Written questions by Lockhart.

Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with law enforcement agencies on taking steps to help tackle organised criminal networks involved in the illegal meat trade; and what steps he plans to take to help disrupt this activity.

We are not complacent about illegal meat smuggling, which may pose threats to animal health, food safety and public health. That is why we are working closely with the Home Office and the Food Standards Agency to tackle this issue with the support of Border Force, Port Health Authorities and local authorities. Where non-compliant meat is identified inland, the Food Standards Agency works closely with its local authority partners, who hold responsibility for this aspect of enforcement, to remove the goods from potential sale in the UK market. This work is conducted by the Food Standards Agency’s National Food Crime Unit who work with partners to disrupt, prevent and where appropriate investigate those involved in food crime.

How revenue generated from passport fees is allocated.

Revenue generated from passport fees contribute to the recovery of the costs provided for under section 86 of the Immigration Act 2016: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2016/19/section/86.

What personnel levels are in the (a) Army, (b) Royal Navy, (c) Royal Air Force and (d) reserve forces.

Statistics on the strength of UK service personnel are published on gov.uk at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/quarterly-service-personnel-statistics-2025 As at 1 January 2025, the latest date for when data is available, Table 3c shows the Full-Time Trained Strength (FTTS) (Royal Navy & Royal Marines and Royal Air Force) and Full-Time Trade Trained Strength (FTTTS) (Army). Table 6a shows the Trained Futures Reserves 2020 Strength. Table 3cFull-Time Trained Strength (FTTS)127,036Royal Navy/Royal Marines (FTTS)28,085Army (FTTTS)71,151Royal Air Force (FTTS)27,800 Table 6aTri Service Future Reserve FR2029,265Maritime Reserve2,610Army Reserve23,897Royal Air Force Reserve2,758

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the illegal importation of meat from regions affected by (a) African swine fever and (b) foot and mouth disease on risks to the UK agricultural sector.

Whilst we have never had an outbreak of African Swine Fever (ASF) in the UK, it remains a key priority in terms of exotic notifiable disease preparedness. The overall risk of an incursion is currently assessed to be medium, and we continue to prepare for a possible outbreak. To safeguard the UK’s pork and pig industries, Defra, Devolved Governments, together with the pig industry and veterinary bodies have been working together to raise awareness of the risks of the introduction of ASF to the UK. Defra announced further controls in September 2024, restricting the movement of pork and pork products into Great Britain. The risk of incursion of Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) to Great Britain was increased to medium following the confirmation of disease in Germany on the 10 January 202 and then Hungary on 6 March 2025. The Government has taken decisive and rapid action to protect the UK by suspending the commercial import of susceptible animals from Germany and restricting personal imports of animal products from across the EU. The UK has robust contingency plans in place to manage the risk of this disease as set out in the Foot and Mouth Disease Control Strategy for Great Britain supported by the Contingency plan for exotic notifiable diseases of animals in England.

Food and Rural Affairs, if he will take steps to review the Border Target Operating Model to introduce mandatory spot checks on all vehicles entering the UK, in the context of illegal meat smuggling.

The Border Target Operating Model aims to mitigate sanitary and phytosanitary risks, while enabling the flow of legitimate goods through our ports and airports. We will continue to operate a compliance first approach enabling importers and the public to move compliant goods, backed up by robust, intelligence-led, enforcement controls on illegal activity. We take illegal meat smuggling very seriously, as it may pose threats to animal health, food safety and public health. That is why we are working closely with the Home Office and the Food Standards Agency to tackle this issue with the support of Border Force, Port Health Authorities and local authorities.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department is taking steps to strengthen border checks to prevent illegal meat imports from entering the UK through (a) Dover and (b) other ports of entry.

Defra has made additional funding of £1.9 million available to Dover District Council for the Port Health Authority, for the remainder of this financial year (2024 to 2025), to support Border Force to conduct safeguarding checks on the illegal import of products of animal origin. This is in addition to the £1.2 million already committed. This total funding of £3.1 million is based on the existing staffing costs provided by Dover Port Health Authority. This funding is only for this financial year. Defra has also contributed operational equipment to support Border Force with relevant checks.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department plans to increase (a) funding and (b) other resources for enforcement agencies for the (i) detection and (ii) prevention of illegal meat imports at ports.

Border Force is responsible for securing our borders and officers have powers to stop and search vehicles and passengers at ports and airports. Border Force may call on Port Health Authorities for assistance in seizing any illegal meat detected. Border Force is funded by the Home Office. We are not complacent about illegal meat smuggling, which may pose threats to animal health, food safety and public health. That is why we are working closely with the Home Office and the Food Standards Agency to tackle this issue with the support of Border Force, Port Health Authorities and local authorities This includes Defra’s offer of funding to Dover Port Health Authority to support Border Force with enforcement in 2025/26. The Secretary of State is also working with Home Office and Border Force on plans to seize the cars, vans, trucks and coaches used by criminal gangs to smuggle illegal meat into our country and crush them so they can’t be used again.

