Written questions by Gardiner.

Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the objectives set out in the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs' speech entitled The Kew Lecture: Foreign Secretary's speech on the climate crisis, published on 17 September 2024, if he will make an assessment of the contribution of the Darwin Plus Programme to the UK Overseas Territories.

In 2020, Defra commissioned an independent review of the Darwin Plus programme. This found Darwin Plus projects to have a strong, positive impact on the capacity of the Territories to deliver long-term strategic outcomes for the natural environment, which enhances protection of biodiversity ecosystems. During his Kew Lecture on 17 September 2024, the Foreign Secretary declared reversing the decline in global biodiversity as a Government priority. It is estimated that the UK Overseas Territories are home to over 90% of known endemic British species. Information on individual projects funded under Darwin Plus is available on the programme website (https://darwinplus.org.uk/). The programme’s performance is reviewed annually and published on the UK Government’s online Development Tracker.

What assessment she has made of the potential implications for her polices of the principles set out in the Porter v. Magill 2001 House of Lords ruling in last six moths, in the context of advising on promotions from the first tier tribunal.

The number of judges who have been elevated from the first-tier tribunal within six months of receiving formal advice of misconduct from the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office in the last five years is one.The majority of appointments to judicial office are based on selection by the independent Judicial Appointments Commission, which has a statutory duty to make selections based on merit alone.

How many promotions of judges from the first tier tribunal have been made within six months of receiving formal advise for misconduct from the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office in the last five years.

The number of judges who have been elevated from the first-tier tribunal within six months of receiving formal advice of misconduct from the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office in the last five years is one.The majority of appointments to judicial office are based on selection by the independent Judicial Appointments Commission, which has a statutory duty to make selections based on merit alone.

Communities and Local Government, if she will make an estimate of the potential impact of (a) waking watch and (b) other indirect consequences of measures introduced in the Building Safety Act 2024 on costs to residential leaseholders in higher risk buildings.

Since it was first launched in 2021, the Waking Watch Replacement Fund has made £82.6 million in grant funding available to support the installation of common alarm systems to replace costly waking watch measures in residential buildings. The current iteration of the fund was reopened in May 2023, extending support to all residential buildings where a waking watch is currently in place in England, regardless of where the costs of the waking watch fall. We know that waking watch measures are still being used too often, and that in too many cases, costs continue to be passed onto leaseholders. Reducing the excessive use of Waking Watch is a priority for this government, and in the meantime, we have extended the Waking Watch Replacement Fund until March 2026 with long-term plans for the fund to be confirmed at the end of the next Spending Review in Summer 2025.Since Royal Assent, parts of the Building Safety Act measures have been amended under the Leasehold Freehold Reform Act to reduce costs on residential leaseholders. These ensure that costs of ‘interim measures’ (such as waking watches and fitting simultaneous evacuation alarms) and expert reports can be recovered through remediation contribution orders. The costs of temporary accommodation if residents are decanted from their homes on building safety grounds, can also be recovered.Any contribution required from those holding a qualifying lease for non-cladding defects and interim measures is capped and spread over 10 years, This means that, for the majority of qualifying leaseholders, the maximum amount that can be charged for non-cladding remediation and interim measures is £15,000 in Greater London (or £10,000 elsewhere in England). Qualifying leaseholders with a leasehold property worth more than £1 million and less than £2 million can be charged up to £50,000, while those with a leasehold property worth more than £2 million can be charged up to £100,000.The Building Safety Act 2022 introduced new legal requirements for those responsible for managing building safety risks in higher-risk buildings when they are occupied. Under the Act, costs incurred in meeting these ongoing obligations can be passed to leaseholders via the service charge. The government considers these requirements as vital for ensuring structural and fire safety risks are properly managed, so that residents are and feel safe in their homes. We appreciate concerns about the costs of compliance with these requirements for leaseholders, and will continue to work with the Building Safety Regulator to monitor the situation.

Communities and Local Government, whether her Department is taking steps to help increase the uptake of leasehold with a share of freehold on new flatted developments.

