theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Dr Caroline Johnson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment has made of the potential merits of electronic prescribing in secondary care settings. \p Dr Zubir Ahmed: The rollout of the Electronic Prescription Service (EPS) in secondary care settings is underway with a goal to have at least half of National Health Service hospital trusts using it by 2026. NHS England is supporting the adoption of EPS by secondary care providers and supporting secondary care IT system suppliers to develop integration with EPS.

Benefit analysis to date indicates that EPS in secondary care improves prescription workflows, reduces administrative burden and the need for paper prescription pads, thereby enhancing security, reducing errors, and lowering costs. It supports remote consultations and enables better tracking and reporting of prescribing data.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-08)

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Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the supply of epilepsy medications. \p Dr Zubir Ahmed: The Department is working hard with industry to help resolve intermittent supply issues with some epilepsy medications. As a result of ongoing activity and intensive work, including asking manufacturers to expedite deliveries, most issues have been resolved.

We are currently aware of a supply issue affecting topiramate 25mg, 50mg, 100mg and 200mg tablets and phenobarbital 15mg tablets, used in the management of epilepsy, from certain manufacturers. Resupply from the affected manufacturers is yet to be confirmed but stock remains available from alternative manufacturers to meet patient demand, and we have issued management guidance to the National Health Service.
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Dr Ben Spencer:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy performance of Surrey and Borders NHS FT assessment pathway for neurodevelopment disorders in children. \p Dr Zubir Ahmed: The Government has recognised that, nationally, demand for assessments for autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has grown significantly in recent years and that people are experiencing severe delays for accessing such assessments. The Government’s 10-Year Health Plan will make the National Health Service fit for the future, recognising the need for early intervention and support, without the need for diagnosis.

Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for making appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including access to ADHD and autism assessments, in line with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines.

In April 2023, NHS England published a national framework and operational guidance to help ICBs and the NHS to deliver improved outcomes for people referred to an autism assessment service. NHS England has continued to support services to identify challenges and how they might overcome these.  NHS England also established an ADHD taskforce to better understand the challenges affecting those with ADHD, including in accessing services and support. An interim report was published on 20 June 2025, with the final report expected later in the year and we will carefully consider its recommendations.
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Matt Vickers:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what funding has been allocated to support mental health crisis response services in the Tees Valley since 2021. \p Dr Zubir Ahmed: The following table shows the nationally allocated funding to support mental health crisis response services in the Tees Valley area:

Year

Allocated Funding (,000)

2023/24

£844

2024/25

£854

2025/26 (planned spend)

£1,079

Source: NHS England

Notes:
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Bell Ribeiro-Addy:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to Imkaan’s report entitled Why Should Our Rage be Tidy, published in November 2024, what steps his Department has taken to help tackle the mental health impacts of violence and abuse on Black and minoritised survivors of violence against women and girls. \p Dr Zubir Ahmed: Imkaan’s report reinforces the fact that too many people, including Black and minoritised survivors of domestic abuse and sexual violence, are not receiving the mental health care they need, and that waits for mental health services are too long. We are determined to change that, which is why we have chosen to prioritise funding to expand NHS Talking Therapies. Survivors can access help and support through their general practitioner or by self-referring.

Protecting and supporting victims and survivors of sexual abuse is a core priority for NHS England, delivered through a network of 48 specialist sexual assault referral centres (SARCs) across the country. NHS England commissions SARCs through a distinct national service specification including working with specialist support services, ensuring that children and young people up to the age of 18 years old receive trauma-informed, developmentally appropriate care and safeguarding support, and that adults receive tailored care that reflects their needs and rights, with clear referral pathways to health, justice, and specialist support services. This is in addition to support services commissioned by the Ministry of Justice and the Home Office.
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Freddie van Mierlo:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 14 July 2025 to Question 64336 on Vamorolone, what the consequences are for (a) Integrated Care Boards and (b) NHS Trusts for not making NICE recommended medicines available within 90 days of publication of relevant guidance. \p Dr Zubir Ahmed: Commissioners have a statutory responsibility to make funding available for a medicine or treatment recommended by a National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) technology appraisal (TA) or highly specialised technology evaluation (HST) within the timeframe recommended in that guidance, usually within three months of the TA or HST being published.

