theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Charlie Dewhirst:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many Departments have an Outcome Delivery Plan for 2024-25. \p Georgia Gould: I refer the Honorable Member to the answer given to the Honorable Member for Brentwood and Ongar on 13 January 2025 (PQ UIN 21348).
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Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the median age is of computers issued to officials in their Department. \p Georgia Gould: The median age for currently deployed computers is 4.5 years for MacBook and 5 years for Windows devices.
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Charlie Dewhirst:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the press release entitled Prime Minister: I will reshape the state to deliver security for working people, published on 12 March 2025, what the Government’s is for the (a) number of civil servants and (b) cost of civil service pay. \p Georgia Gould: The Prime Minister has set out his ambition to deliver long-term, impactful changes to reshape the British state and the Government is taking forward a number of measures to deliver greater efficiency and transformation in the Civil Service. Each department will take a decision on its individual size and shape as per the financial settlement it agrees with HMT in the Spending Review, due for conclusion in June 2025.

The Prime Minister has announced that the Government is committed to cutting bureaucracy across the state, in order to focus government on the priorities of working people and shift money to the frontline. As part of this, the Prime Minister announced the abolition of the arms-length body NHS England. The government has also announced the first zero-based review of government spending in 17 years, with departments expected to go line-by-line to find savings and efficiencies, including in bodies and agencies that they sponsor.
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Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what his planned timeline is for the appointment of a new Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman. \p Georgia Gould: The House of Commons leads on the recruitment of the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, which is ongoing. We expect that further information will be made available shortly.
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Joe Robertson:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what information his Department holds on the number of civil service employees under performance management procedures. \p Georgia Gould: Performance management is managed by individual departments, meaning this information is not held centrally.

In March, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster announced that the Government will be strengthening performance processes for the SCS.
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Helen Morgan:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when the Office of National Statistics will publish the quarterly England and Wales and Local Authority under-18 conception data for 2024. \p Georgia Gould: The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

A response to the Hon lady’s Parliamentary Question of 26th March is attached.

Letter from the National Statistician (pdf, 106.7KB)
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Martin Wrigley:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will take steps to extend the application window for the Ukrainian Permission Extension scheme to three months. \p Seema Malhotra: The 28-day window for applications to be submitted enables effective operational planning across all visa routes and helps to ensure sufficient biometric enrolment capacity across all routes, which ultimately allows us to deliver the most efficient service for customers.

Those who apply before their current permission expires will retain the conditions of their current visa while their application is under consideration, enabling them to continue to exercise their rights to work, study, and live in the UK. As with all aspects of our service delivery, we will keep the operation of this scheme under review.

UPE processing is aligned with other routes which have SLAs of 8 weeks. Currently the team are processing applications around week 2.
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Sarah Olney:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will review and strengthen crossbow regulation. \p Dame Diana Johnson: The Home Office conducted a call for evidence on strengthening controls on crossbows on public safety grounds, between 14 February to 9 April 2024.

The responses have been reviewed and we will shortly publish the Government’s response, which will include what action we intend to take alongside a summary of the responses received.
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Kanishka Narayan:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent progress her Department has made on strengthening international cooperation to tackle organised immigration crime; and what assessment she has made of the potential impact of such cooperation on communities in South Wales. \p Dame Diana Johnson: Strengthened international cooperation is essential to tackle the gangs who facilitate organised immigration crime (OIC) and this Government is providing a step change in leading the international community’s approach.

We have signed a series of landmark agreements including with Iraq, Germany, Italy as well as deepening our relationship with France, and this week the UK hosted a landmark international summit to tackle the shared threat of OIC and protect our collective border security.

We expect this to have a positive impact on tackling organised immigration crime to the benefit of the whole of the UK, including South Wales.
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Mr Gregory Campbell:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum seekers were housed in dispersed accommodation in Northern Ireland on 31 December (a) 2022 and (b) 2024. \p Dame Angela Eagle: Only those individuals claiming asylum in Northern Ireland are accommodated there.

Northern Ireland’s asylum population is proportionate to its population when compared to the UK. There were 1,853 asylum seekers in dispersal accommodation in Northern Ireland on 31 December 2022, and 2,285 on 31 December 2024.

