Written questions by Newbury.

What proportion of vehicles rented by her Department are electric vehicles.

Under the previous contract, which ended on 31 March 2025, the contract’s Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) did not differentiate between Electric Vehicle or Internal Combustion Engine hires so the Department for Transport does not hold the requested information. However, the Department for Transport has recently started a new 3 year vehicle hire contract as of 1 April 2025. Within this contract it is mandated that EV provision is available to all hirers and the related data will be available quarterly going into the future.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of EU Commission proposals to phase out (a) enriched cages and (b) farrowing crates on UK-EU trade of agricultural goods.

We remain firmly committed to maintaining and improving animal welfare and want to work closely with the farming sector to deliver high standards. The use of cages and other close confinement systems for farmed animals is an issue which we are currently considering very carefully. All agri-food products must comply with our import requirements in order to be placed on the UK market and we work with our trade partners to achieve that in the least trade restrictive way possible. This includes ensuring imported meat products have been slaughtered to animal welfare standards equivalent to our domestic standards. We have been clear that we will use our Trade Strategy to support economic growth and promote the highest standards of food production.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether the proposed Nature Restoration Fund will (a) supersede and (b) compliment the existing biodiversity net gain obligations for new developments under the Environment Act 2021.

The Nature Restoration Fund will not supersede existing Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) obligations for new developments. BNG is a requirement which applies to most new development across England, aiming to leave habitats in a measurably better state than they were beforehand by delivering a 10% net gain for biodiversity. It came into effect in February 2024. The 10% net gain can be delivered through on-site habitat enhancements, off-site through the new market for biodiversity units, or by purchasing statutory biodiversity credits from the government, as a last resort. The Nature Restoration Fund will focus on enabling development in areas where that has stalled due to specific environmental obligations relating to impacts on protected sites and species in those areas. Developers would be able to discharge these obligations, such as those related to the Habitats Regulations, through a payment into a fund, where this can both streamline development and allow for more strategic and effective measures for nature protection. BNG and the Nature Restoration Fund are intended to be complementary policies. We will ensure that developers receive a user-friendly experience and that BNG credit and the Nature Restoration Fund revenue is deployed in a joined-up manner to maximise environmental outcomes.

What proportion of vehicles rented by her Department are electric vehicles.

In March 2025, out of a total of 1023 vehicles hired, 68 were hybrid electric vehicles, 1 was a purely electric vehicle. A percentage of 6.7% of the vehicles hired were either electric or electric-capable, with only one being fully electric. DWP is committed to transitioning towards full electrification of the DWP fleet vehicles in line with the Government Greening Commitment 2027. This includes replacing Petrol and Diesel vehicles with Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs) where operationally viable. In addition, DWP is committed to ensuring the maximum use of Battery Electrical Vehicles during short term car hire where operationally viable and through seeking to ensure the increasing availability of those vehicles in the new Hire car contract.

What proportion of vehicles rented by his Department are electric vehicles.

The Department has a contract with Enterprise for car hire. In the 2024/25 financial year there were 672 rentals, of which 4 were electric vehicle (EV) rentals (0.61%). All vehicle types were rented for 1672 days in total, of which 7 were EV rental days (0.42%).

What proportion of vehicles rented by her Department are electric vehicles.

This information is not centrally collected, and could only be obtained for the purposes of answering this question at disproportionate cost.

What proportion of vehicles rented by her Department are electric vehicles.

The Attorney General’s Office does not rent vehicles. Vehicles used by the department are owned by the Government.

What proportion of vehicles rented by his Department are electric vehicles.

Departments are allocated a combination of electric and hybrid vehicles which are owned by the Government Car Service based on operational and security requirements. However, details of the specific vehicles allocated to individual Ministers are not disclosed. Sharing this information, particularly when combined with other publicly available details, could compromise the security of Ministers and their transport arrangements. For travel by civil servants, the Cabinet Office does not rent a fleet of vehicles. It does have a contract in place for the provision of hire vehicles. These are for short term vehicle hire and used for official travel. In 24/25 (the latest period where information is available), the Cabinet Office had 1,504 individual hires, covering 3,175 days of hire. Of these, 14 vehicles were fully electric, with a hire period of 29 days.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what proportion of vehicles rented by his Department are electric vehicles.

This information is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

What proportion of vehicles rented by her Department are electric vehicles.

0.11% of cars rented by the department were electric vehicles over the past two years, which equated to a total of five.The department will have a new vehicle hire contract in place from 2026 and, working with suppliers and other government departments, it is our intention to update our current vehicle hire policy to include a strategy of ‘electric first’. This will direct our drivers to seek electric vehicles as a first option, hybrids as a second option and finally combustion engine vehicles where there are no alternatives available.

Food and Rural Affairs, what proportion of vehicles rented by his Department are electric vehicles.

The below table shows the number and proportion of lease cars that are electric vehicles. Please note that: - Lease cars relate to the Department for the Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs, Environment Agency, Animal & Plant Health Agency, Rural Payments Agency, Natural England, Marine Management Organisation, and Yorkshire Dales National Park only.- These figures do not include hire cars. DescriptionVolumeElectric VehiclesProportionLease Cars3,0511,97165%

Communities and Local Government, if she will take steps to develop a strategy for (a) preventing and (b) responding to wildfires.