Under the National Health Service Constitution, patients have a right to receive all medicines and treatments recommended by NICE if they and their healthcare professional think that the medicine is right for them. In practical terms, the effect of this legal obligation and the NHS constitution is that all NICE-approved treatments must be included in local formularies for use in line with the TA or HST recommendations and with no additional funding or formulary restrictions.

The only exception is if the technology is not relevant to the care provided by the organisation; for example, cancer treatments would not need to be included in the formulary of a mental health trust, and treatments for dementia would not need to be included in the formulary of a specialist children’s hospital. There is no provision to take affordability into account when adding NICE-approved medicines to local formularies.

NHS enforcement guidance relating to its statutory accountability and oversight role, under the NHS Act 2006, the 2012 Act and the 2022 Act is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/nhs-enforcement-guidance/

The evolving NHS operating model will strengthen capabilities and clarify roles in overseeing performance. As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan for England, we will move to a Single National Formulary (SNF) for medicines within the next two years. The SNF will play a role in driving rapid and equitable adoption of clinically and cost-effective innovations.
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Bell Ribeiro-Addy:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when his Department plans to consult on reforms to the UK’s Substances of Human Origin; and whether that consultation will include proposals on (a) innovation, (b) patient safety and (c) donor protection. \p Dr Zubir Ahmed: The Substances of Human Origin (SoHO) Regulation Review Programme launched in 2024 to consider recent changes that the European Union has made to its SoHO Regulation ((EU) 2024/1938) as well as stakeholder proposals for legislation in this area. It is reviewing: patient safety; intra-United Kingdom and UK-EU supply of SoHO; innovation within the sector; and health inequalities.

A key principle of the review is to maintain compatible high levels of minimum safety and quality standards for blood, blood components, tissues and cells, human breast milk, intestinal microbiota and blood preparations that are not used for transfusion, to support public health and the movement of SoHO. A targeted consultation, planned to launch by the end of 2025, will give stakeholders the opportunity to share views and highlight key issues and opportunities.
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Cameron Thomas:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of recent incidents involving known risk items being accessed by mental health patients with the knowledge of NHS staff. \p Dr Zubir Ahmed: On 4 April 2025, NHS England published its ‘Staying Safe from Suicide: Best Practice Guidance for Safety Assessment, Formulation and Management'. This promotes a shift towards a more holistic, person-centred approach rather than relying on risk prediction, which is unreliable because suicidal thoughts can change quickly. Instead, it recommends using a method based on understanding each person’s situation and managing their safety.

The purpose of this guidance is to enable mental health practitioners to adopt best practice principles in working with people of all ages to stay safe from suicide. This guidance also has a section covering confidentiality and the law and refers to the consensus statement for information sharing and suicide prevention. The guidance is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/staying-safe-from-suicide/

Work is also underway to make training available to all mental health practitioners to incorporate the principles of this guidance into their practice. This training was recently launched and is available via an e-learning module. This complements existing local training on suicide prevention, and a number of other national e-learning products that are already available.

The National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Safety in Mental Health has been commissioned through the NHS England Culture of Care programme to support every provider of National Health Service commissioned inpatient services to move to personalised safety planning in line with evidence.

In addition to this, the Health Services Safety Investigations Body’s (HSSIB) investigation into mental health inpatient settings identified important concerns and safety recommendations that can help us to improve mental health care, protect patients and the public and create a safe working environment for staff. We are in the process of formally responding to all the recommendations for the Department made within these reports. NHS England will be publishing guidance in response to the HSSIB’s recommendations defining the therapeutic relationship and guidance on responding to the use of non-anchored ligature points.
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Bell Ribeiro-Addy:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to support the domestic (a) collection and (b) processing of (i) blood, (ii) plasma, (iii) cells and (iv) tissues. \p Dr Zubir Ahmed: NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) is responsible for blood services in England and also manages the NHS Organ Donor Register (ODR), which includes tissue donation for the supply of human tissue grafts for use in surgery. The Department provides Grant in Aid and seed funding to support NHSBT to grow and diversify donor bases, as well as its capacity to process collections.

Between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025, NHSBT met 99.9% of hospital demand for red cells from domestic collections; the remaining 0.01% of units were imported from other United Kingdom blood services.

