theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Dr Ellie Chowns:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure capital investment in NHS (a) estate and (b) infrastructure supports improvements in climate resilience. \p Karin Smyth: We recognise the importance of increasing the climate resilience of the National Health Service estate. NHS trusts are responsible for maintaining their estate, including adapting premises to reduce risks associated with climate change and severe weather, as set out in the NHS Standard Contract.

The Department is supporting the improvement of NHS sites by investing £30 billion over the next five years in day-to-day maintenance and repair, with £5 billion allocated specifically to address the most critical building issues. Additionally, the Department is making sure all new hospitals are fit for the future. Our New Hospital Programme requires schemes to achieve a minimum rating of ‘Excellent’ for new builds and ‘Very Good’ for refurbishments, under the Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method. In addition, all NHS investments in new buildings and upgrades to existing facilities that are subject to HM Treasury business case approval process must align with the NHS Net Zero Building Standard, which includes a focus on overheating risks.
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Chris Hinchliff:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to reduce waiting times for urgent pelvic ultrasounds. \p Karin Smyth: We inherited a broken National Health Service, and reducing elective waiting lists is a key part of getting it back on its feet and building an NHS that is fit for the future. To that end we have committed to achieving the NHS Constitutional standard that 92% of patients should wait no longer than 18 weeks from Referral to Treatment by March 2029. Cutting waiting times for diagnostic tests including those for urgent pelvic issues is a crucial step in reducing the elective waiting list.

In the Autumn Budget 2024, the Chancellor announced £600 million of capital funding to support the reduction of diagnostic waiting lists, including continued investment in new and expanded Community Diagnostic Centres (CDCs), new acute hospital diagnostic equipment, and investment in digital diagnostic capabilities.

Abdomen or pelvic ultrasounds are one of five imaging tests for which general practitioners (GPs) can now make direct referrals, meaning patients can get the scan they need sooner at their local hospital or other NHS facility, whichever offers this service. The General Practice Direct Access Guidance advises how GPs can make the most of GP direct access especially where specific diagnostic tests are under the threshold for referral under the urgent suspected cancer referral pathway.

Patients can also be referred for pelvic ultrasounds for a number of reasons, including suspected urological malignancies, and other gynaecological cancers. Improved performance on the Faster Diagnosis Standard means that 135,000 more people have had cancer diagnosed or ruled out within 28 days between September 2024 and August 2025, compared the same months in the previous year.

We have also already made excellent progress turning the commitments in the Women's Health Strategy into tangible action, including tackling gynaecology waiting lists using the private sector.
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Helen Maguire:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps is his Department taking to address (a) regional and (b) socioeconomic inequality in (i) maternal and (ii) perinatal outcomes. \p Karin Smyth: On 23 June 2025, my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care announced a rapid, national, independent Investigation into National Health Service maternity and neonatal services to understand the systemic issues behind why so many women, babies, and families experience unacceptable care. The investigation will aim to identify the drivers and impacts of the inequalities faced by women, babies, and families from black and Asian backgrounds, those from deprived groups, and those from other marginalised groups when receiving maternity and neonatal care. The investigation will deliver interim recommendations in December 2025, ahead of further findings in spring 2026.

A number of interventions specifically aimed at addressing maternal and neonatal inequalities are underway. These include the Perinatal Equity and Anti-Discrimination Programme, delivery of an inequalities dashboard and projects on removing racial bias from clinical education, and embedding genetic risk equity. Additionally, all local areas have published Equity and Equality action plans to tackle inequalities for women and babies from ethnic minorities as well as those living in the most deprived areas.

To tackle the leading causes of maternal mortality and morbidity, we are introducing a Maternal Care Bundle to set clear standards across all services, focused on the main causes of maternal death and harm. Women from black and Asian backgrounds are more at risk of specific clinical conditions that are the leading causes of death. This bundle will target these conditions, and we expect a decline in deaths and harm.

The Family Hubs and Start for Life programme also supports the reduction of health inequalities by providing universal support for infant feeding, perinatal mental health, and parent-infant relationships from conception to two years old. Building on the £126 million investment for 2025/26, a further £500 million will enable Best Start Family Hubs to be rolled out to every local authority from April 2026.
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Dr Ellie Chowns:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists' report entitled Green Maternity Report 2025. \p Karin Smyth: The Department is committed to supporting the National Health Service in delivering high-quality, equitable, and sustainable maternity services. This includes investing in digital transformation, supporting workforce development, and embedding sustainability into all aspects of care, as set out in 2020’s Delivering a Net Zero NHS report. For instance, reducing nitrous oxide waste through leaner supply and stock management has led to cost savings of over £2.3 million annually and emissions reductions of around 90 kilo-tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent since 2019/20.