Data on the number of supported asylum seekers in accommodation and by local authority is published on a quarterly basis, the most recent statistics release available is for December 2024. Statistics are available on GOV.UK at Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans she has to use local authorities to help procure accommodation for asylum seekers. \p Dame Angela Eagle: The Home Office is working closely with a range of stakeholders to fulfil its statutory obligations, while reducing the overall cost of asylum accommodation for the taxpayer.
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Nick Timothy:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum seekers arrived in the UK without appropriate documents in in each year since 2020. \p Dame Angela Eagle: The information requested is not available from published statistics, and the relevant data could only be collated and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.
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Kanishka Narayan:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to reduce knife crime; and what recent discussions she has had with South Wales Police on community-based interventions (a) Barry and (b) the wider Vale of Glamorgan. \p Dame Diana Johnson: Halving knife crime over the next decade is a key part of the Government’s mission to make our communities safe. We are taking a range of steps to realise this ambition.

We recently announced “Ronan’s Law”, a range of measures which will include stricter rules for online sellers of knives; increased penalties for illegal sales of knives; and consultation later this year on a registration scheme for online sellers of knives. We have also implemented the ban on zombie-style knives and zombie-style machetes and created a new Young Futures programme, which will establish Prevention Partnerships across England and Wales, bringing partners together to intervene earlier to stop young people being drawn into crime.

On Monday 24 February, I met with the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Trefnydd and Chief Whip, Jane Hutt MS CBE (MS for Vale of Glamorgan). At the meeting I set out our ambitions to keep communities safe and to take a preventative approach to tackling knife crime. On Monday 10 March, I met with Emma Wools, along with the other PCCs for Wales.

Over £1m has been made available in 24/25 to the Wales Violence Prevention Unit (VRU), for violence prevention activity in South Wales. This funding is delivering a range of interventions to divert young people from a life of crime. In addition, we are providing up to £3.4m toward the Youth Endowment Fund’s Trauma-Informed Practice Grant Round – an innovative intervention to help frontline workers recognise and respond to trauma in the young people they work with. One of the projects participating in this important evaluation is the Relationship Building Together Project, run in Bridgend.
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Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 24 March 2025 to Question 38433 on Public Order, how much and what proportion of the Police Grant has been used to support forces with the additional costs incurred in policing disorder as part of the National Violence Disorder Programme. \p Dame Diana Johnson: Any additional costs arising from the policing of last year’s disorder have been funded from outside core police grants.
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Jim Shannon:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information her Department holds on the number of people charged with drug trafficking in the last 12 months. \p Dame Diana Johnson: The Home Office collects and publishes official statistics on the number of charge or court summons recorded by the police in England and Wales on a quarterly basis, which can be accessed here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/police-recorded-crime-open-data-tables

This includes drug trafficking offences.
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Dr Luke Evans:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has had discussions with (a) the National Police Chiefs Council and (b) Leicestershire Police on a rural crime strategy. \p Dame Diana Johnson: The Home Office is working closely with the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) to develop the next interim of the Rural and Wildlife Crime Strategy, and I recently met with the NPCC lead for rural crime to discuss that strategy, and related issues.
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Clive Lewis:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether a child's rights impact assessment has been prepared for the Crime and Policing Bill. \p Dame Diana Johnson: A number of economic impact assessments, economic notes and equality impact assessments covering measures in the Crime and Policing Bill have been published, and can be found here: https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/3938/publications.

The Government has also published a human rights memorandum covering the measures in the Bill.
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Liam Conlon:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to tackle the antisocial use of off-road bikes in (a) Beckenham and Penge constituency and (b) the UK. \p Dame Diana Johnson: Tackling anti-social behaviour involving vehicles is a key priority for this Government, and a central part of our Safer Streets Mission.

On 25 February 2025, the Crime and Policing Bill was introduced to Parliament. The Bill includes proposals to give the police greater powers to clamp down on all vehicles involved in anti-social behaviour, with officers no longer required to issue a warning before seizing these vehicles.

This will allow the police to quickly remove the anti-social off-road bikes which blight our communities and send a clear message that their behaviour will not be tolerated.

However, enforcement of the law in Beckenham and Penge, including in relation to tackling antisocial use of off-road bikes, will remain an operational matter for the Metropolitan Police.
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Liam Conlon:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to tackle mobile phone theft in (a) Beckenham and Penge constituency and (b) the UK. \p Dame Diana Johnson: On 6 February the Home Secretary brought together law enforcement and leading tech companies to drive greater collaboration in breaking the business model of mobile phone thieves.

