Since the last Transport questions, my Department has been getting on with our plans: £143 million for new zero-emission buses; a world-leading sustainable aviation fuel mandate; cutting red tape for small-scale fishing businesses; taking steps to future-proof the £18 billion classic car industry, which supports tens of thousands of skilled jobs; and ensuring that taxpayers can hold local councils to account for how they spend their record funding boost for road resurfacing, made possible by reallocating High Speed 2 funding. All Labour has been able to offer is an unfunded, incoherent rail nationalisation plan, putting the unions in charge, cutting services for passengers and containing anti-car targets, taking us back to square one.

I am grateful to my hon. Friend—and Gloucestershire neighbour—for raising that issue. He rightly sets out that his constituency is one of the fastest growing. He is a doughty champion for his constituents and I am sure that any agency thinking of downgrading any of his road network would not dare to do so, for fear of the consequences of having to deal with him on the warpath.

We are committed to continue improving water quality and are delivering record investment, stronger regulation and tougher enforcement to improve our water for our own health, for nature and the economy. In the Avon catchment area, over 60 water company assets (sewage treatment works, sewage pumping stations and combined sewer overflows) were inspected by the Environment Agency (EA) by end of February 2024 for the 2023/24 business year.

Along the River Avon, the EA also conducts inspections at agricultural and intensive farming sites to ensure compliance with regulations. Additionally, the EA offer advice and guidance on best practices to mitigate potential pollution risks to farmers and landowners.

The Government published the Plan for Water in April 2023 – our comprehensive strategy for managing our water environment, including our rivers. It brings together the significant steps we have already taken with a suite of new policy actions. It aims to change the way that we manage water, improve water quality, and continue to secure our water supply through increased investment, stronger regulation and enforcement.

The latest Water Framework Directive (WFD) assessment of Ecological Status for rivers, including River Avon, sets out the condition of waterbodies across the country. Although none of the 6 waterbodies across the River Avon achieved Good Ecological Status – a measure of water quality – most of the underlying tests did do. Agency modelling predicts that approximately 55% of phosphates in the main River Avon arise from water company wastewater treatment works and approximately 30% arise from agriculture.

This Government is committed to improving water quality in the River Avon and the Environment Agency continue to drive this forward by carrying out inspections at agricultural and water company sites along the river.

Food insecurity remains a huge challenge across East Africa. Tens of millions of people throughout the region face 'crisis' levels of food insecurity. The UK is leading efforts to address the crisis. The UK will deliver £89 million of aid to Sudan in 2024/2025, up from nearly £50 million in 2023/2024. On 16 April at a UK convened humanitarian pledging event I [Deputy Foreign Secretary] committed £100 million in aid to Ethiopia which will reach hundreds of thousands of people. Since 2019 the UK has allocated over £1 billion in humanitarian funding to East Africa benefitting millions of people.

The Farming Recovery Fund has been opened to provide farmers support to recover from uninsurable damage with grants of between £500 and £25,000 to return their land to the condition it was before exceptional flooding of Storm Henk. The fund was initially opened in nine English local authority areas where the Flood Recovery Framework has already been activated to help farms which have experienced the highest levels of flooding, and the eligibility for the Fund remains under review.

This forms part of a package of support available to farmers through the Flood Recovery Framework, including a grant of up to £2,500 through the Business Recovery Grant Scheme.

The department has made no such assessment.

Customers with water meters installed are charged based on the volume of water consumed, while those without a meter are charged for their water and sewerage services based on the rateable value of their property.

The Government has asked water companies to increase smart metering and has enabled compulsory metering in areas of water stress, where there is consumer support and it represents value for money, as set out in the Plan for Water. This can allow bill payers to cut costs by using water more efficiently where possible and assist in reducing overall water consumption by enabling water companies to reduce leakage, further reducing bills for customers.

Some water companies also offer a lowest bill guarantee for consumers who switch to a metered charge, which guarantees the best value price for the first few years of installation and the option to switch back to unmetered charges if the meter is not helpful.

We are working with other Departments, employers and stakeholders to isolate where those vacancies are, and on sector-based work academy programmes. We have put over 266,000 people through construction, care, tourism, hospitality—all those gaps that we need to fill.