The Department, NHSBT and NHS England worked together since 2021 to deliver an end-to-end domestic supply chain for plasma-based medicines, enabling UK plasma to be processed into lifesaving medications in specialist facilities in Europe. Since March 2025, this has increased self-sufficiency from 0% to 25% for immunoglobulins and from 0% to 80% for albumin.

The Department’s stem cell programme supports diverse recruitment of UK donors onto the UK Stem Cell Register. A global pool of donors is needed to cover the Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) diversity of the population so NHSBT works with international stem cell registries to meet patient demand.

NHSBT works to encourage people to consider signing the ODR including during the upcoming Organ Donation Week between 22 and 26 September 2025. However, there is no mandate for National Health Service establishments to acquire tissue from NHSBT therefore they can acquire from other sources, such as non-UK tissue banks.
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Dr Caroline Johnson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to respond to the recommendations of the Hughes report on Options for redress for those harmed by valproate and pelvic mesh, published on 7 February 2024. \p Dr Zubir Ahmed: The Government is carefully considering the work by the Patient Safety Commissioner and her Report, which set out options for redress for those harmed by valproate and pelvic mesh. This is a complex issue involving input from different government departments. The Government will provide a further update to the Patient Safety Commissioner’s Report.
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Dr Caroline Johnson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he plans to make interim payments to people affected by sodium valproate as recommended in the Hughes report on Options for redress for those harmed by valproate and pelvic mesh, published on 7 February 2024. \p Dr Zubir Ahmed: The Government is carefully considering the work by the Patient Safety Commissioner and her Report, which set out options for redress for those harmed by valproate and pelvic mesh, including around interim payments. This is a complex issue involving input from different government departments. The Government will provide a further update to the Patient Safety Commissioner’s Report.
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Blake Stephenson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the press release entitled Landmark plan to rebuild NHS in working-class communities of 25 June 2025, what definition his Department plans to use for working-class communities. \p Ashley Dalton: The 10-Year Health Plan has set out a long-term vision to reform the National Health Service and make it fit for the future. Addressing healthcare inequity is a core focus of the 10-Year Health Plan, to ensure the NHS is there for anyone who needs it whenever they need it.

The 10-Year Health Plan refers both to “working class jobs” and “working class communities”, as do other more recent publications. These terms are used in the standard way they are used in English to indicate people who are employed for wages and generally experience greater job insecurity, lower benefits, and less financial security than others in society.
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Ian Roome:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding the NHS plans to provide to help support patients who are victims of sexual violence in the 2025-26 financial year, excluding funding provided by the Ministry of Justice. \p Karin Smyth: The National Health Service provides support for victims and survivors of sexual violence through a range of services including mental health services and sexual assault referral centres (SARCs) which provide crisis care, medical and forensic examinations and onward referral to other support services.

Integrated care boards and NHS trusts commission support for patients who are victims of sexual violence, working in partnership with local authorities and police and crime commissioners. Figures on this local commissioning spend are not available nationally.

At national level, NHS England spent £57.6 million on SARCs in 2024/25. In addition, NHS England regions commission voluntary sector organisations to support victims and survivors, totalling £4.5 million in 2024/25. Total funding for the current financial year will be published approximately 12 months following the financial year’s end and will detail accounts and actual spending.
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Martin Wrigley:To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, if she will bring forward legislative proposals to amend the Equality Act to add socio-economic status as a protected characteristic. \p Olivia Bailey: The Government has no plans to add to the list of protected characteristics in the 2010 Act. The Government committed to commencing the socio-economic duty in England in our manifesto, as part of our mission to break down barriers to opportunity and make sure there is no class ceiling on the ambitions of people in Britain.
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Mr Angus MacDonald:To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, whether she has had discussions with the Equality and Human Rights Commission on monitoring employer compliance with maternity-related workplace rights. \p Olivia Bailey: The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) regulates equality law across England, Wales and Scotland.

