Written questions by Mayer.

Whether the Network Rail regions will be redrawn.

There are no plans to change Network Rail’s existing structures.We expect to introduce the legislation to create Great British Railways (GBR) and enable transformation of the rail sector later in this parliamentary session.GBR will be a new organisation taking on Network Rail’s existing functions and train operating companies, with a new culture dedicated single-mindedly to delivering for passengers, freight customers and taxpayers. Decisions on GBR’s management structures will be made in due course.

Whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a national standards for bus stops in England and Wales.

The design of bus stations and stops can have a significant impact on the ability and willingness of people to use bus services. The Department has provided advice on the provision of bus stops in Local Transport Note 1/24, Bus User Priority, and further guidance on accessible bus stop design in the Inclusive Mobility document.It is the responsibility of local authorities to install and update facilities such as bus stops, and they should ensure that this reflects best practice in accessibility and safety, while being mindful of their duties under the Equality Act 2010.Transport in Wales is a devolved issue. The Welsh Government is responsible for setting strategic transport policies and priorities.

Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that the Advertising Standards Authority maintains standards relating to advertisements offering cash prizes in mobile gaming apps that may be used by children.

The Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) is responsible for setting the UK Advertising Codes while the Advertising Standards Authority enforces them. Both are independent of the government.Section 5 of the CAP Code contains the rules regarding advertising targeted at children. Section 8 contains rules for promotional marketing including prize draws. ASA guidance states that video and mobile game ads must be targeted appropriately if they contain elements unsuitable for children.

What her Department's planned timetable is for appointing the CEO of Shadow Great British Railways.

Laura Shoaf has been appointed as Chair of Shadow Great British Railways. In this role she convenes the leaders of Network Rail, DfT’s Operator of Last Resort and DfT’s Rail Services Group who maintain their existing accountabilities.As Shadow Great British Railways is not an organisation in its own right, there are no plans to appoint a CEO.

If she will publish her Department's criteria for prioritising rail routes for electrification.

Electrification will play an important role in our programme to achieve our Net Zero 2050 target. Discontinuous electrification, as well as alternative technologies such as hydrogen, battery and bi-modes will also play a part. Which rail lines will be electrified will broadly depend on the most suitable technological choice and value for money. More widely, the Transport Secretary has stated that we want to move to a vision-led approach to planning infrastructure so that transport is an engine for social mobility and economic growth.

How her Department plans to allocate the funding to tackle shoplifting announced in the Autumn Budget 2024.

Shop theft is at a record high. This Government is taking strong action by removing the threshold for shop theft under £200 and making it a specific criminal offence for assaults on shopworkers.As announced in the Autumn Budget, and building on current Home Office funding, we will provide the following additional funding to help tackle retail crime:£5 million over three years to continue to fund a specialist analysis team within Opal, the National Policing Intelligence Unit for serious organised acquisitive crime, to crack down on organised gangs targeting retailers;£2 million over three years to the National Business Crime Centre, a resource for police and businesses to learn, share and support each other to prevent and combat crime; and£100k in 2025-26 for the National Police Chiefs' Council for further training on prevention tactics.

Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to help improve (a) 4G and (b) 5G coverage in Bedfordshire.

This Government wants all areas of the UK to benefit from good quality mobile coverage. Our ambition is for all populated areas, including Bedfordshire, to have higher-quality standalone 5G by 2030, and to increase 4G coverage to 95% of the UK landmass by the end of 2025 through the Shared Rural Network programme. We are committed to ensuring we have the right policy and regulatory framework in place to support investment and competition. As part of this work, the Government intends to reform the planning system to make it easier to build and deploy digital infrastructure.

Food and Rural Affairs, if his Department will publish its planned timescale for implementing Schedule 3 of the Flood and Water Management Act 2010.

This Government is strongly committed to requiring standardised SuDS (sustainable drainage systems) in new developments. We need to see SuDS in more developments; to designs that cope with changing climatic conditions as well as delivering wider water infrastructure benefits and helping to improve water quality. It is also important to ensure that appropriate adoption and maintenance arrangements are in place. We believe that these outcomes can be achieved through either improving the current planning led approach using powers now available, or commencing Schedule 3 to the Flood and Water Management Act 2010. A final decision on the way forward will be made in the coming months.