The Summit resulted in clear commitments from attendees to work in partnership, including to significantly boost the sharing of data and intelligence on mobile phone theft, in order to build a comprehensive picture of the problem and the role of organised crime networks.

To aid police investigations and recovery of stolen goods, our Crime and Policing Bill also includes a measure to give police the power to enter and search premises for stolen property which has been electronically geolocation tracked to those premises, where it is not reasonably practicable to obtain a warrant without seriously prejudicing the entry and search purpose.

Finally, we are committed to strengthening neighbourhood policing and through our Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee, we will place thousands of additional police officers and police community support officers in neighbourhood policing roles, to provide a more visible and effective response to the activities of mobile phone thieves operating in our communities.
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Mr Luke Charters:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to support regional crime units to tackle (a) fraud and (b) cybercrime. \p Dan Jarvis: A new National Fraud Squad (NFS) has been established, consisting of a network of 400 new investigators across the National Crime Agency, City of London Police and Regional Organised Crime Units (ROCUs). The NFS is transforming the law enforcement response by taking a proactive, intelligence-led approach to identifying and disrupting the most serious fraudsters, domestically and overseas, jointly with government and industry.

The Home Office has provided funding to create a coordinated police Fraud Protect Network, made up of local, regional and national law enforcement officers and is designed to reduce the threat of fraud and revictimisation by providing consistent safeguarding advice to the public.

The Home Office also funds the Regional Cyber Crime Units (RCCUs) across England and Wales. These regional policing teams investigate and pursue serious cyber offenders, including supporting organisations during live ransomware attacks to get them back online as soon as possible. They also support businesses by providing cyber security support to help them reduce their vulnerability and threat of attack.
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Jim Shannon:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of trends in the level of financial crimes across the UK in the last 12 months. \p Dan Jarvis: Financial crime can encompass a wide range of crime types used to gain funds in an illicit way.

Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) data published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show there were an estimated 3.86 million incidents of fraud experienced by adults aged 16 and over in England and Wales based on those interviewed in the twelve months to end of September 2024. This was an increase of 19% compared with the previous year’s survey (3.24 million incidents).

This Government takes the issue of fraud very seriously and we are working with law enforcement, industry, and civil society to better protect the public and businesses from this appalling crime. That is why we appointed Lord Hanson as the first dedicated Minister for fraud, played a central role in the adoption of the first ever UN resolution on fraud and introduced a new offence of failure to prevent fraud. Later this year, the Home Office will be publishing an expanded Fraud Strategy that covers the full range of threats that our society faces from this crime.
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Mike Wood:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether TheCityUK has made representations to her Department on China’s classification in the enhanced tier of the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme. \p Dan Jarvis: The Home Office has engaged with a number of sectors and their representatives on the implementation of the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme, including The City UK.

Engaging with businesses and other stakeholders is a normal and important policy development.
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Jim Shannon:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent steps she has taken to reduce terrorism threats in the UK. \p Dan Jarvis: The aim of CONTEST, the UK’s counter-terrorism strategy, is to reduce the risk from terrorism to the UK, its citizens and interests overseas, so that people can go about their lives freely and with confidence.

The Government constantly keeps our counter-terrorism approach under review to ensure it is fit for purpose.
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Martin Wrigley:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether Ukrainians who have (a) jobs, (b) homes and (c) families in the UK will be able to stay once the war has ended. \p Seema Malhotra: In response to the invasion, the Government set up three generous schemes – the Ukraine Family Scheme, Home for Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme and the Ukraine Extension Scheme – and have provided temporary sanctuary for over 300,000 Ukrainians fleeing the war.

The Homes for Ukraine scheme remains open, uncapped and free of charge for Ukrainians in need of sanctuary to apply to come to the UK.

On the 4 February 2025 the Ukraine Permission Extension Scheme opened to applications. This enables Ukrainians and their eligible family members who are already in the UK with Ukraine scheme permission, or Leave outside the Rules in certain circumstances, to apply for a further 18 months' permission in the UK.

