Ben Goldsborough MP: written questions
113 published records · newest first.
Written questions
Genetically Modified Organisms: PlantsDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 18 May 2026AnsweredUIN 2586More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the Department will set out a date by which the sale of precision bred seeds will be made legal.
Answer: A consultation was held from 14 February to 17 April 2025 seeking feedback on a proposed plant varieties and seed framework for precision bred plant varieties. The proposal included a Precision Bred Plant Varieties List for England. The main agricultural ...
Answered 27 May 2026
Original Parliament recordGenetically Modified Organisms: PlantsDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 18 May 2026AnsweredUIN 2585More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans the Department has to implement a National Listing system to recognise precision bred seeds.
Answer: A consultation was held from 14 February to 17 April 2025 seeking feedback on a proposed plant varieties and seed framework for precision bred plant varieties. The proposal included a Precision Bred Plant Varieties List for England. The main agricultural ...
Answered 27 May 2026
Original Parliament recordCompost: PeatDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 12 Mar 2026AnsweredUIN 120479More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department will make an economic and environmental impact assessment on the alternatives to peat-free growing media.
Answer: This question has been interpreted as whether Defra will make an economic and environmental impact assessment on peat-free alternatives in growing media. This Government is committed to protecting our nature-rich habitats, including peat bogs and to this ...
Answered 19 Mar 2026
Original Parliament recordPrisons: HeatingMinistry of JusticeTabled 20 Feb 2026AnsweredUIN 114426More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that heating failures on the secure estate are fixed promptly.
Answer: We continue to work with prison Governors to ensure appropriate contingency measures are in place to mitigate the impact of heating and hot water systems at a prison becoming inoperative.Contingency plans are in place with the Ministry of Justice’s Facili...
Answered 2 Mar 2026
Original Parliament recordPrisons: HeatingMinistry of JusticeTabled 20 Feb 2026AnsweredUIN 114425More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if his Department will work with prison governors to implement appropriate contingency plans for inmate wellbeing in the event of heating failures.
Answer: We continue to work with prison Governors to ensure appropriate contingency measures are in place to mitigate the impact of heating and hot water systems at a prison becoming inoperative.Contingency plans are in place with the Ministry of Justice’s Facili...
Answered 2 Mar 2026
Original Parliament recordHMP Holme House: HeatingMinistry of JusticeTabled 20 Feb 2026AnsweredUIN 114424More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the safety of inmates at HMP Holme House when the heating is not functioning.
Answer: The Ministry of Justice treats any disruption to the heating and hot water supply to any prison as a priority and implements contingency measures to rectify incidents that occur as soon as practically possible.Safety and decency remained the primary focus...
Answered 2 Mar 2026
Original Parliament recordCommunity Health Services: Rural AreasDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 7 Jan 2026AnsweredUIN 907246More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve community healthcare in rural areas.
Answer: The Government’s 10 Year Health Plan commits to three big shifts which includes increasingly moving services away from centralised hospitals into the wider community. Integrated care boards are responsible for the planning and commissioning of health serv...
Answered 13 Jan 2026
Original Parliament recordVoluntary Schools: Repairs and MaintenanceDepartment for EducationTabled 6 Jan 2026AnsweredUIN 103596More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to Written Parliamentary Questions 98665, 98666 and 98668, what recourse exists for Voluntary Controlled schools to carry out urgent repairs to the school estate when the local authority fails to provi
Answer: The department is investing almost £3 billion per year in capital maintenance by 2034/35 to improve the condition of the school and college estate, rising from £2.4 billion in 2025/26. As part of this, Norfolk Council received a School Condition Allocatio...