Innovation and Technology, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a digital champion in each local authority area.

The Government believes Digital Champions play a key role in advancing the digital connectivity agenda - and help local communities to realise the benefits advanced connectivity can bring. We strongly encourage local and combined authorities to appoint them as dedicated officers where possible. We have set out more details on the role that Digital Champions can play within the Digital Connectivity Portal. The Portal is an extensive online resource providing best practice guidance helping local authorities to facilitate digital infrastructure deployment. It can be found here:https://www.gov.uk/guidance/digital-strategy-and-leadership#digital-champion

What assessment her Department has made of the potential use of discontinuous electrification as a means to decarbonise the rail network.

The Government expects electrification to play an important role in our programme to achieve our Net Zero 2050 target and improve the passenger experience.Overhead Line Electrification will remain the best value for money option for some lines, for example where there is high speed, high volume of passenger trains, or high freight use; but other lines may represent better value for money by electrifying less and utilising hybrid electric and battery power trains. East West Rail has recently launched a non-statutory consultation which sets out a preference for discontinuous electrification and a final decision will be informed by the consultation responses.

Whether her Department is holding discussions with (a) East West Rail Company and (b) rail operators on branding for trains on East West Rail.

The Department is considering options for the branding on trains for Connection Stage One (CS1) East West Rail services between Oxford, Bletchley and Milton Keynes and is holding discussions with the relevant parties, this has included Chiltern Railways and East West Rail Company who are supporting preparations for EWR CS1 Services.

Food and Rural Affairs, what (a) funding and (b) other support his Department is providing to farmers to transition to more sustainable agricultural practices in (i) East, (b) South West and (c) South East of England.

The Government has committed to support farmers through a farming budget of £5 billion over two years, including £2.4 billion in 2025/26. This will include the largest ever budget directed at sustainable food production and nature’s recovery in our country’s history: £1.8 billion for environmental land management schemes in 2025/26. This funding will deliver improvements to food security, biodiversity, carbon emissions, water quality, air quality and flood resilience. Environmental Land Management schemes will remain at the centre of our offer for farmers, with the Sustainable Farming Incentive, Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier and Landscape Recovery all continuing. These offer funding streams for farmers to make their businesses more sustainable and resilient, including those who have been often ignored such as small, grassland, upland and tenant farmers. We will work with the sector to continue to roll out, improve and evolve these schemes, to make them work for farming and nature.

Whether her Department has had discussions with police forces on the provision of training on potential inks between domestic violence and violence against animals.

The Government will treat violence against women and girls (VAWG) as a national emergency. We have set out our ambition to halve VAWG in a decade using every available lever.Committing violence towards a pet or an assistance animal or using them to control or coerce a victim should be considered as risk factors for domestic abuse and must be treated seriously by the police. It is essential that every force has the right specialist capability to properly investigate these crimes taking into account the relevant risk factors.We are committed to ensuring policing have the right skills and training to respond appropriately to victims of VAWG. We are working closely with the College of Policing and the National Police Chiefs’ Council to strengthen police training for all forms of VAWG, including domestic abuse.

Communities and Local Government, what estimate she has made of the amount of private finance required to deliver the HS2 Euston quarter development.

The Department for Transport is responsible for delivering tunnelling for HS2 to Euston, as well as developing a much-improved station site.To support the delivery of a significant number of homes alongside this project, MHCLG has established the Euston Housing Delivery Group. As outlined in the Written Ministerial Statement made on 31 October 2024 (HCWS182), the Delivery Group will be chaired by Bek Seeley and will be made up of industry experts in urban design, architecture, affordable housing delivery and the financing of large-scale projects.Identifying the infrastructure, services, and green space required for the area, as well as the private finance needed to deliver the scheme, is a core objective for the group in the coming months. It will be for the delivery group to determine and advise on the quantum of private finance required to deliver wider regeneration around Euston.We will continue to update Parliament on the work of the Delivery Group.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help support the conservation of endemic tree species.

