Written questions by Mayer.

What assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of extending the zero emission vehicle mandate to include (a) trucks and (b) buses.

To meet net zero, both the HGV and bus sectors will need to decarbonise. The Government has not made a detailed assessment of the merits or feasibility of extending the zero emission vehicle mandate.

If his Department will establish a definition for (a) lower emission and (b) net zero steel.

Building demand for low carbon products is essential for achieving net zero. Public procurement is a key lever for driving demand. At COP28 the UK declared its intention to meet international green procurement pledges for low emission steel and concrete in public construction by 2030 (link here). Ministers are considering their options to grow demand for low carbon steel, cement and concrete, the first step of which is resolving questions such as how to measure embodied emissions in products and defining what a low carbon product is. The Government will consult on options for answering these questions in due course.

What steps his Department is taking to implement procurement rules to give greater weight to the inclusion of green steel in purchased goods and services.

Building demand for low carbon products is essential for achieving net zero. Public procurement is a key lever for driving demand. At COP28 the UK declared its intention to meet international green procurement pledges for low emission steel and concrete in public construction by 2030 (link here). Ministers are considering their options to grow demand for low carbon steel, cement and concrete, the first step of which is resolving questions such as how to measure embodied emissions in products and defining what a low carbon product is. The Government will consult on options for answering these questions in due course.

What recent assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of sovereign cold chain partners on the safe (a) storage and (b) delivery of vaccines in healthcare emergencies.

The UK Health Security Agency has appointed, through a Commercial and Quality Technical Agreement, a third party to provide storage and distribution of vaccines in the event of healthcare emergencies. The United Kingdom-based provider must adhere to the relevant regulatory compliance to ensure this service is safe and ready to be utilised.

What steps her Department is taking to encourage more women to take up careers in the bus industry.

The government is committed to delivering better bus services for passengers and it is essential that we ensure the sector better represents the people that it serves. Whilst it is the responsibility of individual bus operators to ensure they can recruit and retain staff, the government would encourage operators to support more women to take up careers in the bus industry. The government supports initiatives such as Women in Bus and Coach to ensure the bus sector is uplifting female role models in engineering, driving and management, and challenging industry policies that do not meet women’s needs.

Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of the damage caused by the eight-toothed spruce bark beetle to trees in (a) Central Bedfordshire and (b) the UK.

The eight-toothed spruce bark beetle is a quarantine pest of spruce tree species and is not native to the UK. The Forestry Commission have a nationwide surveillance programme in place to monitor for incursions of this pest, which spreads naturally from Europe. A demarcated area is in place over south-east England which implements robust measures to detect and eradicate outbreaks and prevent potential spread. The demarcated area does extend to a small part of Bedfordshire, but there have been no outbreaks in this region. All outbreaks to date have been detected on stressed, dying and dead spruce trees, which are more vulnerable to the pest. There is an estimated 725,000 hectares of spruce in Great Britain, but less than 1% of this is within the demarcated area.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with his counterpart in the Faroe Islands on (a) dolphin and (b) whale hunting.

The UK strongly opposes the hunting of all cetaceans other than some limited activities by indigenous people for clearly defined subsistence needs. We reaffirmed our strong support for the global moratorium on commercial whaling at the September International Whaling Commission meeting with Danish government in attendance, where we co-sponsored a resolution on International Legal Obligations in Commercial Whaling. Ministers and senior officials will continue to raise the issue with the Faroese at every appropriate opportunity.

What discussions she has had with National Highways on the effectiveness of using balancing ponds and drains to help prevent flooding on highways.

National Highways have not made an assessment on the effectiveness of using balancing ponds and drains in the prevention of highway flooding. Balancing ponds are used on the network to manage the risk of downstream flooding and drainage is designed to remove surface water from roads as quickly as possible and to minimise flood risk for receiving environments.

What the cost to the public purse is of each sub-national transport body.

In Financial Year 23/24, the grant provided to each Sub-national Transport Body from the Department for Transport was as follows:Summary of Payments to Sub National Transport Bodies for FY23/24Transport for the North£7,210,000Midlands Connect£5,000,000Transport for the South East£1,725,000England's Economic Heartland£1,350,000Transport East£762,000Western Gateway£605,000Peninsula Transport£585,000TOTAL£17,237,000

Innovation and Technology, what discussions he has had with university vice-chancellors on reducing the use of animals in experiments.

The Government is committed to supporting the uptake and development of alternative methods to the use of animals in science. The Labour Manifesto includes a commitment to “partner with scientists, industry, and civil society as we work towards the phasing out of animal testing”, which is a long-term goal.We recognise that any work to phase out animal testing must be science-led and in lock step with partners, and are engaging in discussions on how to take this commitment forward, which may include with university vice chancellors. We have already held roundtables with stakeholders from businesses, regulators and across Government.

Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions his Department has had with the Faroese Minister for Fisheries on cetacean hunts.

The UK strongly opposes the hunting of all cetaceans other than some limited activities by indigenous people for clearly defined subsistence needs. The UK reaffirmed its strong support for the global moratorium on commercial whaling at the September International Whaling Commission meeting with Danish Government in attendance, where we co-sponsored a resolution on International Legal Obligations in Commercial Whaling. We also raised the UK opposition to cetacean hunting at official level in September as part of the UK-Faroe Islands fisheries intersessional. Ministers and senior officials will continue to raise the issue with the Faroese at every appropriate opportunity.

Innovation and Technology, whether he has had discussions with providers on implementing revised Call Line Identification Guidance to extend blocking to international calls which display a UK number as a Presentation Number.

The Government works closely with Ofcom who are responsible for the Call Line Identification (CLI) Guidance. Telecoms providers must comply with Ofcom’s General Conditions, part of which outlines operator’s obligations related to CLI.In July 2024, Ofcom announced plans to update the CLI guidance, which sets out the actions operators must take to be comply with the General Condition, to extend requirements on blocking of international calls displaying a UK landline number as a Presentation Number. The updated guidance will come into effect from January 2025. Ofcom also published a Call for Input in July to explore the spoofing of UK mobile numbers from international numbers.

Innovation and Technology, if he will take steps with UK Research and Innovation to increase the proportion of biomedical research funding available for research projects that use non-animal new approach methodologies.

In accordance with UK legislation UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) only fund animal research where there is no suitable non-animal alternative available. Around 70% of research funded by their Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council and Medical Research Council does not involve animals. UKRI supports the development, validation and uptake of non-animal alternatives, largely through their investment in NC3Rs. UKRI are committed to conducting a strategic review of NC3Rs in 2024/25 to determine the appropriate level of future investment. The UKRI policy on Research and Innovation Involving Animals further commits UKRI to encouraging applications with potential to advance the 3Rs.

What discussions the Joint Committee established by the bilateral Free Trade Agreement between the Faroe Islands and the United Kingdom has had about whale and dolphin hunts.

The Government is strongly opposed to the hunting of whales and dolphins. The Department for Business and Trade utilises the opportunities provided by the UK-Faroe Islands Free Trade Agreement to engage the Faroese government on this important matter. The UK-Faroe Islands Free Trade Agreement Joint Committee meets annually, and UK officials highlight our strong opposition to the practice at every opportunity, including at the last meeting in February 2024.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help people adapt their homes to mitigate against the risk of flooding.

Property flood resilience measures, such as airbrick covers and flood resilient materials, can ensure that new and existing homes are resilient to risks from flooding. The Environment Agency’s Property Flood Resilience (PFR) Framework provides consultancy and contracting services for the survey, supply, and installation of property flood resilience to homes and is in place for up to four years. Lead Local Flood Authorities can also use the framework to secure these services for local projects. In the current flood's investment programme, there are over 150 property flood resilience schemes planned, which will better protect over 4,000 homes.

Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of mandating country-of-origin labelling for fish products originating from the Faroe Islands.

A public consultation on fairer food labelling was undertaken between March and May 2024. This sought views on proposals to improve and extend current mandatory methods of production labelling and looked at country of origin for a range of products including fish. The new Government is now carefully considering all responses before deciding on next steps and will publish a response to this consultation in due course.

Whether she plans to take steps to encourage local authorities to join the National Parking Platform.

The Department has funded a pilot version of the system led by Manchester City Council since 2021, which now covers nine authorities and around 1% of the national cashless parking market. The pilot has been successful.

If her Department will make an environmental impact assessment for each airport expansion plan.

All airport expansion proposals that are likely to have a significant effect on the environment must already be accompanied by an environmental impact assessment, as set out in planning legislation. These assessments will be taken into account by the local planning authority and/or Secretary of State in deciding whether or not to grant consent for the development.

Food and Rural Affairs, what his planned timetable is for the next reviews of the (a) National Adaptation Programme and (b) strategy for climate change adaptation reporting.

The Climate Change Act 2008 requires the Secretary of State to produce a National Adaptation Programme in response to the Government’s most recent Climate Change Risk Assessment, on a five-yearly cycle. The third National Adaptation Programme was published in July 2023. The fourth National Adaptation Programme will be published in 2028. The strategy for the fourth round of climate adaptation reporting under the Adaptation Reporting Power was published in July 2023. The fourth round of reporting is currently underway and due to close on 31st December 2024. The review of the use of power will take place in 2025, ahead of a fifth round of reporting.

Whether she has had discussions with her European counterparts on the proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the Union-wide effect of certain driving disqualifications.

We have not had discussions with European counterparts on the proposed Directive relating to the upholding of Driving Disqualifications across the EU.