Written questions by Snowden.

Communities and Local Government, if she will require local planning authorities to publish (a) agreements under section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 and (b) related compliance information in (i) standardised and (ii) accessible formats.

Supporting local planning authorities (LPAs) to attract, retain and develop skilled planners is crucial to ensuring they provide a proactive, efficient planning service for local communities and that new developments are well designed and facilitate local growth. The government appreciates that planning departments across the country are experiencing challenges with recruitment, retention, and skills gaps and that in many cases these issues are having a negative impact on service delivery. At the Budget last year, the Chanceller announced a £46 million package of investment into the planning system as a one-year settlement for 2025-2026. Our manifesto committed us to appointing 300 new planning officers into LPAs. We are on track to meet that commitment through two routes, namely graduate recruitment through the Pathways to Planning scheme run by the Local Government Association and mid-career recruitment through Public Practice. On 27 February 2025, the government announced funding to support salaries and complement graduate bursaries. Further information can be found in the Written Ministerial Statement I made on 27 February 2025 (HCWS480). On 12 March 2025, the Town and Country Planning (Fees for Applications, Deemed Applications, Requests and Site Visits) (England) (Amendment and Transitional Provision) Regulations 2025 were made. These regulations increase planning fees for householder and other applications, with a view to providing much-needed additional resources for hard-pressed LPAs. More broadly, the Department’s established Planning Capacity and Capability programme is also developing a wider programme of support, working with partners across the planning sector, to ensure that LPAs have the skills and capacity they need, both now and in the future, to modernise local plans and speed up decision making, including through innovative use of digital planning data and software. Lastly, the Planning and Infrastructure Bill includes provisions that will allow LPAs to set planning fees or charges at a level that reflects the individual costs to the LPA to carry out the function for which it is imposed and to ensure that the income from planning fees or charges is applied towards the delivery of the planning function. Planning practice guidance on planning obligations makes clear that it may be appropriate in some cases for LPAs to make use of collaborative agreements, skills of officers from other LPAs, or external third-party experts to ensure planning obligations can be agreed quickly and effectively. The relevant PPG also encourages local planning authorities to use and publish standard forms and templates to assist with the process of agreeing planning obligations. On 28 May 2025, the government published the Planning Reform Working Paper: Reforming Site Thresholds (which can be found on gov.uk here) which sought views on a number of specific proposals including standardised S106 templates and the rules relating to suitable off-site provision and/or appropriate financial payment. Local planning authorities are required to keep a copy of any planning obligation – together with details of any modification or discharge of that obligation – and to make these publicly available on their planning register. In addition, any local planning authority that has received a contribution from development through section 106 planning obligations is legally required to publish an Infrastructure Funding Statement at least annually, which sets out how developer contributions are used to fund local priorities. On 26 June, the Chief Planner wrote to all LPAs reminding them of their statutory duty to publish an Infrastructure Funding Statement where applicable. Authorities can charge a monitoring fee through section 106 planning obligations, to cover the cost of monitoring and reporting on delivery for the lifetime of that obligation. Authorities must report on monitoring fees in their Infrastructure Funding Statements. The government is committed to strengthening the system of developer contributions to ensure new developments provide necessary affordable homes and infrastructure. Further details will be set out in due course.

Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of the population of wild peacocks.

The Government does not hold data on the population of Indian peafowl (peacock) but is aware of recent data recorded by the British Trust for Ornithology that shows there were at least 9 confirmed breeding pairs in the UK in 2020, spread widely in Dorset, Cornwall, Yorkshire, Derbyshire, Lincolnshire, Breconshire and Isle of Man. This data can be found in the UK Rare Breeding Birds Annual Report for 2020, found here: Annual Reports – UK Rare Breeding Birds Panel.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of trends in regional differences in the (a) availability and (b) pricing of Biodiversity Net Gain credits.