The EHRC is independent of the government and makes its own enforcement and regulation decisions. The Government regularly engages with EHRC on a range of areas covered in their remit.
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Mr Angus MacDonald:To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, whether she has had discussions with regulators on ensuring compliance with equality legislation within regulated firms. \p Olivia Bailey: The government is clear that regulated firms should be aware of their responsibilities under the Equality Act 2010 both when providing services and as employers. It is a matter for individual regulators as to whether they actively encourage compliance by firms within their supervision, but there is guidance and codes of practice to assist firms in being compliant and we regularly discuss and review these with the Equality and Human Rights Commission.
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Helen Maguire:To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what Parliamentary process will be followed prior to the implementation of the Equality and Human Rights Commission's Code of Practice for Services, Public Functions, and Associations. \p Olivia Bailey: The Minister for Women and Equalities is considering the EHRC’s updated draft Code. If the Minister approves the draft Code, it will be laid before both Houses over a period of 40 sitting days.
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Tom Morrison:To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of introducing legislation that would ensure that all accessible toilets in public places have RADAR key locks on disabled people. \p Sir Stephen Timms: No assessment has been made; the RADAR key scheme is not government-led and there are no plans for legislation to make it statutory.

The functional element in Part M of the Building Regulations requires new building works to make reasonable provision for people to access and use a building and its facilities. More broadly, the Equality Act 2010 places a duty on service providers and businesses to make reasonable adjustments to improve access to premises/buildings and services.
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Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many days were lost to sickness absence by civil servants in their Department (a) in total and (b) on average per employee between 5 July 2024 and 4 July 2025. \p Dame Angela Eagle: Sickness absence data for the Civil Service, including departmental breakdowns is published annually, and is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/sickness-absence.

The next update will be for the year ending 31st March 2025.
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Jayne Kirkham:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans he has to protect Dartmoor ponies. \p Dame Angela Eagle: In Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier, now open for applications, we have removed the competition between cattle and ponies as recommended in the Dartmoor review. We provide payment for grazing with both, and both are eligible under the native breeds at risk supplement. The new offer also clarifies that ponies are exempt from stock removal requirements, recognising that removal of ponies from moorland is neither feasible nor desirable in most circumstances.

The moorland offer will be subject to monitoring and evaluation. Any change in the pony population during this time will be investigated and further mitigations will be explored if necessary.

In addition to monitoring the moorland offer, Defra supports conservation of livestock and equines, including the Dartmoor Pony, by monitoring populations of native breeds, with data published in the annual UK National Breed inventory. Defra also protects eligible native breeds at risk from culling during notifiable disease outbreaks.
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Dr Roz Savage:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will require chewing gum manufacturers to disclose the full composition of gum base on product labels. \p Dame Angela Eagle: Current food labelling rules permit manufacturers to list ‘gum base’ as an ingredient, where ‘gum base’ means gum preparations used in the manufacture of gum base for chewing gum. Manufacturers can provide more descriptive information relating to ingredients contained in the ‘gum base’ if they wish but this is not a requirement. There are currently no plans to amend the legislation.
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Lee Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, for what purposes their Department has used artificial intelligence in the last year. \p Dame Angela Eagle: In the last 12 months, Defra has explored the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) across a range of areas to improve delivery of public services, strengthen resilience, and support innovation. AI has been deployed in habitat maps, such as Living England, and peatland restoration projects, such as AI4Peat, to enhance biodiversity monitoring, and in the Environment Agency’s FloodAI trial to improve flood forecasting, strengthen early warning systems, and protect critical infrastructure.

Before any application is deployed, the department considers data and security protection risks to ensure AI is applied responsibly. Guidance on the safe, effective, and responsible adoption of AI can be found in the Government’s AI Playbook.

The department also acknowledges the mandatory obligation under the Algorithmic Transparency Recording Standard (ATRS) to report where algorithms are used in decision-making. As of September 2025, Defra has published several ATRS records, including Local Authority Waste Collection Cost Groupings, Hello Lamp Post, and Living England, covering algorithmic tools in environmental protection and public engagement.

The department is also piloting the use of artificial intelligence to analyse open sources online for emerging civil contingencies risks and issues.