The Department has not made a formal assessment of the implications of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists' Green Maternity Report 2025.

We continue, however, to work with NHS England, the Royal Colleges, and local partners to ensure that best practice is adopted across the system, and that the environmental impact of maternity care is monitored and reduced in line with our 10-Year Health Plan commitment to prioritise delivery of the NHS’s net zero targets.
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Dan Aldridge:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of (a) the sufficiency of the supply of covid-19 vaccines during winter 2025/26 and (b) whether there will be sufficient supply of covid-19 vaccines to meet the expected demand from people eligible for a free NHS covid-19 vaccine. \p Ashley Dalton: Vaccine availability is monitored as part of standard operational practice by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), NHS England, and the devolved administrations.

The UKHSA collects and analyses data from the vaccination programmes to understand the impact, the effectiveness, and any inequalities.

The UKHSA has procured COVID-19 vaccines for the upcoming season in line with uptake forecasts received from all four nations. Based on procured volumes, it is expected that there is sufficient COVID-19 vaccine available for those eligible to receive a vaccine across the current autumn/winter campaign. People aged 75 years old and over, those in older adult care homes, and those aged six months and over who are immunosuppressed are eligible.
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Dr Caroline Johnson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what action he is taking to ensure people with Huntington's disease have a single point of contact to coordinate their care. \p Ashley Dalton: The revised NHS England Specialised Neurology Services (adults) Specification 2025 outlines a comprehensive model of care, detailing the requirements for specialised neurology services but also outlining the expectations of a system wide approach. It articulates how patients should move into and out of specialised neurology services, including patients with Huntington’s disease, incorporating end to end pathways within an Integrated Neurology System.

The NHSE Specialised Commissioning Neurology Transformation Team (NTP) have also produced a number of guidance documents to support the implementation of the revised service specification. This includes developing a neurology transformation toolkit, which outlines the impact of care coordination and case management functions in supporting more equitable and efficient care for people with long-term neurological diseases, including Huntington’s disease.
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Helen Maguire:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many eligible women have not had a breast cancer screening in (a) England and (b) Surrey for which the latest data is available. \p Ashley Dalton: The latest available screening data, for 2023/24, shows that in England, 6.69 million women were eligible for breast screening. Over 70%, or 4.6 million, of these eligible women had a breast screening result recorded within that last three-year period. Approximately 30%, or 1.97 million, of these eligible women did not have a breast screening test result recorded in that last three-year period.

In the 2023/24 screening year in Surrey, 141,778 women were eligible for breast screening and 71.3%, or 101,088, had a breast screening result recorded within that last three-year period. This is higher than the national coverage of 70%. Approximately 28.7%, or 40,690, of these eligible women did not have a breast screening result recorded within that last three-year period in Surrey.
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Victoria Collins:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to tackle ensure that children have access to health play services in (a) children's hospitals and (b) children's wards in district general hospitals. \p Ashley Dalton: The Department recognises the importance of supporting and maintaining children’s right to play in healthcare settings, because games and active play in all settings build social skills and promote children’s well-being.

To support this, in June 2025 NHS England and Starlight, a national charity for children’s play in healthcare, co-published the Play Well Toolkit. The toolkit provides guidance on best practice, and includes a checklist to support the auditing, monitoring, and evaluation of services. NHS England is promoting the Play Well toolkit to managers of health play services across a wide range of settings, including community clinics, emergency departments, children’s hospices, and acute paediatric wards.
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Helen Maguire:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many cancer patients are waiting for radiotherapy treatment in (a) England and (b) Surrey for which the latest data is available. \p Ashley Dalton: The information is not available in the format requested. Information on the 31-day cancer treatment waiting time standard, including the number of patients who received radiotherapy and whether their treatment was within the 31-days, is available for England and the Surrey Heartlands Integrated Care Board (ICB). The following table shows the number of people receiving radiotherapy for cancer, as of August 2025, for England and the Surrey Heartlands ICB:

Area

Total

Within 31 days

Percentage treated within 31 days

England

10,798

9,629

89.2%

Surrey Heartlands ICB

223

213

95.5%

Source: NHS England’s Cancer Waiting Times statistics: Commissioner Based, August 2025, available at the following link: https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/10/AUGUST-2025-CWT-CRS-COMMISSIONER-WORKBOOK-PROVISIONAL.xlsx
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Lee Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve access to (a) effective and (b) timely healthcare support for people with postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome. \p Ashley Dalton: Postural tachycardia syndrome (PoTS) is diagnosed by a combination of general practitioners (GPs) and specialist clinicians. GPs can diagnose PoTS in many cases but, if they are unsure of symptoms, or if symptoms are complex, they will refer patients to specialists for diagnosis.

We are investing in additional capacity to deliver appointments to help bring waiting lists and times down. The Elective Reform Plan, published in January 2025, sets out the specific productivity and reform efforts needed to return to the constitutional standard that 92% of patients wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to treatment, by March 2029.

Additionally, the shifts outlined in our 10-Year Health Plan will free up hospital-based consultants’ time by shifting care from hospitals to communities, utilising digital technology to reduce administrative burdens, and promoting prevention to reduce the onset and severity of conditions that lead to hospital admissions. This includes expanding community-based services, employing artificial intelligence for productivity, developing integrated neighbourhood health teams, and investing in digital tools and data. These shifts will allow specialists to focus on more complex cases of PoTS, enabling earlier identification and management, and improved patient outcomes.

By shifting care into the community through Neighbourhood Health Services, promoting integrated, multidisciplinary models of care and expanding personalised care plans, as outlined in the 10-Year Health Plan, we will ensure that people with conditions like PoTS receive more timely and accessible support closer to home.

As part of their continuing professional development, medical staff are responsible for updating their clinical knowledge with new research and guidance, ensuring they can accurately recognise and treat conditions such as PoTS.

The National Institute for Care Excellence has published a clinical knowledge summary on blackouts and syncope, which details how clinicians should assess and diagnose PoTS. Additionally, the Syncope Toolkit, developed by the Royal College of General Practitioners, is a resource designed to help GPs manage patients with syncope and related disorders, including PoTS.
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Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will ask the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence to respond to the coroner's Prevention of Future Death report following the death of Chloe Burgess. \p Dr Zubir Ahmed: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence responded to the Hampshire Coroner’s Prevention of Future Death Report following the death of Chloe Burgess on 28 April 2025. The report is available at the following link:

https://www.judiciary.uk/prevention-of-future-death-reports/chloe-burgess-prevention-of-future-deaths-report/
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Helen Maguire:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on the number of women who suffered baby loss between 2020 and 2025. \p Karin Smyth: Baby loss can include miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, stillbirth, and neonatal death. Official statistics published by the Office for National Statistics on stillbirths and neonatal deaths are available at the following link:

https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/bulletins/childhoodinfantandperinatalmortalityinenglandandwales/2023

NHS England does not hold comprehensive data on miscarriages or ectopic pregnancies as it is not consistently or officially counted in the same way as live births, stillbirths, or neonatal deaths. The Maternity Services Data Set records information from the point of a person booking an appointment for maternity care and therefore does not include losses prior to contact with National Health Service maternity services, nor is the data of sufficient quality and completeness to produce any counts data. Information on miscarriages and ectopic pregnancies resulting in a hospital stay is published in the Hospital Episodes Statistics, although not all such pregnancies will involve an NHS hospital stay and therefore will not be included, with further information available in Table 1i, named Miscarriage and ectopic pregnancies which resulted in an NHS hospital stay, in the document attached.

The most recent available data shows that there were 31,046 finished consultant episodes with a primary diagnosis of miscarriage in 2020/21, 33,352 in 2021/22, 33,126 in 2022/23, and 35,876 in 2023/24. In addition, there were 10,368 finished consultant episodes with a primary diagnosis of ectopic pregnancy in 2020/21, 11,088 in 2021/22, 10,999 in 2022/23, and 12,122 in 2023/24.

Additional document (xlsx, 391.7KB)
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Gareth Snell:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of (a) tableware and (b) crockery used in (a) his Department, (b) Integrated Care Boards, (c) hospitals and (d) NHS England Offices is made by a British manufacturer. \p Karin Smyth: The Government is committed to supporting British businesses and ensuring they have the best chance to win public contracts.