The scheme will provide the same rights and entitlements to access work, benefits, healthcare and education as the existing Ukraine schemes.

As part of the application process, individuals will be asked to provide evidence to prove their identity. For documents not in English, applicants must upload a certified English translation. Providing translations up front helps us to progress applications quicker.

The Ukraine schemes are temporary sanctuary visa schemes rather than humanitarian protection schemes and are not routes to settlement. This approach recognises the Ukrainian Government’s desire for the future return of its citizens. It is important that our approach reflects their wishes.

Other visa routes are available for those wishing to settle permanently in the UK, provided they meet the eligibility criteria of those routes.
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Laurence Turner:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of the report entitled Impact of Changes to the Ukraine Visa Schemes on Ukrainians in the UK, published by the University of Birmingham in March 2025. \p Seema Malhotra: The Ukraine Permission Extension Scheme, referenced by the report, continues to provide certainty and security for Ukrainians, allowing those with permission under one of the Ukraine schemes to apply for a further 18 months to stay in the UK. This will allow a continuation of rights to work, live and study as well as access to healthcare and welfare support in the UK.

We continue to engage with a wide range of stakeholders and keep the schemes under review in line with the ongoing conflict.
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Wendy Morton:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 18 March 2025 to Question 37161 on Resettlement: Chagossians, how much has been spent in the 2024-25 financial year; and how much has been budgeted for the 2025-26 financial year. \p Seema Malhotra: The Home Office is finalising potential claims for costs incurred in 2024/25 and will announce any updates regarding the funding at these costs in 2025/26 in the normal way in due course.
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Alex Brewer:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to prioritise children from conflict areas re-joining parents who have legally moved to the UK. \p Seema Malhotra: The Government provides a safe and legal route to bring families together through its family reunion policy. This allows individuals with a form of protection status in the UK to sponsor their partner or children to stay with or join them here, provided they formed part of the family unit before the sponsor fled their country of origin to seek protection.

We recognise that family members of those with protection status in the UK may be particularly vulnerable. Where the applicant is an unaccompanied child, under the age of 18, we may write to them to obtain any further information which may be required. Such applicants do not need to make a request for prioritisation.

Furthermore, immediate family members of British nationals and those settled in the UK who wish to come and live in the UK can apply under one of the existing family visa routes. Fee waivers are available for those unable to afford the fee.
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Alex Brewer:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the accessibility of the Life in the UK test for people with (a) learning difficulties and (b) special needs. \p Seema Malhotra: Where someone cannot reasonably be expected to prepare for or pass the test on medical grounds, the requirement can be waived by request at Knowledge of language and Life in the UK Test exemption: long term physical or mental condition - GOV.UK.

If a candidate needs assistance to access the test or needs special adjustments at a test centre, candidates can contact the provider of the tests, PSI, to make arrangements at no extra cost. These adjustments include extra time, closed sessions, BSL interpreters, monitor screen colour/contrast adjustments and height adjustable desks.

The test for severely visually impaired or blind candidates is offered with extra time, with a reader and a scribe, and the test is delivered in a separate room. Assistance dogs are also allowed. All test centres are wheelchair accessible.

Please note statistics on the number of exemptions made are not currently recorded or held centrally.
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Tony Vaughan:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many sponsoring employers in the care sector had their sponsorship licence revoked in each year between 2022 to 2024; and what information her Department holds on the number of overseas care workers who have become unemployed following the revocation of their employer's sponsorship licence in that time period. \p Seema Malhotra: The Home Office does not routinely publish data on sponsor revocations for specific sectors. However, between July 2022 and December 2024, the government revoked more than 470 sponsor licences in the care sector to clampdown on abuse and exploitation. More than 39,000 workers have been associated with these sponsors since October 2020.

From our analysis we believe that up to 10,000 of these individuals are now in alternative sponsored work within the Health and Care sector.
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Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many agri-tech businesses the Minister of State for Food Security and Rural Affairs has visited since his appointment. \p Daniel Zeichner: Since July 2024, the Minister of State for Food Security and Rural Affairs has maintained a regular programme of visits and business engagement, including most recently meeting five agri-tech businesses showcasing their new technology solutions during a visit to Harper Adams University and the UK Agri-Tech Centre in March 2025. It is common for the Minister to interact with multiple businesses during engagement and visit opportunities.
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Edward Morello:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress his Department has made on the (a) development and (b) deployment of vaccines for bovine diseases in the last 12 months. \p Daniel Zeichner: Defra continues to invest in bovine disease research, and we continue to monitor the current situation and vaccine usage both in Europe and globally for both exotic and endemic diseases. Defra, in conjunction with the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD), will continue to monitor the development and availability of vaccines for their utility in preventing and responding to disease outbreaks as they are put forward for market authorisation by vaccine manufacturers.