Internally, the department has piloted AI-powered tools to automate the migration of legacy IT systems to modern cloud environments and rolled out Microsoft Copilot Chat to streamline day-to-day tasks, improve productivity, and support staff in working more efficiently.
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Edward Morello:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing vaccination as part of the national bovine TB control strategy. \p Dame Angela Eagle: An assessment of the potential merits of vaccination was made by a reconvened panel of independent experts, led by Professor Sir Charles Godfray. The panel’s updated report, published on 4 September 2025, considered the latest evidence on both cattle and badger vaccination, and will inform the development of the refreshed bovine TB strategy for England.
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Edward Morello:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of providing subsidies to support farmers to (a) introduce and (b) maintain beekeeping. \p Dame Angela Eagle: Figures from the annual hive count suggests that the number of beekeepers has remained relatively stable and is not declining. Defra supports beekeepers through the work of the Animal and Plant Health Agency’s National Bee Unit which operates our bee pest surveillance programmes and provides free training and advice to beekeepers, including on pest and disease recognition. Effective pest and disease control is important for preventing spread to other apiaries and pollinators.

Defra supports pollinators through the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) and Landscape Recovery, in that the schemes offer a choice of support for more regenerative approaches to farming, and creation or restoration of habitats in appropriate areas. We are working closely with farmers and industry stakeholders to design a future SFI offer that fairly and responsibly directs funding, and further information about the reformed SFI will be provided shortly.
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Rachael Maskell:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department has considered introducing method of production labelling for pork products to help consumers that are seeking to avoid products from farrowing crates. \p Dame Angela Eagle: We will consider the potential role of method of production labelling reform as part of the ongoing development of the government’s wider animal welfare strategy.

On 12 June 2025, we published the summary of responses and the Government response to the fairer food labelling consultation, which was undertaken last year by the previous government. The response is available here on GOV.UK.
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Anna Gelderd:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Foot and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of compliance with conservation obligations on scheduled monuments located within agricultural land; and what steps he is taking to ensure that land management practices are compatible with heritage protection legislation. \p Dame Angela Eagle: Scheduled Monuments are protected via the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979. Since 2013, positive management of Scheduled Monuments located within agricultural land, promoted through Defra’s agri-environment schemes, has helped to remove approximately 700 from Historic England's Heritage at Risk Register. Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier has measures to support such practices, further information is available at Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier (CSHT) - GOV.UK.
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Dr Ellie Chowns:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of raising the minimum juice content for cider to 50%. \p Dame Angela Eagle: The Government has not assessed an increase to the minimum juice content for cider. Engagement with the sector has suggested that an increase to 50% is not supported by the industry and is not what consumers in the UK would expect from their cider products.
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Martin Wrigley:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress her Department has made on the roll-out of badger TB vaccination programmes. \p Dame Angela Eagle: Significant progress has been made in rolling out badger vaccination as part of our strategy to eradicate bovine TB. Large-scale vaccination is being delivered by Animal and Plant Health Agency field teams, alongside a farming community-led initiative in East Sussex, demonstrating that vaccination is practical at scale, including in areas where culling has previously taken place.

In 2024, over 4,000 badgers were vaccinated across England, the highest annual total to date. Further work includes a new project led by the National Farmers’ Union which is now underway in Cornwall to explore scalable and cost-effective approaches to vaccination delivery, and the establishment of a new badger vaccination field force from next year to further accelerate rollout in areas where bovine TB incidence remains high and is worsening.

Work on a comprehensive new bovine TB strategy is progressing at pace, and together with these measures, will help drive down disease rates, protect farmers’ livelihoods, and support our commitment to end the badger cull by the end of this Parliament.
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Josh Fenton-Glynn: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 level of harvest yields in 2025. \p Dame Angela Eagle: Our fantastic British farmers are world-leaders and carefully plan their planting to suit the weather, their soil type, and their long-term agronomic strategy.

We continue to engage and work closely with industry and to monitor domestic food production, including harvest. The UK Agriculture Market Monitoring Group (UKAMMG), which was established under the Devolution Framework, brings Defra and Devolved Governments together to monitor the UK market across all key agricultural commodities.
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Gideon Amos:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help protect the (a) animal and (b) plant export sector from risks posed by illegal meat imports. \p Dame Angela Eagle: Defra is working with the Home Office, Border Force and Dover Port Health Authority to ensure that operations around detecting illegal meat imports are as effective as possible and have allocated this financial year £3.1 million to Dover Port Health Authority. We are also working with port and airport operators to ensure travellers are aware of the new restrictions on bringing in animal products for personal use. In most cases there is no risk to plant exports as a result of the animal disease risk posed by illegal meat imports, with the exception of the export of hay and straw.
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Gideon Amos:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential economic impact of an outbreak of African swine fever on the (a) pig industry and (b) related exports. \p Dame Angela Eagle: An outbreak of African Swine Fever (ASF) could have a significant impact on the UK’s £8 billion pig industry, as well as its annual pork and pork product exports worth £600 million. Exact costs to industry and on trade would be determined by a number of factors including geographic location, husbandry system, epidemiology of the outbreak and whether wildlife were involved.