The new Procurement Act creates a simpler and more transparent system that will support British businesses bidding for work.

The Act also allows contracting authorities to set standards that recognise the quality and standard of UK businesses and products.

Alongside this, the National Procurement Policy Statement encourages contracting authorities to consider this government’s Industrial strategy and the sectors vital to our economic growth.

The tableware and crockery used in the Department is provided by our catering supplier. They do not record where the crockery was made and are unable to advise what proportion was manufactured in Britain. Some of the crockery was manufactured in the UK.

Integrated care boards, hospitals, and NHS England do not hold this information and it could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
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Mr Louie French:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to prioritise the safety of women and girls in grassroots sport. \p Stephanie Peacock: The Government is committed to supporting every aspect of women’s sport and ensuring all women and girls, no matter their background, are able to participate in sport and physical activity.

The safety, wellbeing and welfare of everyone taking part in sport, including women and girls, is absolutely paramount. National Governing Bodies (NGBs) are responsible for the regulation of their sports and for ensuring that appropriate measures are in place to protect participants from harm.

The This Girl Can campaign, run by our Arm’s Length Body, Sport England, includes the campaign strand “#LetsLiftTheCurfew”, referring to the safety fears that cause a drop-off in women enjoying outdoor exercise during the darker winter months. This Girl Can has also partnered with ukactive and the Chartered Institute for the Management of Sport and Physical Activity (CIMSPA) to provide resources and training to help leisure and fitness facilities ensure their spaces are safe and inclusive for all women.
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Mr Louie French:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has had discussions with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on the accuracy of the statistical analysis in the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities's report entitled The economic and social cost of harms associated with gambling in England, published on 11 January 2023. \p Ian Murray: The Government is committed to reviewing all official reports that assess gambling harm and its impact in the United Kingdom when making future policy decisions. This includes the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities’ (OHID’s) report entitled ‘The economic and social cost of harms associated with gambling in England,’ published on 11 January 2023. Relevant DCMS and OHID officials have met to discuss the report and continue to engage about the evidence OHID provides on gambling harm and its impact.

We are aware that the impacts that can ensue from harmful gambling are diverse and can be difficult to measure. Developing quality evidence is a key priority for the statutory gambling levy, and 20% of funding will be directed towards high-quality, independent research to fill gaps in the evidence base. We will continue to monitor developments in the evidence base and take action where appropriate.
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James McMurdock:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she plans to review regulations under the Animal (Low Welfare Activities Abroad) Act 2023. \p Dame Angela Eagle: I refer the hon. Member to the reply previously given to the hon. Member for South Cambridgeshire, Pippa Heylings on 23 September 2025 PQ UIN 73101.
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Helen Morgan:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of changes to stocking density regulations on production levels in chicken farms. \p Dame Angela Eagle: No recent changes have been introduced to on farm poultry stocking density regulations. We are aware that many poultry producers are switching to lower stocking densities in response to a retailer led voluntary initiative as part of the industry’s Better Chicken Commitment. We continue to monitor the poultry market but have yet to see any significant fall in poultry production since the industry’s adoption of lower stocking densities.
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Vikki Slade:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of recent appointments to the Food Strategy Advisory Board on (a) animal welfare, (b) farming practices and (c) farmers in Dorset. \p Dame Angela Eagle: I refer the hon. Member to the reply previously given to the hon. Member for Newton Abbott, Martin Wrigley on 30 October 2025 PQ UIN 82470.
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Martin Wrigley:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent progress she has made towards the introduction of the Deposit Return Scheme in 2027. \p Mary Creagh: The Deposit Return Scheme for drinks containers will launch in October 2027 across England, Northern Ireland and Scotland. Earlier this year, the UK Deposit Management Organisation Ltd were appointed to operate the schemes in England, Northern Ireland and Scotland, and they are continuing to progress at pace with delivery of the scheme.
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Sarah Dyke:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what guidance her Department has issued on the treatment of historic (a) glass and (b) plastic bottles distributed prior to the introduction of the Deposit Return Scheme. \p Mary Creagh: The Deposit Return Scheme in England, Northern Ireland and Scotland will include single-use drinks containers from 150ml to 3 litres. Materials included are polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic, steel, and aluminium drink containers. Glass drinks containers across the UK are included in the scope of the Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging scheme, to make sure it is appropriately and efficiently recycled.