To support this work Defra has established cross-Government and industry taskforces focusing on avian influenza and bluetongue. The avian influenza vaccination taskforce published an initial statement on 7 March 2025 and will publish their report this summer. While the avian influenza vaccination taskforce focus is on poultry, they are also alert to the ongoing outbreak in cattle in the USA of influenza of avian origin.

The Government maintains a vaccine bank for foot and mouth disease and lumpy skin disease, exotic diseases affecting cattle. Defra has also engaged with manufacturers on supply of vaccines to the UK market for bluetongue virus serotype 3 (BTV-3) and epizootic haemorrhagic disease virus (EHDV). Following this engagement, and assessment of vaccines by the VMD, Defra’s Secretary of State permitted the use of three unauthorised BTV-3 vaccines for use in England since September 2024, giving keepers the choice to protect their animals.

A cattle vaccine for bovine TB is in development. The CattleBCG vaccine, when coupled with the new Detect Infected amongst Vaccinated Animals (DIVA) skin test, represents a significant advancement in bovine TB control for cattle herds. Field trials began in June 2021 and are on-going.

An injectable BCG vaccine for badgers has been licensed since 2010 and is proven to significantly reduce the risk of infection and spread of bovine TB within badger populations. The number of badgers vaccinated continues to rise in England, with preliminary figures suggesting around 4,000 were vaccinated in 2024. This is the highest number ever vaccinated in England in a single year, exceeding the record set in 2023. In August 2024, the government announced steps to continue increasing vaccination deployment and to analyse the effect of badger vaccination on the incidence of TB in cattle. This includes establishing a new Badger Vaccinator Field Force.
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Martin Wrigley:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will take steps to reintroduce the Government's £50 reduction for customers of South West Water. \p Emma Hardy: The taxpayer-funded contribution to the water and sewerage bills of South West Water (SWW) household customers ended on 31 March 2025. The rebate was originally introduced in 2013 because SWW customers faced significantly higher water bills than customers in other regions due to the level of investment the company was required to make in the region’s infrastructure to meet environmental and water quality standards.

Over the last decade the difference between water bills in the South West region and others has decreased. Over the next Price Review period (2025-2029) Ofwat’s latest projections are that SWW customers will have similar bills to those in other regions.

The Government is committed to taking action to address water poverty and help vulnerable customers with their water bills. All water companies have measures in place for people who struggle to pay for their water and wastewater services, including measures such as WaterSure, social tariffs, payment breaks and holidays, and debt management support.

We expect all water companies to proactively engage with their customers to ensure they know what support schemes are available and how to use them.
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Stuart Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to help improve the water quality of rivers in South Shropshire constituency. \p Emma Hardy: Cleaning up England’s rivers, lakes and seas is a priority for the Government. The Government has taken immediate and substantive action to address the performance of water companies who are not delivering for the environment or their customers.

That is why we are placing water companies under special measures through the Water (Special Measures) Act. The Act will drive meaningful improvements in the performance and culture of the water industry as a first important step in enabling wider, transformative change across the water sector.

The Environment Agency (EA) has strengthened its regulatory approach, to ensure that water companies and the farmers who pollute our waterways are held accountable. This has seen an increase in the inspections at Severn Trent sewage assets from 707 in 2024/25 to 1742 in 2025/26 and nationally over 3,400 farm inspections taking place during the first three quarters of the 2024/25 fiscal year. Farm inspections are targeted to areas of the greatest risk, including in the River Clun and Teme catchments. The EA have also installed innovative automatic water quality sampling technology at Ludlow, as part of a trial aimed at identifying sources of poor bathing water quality and recommend actions to improve it.