Ethiopia hosts nearly 1 million refugees of whom 43%, roughly 420,000 people, originate from South Sudan. The vast majority of South Sudanese refugees in Ethiopia reside in seven camps in Gambella region. Refugees experience pressing humanitarian hardships in Gambella due to a combination of factors including recurrent flooding exacerbated by a shortage of donor funding. Between 2022 and 2023 aid agencies recorded a near doubling of cases of severe acute malnutrition among children under five years at Kule refugee camp. The UK is lobbying humanitarian agencies to ensure aid is prioritised effectively and reaches the most vulnerable.

We are concerned about the food security situation in the Republic of Zambia and welcome President Hichilema's early action declaring a State of National Disaster and Emergency due to drought. This drought will have huge humanitarian and economic impacts across the country, with approximately 1 million of the 2.2 million hectares of planted maize crops already destroyed, affecting many farming households. On 6 March, the UK rapidly deployed a Humanitarian and Stabilisation Operations Team to help build technical capacity and support the response. We will continue to monitor the situation and support the Republic of Zambia.

The Government is mindful that consumers are concerned about their bills. For this reason, Defra expects all water companies to help consumers who struggle to pay their bills through measures such as WaterSure, social tariffs, payment breaks and holidays, and debt management support. We expect all companies to ensure households are aware of the support schemes available to them.

We continue to work with industry and consumer groups to explore options to improve present social tariff arrangements and broader customer support, focusing on improving consistency and fairness.

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is responsible for regulating the UK’s data protection legislation and has a range of criminal and civil enforcement tools at its disposal. People can already complain to the ICO about the way an organisation has handled their personal information. In response to a complaint the ICO may make recommendations to the organisation to put things right or to improve their practice. The UK legal system also provides for independent judicial remedies. People may seek a judicial remedy from the start, or they may proceed to court after having already complained to the ICO. They may also in some instances seek a judicial remedy against the ICO or lodge a complaint in relation to its activity.

I thank my hon. Friend for his report and letter to me all about that. I am pleased with the high-level meetings he had on his recent visit and a lot of the media coverage. Our embassy is following up by preparing for the Zimbabwe international trade fair in April, and it is expecting a strong UK presence. My hon. Friend’s return visit in April will be a perfect chance to progress the deals that we have and boost British investment for this year and beyond.

The Government were pleased that my hon. Friend, who is the Prime Minister’s trade envoy to Angola, Zambia

and Ethiopia, and members of the Westminster Africa Business Group visited Zimbabwe on the group’s inaugural trade mission. That is part of the Government’s work to promote opportunities for UK companies, particularly in critical minerals, renewable energy and sustainable agriculture.

My hon. Friend is right. I signed the enhanced trade and investment partnership in Nigeria, alongside my counterpart, Dr Doris Uzoka-Anite, on Tuesday 13 February this year. It was the first of its kind in terms of the UK’s trade commitments across the region. The partnership aims to remove market access barriers and promote technical co-operation in areas such as financial and professional services. The UK and Nigeria have co-created a partnership that tackles issues that businesses face, and this is the first step in a significant relationship and an already strong trading partnership worth a total of £6.7 billion in the 12 months to September.

Integrated Care Boards have a statutory responsibility to commission healthcare and develop strategic clinical plans, covering a wide range of health care services, based on the needs of their local population.

Nationally, we are investing to increase access and improve the quality of mental health services. Thanks to this investment, since 2018/19 there has been an 11% increase in the number of adults accessing NHS Talking Therapies. We are set to reach nearly £1 billon of investment by 2023/2024, to transform community mental health services, the largest area of investment within the Long Term Plan for mental health, so that more people can be supported with the care that is most appropriate for their needs and that is integrated between primary and community mental health services.

This includes new integrated community models, offering improved access to NHS Talking Therapies, improved physical health care, employment support, personalised and trauma informed care, medicines management and support for self-harm.

Integrated Care Boards have a statutory responsibility to commission healthcare and develop strategic clinical plans, covering a wide range of health care services, based on the needs of their local population.

Nationally, we are investing to increase access and improve the quality of mental health services. Thanks to this investment, since 2018/19 there has been an 11% increase in the number of adults accessing NHS Talking Therapies. We are set to reach nearly £1 billon of investment by 2023/2024, to transform community mental health services, the largest area of investment within the Long Term Plan for mental health, so that more people can be supported with the care that is most appropriate for their needs and that is integrated between primary and community mental health services.

This includes new integrated community models, offering improved access to NHS Talking Therapies, improved physical health care, employment support, personalised and trauma informed care, medicines management and support for self-harm.