Statutory credits are a last resort way of achieving biodiversity net gain (BNG). They are different from biodiversity units, which are sold in the offsite market. If developers buy statutory credits, this is because it is not possible to restore habitats on-site or units are not available for purchase in the offsite market. Statutory Biodiversity Credits are sold by Defra to ensure developers can meet their BNG obligation in the few instances where suitable units are not available from the market. Defra can review and amend credit prices. Low volumes of Statutory Biodiversity Credits sales suggest that the private market for units is functioning as intended with good availability of a range of habitat types across England. Biodiversity Units differ in their availability and pricing. Defra is monitoring the availability and pricing of BNG units. Defra’s consultation on BNG regulations and implementation in January 2022 sought views on the impact of implementing BNG on small and medium-sized developers. Results from the consultation suggested that these developers should remain in scope of the BNG policy but with a simplified process. The department is currently holding a consultation seeking views on improving the implementation of biodiversity net gain for minor, medium and brownfield development.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of (a) securing and (b) verifying Biodiversity Net Gain credits on small and medium-sized developers.

Statutory credits are a last resort way of achieving biodiversity net gain (BNG). They are different from biodiversity units, which are sold in the offsite market. If developers buy statutory credits, this is because it is not possible to restore habitats on-site or units are not available for purchase in the offsite market. Statutory Biodiversity Credits are sold by Defra to ensure developers can meet their BNG obligation in the few instances where suitable units are not available from the market. Defra can review and amend credit prices. Low volumes of Statutory Biodiversity Credits sales suggest that the private market for units is functioning as intended with good availability of a range of habitat types across England. Biodiversity Units differ in their availability and pricing. Defra is monitoring the availability and pricing of BNG units. Defra’s consultation on BNG regulations and implementation in January 2022 sought views on the impact of implementing BNG on small and medium-sized developers. Results from the consultation suggested that these developers should remain in scope of the BNG policy but with a simplified process. The department is currently holding a consultation seeking views on improving the implementation of biodiversity net gain for minor, medium and brownfield development.

Food and Rural Affairs, what mechanisms exist for (a) developers and (b) local planning authorities to appeal the (i) availability and (ii) cost of mandatory Biodiversity Net Gain credits in cases where viable alternatives are limited.

Statutory credits are a last resort way of achieving biodiversity net gain (BNG). They are different from biodiversity units, which are sold in the offsite market. If developers buy statutory credits, this is because it is not possible to restore habitats on-site or units are not available for purchase in the offsite market. Statutory Biodiversity Credits are sold by Defra to ensure developers can meet their BNG obligation in the few instances where suitable units are not available from the market. Defra can review and amend credit prices. Low volumes of Statutory Biodiversity Credits sales suggest that the private market for units is functioning as intended with good availability of a range of habitat types across England. Biodiversity Units differ in their availability and pricing. Defra is monitoring the availability and pricing of BNG units. Defra’s consultation on BNG regulations and implementation in January 2022 sought views on the impact of implementing BNG on small and medium-sized developers. Results from the consultation suggested that these developers should remain in scope of the BNG policy but with a simplified process. The department is currently holding a consultation seeking views on improving the implementation of biodiversity net gain for minor, medium and brownfield development.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department plans to publish a publicly accessible register of biodiversity net gain credit schemes with information on (a) location, (b) pricing and (c) habitat type to support market functionality and planning decisions.

Statutory credits are a last resort way of achieving BNG. They are different from biodiversity units, which are sold in the offsite market. If developers buy statutory credits, this is because it is not possible to restore habitats on-site or units are not available for purchase in the offsite market. Defra does not intend to maintain a register of schemes in receipt of income from the sale of statutory credits; however the department is required to publish an annual report detailing income received from the sale of Statutory Biodiversity Credits, how that income was spent and (if applicable) the projected biodiversity value of the measures funded by that expenditure. The first annual report is publicly available on gov.uk. Demand for Statutory Biodiversity Credits has been low, suggesting that the offsite units market is working as intended.

Innovation and Technology, if he will take steps with the Secretary of State for Defence to improve mobile signal at military sites.

