The Government is taking action to enhance checks conducted on individuals establishing limited companies. The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 received Royal Assent on 26 October 2023 and the majority of new powers will come into force in March 2024. Companies House will have enhanced abilities to protect the integrity of the register. This will include powers to query suspected fraudulent incorporations and require further evidence. During 2025, compulsory identity verification checks will be implemented for directors (and equivalents), persons with significant control and those filing information with Companies House before they can transact with the Registrar.

The Insolvency Service takes robust enforcement action against directors where there is evidence of unfit conduct and will bring disqualification proceedings where in the public interest.

The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 will further strengthen these safeguards. Individuals who are disqualified under director disqualification legislation will be prohibited from being appointed as a director and their existing directorships will become void. The Act also extends the grounds for making a director disqualification order so that individuals who persistently breach new identity verification or filing requirements may face disqualification.

The Government recognises that honey bees and wild pollinators are an essential part of our environment and play a crucial role in food production. All pollinators contribute the equivalent of more than £500 million a year to UK agriculture and food production, by improving crop quality and quantity. Pollinators are also beneficial to our wider, natural ecosystems.

Recognising the potential impact that Asian hornet would have on honey bees and wild pollinators, Defra, in collaboration with Welsh Government, developed the Asian hornet contingency plan which details the response to Asian hornet and is regularly reviewed. The operational response is carried out by the National Bee Unit (NBU), part of the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA).

Our most effective way of supporting beekeepers and the wider beekeeping industry against the threat of Asian hornet is through our continued eradication response, with the aim of preventing Asian hornet from establishing. This involves the NBU responding to credible sightings to locate and destroy any nests. Evidence from the response to Asian hornet is reviewed at the end of each season to determine if any changes to the approach are required for the following year.

The NBU has now fine-tuned their response and enhanced their preparedness, and they can frequently find a nest within a day of an initial sighting being reported. In 2023 the NBU located and destroyed 72 nests in 56 locations.

Accurate and timely reporting is critical to the response so raising awareness and reporting possible sightings is key. We appreciate the role that beekeepers take in the response to Asian hornet through helping raise awareness of the threat, educating people in identifying these insects, encouraging them to report any suspected sightings and monitoring traps. To support accurate and timely reporting Defra funded development of the Asian hornet watch app. The NBU keep beekeepers informed of the response through updates published on BeeBase and also carry out other awareness raising activity. The Non-Native Species Secretariat (NNSS) works with over 50 local actions groups and other organisations to raise awareness of Asian hornet, in 2023 they sent out 3400 alert posters and 11,200 ID sheets.

This is a devolved matter and the information provided therefore relates to England only.

A person must not use “honey” in trade as the name of a product if the product is not honey.

Consequently, for a product to be called “Honey” it must be 100% honey and comply with the appropriate compositional criteria for “honey” specified in Schedule 1 of The Honey (England) Regulations 2015.

(a) Asian hornet

The National Bee Unit (NBU), part of the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), has a long-standing relationship with Defra to deliver the Bee Health Programme which includes management and control of honey bee pests and diseases.

As Asian hornet is of particular concern to beekeepers, the NBU has taken action since 2016 to locate and destroy any Asian hornet nests with the aim of preventing this insect species from establishing.

APHA receives a total budget from Defra and, from that, the NBU budget is set to cover the range of essential work that the NBU delivers including taking action against Asian hornet. The NBU can draw on resources within wider APHA including in the response to Asian hornet. There isn't a separate budget for action against Asian hornet.

(b) Other invasive non-native species (INNS)

Action to tackle INNS is taken as part of a wide number of programmes across Defra, for example woodland management, management of our sites of special scientific interest or of our waterways. This includes actions by both Defra and its arm’s length bodies, including Natural England, the Environment Agency, APHA and the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science. It also includes options within Countryside Stewardship and now Environmental Land Management to support control of INNS. As such it is not possible to provide a single figure for the budget allocated to tackling INNS.

Departmental budgets beyond 2024-25 will be agreed as part of the next Spending Review. The Secretary of State will set out funding plans following that process.

The latest figure for the full-time strength of the Army is 73,520. The Army is continuing to work towards its “Future Soldier” structure of 73,000 regular and 30,000 reserve personnel. There are no plans to change this. The good news is that provisional figures suggest that January had the highest number of Army applications for six years.