Genetic conservation is critical to maintaining the genetic pool of England’s native and endemic tree species. This diversity is important for evolutionary adaptation to environmental change. The Millennium Seed Bank, managed by Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, safeguards seed from the majority of UK endemic tree species, including all those that reliably produce viable seed. Further collecting is ongoing, with seed and data available to support research, conservation and reintroduction work. Forestry England’s arboreta also currently support ex situ and in situ conservation of endemics from many countries. Alongside this, in September, Westonbirt National Arboretum launched the Global Conservation Consortium for Whitebeams, Rowans, and Service Trees, with initial focus on threatened UK and Irish species.

What steps she is taking with bus operators to help protect the safety of (a) passengers and (b) bus staff during heatwaves.

The Public Service Vehicles (Conditions of Fitness, Equipment, Use and Certification) Regulations 1981 sets out the requirements for public service vehicles in relation to the equipment on board and vehicle specification. It makes clear that ‘adequate ventilation shall be provided for passengers and the driver without the necessity for opening any main window or windscreen’. Bus operators are required ensure their fleet complies with these regulations.

If he will make an estimate of the cost to the public purse of crime perpetrated by fraudsters posing as legitimate food wholesalers in the last 12 months.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) does not hold crime data relating to this question. Fraudsters posing as legitimate food wholesalers are committing theft, which would primarily sit under a policing remit.However, the FSA has published research on the broader wholistic cost of food crime. Phase 2 of the Cost of Food Crime report was published in October 2023, based on data up until 2022. It estimates the cost of food crime to the United Kingdom economy to be between £410 million and £1.96 billion per year. The report is available at the following link:https://www.food.gov.uk/sites/default/files/media/document/Cost%20of%20Food%20Crime%20report.pdfFurthermore, in September 2024, the FSA published its Food Crime Strategic Assessment, in collaboration with Food Standards Scotland. This articulates our understanding of food crime threats and trends. The assessment is available at the following link:https://www.food.gov.uk/sites/default/files/media/document/FSA-Food%20Crime%20Strategy%202024.pdf

Food and Rural Affairs, will he make an assessment of the potential impact of the import of (a) soy, (b) palm oil, (c) cocoa and (d) other products on the UK's contribution to tropical deforestation.

UK consumption of soy, palm oil, cocoa, coffee, rubber and cattle products was associated with 15,363 hectares of deforestation in 2021 of which 11,201 was tropical deforestation. These commodities are estimated to account for 55% of the UK’s tropical and non-tropical deforestation footprint. This Government recognises the urgency of taking action to ensure that UK consumption of forest risk commodities is not driving deforestation. We will set out our approach to addressing UK consumption of forest risk commodities in due course.

What steps she is taking with rail companies to help support the safety of (a) passengers and (b) rail staff during heatwaves.

Train operators are required by law to mitigate and manage the safety risks to staff and passengers associated with heatwaves. The Rail Delivery Group (RDG) recently updated its guidance in June 2023 covering the specific arrangements and measures that operators should have in place to manage hot weather. This includes communicating travel conditions to passengers, providing access to water, recognising the signs of heatstroke, and administering medical assistance where needed. Operators are also expected to manage station and train environments to maintain comfortable temperatures, which extends to upgrading air conditioning and ventilation on new rolling stock and rectifying faults with these systems quickly in the event they stop working.

If her Department will make an estimate of the cost of closing roads during flooding in (a) Bedfordshire and (b) nationally in September.

The Department recognises the profound importance of our country’s road network in moving people, goods, and services around the country. The economic impact of closing roads will vary greatly depending on the roads in question and on the scale and severity of the flooding. The Government does not routinely make a detailed estimate of the economic impact of particular road closures of this sort, either in Bedfordshire or nationally. These are matters for local highway authorities. Bedford Council and Central Bedfordshire Council, as the relevant local highway authorities for Bedfordshire, are responsible for the management of their respective local networks, including making operational network decisions in the event of severe weather events including flooding. On a national basis, management of the highway network is the responsibility of over 150 highway authorities in England, who make operational decisions based on the scope and severity of severe weather affecting their area.