For Price Review 24 (PR24), which runs from 2025-2030, Severn Trent Water will also be investing £1.7 billion to reduce the use of storm overflows. This investment will reduce storm overflow spills by 26% over the five year period. In addition to the PR24 investment, for high spilling sites, Severn Trent Water must produce a spill reduction plan as required by the Environment Act 2021. Where the EA identifies non-compliance, it will not hesitate in taking enforcement action.
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Martin Wrigley:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if his Department will take steps to review its policy on the private ownership model of South West Water. \p Emma Hardy: The Government has no intention to nationalise water companies, including South West Water. Such a process would significantly stall much needed investment, leaving sewage pollution only to get worse.

Nationalising the water industry would put a huge burden on the public purse and would not fix the root of the problem. Shareholders and debt holders would need to be compensated, which could cost over an estimated £90 billion based on Ofwat’s Regulatory Capital Value (RCV) 2024 figures for companies in England and Wales.

This Government has already shown we will take the necessary action with the introduction of our landmark piece of legislation, the Water (Special Measures) Act, and the Independent Water Commission which will make recommendations to ensure we have a sufficiently robust and stable regulatory framework to attract the investment needed to clean up our waterways, speed up infrastructure delivery and restore public confidence in the sector.
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Freddie van Mierlo:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 13 March 2025 to Question 37093 on Environment Agency: Finance, if he will take steps to fast track the flood and coastal erosion risk management grant-in-aid funding application for the (a) repair of the Horsebridge at Marsh Lock and (b) restoration of the Thames Path National Trail. \p Emma Hardy: The Government’s Spending Review process will consider all of the investment requests relating to the non-tidal Thames navigation assets. The Environment Agency (EA) will then develop its medium-term capital delivery programme based on the benefits, opportunities, and risks of each of its candidate projects.

The EA will only apply for funding towards maintaining structures which it has a responsibility to maintain. Where the Agency is the landowner for sections of the towpath it will consider what works it can progress within its maintenance and refurbishment programmes. Other landowners and risk management authorities will have the opportunity to consider restoration works to the Thames Path National Trail within their annual work programmes.
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Juliet Campbell:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the adequacy of standards of food and drink imports. \p Daniel Zeichner: The UK maintains high standards on food that is offered to consumers. For example, all food sold in the UK must comply with food compositional standards and labelling legislation whether it is produced domestically or imported into the UK. These rules protect consumers from lower quality products and enable them to make informed choices.

Defra periodically reviews and updates food compositional standards regulations to ensure they remain fit for purpose and reflect innovation in food production and changing consumer preferences.
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Nick Timothy:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the fire at the battery energy storage systems site in Liverpool in 2020 on the environment. \p Emma Hardy: The Government has not made an assessment of the potential impact on the environment of the fire at the battery energy storage systems site in Liverpool in 2020. Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service carried out testing of the water run-off with advice from its scientific support provider at time of the incident. Tests indicated no harmful contamination of watercourses or drains, with the water run off also largely being contained on site.
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Aphra Brandreth:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of (a) the war in Ukraine (b) the wider geopolitical situation and (c) the impact of the closure of the Sustainable Farming Incentive on (i) the cashflow of farming businesses and (ii) food security. \p Daniel Zeichner: (a)

The war in Ukraine led to rising oil, fuel and energy prices, which created inflationary pressures right across the food chain. Farmers experienced higher energy and fertiliser costs; manufacturers experienced higher production costs; and importers and hauliers experienced higher transportation costs. All of these fed through to higher consumer prices.

The Institute of Grocery Distribution anticipates food price inflation in 2025 to average 3.4%, with a range of 2.4 to 4.9%.

Food chain businesses will be keeping a close eye on developments in Russia/Ukraine and the Middle East, and their potential to influence global energy and input prices.

(b)

Reliance on food supplies from Ukraine is low. Defra actively monitors risks to UK food security on an ongoing basis. The UK Food Security Report, which was published in December, examines past, current, and future trends relevant to food security to present a full and impartial analysis of UK food security.

While climate and geopolitical volatility have weakened aspects of food supply stability since 2021, food availability or the quantity of food available to the UK has been maintained thanks to continued resilience in food production and the global trading system.

(c)

Farm businesses with existing SFI agreements or submitted applications will see no change to their payments due to the announced closure of SFI. Forecasts published this week suggest that at the all-farm level agri-environment scheme payments are predicted to have increased substantially in 24/25.