The Welsh Government’s policy on the blanket 20 mph speed limit is damaging communities and businesses across Wales. All of us support 20 mph limits if there is a safety reason outside schools, hospitals or old people’s homes, but the blanket 20 mph limit is, by the Welsh Government’s own figures, going to create a £4.5 billion hit to the Welsh economy.

HMCTS has put in place temporary arrangements for hearings to take place at Preston and other locations in Lancashire, until the new state-of-the-art courthouse in Blackpool opens in 2026.

These arrangements will enable us to continue to offer effective access to justice, with the overwhelming majority of users being able to travel to Preston and other locations in Lancashire in accordance with our established definition of a reasonable journey. This includes being able to leave at 07:30 to attend court on time, using public transport if necessary.

Should court users anticipate difficulty in travelling to a site within these parameters they are advised to contact their legal representatives or the court at the earliest opportunity, so that the need for alternative arrangements can be considered. This will be assessed on a case-by-case basis and can include varying the start or end times of hearings, subject to judicial approval.

The Government is currently negotiating an ambitious UK-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Free Trade Agreement (FTA) to boost trade with the region by cutting tariffs and removing red tape. The ongoing FTA negotiations with the GCC show our commitment to move towards a strengthened and more formalised trade relationship with Saudi Arabia.

Bilaterally, the UK and Saudi Arabia engage together as part of the Strategic Partnership Council to underpin bilateral relations, bolster mutually beneficial trade and investment, and develop partnerships between UK and Saudi giga-projects. I also recently travelled to Saudi Arabia to represent the UK at the Future Minerals Forum, one of the world’s largest critical mineral events.

The Government is also supporting British businesses operating in Saudi Arabia through our extensive market access work, which aims to reduce or remove regulatory or administrative restrictions that can impede a business exporting or investing overseas.

Most airport operators are either in the commercial private sector or are public/private partnerships which operate commercially. As such, it is for airport owners to develop and fund proposals on the future development of airports. Airports may consider engaging with local authorities who are best placed to consider local transport priorities using the funding courses at their disposal.

As a predominately private sector investment in infrastructure is a matter for individual airports. The Government is however supporting R&D activity to enable the sector to prepare for the adoption of new zero emission aviation fuels such as hydrogen.

As part of the Tees-Valley Transport Hydrogen Hub DfT is supporting the establishment of re-fuelling stations at Teesside International Airport which can be used by hydrogen airside vehicles.

In October 2023 DfT launched a Transport Research and Innovation Grant competition. Through this we are offering funding for up to 10 projects which can facilitate the development of infrastructure for zero emission airport operations and the handling of zero emission aircraft. The competition has closed and applications are currently being assessed.

In addition, the Jet Zero Council has a dedicated sub-group on Zero Emission Flight Infrastructure. This group convenes representatives of government, industry and academia with an interest in developing zero emission flight in the UK.

The Home Office will always look to support those who wish to depart the United Kingdom voluntarily, and the extent of that support is based on a case-by-case assessment of an individual’s needs. General eligibility criteria can be found online at: Get help to return home if you’re a migrant in the UK: Who can get help - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

The Home Office publishes statistics on all types of removals from the UK, which include voluntary departures. The latest statistics are available at Immigration system statistics quarterly release - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). Published datasets for voluntary returns are available at: Returns and detention datasets - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

The cost of a voluntary return depends on the individual circumstances of the case, and therefore we are not able to provide a definitive figure.

The Home Office will always look to support those who wish to depart the United Kingdom voluntarily, and the extent of that support is based on a case-by-case assessment of an individual’s needs. General eligibility criteria can be found online at: Get help to return home if you’re a migrant in the UK: Who can get help - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

The Home Office publishes statistics on all types of removals from the UK, which include voluntary departures. The latest statistics are available at Immigration system statistics quarterly release - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). Published datasets for voluntary returns are available at: Returns and detention datasets - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

The cost of a voluntary return depends on the individual circumstances of the case, and therefore we are not able to provide a definitive figure.

The Home Office will always look to support those who wish to depart the United Kingdom voluntarily, and the extent of that support is based on a case-by-case assessment of an individual’s needs. General eligibility criteria can be found online at: Get help to return home if you’re a migrant in the UK: Who can get help - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

The Home Office publishes statistics on all types of removals from the UK, which include voluntary departures. The latest statistics are available at Immigration system statistics quarterly release - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). Published datasets for voluntary returns are available at: Returns and detention datasets - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

The cost of a voluntary return depends on the individual circumstances of the case, and therefore we are not able to provide a definitive figure.