The Government wants to ensure that all areas of the UK benefit from reliable and high-quality mobile connectivity. This includes wanting those who serve, live or work at our military sites being able to access the same mobile services that others are able to. There are a number of considerations to consider, however, including access and deployment of digital infrastructure on or near key military sites. The Member may wish to attend the next Telecoms MP surgery I host, where he can set out any specific concerns.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has made an estimate of the cost of introducing a not for EU labelling scheme for agri-food businesses in Fylde constituency.

Defra has published an impact assessment which sets out the likely costs to businesses. Due to the scope of products that need to be labelled from 1 July, and uncertainty as to the extent to which these products may be removed from sale in Northern Ireland and hence the scale of any requirement in Great Britain, it includes a ‘range’ for the potential cost to businesses. As is set out in the Impact Assessment, the indicative cost to business of applying ‘not for EU’ labelling to a subset of product lines is significantly less than the whole scope and will vary depending on the product. We made the decision to introduce a targeted power, as opposed to a mandatory requirement for all goods, in order to prevent some of these costs to businesses.Moreover, the non-monetised benefits - particularly safeguarding food security in Northern Ireland - will be a crucial part of maintaining a strong economy.

What her policy is on recording the (a) DNA and (b) fingerprints of migrants who arrive in the UK illegally.

As per the practice under successive governments, the Home Office collects biometric data, in the form of facial images and fingerprints, from all people who enter the UK illegally where they are aged over five, for the purpose of verifying identity and evaluating risk to public safety.

What steps he is taking to increase mobile phone signal in barracks.

The Strategic Defence Review sets out this Government’s commitment to enhancing the standard of Service Family Accommodation and Single Living Accommodation, which is essential for the morale and retention of Service personnel. The Ministry of Defence (Defence Digital) has recently signed a new Mobile Device and Airtime Contract with BT. The main service provider under this contract is EE, with the option to use Vodafone as an alternative provider should mobile coverage prove poor with EE.

Pursuant to the Answer of 12 May 2025 to Question 49682 on Deportation, what estimate she has made of the number of those 24,000 people that entered the UK illegally.

The information requested is not currently available from published statistics, and the relevant data could only be collated and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.More detailed published data on returns activity is published in the ‘Immigration System Statistics quarterly release’. Data on the number of foreign national offender returns from the UK can be found in Ret_D03 of the ‘Returns detailed datasets’ and enforced and voluntary returns of small boat arrivals can be found in Ret_06 of the ‘Returns summary tables’. This data goes up to March 2025.

What steps she is taking to reduce violence against women and girls in (a) Fylde constituency and (b) Lancashire.

The scale of violence against women and girls (VAWG) in our country is intolerable and this Government is treating it as the national emergency that it is. We are going further than ever before to deliver a cross-government transformative approach, which will be underpinned by a new VAWG Strategy later this year.In May 2025, we announced a £19.9m investment to provide vital support to victims of VAWG and increase awareness to prevent these horrific crimes. This includes over £6 million for national helplines supporting victims of domestic abuse, 'honour'-based abuse, revenge porn and stalking, and £2.5m on prevention and early intervention.Specifically in Lancashire, we have allocated £442,000 to Lancashire PCC for perpetrator funding. PCCs are best placed to understand their local communities and providers, and to commission appropriate support to meet that need.Lancashire PCC currently receives funding from the Home Office’s Domestic Abuse and Stalking Perpetrator Intervention Fund. Using this funding, they deliver the Drive Project, which works with high-risk, serial domestic abuse perpetrators who are deemed to cause the most harm, in a few local authority areas.At the national level, we have embedded domestic abuse specialists and dedicated domestic abuse teams in the first five 999 control rooms under Raneem’s Law, launched the new Domestic Abuse Protection Orders in selected police forces and courts and announced a new package of measures to tackle spiking, including committing to introducing a new criminal offence for spiking and piloting new spiking training for bar staff.Through the Crime and Policing Bill, we are introducing a range of legislative measures to improve the response to sex offender management and stalking. Under the Bill, the police will be given new powers to issue a notice prohibiting registered sex offenders who pose a risk from changing their name without prior authorisation. Other measures include requiring registered sex offenders to provide advance notice before entering premises where children are present, and improving the management of stalkers. This includes statutory guidance for the police in releasing identifying information about online stalking perpetrators to victims as part of the “right to know”.