Only DRS containers placed on the market after 1 October 2027 will carry a deposit on them. Containers placed on the market before 1 October 2027 can still be recycled via kerbside collections.
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Sarah Edwards:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the Government will consider the potential merits of (a) exemptions and (b) reduced thresholds for small and medium sized housebuilders under biodiversity net gain regulations. \p Mary Creagh: The Government has recently consulted on how to improve biodiversity net gain for minor, medium and brownfield development. This included options on exemptions and potential reduced thresholds for minor development. The Government is considering responses and will publish a summary of responses received as well as a Government response in due course.
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Ruth Jones:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will create new regulatory protections from hazardous chemicals similar to those of the EU in the revised Environmental Improvement Plan. \p Emma Hardy: The revised Environmental Improvement Plan will set out our approach to chemicals management.

The ‘UK REACH Rationale for Prioritising Substances in the UK REACH Work Programme: 2025 to 2026’ policy paper set out our strategic approach to chemicals regulation. Notably that we are seeking to draw more from regulatory decision-making in other jurisdictions, and that this should enable new protections to be applied more quickly, more efficiently, and in a way which is more aligned with our closest trading partners.
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Victoria Collins:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many and what proportion of properties ceded to the Flood Re scheme since 2023 are not classified as at risk of flooding under Environment Agency flood maps; and what steps she is taking to help ensure that Flood Re is only applied to properties at risk of flooding according to Environment Agency flood mapping. \p Emma Hardy: The Flood Re scheme is funded by the insurance industry via a compulsory levy which currently stands at £160 million per annum. Insurers chose which properties at flood risk to cede to the scheme. Premiums are set by Flood Re that aims to ensure only policies for properties at higher flood risk are ceded.

Insurers use a range of information when assessing the potential flood risk of a property. This usually includes both previous claims history and future risk of flooding which they will often use Environment Agency (EA) data as well as other more detailed commercially available maps to help them assess the risk. There is no requirement for individual insurance companies to use EA data in setting premiums and/or excesses in household insurance policies that include cover against flooding.
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Chris Coghlan:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with animal welfare groups about the welfare implications of the use of farrowing crates for pigs. \p Dame Angela Eagle: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 5 September 2025 to the hon. Member for Ashfield, PQ 73693.
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Mr Andrew Snowden:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department plans to increase funding for coastal clean-up and restoration projects. \p Emma Hardy: The Government has supported schemes to clean up marine litter, such as Fishing For Litter and similar local schemes. Fishing For Litter is a voluntary, unpaid litter bycatch removal scheme by commercial fishermen, run by KIMO, which provides fishing boats with bags to dispose of marine-sourced litter collected during normal fishing operations.

Defra has provided £2.5 million of investment in the Restoring Meadow, Marsh and Reef (ReMeMaRe) initiative since 2024 through the Water Environment Improvement Fund. ReMeMaRe, led by the Environment Agency, aims to restore 15% of saltmarsh, seagrass and native oyster reefs in England by 2043. Defra is also providing £168,000 funding this financial year for the ReMeMaRe Programme Office which is supporting local partners to significantly increase the scale and pace of practical estuarine and coastal habitat restoration in England.
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Mr Andrew Snowden:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many incidents of untreated sewage discharge into coastal waters in Lancashire were reported in each of the last five years. \p Emma Hardy: Analysis of Event Duration Monitoring summary spill data is publicly available on GOV.UK.

The EA routinely monitors this data to assess compliance with permits, and where non-compliances are identified the EA takes appropriate enforcement action.
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Stuart Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress he has made in improving water quality in South Shropshire constituency. \p Emma Hardy: Cleaning up our rivers is a top priority. The Environment Agency’s (EA) Water Industry Regulation Transformation Programme is delivering more inspections and pushing water companies to perform better, and water companies are investing over £11 billion between 2025-2030, to improve nearly 3,000 storm overflows across England and Wales.

In the West Midlands in 2024/25, water companies undertook over 160 actions aimed at improving sewage treatment works (STWs) and storm overflow discharges to improve water quality, and over 100 actions aimed to prevent deterioration of water quality.

In this constituency, 14 improvement schemes were delivered at STWs between 2020–2025, with further improvements at 11 STWs and 57 at storm overflows.

