Every parliamentary written question tabled by Aphra Brandreth this session, with the full answer and department. See how every department answers, or back to the MP page.
Showing 121–136 of 136 · this parliament
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.
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.
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.
(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.
Food and Rural Affairs, how many applications for the Sustainable Farming Incentive were outstanding as of 12 March 2025; and what steps his Department is taking to process applications submitted before the scheme was closed.
As of the 24 March, of the applications that had been submitted for the expanded Sustainable Farming Incentive offer 14,191 had received an agreement offers and 3,700 had not yet received an agreement offer.
What steps his Department is taking to (a) support people with Sjogrens to work and (b) implement a multi-disciplinary care system.
Appropriate work is generally good for health and wellbeing, so we want everyone to get work and get on in work, whoever they are and wherever they live. Disabled people and people with health conditions such as Sjogren’s syndrome are a diverse group, so access to the right work and health support, in the right place, at the right time, is key.The Department of Health and Social Care and the Department for Work and Pensions are committed to supporting disabled people and people with health conditions, including people with Sjogren’s, and have range of support available so individuals can stay in work and get back into work, including those that join up employment and health systems.Measures include joining up health and employment support around the individual through Employment Advisors in NHS Talking Therapies and Individual Placement and Support in Primary Care, as well as support from Work Coaches and Disability Employment Advisers in Jobcentres and Access to Work grants.It is also recognised that employers play an important role in addressing health and disability. To build on this, the joint Department for Work and Pensions and Department of Health and Social Care’s Work and Health Directorate is facilitating Keep Britain Working, an independent review of the role of the United Kingdom’s employers in reducing health-related inactivity, and to promote healthy and inclusive workplaces. The lead reviewer, Sir Charlie Mayfield, is expected to bring forward recommendations in Autumn 2025.Most patients with Sjogren’s syndrome will be cared for in primary and secondary care services. A small number of people with complex disease will be cared for in specialised rheumatology services. The national service specifications for specialised rheumatology services define the standards of care expected from organisations commissioned by NHS England to provide specialised rheumatology services for either adults or children. These specifications set the national minimum standards for the diagnosis, treatment, and outcomes for people with Sjogren’s syndrome, and include the requirement for a multi-disciplinary team. People with Sjogren’s will be given the support to manage their condition and signposted to employment advice if required.
What steps her Department is taking to help support people with disabilities into work.
Whoever they are and wherever they live, we want individuals to secure appropriate work as we know that work is generally good for health and overall financial well being. We must ensure that disabled people and individuals with health conditions have the opportunity to work. The Keep Britain Working review, is an independent review looking at the role of employers in reducing health-related inactivity and to promote healthy and inclusive workplaces. The lead reviewer, Sir Charlie Mayfield, is expected to bring forward recommendations in Autumn 2025. This review is backed by £240m investment, announced as part of the Get Britain Working White Paper to drive forward approaches to tackling economic inactivity and work toward the long-term ambition of an 80% employment rate. Disabled people and people with health conditions are a diverse group so access to the right work and health support, in the right place, at the right time, is key. DWP have a range of specialist initiatives to support individuals to stay in work and get back into work, including those that join up employment and health systems. Measures include support from Work Coaches and Disability Employment Advisers in Jobcentres and Access to Work grants, as well as joining up health and employment support around the individual through Employment Advisors in NHS Talking Therapies and Individual Placement and Support in Primary Care and WorkWell.
If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of making the adoption and special guardianship support fund permanent.
An announcement on funding for the adoption and special guardianship support fund will be made as soon as possible. All future decisions will be considered as part of the next spending review.
Which Finance Bill will contain the proposed changes to (a) Agricultural Property Relief and (b) Business Property Relief.
The Government believes its reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief from 6 April 2026 get the balance right between supporting farms and businesses, and fixing the public finances. Legislation implementing this policy will be brought forward in the Finance Bill ahead of the measure taking effect.
Food and Rural Affairs, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of standardised access for residents of all local authorities to to Household Waste and Recycling Centres in in Strategic Authorities.
There are no plans to standardise access to Household Waste and Recycling Centres. Household Waste and Recycling Centres play an important role in helping people manage the waste they produce in a convenient and sustainable way. The Environmental Protection Act 1990 section 51 requires waste disposal authorities to provide places at which residents in their areas may deposit their household waste free of charge. Local Authorities are responsible for determining how best to manage and operate sites in their area, taking into consideration their local requirements.
If he will take steps to ensure that carbon monoxide alarms are properly tested using (a) UK manufactured, (b) safe and (c) industry-approved test gas.
Carbon monoxide alarms should be properly tested before they can be placed on the UK market. British Standard EN 50291-1:2018 outlines the test methods and performance requirements of carbon monoxide alarms used in a domestic setting, and British Standard EN 50291:2:2019 outlines the same for carbon monoxide alarms used in recreational vehicles and similar premises. The Product Regulation and Metrology Bill, which is going through Parliament at the moment, will provide the powers needed to keep our wide and technical product regulation framework up to date, enabling the UK to maintain its high product standards.
Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make an estimate of the proportion of international aid that has been misappropriated by terrorist organisations in Gaza.
Aid diversion is an ongoing concern in Gaza, but we welcome reports that more aid is now entering Gaza, and looting has reduced. Israel must now continue to work with partners to ensure law and order is maintained in Gaza so that safe distribution of aid across the Gaza strip is sustained. Most of our aid budget for the Occupied Palestinian Territories is disbursed as funding to trusted partners. The UK conducts thorough due diligence assessments of partners to ensure procedures are in place to manage the risks of aid diversion and to report losses. Programmes are monitored regularly, including through annual and project completion reviews.
Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the effectiveness of UNRWA in removing antisemitic material from school textbooks used in (a) the West Bank and (b) Gaza.
Education is an essential component to the humanitarian response in Gaza, and critical to building the foundations for a sustainable and lasting peace for the Israeli and Palestinian people. It is therefore essential that partners delivering education services across the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs), including United Nations Relief and Work Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), uphold the highest standards of neutrality. Catherine Colonna's Independent Review of Mechanisms and Procedures to Ensure Adherence by UNRWA to the Humanitarian Principle of Neutrality notes that the most recent UNRWA Rapid Review of textbooks from the Palestinian Authority (2022/2023) "found that 3.85 per cent of all textbook pages contain issues of concern to UN values, guidance, or position on the conflict". The UK supports the Colonna review's conclusion that "the presence of even a small fraction of problematic content in textbooks, supplemental material and teaching content remains a serious issue." We welcome the initiatives launched by UNRWA to ensure neutrality of its educational material and teaching, in addition to its long-standing work with UNESCO and the Palestinian Authority to reform curricula and educational materials. £1 million of UK funding to UNRWA this financial year has been earmarked for the implementation of the Colonna review's recommendations.
Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure that Schedule 3 of the Flood and Water Management Act 2010 is being implemented in full; and what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the UK's drainage and gully systems to deal with increasingly volatile weather.
This Government is strongly committed to requiring standardised SuDS in new developments. We believe that this can be achieved through either improving the current planning led approach using powers now available, or commencing Schedule 3 to the FWMA 2010. A final decision on the way forward will be made in the coming months. The Government has updated the National Planning Policy Framework to encourage a more holistic approach so that developments of all sizes are expected to make use of sustainable drainage techniques where they could have drainage impacts in a way which is proportionate to the nature and scale of the scheme. This Government recognises the importance of having a robust drainage and wastewater system both now and for future demand. As part of the Environment Act 2021, water companies in England are required to produce Drainage and Wastewater Management Plans (DWMPs). DWMPs set out how a water company intends to improve their drainage and wastewater systems over the next 25 years, accounting for factors including growing population and changing environmental circumstances. These plans will help sewerage companies to fully assess the capacity of the drainage and wastewater network and develop collaborative solutions to current problems and future issues.
What plans she has for capital investment in (a) rail and (b) road infrastructure in Chester South and Eddisbury constituency to secure economic growth for the cross-border manufacturing cluster.
Transport is an essential part of our mission to rebuild Britain, and we are absolutely committed to improving rail connectivity across the North and working with local leaders. Our Budget in October 2024 confirmed we are progressing planning and design work to support future delivery of our plans for northern rail connectivity and, following the cancellation of HS2 Phase 2, we are considering how to address capacity and connectivity issues north of Birmingham.We are also going beyond the government’s promise to fix an additional 1 million potholes per year and providing a £500 million cash increase on 2024-25 local roads maintenance baseline funding, for 2025-26. Chester South and Eddisbury Parliamentary constituency is across two local authority areas, Cheshire West and Chester, and Cheshire East. For 2025-26, Cheshire West and Chester will receive an uplift in highways maintenance funding of £4,084,000 for a total of £15,515,000, and Cheshire East will receive an uplift of £5,546,000 for a total of £21,030,000. Future funding for capital investment in transport will be determined as part of DfT’s spending review, scheduled for spring 2025. This process will involve assessing national priorities and allocating resources accordingly to address critical infrastructure needs.
Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what his Department's planned timetable is for concluding negotiations on the UK-Armenia Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement; and what steps he is taking to support Armenia in closer engagement with the West.
I reiterated this government's steadfast support and respect for Armenia to Foreign Minister Mirzoyan on 11 October. We will continue to support Armenia through our programming engagement to develop its governance and rule of law, our defence cooperation and our trade and economic ties.Deepening our trading relationships is an important part of this government's Growth Mission. The Department for Business and Trade is currently developing a new Trade Strategy and the FCDO is reviewing the Political Cooperation Agreement negotiations which were underway when the election was called. Next steps for the UK-Armenia Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement are part of this work.
What steps his Department is taking to support specialist neuromuscular clinics that wish to take part in the Givinostat Early Access Programme.
The Government welcomes the Early Access Programme (EAP) that the company has put in place to provide early access for patients to givinostat. Access to the EAP must be through one of the 23 NorthStar Centres in the United Kingdom. However, participation in the EAP is decided at an individual National Health Service trust level and a NorthStar Centre will not be able to provide givinostat, if its local trust has not approved participation. Under the EAP, givinostat is free to both patients taking part in it and to the NHS, but the NHS trusts must still cover the cost of administering it to patients.
What steps her Department is taking to ensure local authorities implement the recommendations of the Cass review in schools they oversee.
The Cass Review was an independent review of gender identity services for children and young people, so did not make any specific recommendations in respect of schools and local authorities. However, the final report highlighted the importance of what happens in school, and that guidance for schools should utilise the principles and evidence from the review.It is crucial that schools and colleges receive guidance on these matters, which is why the government is looking carefully at the consultation responses for the draft guidance on gender questioning children, discussing with stakeholders and considering the evidence, including the Cass Review, before setting out next steps.