The Prime Minister announced in February 2025 that the Home Office’s fire functions would move to the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG) from the 1 April 2025 under a machinery of government (MOG) change. This included its responsibilities as lead government department for wildfire. In the Third National Adaptation Plan (2023) the previous government committed to scoping a wildfire strategy and action plan. Prior to the MOG the Home Office convened a number of stakeholder workshops with the Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (Defra), its’ agencies, and other stakeholders to identify policy options for addressing wildfire risk. The outcomes of this work are currently being considered. Since 2024 the government has funded a National Resilience Wildfire Advisor to assess what additional national capabilities might be needed in the fire sector to increase resilience to wildfire risk. In addition to ensuring the effective coordination of approaches across the sector, MHCLG has also been working with other departments, stakeholders and partners to identify further research opportunities to enhance our understanding of wildfire risk.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department will introduce statutory guidance for the implementation of Simpler Recycling.

We have published non-statutory guidance to assist local authorities, other waste collectors and workplaces implement the Simpler Recycling requirements. This includes guidance on: Simpler recycling: household recycling in EnglandSimpler recycling: workplace recycling in EnglandCollecting paper and card with other dry recyclable materials: written assessmentsEnsuring good waste collection services for households We welcome stakeholder feedback, and we are working with our networks of local authority and waste collector stakeholders to identify and develop additional guidance where appropriate. We are also working collaboratively with sector experts, Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), to provide further tools and guidance to support the implementation of Simpler Recycling.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has considered introducing (a) performance standards and (b) other mandatory requirements for material recovery facilities to sort materials collected at kerbside under the Simpler Recycling in England policy.

Defra is working with WRAP (Waste and Resources Action Programme) and waste industry representatives to support MRF (Material Recovery Facility) readiness for the Simpler Recycling requirements. We have engaged with MRF operators and local authorities through WRAP’s MRF Forum to identify challenges with MRF capacity, investment, upgrade timelines, and to work with the sector to identify interventions to support MRFs as they prepare for Simpler Recycling. The MRF operators who are engaged with us are aware of their obligations and are working hard to upgrade their facilities to ensure they can separate the target materials as required by Simpler Recycling.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department plans to introduce a target for the recycling of fibre-based composite packaging.

The Government continues to keep the need and timing for the introduction of a separate FBC targets under review. We will consider further once we have improved data on the tonnages of FBC placed on the marked, and the tonnage currently recycled, to establish appropriate targets.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that cartons collected by local authorities (a) currently and (b) following the implementation of Simpler Recycling requirements are (i) recycled and (ii) not sent for (A) incineration and (B) refuse-derived fuel production.

The Simpler Recycling reforms will require the same materials to be collected for recycling from every household and workplace (such as businesses, schools and hospitals) across England. These materials fall into the following core groups: metal; glass; plastic: paper and card; food waste; garden waste (household only). This includes cartons (as part of the plastics recyclable waste stream). These materials must be collected for recycling or composting. The Environmental (England and Wales) Permitting Regulations 2016 include permit conditions for landfill and incineration operators, meaning they cannot accept separately collected paper, metal, glass or plastic for landfill or incineration unless it has gone through some form of treatment process first and is the best environmental outcome. Defra is currently strengthening the evidence base regarding waste and recycling infrastructure needs and we will continue to work closely with key stakeholders including local authorities and waste management companies on this. We recently published a Recycling Infrastructure Capacity Analysis with WRAP. This should provide a signal to investors as to where there could be a likely over or under-provision of waste management capacity.

Food and Rural Affairs, if he will take steps to reconvene the Responsible Dog Ownership Working Group.

Defra is continuing to work with the police, local authorities and animal welfare groups to explore measures to reduce dog attacks and promote responsible dog ownership across all breeds of dog. We are currently considering the best way to take forward the Responsible Dog Ownership Taskforce.

If he will introduce mandatory labelling on alcoholic drinks with information for consumers on (a) ingredients, (b) calories and (c) sugar content.

The Government is committed to building a National Health Service fit for the future, with a greater emphasis on the prevention of avoidable health harms, supporting people to live well for longer. The Department will continue to work across Government to determine the best ways to reduce alcohol-related harms.The Department commissioned a National Institute for Health and Care Research study on understanding the impact of alcohol calorie labelling on alcohol and calorie selection, purchasing, and consumption. This study is underway and due to end in 2026.

What assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the planned increase in meat inspection charges by the Food Standards Agency on smaller abattoirs.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has calculated annual charge rates for controls conducted in meat premises in 2025/26 for England and Wales and has indicated that charges will continue to be offset by a taxpayer-funded discount scheme in that financial year. As in previous years it is the FSA’s intention that the discount for 2025/26 will provide the greatest proportional support to smaller businesses. The FSA is engaging with industry representative bodies on the charge rates and full details of these will be communicated to stakeholders and published on the FSA website at the end of February 2025. A separate exercise is being conducted in relation to Northern Ireland.

What assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of variations in per pupil funding for places in pupil referral units on pupils' educational outcomes.

Most funding for pupil referral units, and other alternative provision (AP), comes from local authorities’ high needs budgets, Following the Autumn Budget 2024, the department is providing an increase of £1 billion for high needs budgets in England in the 2025/26 financial year, bringing total high needs funding for children and young people with complex special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and AP to £11.9 billion. Of that total, Staffordshire County Council is being allocated over £143 million through the high needs funding block of the dedicated schools grant (DSG), an increase of £10.4 million on this year’s DSG high needs block, calculated using the high needs national funding formula (NFF). This NFF allocation is an 8.7% increase per head of their 2 to 18-year-old population, on their equivalent 2024/25 NFF allocation.Top-up funding is agreed locally, between the local authority and alternative providers themselves. The top-up funding should reflect the costs of additional support to meet the individual pupil or student’s needs. Top-up funding also reflects costs that relate to the facilities required to support a pupil or student’s education and training needs and can take into account expected place occupancy levels and other factors, which means they can vary from one local authority to another.