Written questions by Gardiner.

Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 10 December 2024 to Question 17501 on Fisheries: Monitoring, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of making it a mandatory requirement for vessels over 24 metres to have cameras onboard under the Remote Electronic Monitoring roll out.

Defra have already assessed which fisheries should have mandatory Remote Electronic Monitoring (REM) and published the results in 2023. The assessment concluded that over 24 metre pelagic trawlers in English waters should be a priority. Implementation began in summer 2024. A further four fisheries were also identified as priorities. In those fisheries, REM will be mandatory for vessels over 10 metres.

Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 10 December 2024 to Question 17500 on Marine Protected Areas: Fisheries, for what reason he was not able to provide a timescale.

The Department has not yet been able to provide a timescale for these measures due to the need to follow due process and consider how we can best meet the Government’s priorities. The Government recognises the need for action to protect and restore our marine environment, while supporting a sustainable fishing industry.

Food and Rural Affairs, what his priorities are for the 68th Global Environment Facility Council Meeting in relation to target (a) 5 and (b) 18 of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.

The 68th Global Environment Facility Council meeting will discuss a programme of work to fund projects that will deliver environmental benefits, including contributing to achieving the targets of the Global Biodiversity Framework. The UK’s priorities will be to support improved access to GEF finance for recipient countries. The 3rd Council meeting for the Global Biodiversity Framework Fund (GBFF) will discuss the programming of the GBFF in its first year of operation. The UK will reconfirm the additional pledge of £45 million to the GBFF made at CBD COP16.

Communities and Local Government, when she plans to publish the results of the consultation entitled Modern Leasehold: Restricting Ground Rent for Existing Leases, which closed on 17 January 2024.

As outlined in the Written Ministerial Statement made on 21 November 2024 (HCWS244), the government remains firmly committed to its manifesto commitment to tackle unregulated and unaffordable ground rents, and we will deliver this in legislation. We will set out next steps in due course.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Written Statement of 21 November 2024 on Leasehold and Commonhold Reform, HCWS244, what discussions she has had with the Leader of the House on bringing forward legislation to amend the operation of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024.

As outlined in the Written Ministerial Statement made on 21 November 2024 (HCWS244), the Leasehold and Freehold Act contains a small number of specific but serious flaws which would prevent certain provisions from operating as intended. We intend to rectify these via primary legislation as soon as parliamentary time allows.

If he will visit the Griffin Institute at Northwick Park Hospital in Brent West constituency.

Ministers regularly consider visits across the country to see the impact of their policy areas. Any plans to visit specific locations will be notified to the relevant Members of Parliament in advance.

What steps his Department is taking to use (a) robots and (b) AI to help support training on innovative surgical techniques.

The Department and NHS England support the development and use of innovative surgical approaches across the system, where clinically appropriate. Use of such innovative approaches can drive efficiency and improve patient outcomes, but should and will be driven by local and specific need.The curricula and method of delivery of surgical specialty training is set by the Royal College of Surgeons. The General Medical Council approves the curricula and assessment systems for each training programme.

Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to tackle delays in approvals for Gateway (a) 2 and (b) 3 submissions to the Building Safety Regulator.

The Building Safety Regulator (BSR) is an independent regulator, and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government is not involved in operational decisions, does not hold information on ongoing cases with the BSR, and cannot comment on an individual case. The client, or the person who submitted the application, should engage the BSR directly.The new Building Control process for higher-risk buildings was introduced as part of the Building Safety Act in 2022 and is an important part of the government’s continuing programme of work to ensure people are safe in their homes. We understand that it is taking longer to embed than envisaged and I know the BSR is working with the sector to resolve these issues at pace. My department is closely monitoring the situation to make sure the BSR and industry resolve outstanding delays quickly and make sure the expectations on the quality of submissions are better understood.

Communities and Local Government, what information her Department holds on when the Building Safety Regulator plans to respond to the applications for (a) Gateway 2 and (b) Gateway 3 approval for the two high rise blocks on the Wembley Park Quintain Development in Brent West constituency.