On the 11 March 2025 we published forecasts which suggest that Average Farm Business Income has risen in 2024/25 across all farm types with the exception of cereal farms.
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Aphra Brandreth:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the amount of notice the National Farmers' Union was provided with before his Department announced that the Sustainable Farming Incentive scheme would be closed to new applications. \p Daniel Zeichner: As with all demand-led schemes there comes a point when they are fully-subscribed. We ensured farmers and their representative bodies were made aware when that happened.
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Jim Shannon:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to improve the mental health of farmers. \p Daniel Zeichner: This Government is committed to supporting the mental health of those working in farming and agriculture.

Following engagement with agricultural mental health charities, Defra established a team dedicated to addressing the particular set of issues driving poorer mental health outcomes in the agricultural industry.

We are also continuing to fund the Farmer Welfare Grant. This funds four charities to deliver projects which will support mental health and build resilience in local farming communities.

As promised in our manifesto, the Government is building a national network of Young Futures hubs which will be present in every community and will deliver support for young people facing mental health challenges.

Finally, the Government is giving mental health the same attention and focus as physical health through measures such as employing 8,500 new mental health support workers. This will reduce delays and provide faster treatment closer to people’s homes.
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Robbie Moore:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what comparative assessment he has made of the potential impact of closing the Sustainable Farming Initiative in England on farmers in (a) England, (b) Wales, (c) Scotland and (d) Northern Ireland. \p Daniel Zeichner: The Sustainable Farming Incentive is an England-only scheme. We therefore have undertaken no such assessment.
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Helen Morgan:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 10 February 2025 to Question 29014 on Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Written Questions, when he plans to respond to Question 24518 on Farming Recovery Fund, tabled on 16 January 2025 by the hon. Member for North Shropshire. \p Daniel Zeichner: Question 24518 was answered on 4 March 2025.
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Helen Morgan:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what limits his Department plans to set on effluent released into waste water from commercial food waste extraction and drying systems. \p Emma Hardy: Trade effluent discharges to the public sewerage network are the responsibility of the discharging party to agree consent to discharge with the local sewerage undertaker. Under s.118 of the Water Industry Act 1991, the occupier of any trade premises in the area of a sewerage undertaker may discharge any trade effluent proceeding from those premises into the undertaker’s public sewers if they do so with the undertaker’s consent. Under s.121 of the Act, the sewerage undertaker may place conditions on the consent to discharge

Disposal of food waste to landfill or into the sewer system (even if pre-treated) should only be carried out as a last resort in accordance with the food and drink waste hierarchy. Any additional food waste that is not disposed of on-site must be collected separately for recycling as per the Simpler Recycling requirements.

Defra has commissioned research into the various technologies that treat and discharge food waste to sewer to better understand their respective environmental impacts.
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Neil Duncan-Jordan:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of making Historic England a named body for the purposes of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998. \p Daniel Zeichner: Defra has made no such assessment as the Department is neither responsible for Historic England nor for the Crime and Disorder Act 1998.
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Tim Farron:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much has been paid to farmers to improve environmental sustainability since 2016. \p Daniel Zeichner: The Government spent £3.745 billion on Environmental Stewardship, Countryside Stewardship and the Sustainable Farming Incentive from 2016 up to 28 February 2025 to improve environmental sustainability. An additional £36 million has been paid through the England Woodland Creation Offer.
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Edward Morello:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what financial support schemes are available to assist small and medium-sized agribusinesses in expanding their operations. \p Daniel Zeichner: Defra has committed £1.8 billion, the largest figure ever, to Environmental Land Management schemes in 2025/26, including the Sustainable Farming Incentive. These schemes offer funding streams for farmers who have been often ignored such as small, grassland, upland and tenanted, whilst improving our natural environment, and supporting sustainable growth and resilient food production. We are on track to spend that money.

Defra also supports agri-tech innovation and almost £150 million has been committed to projects to date, of which over £84 million has been committed to small businesses. The Accelerating Development of Practices and Technologies Fund (ADOPT), launching this spring, will also provide innovation grants for farmers and farm businesses to trial and demonstrate new technology, which will help to create demand to support agri-businesses to expand. We are also looking to explore other means to improve access to finance to drive agribusiness development, including opportunities to collaborate with public finance institutions.