The practical impacts of a reasonable worst-case scenario outbreak of ASF were assessed in 2023 for the National Risk Register which is available on GOV.UK.
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Perran Moon:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to tackle the illegal importation of puppies and kittens. \p Dame Angela Eagle: As outlined in our manifesto, the Government is committed to ending puppy smuggling. That is why we are supporting the Animal Welfare (Import of Dogs, Cats and Ferrets) Bill.

The Bill successfully completed its Second Reading in the House of Lords on 5 September 2025. We are fully supportive of this Bill and would like to see it pass through the House of Lords as soon as Parliamentary time allows.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-08)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-08 conversation_52

Alicia Kearns:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many countryside stewardship agreements are due to conclude without replacement in Rutland and Stamford constituency in the next year. \p Dame Angela Eagle: We are aware of the concerns raised by farmers and stakeholders regarding farmers whose current agreements expire at the end of the year and are considering how we can support the continued delivery of environmental outcomes through environmental land management schemes.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-08)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-08 conversation_53

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent steps she has taken to ensure that imported meat products are slaughtered to animal welfare standards equivalent to those in the UK. \p Dame Angela Eagle: The Government encourages the highest standards of animal welfare at slaughter. Under existing legislation, imports of meat must meet standards at least equivalent to welfare at slaughter requirements set out in assimilated Regulation (EC) No 1099/2009 on the protection of animals at the time of killing.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-08)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-08 conversation_54

Rachael Maskell:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she is having with (a) farming bodies and (b) animal welfare organisations on the potential for phasing out the use of farrowing crates by indoor pig farms. \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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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-08)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-08 conversation_55

Sir John Hayes:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure that meat imported illegally into the UK is seized at the border. \p Dame Angela Eagle: This is a devolved matter and the information provided therefore relates to England only.

Defra is working closely with the Home Office and the Food Standards Agency to tackle meat smuggling, with the support of Border Force, port health authorities and local authorities.

Defra has committed £3.1 million for Dover Port Health Authority to work in partnership with Border Force in seizing meat smuggled via the Port of Dover in 2025/26, additional to over £9m of funding provided to date.

Defra is considering the recommendations in the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee’s report on meat smuggling.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-08)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-08 conversation_56

Sarah Champion:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to issue guidance to local authorities on the procurement of food that is locally produced or certified to higher environment standards. \p Dame Angela Eagle: Defra is responsible for the Government Buying Standards for Food and Catering Services (GBSF), which set the requirements for sourcing, cooking, and serving of food for central Government and executive agencies in England. Local authorities are encouraged to comply with these where possible. Further, we have already published a new national procurement policy statement which sets expectations for Government contracts to favour products certified to high environmental standards that we think high-quality British producers are well-placed to meet.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-08)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-08 conversation_57

Adam Dance:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 11 September 2025 to Question 75506 on the National Federation of Young Farmers Clubs: Finance, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of delivering funding beyond 2025-26 to the National Federation of Young Farmers Clubs. \p Dame Angela Eagle: My officials continue to work closely with the National Federation of Young Farmers Clubs in delivering the 25/26 grant. Any assessment of the potential merits of providing further funding beyond 25/26 will form part of future spending decisions.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-08)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-08 conversation_58

Sarah Edwards:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of trends in the level of puppy smuggling. \p Dame Angela Eagle: Due to the illegal nature of this activity, we cannot know the true extent of puppy and kitten smuggling operations. The Animal and Plant Health Agency plays a critical role in monitoring and intercepting animals that do not meet legal importation standards including those that are underage.

