Written questions by Morton.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of neighbourhood planning policies in involving local communities in the planning process.

As set out in Paragraph 30 of the National Planning Policy Framework, neighbourhood planning gives communities the power to develop a shared vision for their area. Neighbourhood plans can shape, direct, and help to deliver sustainable development, by influencing local planning decisions as part of the statutory development plan.The government remains of the view that neighbourhood plans can play an important role in the planning system. Communities can continue to prepare neighbourhood plans where they consider that doing so is in their best interests.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of current measures to protect public green spaces from (a) unauthorised encampments and (b) environmental damage.

The designation of land as Local Green Space through local and neighbourhood plans allows communities to identify and protect green areas of particular importance to them.Local plans are expected to identify, map and safeguard locally designated sites of importance for biodiversity, including Local Wildlife Sites.Local planning authorities already have a wide range of enforcement powers, with strong penalties for non-compliance, which they can use to tackle all types of unauthorised development. We will keep the use of these powers under review.

Communities and Local Government, whether her Department is taking steps to help ensure that developers take account of adopted neighbourhood plans.

The government remains of the view that neighbourhood plans can play an important role in the planning system.Once passed at referendum, neighbourhood plans form part of the statutory development plan for the local area which is the basis for making decisions on planning applications.The National Planning Policy Framework makes clear that where a planning application conflicts with an up-to-date development plan (including any neighbourhood plans), permission should not usually be granted.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 1 July 2025 to Question 62956 on Waste Disposal: Birmingham, when Ministers in her Department last met with the Leader of Birmingham City Council to discuss the waste collection industrial dispute.

All details of ministerial meetings with external bodies are published on gov.uk.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether landfill sites in England will receive waste from Scotland following the Scottish Government’s decision to ban landfill in that country.

I met with Gillian Martin MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero and Energy in the Scottish Government on 3rd July 2025 to discuss this important issue. The Scottish Government has assured me that they do not believe that it is acceptable for a large amount of waste to be transported from Scotland to England and they are working closely with Scottish Local Authorities to prevent this outcome. Defra officials are continuing to engage with those in the Scottish Government on potential impacts to England that may arise from implementation of the Scottish landfill ban.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Scottish Government’s decision to ban landfill in Scotland on levels of landfill in England.

I met with Gillian Martin MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero and Energy in the Scottish Government on 3rd July 2025 to discuss this important issue. The Scottish Government has assured me that they do not believe that it is acceptable for a large amount of waste to be transported from Scotland to England and they are working closely with Scottish Local Authorities to prevent this outcome. Defra officials are continuing to engage with those in the Scottish Government on potential impacts to England that may arise from implementation of the Scottish landfill ban.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help tackle fly-tipping in (a) rural and (b) suburban communities.

Fly-tipping is a serious crime which blights communities and places significant costs on both taxpayers and businesses. Local authorities are responsible for tackling fly-tipping in their areas and we want to see an effective enforcement strategy at the centre of their efforts to tackle the problem. We are therefore taking steps to help councils make good use of their powers, including seeking powers in the Crime and Policing Bill to provide statutory fly-tipping enforcement guidance. We are also reviewing their powers to seize and crush vehicles of fly-tippers, to identify how we could help councils make better use of this tool. In our manifesto we committed to forcing fly-tippers to clean up the mess that they have created as part of a crackdown on anti-social behaviour. We will provide further details on this commitment in due course. Defra chairs the National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group (NFTPG), through which we work with a wide range of interested parties, including local authorities and the National Farmers Union to share good practice with regards to preventing fly-tipping, including on private land. The NFTPG has developed various practical tools, guidance and case studies highlighting best practice. These are available at: https://nftpg.com/.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to support local authorities seeking to prosecute repeat fly-tipping offenders.

The Government encourages councils to make good use of their enforcement powers, including prosecution, and we are taking steps to help them do so. We intend to develop new fly-tipping enforcement guidance and are also reviewing their powers to seize and crush vehicles of fly-tippers to understand how we could help them make better use of this tool. While sentencing is a matter for the courts, the National Fly-tipping Prevention Group, which Defra chairs, has produced a guide on how local authorities can present robust cases to court. The guide explains that repeat offending could be an aggravating factor. This is available at https://nftpg.com/.

Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate his Department has made of the annual cost to local authorities of clearing fly-tipped waste.

According to Defra official statistics, in 2023/24, around 4% of fly-tipping incidents dealt with by local authorities in England were of ‘tipper lorry load’ size or larger. For these incidents, the cost of clearance to local authorities was £13.1 million. Local authorities do not report clearance costs for smaller incidents. These statistics are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fly-tipping-in-england According to independent research published by the Environmental Services Association in 2021, the estimated national cost of fly-tipping to the economy has increased from £209 million in 2015 to £392 million in 2018/19. A more recent assessment has not been made.

What assessment she has made of the effectiveness of community policing in tackling antisocial behaviour linked to waste crime.

Tackling anti-social behaviour (ASB) is a top priority for this Government and a key part of our Safer Streets Mission.​ As a result of our Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee, every police force in England and Wales now has a dedicated lead officer for ASB, who will work with communities to develop a local ASB action plan, which could include waste crime such as fly tippingAs part of the Neighbourhood Policing Grant, £200 million has been allocated to forces for 2025/26 to support the Government’s commitment to deliver additional policing personnel into neighbourhood policing. West Midlands Police has been allocated £12,210,903 and will deliver an increase of 289 police officers and 20 Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) by 31 March 2026.These officers will be out patrolling in our town centres and communities, working with partners to tackle anti-social behaviour, including waste crime and fly-tipping, and making our neighbourhoods safer and more welcoming.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of levels of penalties for waste crime.