The government is committed to reinvigorating commonhold and making it the default tenure.Our forthcoming White Paper on reforms to commonhold will outline proposed reforms to the model and our plans to introduce a comprehensive new legal framework.The government has also made clear it intends to publish draft legislation on leasehold and commonhold reform in this session so that it may be subject to broad consultation and additional parliamentary scrutiny.We will also engage with stakeholders on the process for converting existing flats to commonhold and consult on the proposed ban on new leasehold flats. We will set out further details in due course.

Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of converting all existing residential leasehold tenure to commonhold on economic growth.

The government is committed to reinvigorating commonhold and making it the default tenure.Our forthcoming White Paper on reforms to commonhold will outline proposed reforms to the model and our plans to introduce a comprehensive new legal framework.The government has also made clear it intends to publish draft legislation on leasehold and commonhold reform in this session so that it may be subject to broad consultation and additional parliamentary scrutiny.We will also engage with stakeholders on the process for converting existing flats to commonhold and consult on the proposed ban on new leasehold flats. We will set out further details in due course.

Communities and Local Government, whether her Department has set a target for the proportion of new homes to be built by 2030 that will be (a) leasehold and (b) commonhold.

The government is committed to reinvigorating commonhold and making it the default tenure.Our forthcoming White Paper on reforms to commonhold will outline proposed reforms to the model and our plans to introduce a comprehensive new legal framework.The government has also made clear it intends to publish draft legislation on leasehold and commonhold reform in this session so that it may be subject to broad consultation and additional parliamentary scrutiny.We will also engage with stakeholders on the process for converting existing flats to commonhold and consult on the proposed ban on new leasehold flats. We will set out further details in due course.

Communities and Local Government, when she plans to commence section 32 of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024.

The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 includes provisions that will make it cheaper and easier for existing leaseholders to extend their lease or buy their freehold, including removing the requirement to pay marriage value.As set out in my Written Ministerial Statement on 21 November 2024 (HCWS244), the government will act as quickly as possible to provide homeowners with greater rights, powers, and protections over their homes by implementing the provisions of that Act.

Communities and Local Government, what her planned timetable is to commence Section 48 of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024.

The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 includes provisions that will make it cheaper and easier for existing leaseholders to extend their lease or buy their freehold, including removing the requirement to pay marriage value.As set out in my Written Ministerial Statement on 21 November 2024 (HCWS244), the government will act as quickly as possible to provide homeowners with greater rights, powers, and protections over their homes by implementing the provisions of that Act.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Written Statement of 21 November 2024 on Leasehold and Commonhold Reform, HCWS244, whether she plans to remove marriage value from the enfranchisement premium calculation.

The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 includes provisions that will make it cheaper and easier for existing leaseholders to extend their lease or buy their freehold, including removing the requirement to pay marriage value.As set out in my Written Ministerial Statement on 21 November 2024 (HCWS244), the government will act as quickly as possible to provide homeowners with greater rights, powers, and protections over their homes by implementing the provisions of that Act.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 17 December 2024 to Question 18874 on Leasehold: Ground Rent, in what order respondents ranked the five policy options outlined in the consultation.

I refer my hon. Friend to the answer to Question UIN 18874 on 17 December 2024.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Written Statement of 21 November 2024 on Leasehold and Commonhold Reform, HCWS244, if she will list the flaws in the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024.

The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 contains a small number of specific but serious flaws which would prevent certain provisions from operating as intended and that need to be rectified via primary legislation.The Written Ministerial Statement made on 21 November 2024 (HCWS244) outlined two flaws regarding a loophole in the valuation scheme set out in the Act, and an omission on shared ownership lease extensions.Primary legislation will also be needed to address the following flaws:Allow third parties to leases, such as resident-led management companies, to recover contributions toward their process costs in some instances. Without this change, these companies may be at risk of insolvency, which would be an unintended outcome of the reforms requiring landlords to pay their process costs;Correct an unintended constraint on landlords’ existing redevelopment break rights that applies in certain limited circumstances; andCorrect technical cross references and make consequential amendments to ensure the smooth implementation of the Act.The government will address these matters as soon as parliamentary time allows.

Food and Rural Affairs, what percentage of his Department's total biodiversity budget was spent on supporting biodiversity in the UK Overseas Territories in 2024-05.