What steps his Department is taking to increase safety measures at beaches during (a) summer months and (b) other periods of increased activity.

The provision of lifeguards, beach patrols and safety information is part of the risk assessment undertaken by the local authority or beach owner. In conjunction with other services HM Coastguard provides safety advice and guidance about the coastal environment with the aim to reduce incident numbers, this guidance includes how to call for help in an emergency.

What assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of fiscal policy on levels of food inflation in Fylde constituency since 4 July 2025.

HM Treasury does not produce forecasts of the UK economy. Forecasting the economy, including the impact of Government policy decisions, is the responsibility of independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), which published its latest forecast on 26 March 2025. The OBR does not publish estimates of the impact of policy decisions on levels of food inflation, nor on inflation at a constituency level. The Office for National Statistics publishes food inflation data based on observed price movements at a national level, which is not disaggregated to constituency level.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure the cleanliness of beaches in Lancashire.

Responsibility for keeping beaches clear of litter and refuse rests with the landowner or the local council in the case of amenity beaches. The Code of practice on litter and refuse sets out the cleaning standards expected on amenity beaches. Councils have enforcement powers to deter littering including the ability to issue fixed penalty notices (on-the-spot fines) of up to £500. They can also ban items like disposable barbecues from their beaches. We welcome all beach litter collection efforts, such as the Marine Conservation Society’s Great British Beach Clean including in Lancashire this week. The UK Government funds the Marine Conservation Society to record litter from sections of our coast which helps us monitor the levels and trends of plastic pollution across several years. This data is used in combination with other monitoring data to inform our decisions about how to tackle marine litter.

Food and Rural Affairs, what information his Department holds on the number of miles of public beaches that were inaccessible due to (a) private ownership and (b) development on 7 July 2025.

Defra does not hold information on the number of miles of public beaches that were inaccessible due to (a) private ownership and (b) development on 7 July 2025.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Employment Rights Bill on the number of working days lost to strike action in (a) Fylde constituency and (b) Lancashire.

In October 2024 the government published impact assessments on the trade union-related measures within the Employment Rights Bill and these are available here: Employment Rights Bill: impact assessments - GOV.UK

Whether her Department funds educational programmes on coastal conservation for schools visiting beaches.

The department does not fund specific educational programmes on coastal conservation, but free resources on coastal topics are provided by Oak National Academy. Bodies such as the Geographical Association and Royal Geographical Society, and others with an interest in coastal conservation, also provide resources.

What steps she is taking to support people who were ineligible for government financial support measures during the Covid pandemic.

Decisions on eligibility for Covid-19 financial support were taken by the previous government.The previous Government provided support through the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) and Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS). The support was based on two principles: a) targeting support at those who needed it most; and b) guarding against error, fraud, and abuse, whilst reaching as many individuals as possible. Those ineligible for the schemes may have been eligible for other elements of financial support provided by the previous Government. The current Government is working to improve living standards for everyone across the country. We are taking immediate action to support individuals, such as committing to no increases in employee National Insurance, Income Tax or VAT as we want to keep taxes low for working people. Driving growth is the Government’s number one mission, which will help individuals by boosting wages and putting more money in people’s pockets.

Food and Rural Affairs, what guidance his Department has issued to the public on rights of access to (a) coastal paths and (b) beaches.

a) Local highway authorities are responsible for the management and maintenance of public rights of way and may issue information locally on these. Defra provides information on National Trails including the King Charles III England Coast Path, including which stretches are open to the public. This information can be found on gov.uk. b) Access to beaches can vary depending on who owns the land and how it is managed. Many beaches are open to the public, but some may have restrictions. The Countryside Code also provides guidance for both visitors and landowners when accessing the countryside.