Answered 14 Jan 2026
Original Parliament recordSchool Rebuilding Programme: Voluntary SchoolsDepartment for EducationTabled 6 Jan 2026AnsweredUIN 103595More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, a) whether Voluntary Controlled schools will be eligible for nomination under the school rebuilding programme and b) which responsible body would need to nominate a Voluntary Controlled school for the next roun
Answer: The government is investing almost £20 billion in the School Rebuilding Programme (SRP) from 2025/26 through to 2034/35, delivering rebuilding projects at over 500 schools across England within the existing programme and expanding the SRP with a further 2...
Answered 14 Jan 2026
Original Parliament recordCancer: Terminal IllnessesDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 16 Dec 2025AnsweredUIN 100589More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to (a) alter and (b) mitigate the National Institute for Care and Excellence's downgrading of terminal cancer to moderately severe.
Answer: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has not classified terminal cancer as moderately severe. The NICE is an independent body and is responsible for developing the methods and processes it uses to evaluate whether new medicines sho...
Answered 29 Dec 2025
Original Parliament recordTrastuzumab DeruxtecanDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 16 Dec 2025AnsweredUIN 100588More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to take steps to ensure Enhertu remains available on the NHS.
Answer: Decisions on whether new medicines should be routinely funded by the National Health Service in England are made on the basis of recommendations from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) following an evaluation of a treatment’s cos...
Answered 13 Jan 2026
Original Parliament recordAgricultural Products: Import ControlsDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 11 Dec 2025AnsweredUIN 99362More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 4 November 2025 to Question 80333 if she will take steps to help increase the audience reach of her Department's digital communications on risks of personal i
Answer: Biosecurity is a priority for this Government. To protect UK farmers and animals from serious diseases like Foot and Mouth Disease and African Swine Fever, we used the Christmas period as an opportunity to remind the public about the personal imports ban...
Answered 13 Jan 2026
Original Parliament recordAfrican Swine Fever and Foot and Mouth Disease: Disease ControlDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 11 Dec 2025AnsweredUIN 99361More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 4 November 2025 to Question 80333, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of funding public awareness campaigns, including advertisements at a
Answer: Biosecurity is a priority for this Government. To protect UK farmers and animals from serious diseases like Foot and Mouth Disease and African Swine Fever, we used the Christmas period as an opportunity to remind the public about the personal imports ban...
Answered 13 Jan 2026
Original Parliament recordPrisoners: LoansMinistry of JusticeTabled 10 Dec 2025AnsweredUIN 99077More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his department will work with the Department for Education to legislate to allow prisoners to obtain a student loan more than 6 years from their earliest release date.
Answer: The Ministry of Justice is committed to enabling prisoners to access higher education while in custody and, alongside HMPPS, works with partners such as the Prisoners Education Trust and the Open University to widen access to higher education for prisoner...
Answered 17 Dec 2025
Original Parliament recordRemand in Custody: EducationMinistry of JusticeTabled 10 Dec 2025AnsweredUIN 99076More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what consideration his department has given to making remand prisoners eligible for a) educational programmes and b) offender behaviour programmes.
Answer: The Ministry of Justice is committed to ensuring that individuals held on custody, including those on remand, have access to appropriate rehabilitative and educational support while in prison.Remand prisoners are eligible to access core education provisio...
Answered 17 Dec 2025
Original Parliament recordPrisoners: VisitsMinistry of JusticeTabled 10 Dec 2025AnsweredUIN 99075More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if his department will provide the average number of visitation days, per prisoner, for a) all prisoners and b) disabled prisoners.
Answer: This information could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.However, a report about Social Contact in Prison published 11 December provides information about visit frequencies. The report notes that in the 12 months prior to June 2024, almost two thi...
Answered 17 Dec 2025
Original Parliament recordPrison AccommodationMinistry of JusticeTabled 10 Dec 2025AnsweredUIN 99074More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if his department will provide the total number of prisoner days, aggregated across all prisoners, in which an individual prisoner with a disability received a) no time in open air and b) no time out of cell.
