Written questions by Norris.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of local infrastructure to support new housing developments like those at the former Grange school site in Warmley, and wh

Awaiting answer.

What steps he is taking to reduce waiting times for elective treatment in North East Somerset and Hanham.

Awaiting answer.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she plans to take following the consultation on tail docking and castration in lambs.

Awaiting answer.

What recent discussions she has had with the Office for Budgetary Responsibility on public borrowing.

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) is the government’s official forecaster responsible for assessing the UK economic and fiscal outlook. The OBR published its latest Economic and Fiscal Outlook in March providing an interim update on the economy a...

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions were held with President Trump at the G7 Summit on support for Ukraine.

I refer the Hon Member to the statement made by the Deputy Prime Minister on 22 June, and his answers to the questions raised in response.

Food and Rural Affairs, when her Department last commissioned research on the ecological effects of gamebird shooting.

Defra’s Gamebird Research Programme has recently published the findings of a number of research projects relating to the ecological impacts of gamebird shooting and associated activity. Whilst some research projects are ongoing, Natural England is plannin...

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of released gamebirds on populations of native invertebrates, reptiles and ground-nesting birds.

Defra’s Gamebird rapid evidence review was published in 2020 and is available here. Further research into these findings was published in 2025 and again this year, available here and here respectively. Defra has also funded research into the impacts of ga...

What discussions he has had with the West of England Mayoral Authority on the implementation of Carbon Budget 7.

The Department regularly engages with local government on net zero delivery, strategy and policy through the Local Net Zero Delivery Group, and with Metro Mayors through quarterly roundtables.

What assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of tidal power on achieving Carbon Budget 7.

The Clean Power 2030 Action Plan recognises that while emerging renewable technologies such as tidal stream are expected to play a limited role in the 2030 energy mix, scaling up deployment of these technologies could be critical to achieving the UK’s lon...

What estimate his Department has made of the number of homes in North East Somerset and Hanham constituency to be fitted with low-carbon heating systems under policies supporting Carbon Budge

Information on heat pumps and biomass boilers installed through the Boiler Upgrade Scheme is published in Table Q1.3 of the Boiler Upgrade Scheme Statistics release. By the end of March 2026, 238 heat pumps and fewer than 5 biomass boilers had been instal...

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of using raised laying cages for breeding pheasants and partridges on the welfare of those birds.

The Government remains firmly committed to maintaining and improving animal welfare and is aware of the strong public feeling on keeping gamebirds in cages. As stated in the Animal Welfare Strategy, the Government will improve its understanding of the wel...

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps were taken to protect the newly establishing trees in the Western Forest during May’s heatwave.

The Western Forest has used a range of measures to mitigate unseasonal weather. This includes early-season planting, using mulch mats, and planting resilient cell-grown saplings that are matched to local conditions. Defra and the National Forest Company a...

What recent steps her Department has taken to tackle knife crime in the North East Somerset and Hanham constituency.

We have set a clear and ambitious target: to halve knife crime in a decade. We are already seeing results. Since the start of this Parliament, knife crime has fallen by 10% and knife homicides are down 27%, at their lowest level in a decade. In Avon and S...

Whether his Department has made an assessment of the adequacy of the resilience of outsourced non-emergency patient transport services.

Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for their delegated functions, including services contracted to private providers such as non-emergency patient transport schemes (NEPTS). The delegation framework for commissioning in the National Health Serv...

What financial monitoring arrangements Integrated Care Boards are required to maintain for private ambulance contractors delivering NHS-funded services.

Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for their delegated functions, including services contracted to private providers such as non-emergency patient transport schemes (NEPTS). The delegation framework for commissioning in the National Health Serv...

Whether it is the policy of HM Revenue and Customs to inform NHS commissioners of concerns regarding unpaid VAT liabilities prior to filing a winding-up petition.

It is not HMRC’s policy to inform NHS Commissioners of unpaid liabilities. HMRC is unable to discuss debts held by third parties with NHS Commissioners due to taxpayer confidentiality rules. This includes companies that have been contracted to deliver NHS...

Whether (a) his department (b) ICBs are routinely informed when major NHS contractors face significant tax enforcement action.

HM Revenue and Customs is subject to a statutory duty of taxpayer confidentiality, which generally prevents it from disclosing information to other Government bodies except where there is a lawful basis to do so.Accordingly, while information may be share...

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to reduce fly tipping in North East Somerset and Hanham.

Local councils are responsible for tackling fly-tipping in their area and have a range of enforcement powers to help them do so. These include fixed penalty notices of up to £1000 and prosecution action. To support councils to make better use of their pow...

What assessment she has made of the adequacy of workforce training capacity to support the transition to electric vehicles.

The Government is committed to ensuring the UK has the right skills to remain at the forefront of the manufacturing and maintenance of electric vehicles (EVs).The number of EV qualified technicians has risen rapidly. According to data from the Institute o...

Innovation and Technology, what steps she is taking to improve the safety of young people online in North East Somerset and Hanham.

Protecting children from harm online is a priority for the Secretary of State. That is why the Secretary of State launched the consultation ‘Growing up in an Online World’ on how to go further to protect children and has committed to respond by the Summer...