Barry Gardiner

All UK greenhouse gas emissions are compiled and reported consistent with international guidance from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The IPCC 2006 Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories provide a methodology for the reporting of emissions from bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) that the UK will follow when the technology is operating at sufficient scale. In line with all IPCC reports, the 2006 Guidelines were written by world-leading experts, underwent multiple rounds of review from other experts and Governments and were formally accepted by Governments including the UK.

In 2020, Defra commissioned an independent review of the Darwin Plus programme. This found Darwin Plus projects to have a strong, positive impact on the capacity of the Territories to deliver long-term strategic outcomes for the natural environment, which enhances protection of biodiversity ecosystems. During his Kew Lecture on 17 September 2024, the Foreign Secretary declared reversing the decline in global biodiversity as a Government priority. It is estimated that the UK Overseas Territories are home to over 90% of known endemic British species.

Information on individual projects funded under Darwin Plus is available on the programme website (https://darwinplus.org.uk/). The programme’s performance is reviewed annually and published on the UK Government’s online Development Tracker.

In November 2024, Minister Doughty and Minister McCarthy met with the elected leaders and representatives of the Overseas Territories at the UK Overseas Territories Joint Ministerial Council. The UK Government confirmed that it would continue to work in partnership with the Territories to support the protection of their unique environments and to help address biodiversity loss.

Total funding allocated to Darwin Plus projects in each financial year since 2019-20 is provided in the table below.

The Joint Nature Conservation Committee, as the Government’s statutory nature advisor, does not have, nor is it aware of, an estimate of the total percentage of the biodiversity for which the UK has global responsibility and is located in the UK Overseas Territories. Of the total number of endemic species associated with the UK’s biodiversity, 94% reside in the Territories.

UK Government biodiversity spend is across multiple organisations and this funding contributes to other objectives, such as water quality, net zero and food security. As such it is not possible to provide an exact figure of total domestic expenditure on biodiversity.

For 2024-25, the department has committed to make available up to £10 million in direct support for biodiversity in the UK Overseas Territories. Future funding will be subject to the outcomes of spending review and business planning processes.

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.

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.

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.

The Government is completely committed to ratification of the Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ Agreement, also known as the "High Seas Treaty" or "Global Oceans Treaty"), which is in line with our determination to reinvigorate the UK's wider international leadership on climate and nature. Work is in hand on the measures needed to implement the detailed and complex provisions of the Agreement before the UK can ratify.

Since it was first launched in 2021, the Waking Watch Replacement Fund has made £82.6 million in grant funding available to support the installation of common alarm systems to replace costly waking watch measures in residential buildings. The current iteration of the fund was reopened in May 2023, extending support to all residential buildings where a waking watch is currently in place in England, regardless of where the costs of the waking watch fall. We know that waking watch measures are still being used too often, and that in too many cases, costs continue to be passed onto leaseholders. Reducing the excessive use of Waking Watch is a priority for this government, and in the meantime, we have extended the Waking Watch Replacement Fund until March 2026 with long-term plans for the fund to be confirmed at the end of the next Spending Review in Summer 2025.

Since Royal Assent, parts of the Building Safety Act measures have been amended under the Leasehold Freehold Reform Act to reduce costs on residential leaseholders. These ensure that costs of ‘interim measures’ (such as waking watches and fitting simultaneous evacuation alarms) and expert reports can be recovered through remediation contribution orders. The costs of temporary accommodation if residents are decanted from their homes on building safety grounds, can also be recovered.

Any contribution required from those holding a qualifying lease for non-cladding defects and interim measures is capped and spread over 10 years, This means that, for the majority of qualifying leaseholders, the maximum amount that can be charged for non-cladding remediation and interim measures is £15,000 in Greater London (or £10,000 elsewhere in England). Qualifying leaseholders with a leasehold property worth more than £1 million and less than £2 million can be charged up to £50,000, while those with a leasehold property worth more than £2 million can be charged up to £100,000.

The Building Safety Act 2022 introduced new legal requirements for those responsible for managing building safety risks in higher-risk buildings when they are occupied. Under the Act, costs incurred in meeting these ongoing obligations can be passed to leaseholders via the service charge. The government considers these requirements as vital for ensuring structural and fire safety risks are properly managed, so that residents are and feel safe in their homes. We appreciate concerns about the costs of compliance with these requirements for leaseholders, and will continue to work with the Building Safety Regulator to monitor the situation.

The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 contains a small number of specific but serious flaws which would prevent certain provisions from operating as intended and that need to be rectified via primary legislation.

The Written Ministerial Statement made on 21 November 2024 (HCWS244) outlined two flaws regarding a loophole in the valuation scheme set out in the Act, and an omission on shared ownership lease extensions.

Primary legislation will also be needed to address the following flaws:

• Allow third parties to leases, such as resident-led management companies, to recover contributions toward their process costs in some instances. Without this change, these companies may be at risk of insolvency, which would be an unintended outcome of the reforms requiring landlords to pay their process costs;
• Correct an unintended constraint on landlords’ existing redevelopment break rights that applies in certain limited circumstances; and
• Correct technical cross references and make consequential amendments to ensure the smooth implementation of the Act.

The government will address these matters as soon as parliamentary time allows.

The government is committed to reinvigorating commonhold and making it the default tenure.

Our forthcoming White Paper on reforms to commonhold will outline proposed reforms to the model and our plans to introduce a comprehensive new legal framework.

The government has also made clear it intends to publish draft legislation on leasehold and commonhold reform in this session so that it may be subject to broad consultation and additional parliamentary scrutiny.

We will also engage with stakeholders on the process for converting existing flats to commonhold and consult on the proposed ban on new leasehold flats. We will set out further details in due course.

The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 includes provisions that will make it cheaper and easier for existing leaseholders to extend their lease or buy their freehold, including removing the requirement to pay marriage value.

As set out in my Written Ministerial Statement on 21 November 2024 (HCWS244), the government will act as quickly as possible to provide homeowners with greater rights, powers, and protections over their homes by implementing the provisions of that Act.

The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 includes provisions that will make it cheaper and easier for existing leaseholders to extend their lease or buy their freehold, including removing the requirement to pay marriage value.

As set out in my Written Ministerial Statement on 21 November 2024 (HCWS244), the government will act as quickly as possible to provide homeowners with greater rights, powers, and protections over their homes by implementing the provisions of that Act.

Circuit Judges are appointed by the King, on the advice of the Lord Chancellor and the Lady Chief Justice, following a fair and open competition administered by the Judicial Appointments Commission.

The number of judges who have been appointed as Circuit Judges having been tribunal judges, within six months of receiving formal advice of misconduct from the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office in the last five years is one.

The number of judges who have been elevated from the first-tier tribunal within six months of receiving formal advice of misconduct from the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office in the last five years is one.

The majority of appointments to judicial office are based on selection by the independent Judicial Appointments Commission, which has a statutory duty to make selections based on merit alone.

The number of judges who have been elevated from the first-tier tribunal within six months of receiving formal advice of misconduct from the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office in the last five years is one.

The majority of appointments to judicial office are based on selection by the independent Judicial Appointments Commission, which has a statutory duty to make selections based on merit alone.