Answer: The information requested for adult prisoners is not held by the Ministry of Justice, as collecting data on time in and out of cell would require detailed monitoring of cell activity in each prison establishment.PSI 75/2011 (Residential Services), which i...
Answered 17 Dec 2025
Original Parliament recordPrison AccommodationMinistry of JusticeTabled 10 Dec 2025AnsweredUIN 99073More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if his department will provide the total number of prisoner days, aggregated across all prisoners, in which an individual prisoner received a) no time in open air and b) no time out of cell.
Answer: The information requested for adult prisoners is not held by the Ministry of Justice, as collecting data on time in and out of cell would require detailed monitoring of cell activity in each prison establishment.PSI 75/2011 (Residential Services), which i...
Answered 17 Dec 2025
Original Parliament recordPrisons: Repairs and MaintenanceMinistry of JusticeTabled 10 Dec 2025AnsweredUIN 99072More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what action his department is taking to ensure prison estate maintenance providers are accountable for their performance.
Answer: The value and performance of the Department’s private-sector service providers is reviewed through routine contract and performance management and, in addition, ministers meet regularly with each provider’s Chief Executive Officers to hold them personally...
Answered 17 Dec 2025
Original Parliament recordPrisons: E. coliMinistry of JusticeTabled 10 Dec 2025AnsweredUIN 99071More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many cases of e-coli were reported in each individual prison in each of the last 10 calendar years.
Answer: Statistics on prisoners’ health are the responsibility of the NHS. I am informed that the figures that are collected do not indicate whether an illness or hospitalisation relates to unhygienic conditions or show the causes of illnesses linked to E-coli.Ar...
Answered 17 Dec 2025
Original Parliament recordPrisons: HygieneMinistry of JusticeTabled 10 Dec 2025AnsweredUIN 99070More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many a) reported illnesses or b) hospitalisations of prisoners in each of the last 10 calendar years have been partially or wholly attributed to unhygienic prison conditions.
Answer: Statistics on prisoners’ health are the responsibility of the NHS. I am informed that the figures that are collected do not indicate whether an illness or hospitalisation relates to unhygienic conditions or show the causes of illnesses linked to E-coli.Ar...
Answered 17 Dec 2025
Original Parliament recordPrison GovernorsMinistry of JusticeTabled 10 Dec 2025AnsweredUIN 99069More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his department is taking to increase the autonomy of prison governors.
Answer: The Government recognises the value of autonomy for governors and the innovation this can drive, whilst also balancing this with the level of central control to achieve consistency between prisons.In 2023, HMPPS launched a framework for governor empowerme...
Answered 17 Dec 2025
Original Parliament recordPrison Governors: Labour TurnoverMinistry of JusticeTabled 10 Dec 2025AnsweredUIN 99068More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if his department will publish the average time-in-role for prison governors in each of the last 10 calendar years.
Answer: The latest published HMPPS workforce statistics covers the period up to 30 September 2025 so the latest calendar year available is for 2024. Figures showing the average length of time spent in post for public sector prison governors in England and Wales a...
Answered 17 Dec 2025
Original Parliament recordPrison Governors: Labour TurnoverMinistry of JusticeTabled 10 Dec 2025AnsweredUIN 99067More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his department is taking to reduce turnover rates of prison governors.
Answer: The Enable Programme is a workforce transformation programme that aims to change how HMPPS trains, develops, leads, and supports its prison staff to ensure that they feel safe, supported, valued, and confident in their skills and ability to make a differe...
Answered 17 Dec 2025
Original Parliament recordPrison Governors: TrainingMinistry of JusticeTabled 10 Dec 2025AnsweredUIN 99066More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his department is taking to improve or increase provision of training for newly appointed prison governors.
Answer: The Enable Programme is a workforce transformation programme that aims to change how HMPPS trains, develops, leads, and supports its prison staff to ensure that they feel safe, supported, valued, and confident in their skills and ability to make a differe...
Answered 17 Dec 2025
Original Parliament record
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