During 2024/25 over 800 compliance inspections were conducted at Severn Trent Water sites, aiming to rise to 1700+ in 2025/26. The EA will attend more minor pollution incidents and continue to attend all serious pollution incidents, not hesitating to take appropriate enforcement action.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her Department's policies of the ongoing Natural Environment Research Council study on the role of prescribed burns in reducing wildfires. \p Mary Creagh: Defra will consider the outcomes of this study when published, as with all new evidence in this area.
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Mr Alistair Carmichael:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when her Department plans to publish the (a) full results and (b) evaluation reports from all Environment Land Management and Trials; and whether these will be made publicly available. \p Dame Angela Eagle: The Department is not yet able to provide a detailed estimate of when evaluation reports from all Environment Land Management (ELM) Tests and Trials will be published, as the programme is expected to continue throughout this Parliament.

Findings from the Tests and Trials undertaken to date have been summarised in evidence reports published on GOV.UK (Dec-22, Jun-22, Dec-21, Jun-21, Sep-20, Jul-20) with further reports expected to be published later this year.
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Callum Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what engagement her Department has had with (a) farming and (b) land management representatives in Buckinghamshire on the future of (i) Countryside Stewardship and (ii) related environmental land management schemes. \p Dame Angela Eagle: This Government actively engages with representatives from the farming industry through regular meetings and discussions, ensuring we listen to their views, understand their concerns, and take their feedback into account.
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Callum Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to measure the environmental impact delivered by extended Countryside Stewardship agreements in Buckinghamshire. \p Dame Angela Eagle: The targeted, time-limited extension of Countryside Stewardship Mid Tier is being offered to ensure farmers have the support they need to continue their vital activities to restore nature and produce food sustainably. This includes environmental work such as planting wildflower margins that boost pollinators and managing hedgerows to create vital habitats for birds and small mammals, alongside sustainable food production.
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Charlotte Cane:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 27 October 2025 to Question 83644 on Farmers: Mental Health, if she will commission research to review the link between agricultural workers' mental health and changes in agricultural output. \p Dame Angela Eagle: We have no plans to do so. Production levels are influenced by a range of factors including the weather and market prices. We regularly liaise with farming welfare charities and industry stakeholder groups to understand the issues affecting farmers’ mental health and any impacts resulting from poor mental health.
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Sarah Dyke:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans her Department has for the future of the Sustainable Farming Incentive. \p Dame Angela Eagle: Defra is working closely with farmers and industry stakeholders to design a future Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) offer that will better target the SFI in an orderly way towards our priorities for food, farming and nature. Information and plans for the next iteration of the scheme will be published in due course.
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Blake Stephenson:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the report by the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Rural Business and the Rural Powerhouse entitled The Rural Premium, published on April 2023. \p Dame Angela Eagle: Defra regularly publishes statistics on a range of social and economic topics and provides broad comparisons between Rural and Urban areas by settlement type, including assessment on the rural economy, transport, housing and cost of living. These are available through The Statistical Digest for Rural England.

This Government is committed to improving the quality of life for people living and working in rural areas, so that we can realise the full potential of rural business and communities. We have made a commitment that all policy decision-making should be rural proofed to ensure that rural areas are not overlooked and that the intended outcomes are deliverable in rural areas.

The specific challenges and opportunities that make rural economies distinctive can be harnessed by funds such as The Rural England Prosperity Fund which provides targeted support to rural businesses and communities.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-03)

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Joe Morris:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department plans to publish a horticulture strategy. \p Dame Angela Eagle: The Government remains committed to our horticulture sector and the vital role it plays in strengthening food security through a reliable and sustainable supply of fresh home-grown produce. Horticulture is being considered as part of the Government Food Strategy.
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Callum Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had with (i) Buckinghamshire Council and (ii) the Environment Agency regarding the implementation of the proposed common-sense approach to environmental regulation. \p Emma Hardy: Proposed changes to environmental permitting will make controls more proportionate for certain low-risk preparatory work associated with house building and other developments. The Environment Agency (EA) will be able to create new exemptions from environmental permitting subject to consulting on exemption conditions and providing a risk assessment. The EA will monitor use of the new exemptions and have power to amend or revoke new or current exemptions, with consultation, where necessary to protect the environment.

We anticipate that housing developments and similar projects will benefit from streamlined processes for low-risk construction activities, including certain earthworks (e.g. creating bunds and landscaping to shield the building site) and placement of materials near to watercourses. However, the EA will only be permitted to introduce new exemptions where robust safeguards are in place to maintain essential protections for the environment and local communities.