Legislation relating to waste crime such as fly-tipping and illegal waste sites allows for an unlimited fine and up to five years imprisonment. We are making the regulations for the transport and management of waste tougher so that those who break the new rules will face up to five years imprisonment. For lower-level offences it is important to ensure that penalties are high enough to act as a deterrent but not too high so that offenders cannot, or choose not to, pay the penalty. The Defra chaired National Fly-tipping Prevention Group has produced a guide on how local authorities, and others, can present robust cases to court. This is available at https://nftpg.com/. Sentencing is entirely a matter for our independent courts. When deciding what sentence to impose for unlawfully depositing waste, the court will take into account the circumstances of the offence and any aggravating and mitigating factors, in line with sentencing guidelines for environmental offences, issued by the independent Sentencing Council for England and Wales.

Food and Rural Affairs, if he will increase levels of funding for local authorities for enforcing the prevention of illegal waste dumping.

The recent Spending Review provides over £5 billion of new grant funding over the next three years for local services that communities rely on. This results in an average overall real terms increase in local authority core spending power of 2.6% per year. The majority of this new funding is unringfenced, recognising that local leaders are best placed to identify local priorities, which could include fly-tipping enforcement. Defra has no current plans to provide funding to local authorities specifically for enforcing the prevention of illegal waste dumping. We are looking to support local authorities to tackle fly-tipping in other ways. Indeed, we are taking steps to develop new fly-tipping enforcement guidance and have commenced a review of their vehicle seizure powers to identify and remove barriers where we can.

Communities and Local Government, whether her Department is taking steps to increase the role of neighbourhood plans in the planning process.

The government remains of the view that neighbourhood plans can play an important role in the planning system. Communities can continue to prepare neighbourhood plans where they consider that doing so is in their best interests.

What funding she has provided for rail electrification in the (a) 2025-26, (b) 2026-27 and (c) 2027-28 financial years.

Funding for rail enhancements is provided at portfolio level and allocated to individual schemes rather than to types and categories of works. Electrification is included in the scope of a number of schemes included within the £10.2bn funding for rail enhancements confirmed at the Spending Review for 2026/27-2029/30, including within the £3.5bn for Transpennine Route Upgrade, and £2.5bn for East West Rail, both of which feature electrification as part of their scope.

Pursuant to the Answer of 25 June 2025 to Question 60503 on Housing: Construction, what steps he is taking to help mitigate risks associated with fluctuations in energy prices.

The Government believes the best way to protect billpayers, both households and businesses, from fluctuations in energy prices is through our mission to deliver clean power by 2030. The creation of Great British Energy will help us to harness clean energy and have less reliance on volatile international energy markets and help in our commitment to make Britain a clean energy superpower by 2030.

What steps he is taking to support households to get value for money from their energy supplier.

The government has been working with Ofgem to drive a step-change in customer service through the regulator's Consumer Confidence programme. This includes reviewing the rules around billing accuracy and complaint handling so that suppliers get it right first time. Further, the government has been working with Ofgem to ensure that when things do go wrong, households get fairer, quicker, easier compensation. This includes looking at expanding automatic compensation to cover more key issues and at further increasing the value of base-level compensation from £40 to reflect the inconvenience for consumers when they are let down by their supplier.

When she expects the West Midlands Rail Hub to be completed.

The first phase of Midlands Rail Hub, which enables additional trains between Birmingham and South Wales, and the South West, and on Birmingham’s Cross City Line is expected to enter service in the early 2030s.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 25 June 2025 to Question 60503 on Housing: Construction, what the cost components are of the stability of energy costs in manufacturing.

Manufacturing energy costs are comprised of the wholesale price, network charges, and policy costs used to fund renewables and other initiatives including the Contracts for Difference, Renewables Obligation, Feed-in Tariff, Capacity Market charges, Nuclear RAB, and more. The Climate Change Levy is also applied to industrial energy bills, and there are indirect costs associated with the Emissions Trading Scheme and Carbon Price Support.

What dates have been set for (a) the inaugural meeting and (b) any future meetings of the London Coalition on Sustainable Sovereign Debt.

The launch event for the London Coalition on Sustainable Sovereign Debt took place on 23rd June. Dates for future meetings are still being finalised.

What steps she is taking to reduce the number of households relying on high-cost credit to meet living expenses.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is responsible for regulating the consumer credit sector. The FCA requires firms to carry out an assessment of the creditworthiness of a prospective borrower before entering into a regulated credit agreement with them. Under FCA rules, when undertaking creditworthiness assessments, firms must assess each customer’s creditworthiness by considering not just whether a customer will repay, but also the customer’s ability to repay affordably and without significantly affecting their wider financial situation. The Government recognises that credit, when provided responsibly and affordably, can be crucial for people facing unexpected expenses or managing their cash flow. That is why, as part of its Financial Inclusion Strategy, the Government is committed to expanding access to affordable credit. The development of the Financial Inclusion Strategy is being informed by a committee of industry and consumer representatives I chair, ahead of its publication later this year. The access to credit workstream has been considered by a dedicated sub-committee which included financial services firms, credit unions and consumer representative organisations. The Committee has also been considering how to support individuals and households to build their financial resilience by increasing the level of emergency saving buffers in the UK. In addition, the Government provides a range of debt advice services in England through the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) to meet the needs of individuals in problem debt, including national and community-based services offering free-to-client debt advice.