The Building Safety Regulator (BSR) is an independent regulator, and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government is not involved in operational decisions, does not hold information on ongoing cases with the BSR, and cannot comment on an individual case. The client, or the person who submitted the application, should engage the BSR directly.The new Building Control process for higher-risk buildings was introduced as part of the Building Safety Act in 2022 and is an important part of the government’s continuing programme of work to ensure people are safe in their homes. We understand that it is taking longer to embed than envisaged and I know the BSR is working with the sector to resolve these issues at pace. My department is closely monitoring the situation to make sure the BSR and industry resolve outstanding delays quickly and make sure the expectations on the quality of submissions are better understood.

If he will make an assessment of the potential merits of establishing a national training centre for robotic surgery within the NHS to provide surgical training that is independent of the manufacturers of robotic surgery equipment.

The Department has no current plans to establish such a national training centre. The Department continues to work with the National Health Service and other partners to develop pathways for delivering innovative medical technology into the hands of front-line clinicians.The curricula and method of delivery of surgical specialty training is set by the Royal College of Surgeons. The General Medical Council approves curricula and assessment systems for each training programme.

Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make a an assessment of the effectiveness of the distribution of quota between (a) foreign and (b) domestic-owned trawlers under ten metres in the UK inshore fleet.

The Secretary of State determination of fishing opportunities for British fishing boats sets UK fishing quotas. This quota is only allocated to British-registered and licensed vessels. These vessels must comply with the economic link licence condition. This requires a certain amount of fish to be landed into the UK or requires the employment of UK crew or other measures which ensure that the UK benefits economically from the quota. In recent years, quota available to the under 10 metre fleet in England has significantly increased but remains underutilised. To boost catches by the non-sector, quota licence caps have temporarily been removed, and trials exploring different quota allocation methods have been introduced.

Food and Rural Affairs, how many vessels are taking part in the early adopter phase of the remote electronic monitoring rollout by having cameras installed; and what steps he is taking to increase the number of vessels taking part.

There is one early adopter vessel volunteering to take part in the first fishery, over-24 metre pelagic trawlers in all English waters. Further vessels will be recruited for implementation in other fisheries.

Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to publish measures for the remaining offshore Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) under stage (a) 3 and (b) 4 of the Marine Management Organisation's offshore MPA process.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Rotherham, on 16 September 2024, PQ 4529: It is essential to manage bottom trawling in our Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) appropriately due to the significant damage it can have on protected seabed habitats. The department is considering next steps in the context of our domestic and international nature conservation obligations and how we support the fishing sector. The Department is considering next steps for both stages 3 and 4 of the process.

Food and Rural Affairs, if he will publish the opening positions for each Total Allowable Catch in the (a) EU/UK bilateral and (b) EU/UK/Norway trilateral negotiations.

Due to the nature of the negotiations, it is not appropriate to publicly disclose negotiating documents detailing the UK’s opening positions. Our bilateral negotiations with the EU and our trilateral negotiations with the EU and Norway have both concluded. The written record of the bilateral and agreed record of the trilateral negotiations, including final total allowable catch limits are available on GOV.UK.

Food and Rural Affairs, if he will (a) take steps to review the operation of the landing obligation and (b) publish the number of enforcement actions taken against vessels that have failed to comply with the landing obligation in the last three years.

This is a devolved matter and the information provided therefore relates to England only a) Defra has been reviewing the operation of the landing obligation as part of wider reforms to discards management in England. In 2025, these reforms will include trialling changes to how we account for catches and the establishment of a discard reduction scheme to encourage more selective fishing practices. b) In the last 3 years, the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) has recorded 32 instances of non-compliance with the landing obligation. Following the MMO Compliance and Enforcement Strategy, 23 instances were addressed by verbal advice, 2 were addressed by advisory letters and 3 were addressed by official written warning to master and owner. The remaining 4 are under investigation with decision pending. No instances have resulted in court action during this period.