As outlined in our manifesto, the Government is committed to ending puppy smuggling. That is why we are supporting the Animal Welfare (Import of Dogs, Cats and Ferrets) Bill. We are fully supportive of this Bill and would like to see it pass through the House of Lords as soon as Parliamentary time allows.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-08)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-08 conversation_59

Terry Jermy:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many incidents of animal welfare abuse have been recorded on intensive livestock farms in (a) England and (b) Norfolk in each of the last five years. \p Dame Angela Eagle: The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) carries out regulatory duties and monitors compliance with animal welfare legislation through proactive and reactive inspections.

The outcome of all animal welfare inspections is recorded on APHA systems according to a scoring system, where A and B scores indicate compliance, and C and D scores indicate non-compliance. The D score indicates specifically that the non-compliance identified resulted in unnecessary suffering.

This data is not in the public domain.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-08)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-08 conversation_60

Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what proportion of (a) overseas and (b) domestic Ministerial official flights by his Department are (i) carbon offset and (ii) use Sustainable Aviation Fuel. \p Dame Angela Eagle: No flights were offset and we cannot provide data on the use of sustainable aviation fuel on flights as this detail is not available through our travel booking contract.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-08)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-08 conversation_61

Steve Darling:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of holding a summit to support the zoos and aquarium industry. \p Dame Angela Eagle: Defra is responsible for ensuring zoos and aquariums provide the highest levels of welfare for the animals they keep, as well as delivering conservation and education. The Government published new Standards of Modern Zoo Practice for Great Britain on 24 May 2025, which will come into force from May 2027. The new Standards support zoos and aquariums in ensuring animals in their collections are being kept in line with latest in best zoo practice.

Following publication of the new Standards in May, the Animal Welfare Minister - Baroness Hayman of Ullock – held a zoos roundtable on 25 June, to discuss implementation of the new Standards, and what more Defra could do to help support zoos and aquariums adapt to the new Standards.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-08)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-08 conversation_62

Gareth Thomas:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she made of the potential impact of agricultural cooperatives on the rural economy. \p Dame Angela Eagle: The Government strongly supports the benefits co-operatives can bring and recognises the important role they play in rural communities. For instance, through collaborating farmers and growers can benefit from peer to peer learning, being able to share equipment and being able to act at scale.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-08)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-08 conversation_63

Colum Eastwood:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department had discussions with the (a) Department of Justice in Northern Ireland and (b) Police Service of Northern Ireland prior to the decision to proscribe Palestine Action. \p Dan Jarvis: Decisions on proscription are not taken lightly. They are informed by a robust evidence-based process, with contributions from a wide range of experts from across government, the police and the intelligence community.

Counter terrorism is a reserved matter. I can confirm that Counter Terrorism Policing (CTP) were consulted prior to the decision to proscribe Palestine Action.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-08)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-08 conversation_64

Sir Gavin Williamson:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will publish any official correspondence between Lord Mandelson and the National Security Advisor between 4 July 2024 and 11 September 2025. \p Dan Jarvis: The National Security Adviser regularly engages with a range of government stakeholders on national security matters. The Government does not routinely comment on the meetings or correspondence of the National Security Adviser, which are often sensitive due to their national security implications.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-08)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-08 conversation_65

Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 3 September 2025 to Question 73377 on Strategic Defence Review, by when does he expect the infrastructure pillar to have been established. \p Dan Jarvis: As set out in the National Security Strategy and the Resilience Action Plan (RAP), protection and defence of Critical National Infrastructure is a central strand of the Cabinet Office-led cross-Government Home Defence Programme. This is overseen centrally by the Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister. The commitments from the RAP will be delivered over the course of this Parliament.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-08)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-08 conversation_66

Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 3 September 2025 to Question 72570 on National Security: Infrastructure, when he plans to have completed delivery of CNI Knowledge Base. \p Dan Jarvis: The CNI Knowledge Base is a secure digital tool that is designed to be a “single source of truth for UK CNI’’. CNI Knowledge Base is part of the National Situation Centre.

The CNI Knowledge Base’s roll-out across the government is complete. The Knowledge Base maps both physical and logical CNI systems and the supporting systems which keep them running. This enables government to identify linkages and dependencies between systems and across CNI sectors. Departments are already using it to understand key CNI systems and the potential impacts of hazards, threats and risks. We are continually introducing new features and onboarding more users.