specialists through established forums including the England and Wales Wildfire Forum (EWWF).

With reference to her Department's press release entitled On track and online: landmark deal to end mobile dead zones, published on 26 June, if she will list the locations of the 57 tunnels due to receive improved coverage in Project Reach.

The list of tunnels is shown below. Please note the exact timings are subject to commercial discussions with Mobile Network Operators: TunnelRegionRoute MONUMENT LANE TUNNELNorth West & CentralCentral BEECHWOOD TUNNELNorth West & CentralCentral NEW STREET NORTH WESTERN LINES TUNNELNorth West & CentralCentral NEW STREET MIDLAND LINES TUNNELNorth West & CentralCentral POTTERS BAR EAST TUNNELEasternEast Coast POTTERS BAR WEST TUNNELEasternEast Coast WELWYN NORTH TUNNELEasternEast Coast PEASCLIFFE TUNNELEasternEast Coast STOKE TUNNELEasternEast Coast WOOD GREEN CENTRE TUNNELEasternEast Coast WOOD GREEN EAST TUNNELEasternEast Coast WOOD GREEN WEST TUNNELEasternEast Coast BARNET WEST TUNNELEasternEast Coast BARNET EAST TUNNELEasternEast Coast BARNET CENTRE TUNNELEasternEast Coast COPENHAGEN CENTRE TUNNELEasternEast Coast COPENHAGEN WEST TUNNELEasternEast Coast GASWORKS CENTRE TUNNELEasternEast Coast GASWORKS WEST TUNNELEasternEast Coast WELWYN SOUTH TUNNELEasternEast Coast HADLEY WOOD SOUTH EAST TUNNELEasternEast Coast HADLEY WOOD SOUTH WEST TUNNELEasternEast Coast CLERKENWELL NO 1EasternThameslink LUDGATE TUNNELSouthernKent ARDSLEY TUNNELEasternNorth East MACCLESFIELD TUNNELNorth West & CentralNorth West FARNWORTH TUNNELNorth West & CentralNorth West FARNWORTH TUNNELNorth West & CentralNorth West PRESTBURY TUNNELNorth West & CentralNorth West NEWPORT NEW TUNNELWales & WesternWales NEWPORT OLD TUNNELWales & WesternWales KILSBY TUNNELNorth West & CentralWest Coast WATFORD TUNNEL SLOW LINESNorth West & CentralWest Coast WATFORD TUNNEL FAST LINESNorth West & CentralWest Coast PRIMROSE HILL SLOW LINES TUNNELNorth West & CentralWest Coast PRIMROSE HILL FAST LINES TUNNELNorth West & CentralWest Coast SHUGBOROUGH TUNNELNorth West & CentralWest Coast STOWE HILL TUNNELNorth West & CentralWest Coast NORTHCHURCH FAST LINE TUNNELNorth West & CentralWest Coast NORTHCHURCH UP SLOW TUNNELNorth West & CentralWest Coast NORTHCHURCH DOWN SLOW TUNNELNorth West & CentralWest Coast KENSAL GREEN FAST LINES TUNNELNorth West & CentralWest Coast KENSAL GREEN SLOW LINES TUNNELNorth West & CentralWest Coast HARECASTLE NEW TUNNELNorth West & CentralWest Coast LINSLADE UP SLOW TUNNELNorth West & CentralWest Coast LINSLADE CENTRE BORE (UP FAST/DN SLOW)North West & CentralWest Coast LINSLADE DOWN FAST TUNNELNorth West & CentralWest Coast SODBURY TUNNELWales & WesternWestern PATCHWAY UP NEW TUNNELWales & WesternWestern WHITEBALL TUNNELWales & WesternWestern MARLEY TUNNELWales & WesternWestern POLPERRO TUNNELWales & WesternWestern TREVERIN TUNNELWales & WesternWestern PARSONS TUNNELWales & WesternWestern ALDERTON TUNNELWales & WesternWestern WIVELISCOMBE TUNNELWales & WesternWestern BUCKSHEAD TUNNELWales & WesternWestern