Local authorities will have the opportunity to engage in consultations on specific proposals when the EA exercises its new powers. Officials at Defra have worked closely with the EA to develop these proposals and will continue to collaborate to support effective implementation.
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Mr Angus MacDonald:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to hold discussions with the devolved Administrations on supporting local authorities to transition away from the use of glyphosate-based herbicides in public spaces. \p Emma Hardy: In March 2025, Defra, alongside the Scottish Government, the Welsh Government, and the Northern Ireland Executive, published the UK Pesticides National Action Plan (NAP) 2025. The NAP sets out how we intend to increase the uptake of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) across all sectors, including in the amenity sector. Defra will continue to work with devolved administrations to encourage sustainable practices in public spaces.
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Mr Angus MacDonald:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of pesticide use in (a) urban and (b) public spaces on (i) public health and (ii) biodiversity. \p Emma Hardy: The Government’s first priority with regard to pesticides is to ensure that they will not harm people or animal health or pose unacceptable effects to the environment.

Pesticides are subject to strict regulation in Great Britain (GB), and a pesticide is only approved in GB on the basis that it will not cause harm to human or animal health, and that there are no unacceptable effects to the environment. A pesticide may only be placed on the market in GB if the product has been authorised by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), GB’s pesticide regulator. This only happens following a thorough scientific risk assessment that concludes all safety standards are met.
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Manuela Perteghella:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many water bodies are classified as failing to meet good ecological status for which the latest data is available; and what steps she is taking to help improve the quality of water in water bodies. \p Emma Hardy: The last full classification update was produced in 2019 when 3893 water bodies of a total of 4651 were failing to meet good ecological status in 2019.

The Independent Water Commission, tasked by the Government to produce recommendations to transform how our water system works, delivered its final report 21 July 2025. This included recommendations intended to restore our rivers, lakes and seas to good health for future generations.

The Government will respond to the recommendations in full via a White Paper and will introduce a new water reform bill, bringing forward root and branch reform to secure better outcomes for customers, investors and the environment.
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Mr Angus MacDonald:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of the phasing out of pesticide use in public spaces in other European countries. \p Emma Hardy: The Government’s first priority with regard to pesticides is to ensure that they will not harm people or animal health or pose unacceptable effects to the environment.

There is a legal requirement to minimise the use of pesticides along roads and in areas used by the public. It is for each Local Authority to decide the best way of delivering effective and cost-effective weed control in its operations while protecting people and the environment. We do of course continue to monitor action in other countries and learn from their experiences.
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Manuela Perteghella:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that water companies are penalised for (a) repeated illegal sewage discharges and (b) other repeated breaches of environmental regulations. \p Emma Hardy: We will not let companies get away with illegal activity and where breaches are found, the Environment Agency will not hesitate to hold companies to account.

The Water (Special Measures) Act provides the most significant increase in enforcement powers to the regulators in a decade, giving regulators the teeth they need to take tougher action against water companies. These include new powers to enable the Environment Agency to recover costs associated with their enforcement of the water industry.

A consultation has been launched to expand and strengthen the current range of financial penalties available to the Environment Agency in a bid to clamp down on more offences. Water companies who commit environmental offences could face quicker penalties of up to £500,000, under changes being considered by the government.

The Environment Agency has also increased water company inspections to 10,000 per year from April 2025 as part of the Government’s wider focus to hold companies accountable and improve our water environment.
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Andrew Ranger:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the areas expected to be at risk of major flooding by 2050; and whether her Department plans to introduce measures to restrict future (a) residential, (b) infrastructure and (c) transport development in those areas. \p Emma Hardy: In January 2025, the Environment Agency published the updated National Flood Risk Assessment. With climate change, it is estimated that the number of properties in areas at risk of flooding from rivers and the sea will increase from 2.4 million to around 3.1 million between 2036 and 2069.

The National Planning Policy Framework is clear that inappropriate development in areas at risk of flooding should be avoided by directing development away from areas at highest risk.

Where development (be it residential, infrastructure of transport) is necessary, and where there are no suitable sites available in areas with a lower risk of flooding, local planning authorities and developers should ensure development is safe for its users for the development’s lifetime, will not increase flood risk overall and will provide wider sustainability benefits.