UK Government biodiversity spend is across multiple organisations and this funding contributes to other objectives, such as water quality, net zero and food security. As such it is not possible to provide an exact figure of total domestic expenditure on biodiversity. For 2024-25, the department has committed to make available up to £10 million in direct support for biodiversity in the UK Overseas Territories. Future funding will be subject to the outcomes of spending review and business planning processes.

Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of total percentage of the biodiversity for which the UK has global responsibility is located in the UK's Overseas Territories.

The Joint Nature Conservation Committee, as the Government’s statutory nature advisor, does not have, nor is it aware of, an estimate of the total percentage of the biodiversity for which the UK has global responsibility and is located in the UK Overseas Territories. Of the total number of endemic species associated with the UK’s biodiversity, 94% reside in the Territories.

Food and Rural Affairs, what was the total funding allocated to projects by Darwin Plus in each financial year since 2019-20.

Total funding allocated to Darwin Plus projects in each financial year since 2019-20 is provided in the table below. YearTotal funding taken up by Darwin Plus projects 2019-2020£3.81m2020-2021£4.55m2021-2022£6.65m2022-2023£8.50m2023-2024£10.12m2024-2025£8.96m

Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the future of the Darwin Plus programme.

In November 2024, Minister Doughty and Minister McCarthy met with the elected leaders and representatives of the Overseas Territories at the UK Overseas Territories Joint Ministerial Council. The UK Government confirmed that it would continue to work in partnership with the Territories to support the protection of their unique environments and to help address biodiversity loss.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether he will attend the UN Oceans Conference in June 2025.

The third UN Ocean Conference (UNOC3), co-hosted by France and Costa Rica in June, will be at a critical time for the ocean and a stocktake of progress towards UN Sustainable Development Goal 14: Life Below Water. The UK is supportive of an action-orientated UNOC and looks forward to the event. Defra are leading on the planning for UK attendance at the Conference and formal invitations from the co-hosts are expected to be shared soon after which Defra will confirm Ministerial attendance.

Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the paper entitled Marine Protected Areas network report (2019 to 2024), published on 18 December 2024, what steps he plans to take to protect designated features within the MPA network that are not in a favourable condition from (a) destructive forms of fishing and (b) other stressors.

Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are already protected from the point of designation by the planning and marine licensing regimes that cover activities such as dredging for aggregates and construction of offshore wind farms. Fishing activity falls outside the scope of these regimes, so fisheries regulators make detailed assessments of the impact of all fishing activities on the protected species and habitats in our MPAs and develop byelaws to restrict fishing when it has been assessed as damaging. Over 60% of England’s 181 MPAs have these byelaws in place. As mentioned in my answer to PQ 17500, the Department is considering next steps for fisheries management in MPAs in the context of our domestic and international nature conservation obligations and how we support the fishing sector.

Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 3 January 2025 to Question 17503 on Fishing Catches, what (a) criteria and (b) thresholds were applied in deciding which instances of non-compliance with the landing obligation merited enforcement through (i) verbal and (ii) written advice; and when the Marine Management Organisation expects to conclude decisions on remaining cases of non-compliance.

This is a devolved matter, and the information provided therefore relates to England only. In deciding how to manage instances of non-compliance, the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) follows the principles of inform, educate, enforce in accordance with their published Compliance and Enforcement Strategy: Compliance and Enforcement Strategy - GOV.UK. The threshold for evidencing non-compliance with the landing obligation is high, often requiring discarding to be observed/witnessed. Evidence can be drawn from a range of sources but must meet the required burden of proof for the sanction being applied. The issuing of verbal or written advice depends on whether the inspection is conducted at sea or in port. Verbal advice is issued at sea in circumstances where relaying correspondence is more difficult and written advice is issued as a consequence of inspections in port. The MMO aims to resolve straightforward investigations within 6 months. More complex cases may take longer.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 19 December 2024 to Question 19633 on the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Agreement, what recent assessment he has made of the extent to which primary legislation will be required before ratification.

The Government is completely committed to ratification of the Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ Agreement, also known as the "High Seas Treaty" or "Global Oceans Treaty"), which is in line with our determination to reinvigorate the UK's wider international leadership on climate and nature. Work is in hand on the measures needed to implement the detailed and complex provisions of the Agreement before the UK can ratify.