How much revenue she expects to raise from changes to Agricultural Property Relief in Northern Ireland; and what assessment she has made of the potential impact of those changes on farming families in Northern Ireland.

The overall changes to both agricultural property relief and business property relief from 6 April 2026 are expected to raise £520 million in 2029-30, based on the latest available data. This is the total UK revenue expected to be raised from estates with relevant assets across all types of businesses. Up to around 520 estates making claims for agricultural property relief, including those that also claim for business property relief, across the UK are expected to be affected by this policy in 2026-27. This means almost three-quarters of estates claiming agricultural property relief, including those that also claim for business property relief, will not pay any more tax as a result of these changes in 2026-27, based on the latest available data. The Government is aware of the concerns from the farming industry in Northern Ireland. Information from claims is not recorded to enable regional or national breakdowns of the revenue or number of estates expected to be affected. For more information, please see my recent letter to the Chair of the Northern Ireland Select Committee: https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/46267/documents/232537/default/.

What steps her Department is taking to provide (a) tuition fee, (b) financial and (c) other support to students from Northern Ireland studying at universities in Great Britain.

The Northern Ireland Executive has devolved responsibility for higher education in Northern Ireland and determines the student finance arrangements for Northern Irish students, including those students studying in England, Scotland and Wales.

What steps his Department is taking to improve the resilience of the electricity grid to extreme weather conditions.

Great Britain has a highly resilient energy network. Network operators have completed a significant number of improvements to the resilience of Great Britain’s electricity network which means the electricity system is in a much better place to mitigate power disruption during extreme weather events such as Storm Darragh and Storm Eowyn. The Energy Emergencies Executive Committee (E3C) work to identify lessons after all large energy incidents to ensure continuous improvement to the network. E3C will work with network operators in Northern Ireland as part of this process to ensure, where necessary, improvements are made across the UK.

What recent discussions his Department has had with the Police Service of Northern Ireland on (a) staffing levels, (b) recruitment challenges and (c) plans to address workforce shortages.

A well staffed and resourced PSNI is vital to the success and stability of Northern Ireland. I regularly engage with the Chief Constable and Justice Minister on issues of shared interest and concern.The UK Government’s Autumn budget delivered a record £18.2 billion for the Northern Ireland Executive in FY 2025/26 – the largest settlement in real terms in the history of devolution.Policing in Northern Ireland, apart from national security, is a devolved matter and the allocation of budget to the PSNI is a matter for the Northern Ireland Department of Justice (DoJ). I am aware that the DoJ is continuing to work closely with the Chief Constable and his team to build a robust case for the funding required to recover workforce numbers over the course of the current mandate.We continue to support the PSNI and recognising the unique security situation in Northern Ireland, the UK Government will provide the PSNI with £37.8 million in Additional Security Funding in 2025/26, an increase from c£32m a year.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of recent flooding on agricultural productivity; and whether he plans to provide funding to help farmers improve drainage management on their land.

The 2023 to 2024 Autumn and winter season were the wettest in 30 years, this meant that many farms in affected areas experienced difficulty cultivating or grazing over that period. The primary impact of this on agricultural productivity is a shift from winter cropping to spring cropping. According to the AHDB annual harvest insight there was a shift in barley crops of 24% between winter and spring and much of this spring crop may get lower yields. To assist farmers with the impact of the extreme wet weather £57.5 million has been paid in farming recovery payments, to around 12,700 farmers. The Government has invested £50 million to internal drainage boards (IDBs) as part of the one-off £75 million IDB Fund to support greater resilience for farmers and rural communities in the long term. The IDB Fund will accelerate IDBs’ recovery from the winter 2023-24 storms and provide opportunities to modernise and upgrade assets that protect agricultural land and rural communities.

How many people identified as illegal migrants are being housed in Northern Ireland; and what funding they have received in the last five years.

As at 30 September 2024, there were 2,632 people in receipt of Asylum Support being housed in Northern Ireland. Further data on the number of supported asylum seekers in accommodation, including hotels, and by local authority can be found within the Asy_D11 tab for our most recent statistics release: Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK(opens in a new tab).The Home Office publishes information on asylum expenditure in the Home Office Annual Report and Accounts at Home Office annual reports and accounts - GOV.UK(opens in a new tab).

What steps her Department is taking to help tackle illegal immigration into the UK via the Republic of Ireland.

The UK and Ireland have a close and collaborative working relationship on a range of issues, including migration and border security. That collaboration includes a joint commitment to protect the Common Travel Area (CTA) from abuse while preserving the rights of British and Irish citizens.The UK operates intelligence-led operational activity on routes between Ireland and the UK and everyone entering the UK, regardless of where they enter from, is required to meet UK’s immigration requirements. Anyone identified attempting to circumvent UK border controls is liable to be detained and, if they are not lawfully present within the UK, removed.

What steps his Department is taking to tackle changes in the levels of haulage costs for transporting goods between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Hauliers play a very important role in supporting trade within the UK. The Government meets regularly with stakeholders involved in trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, including representatives of the road haulage industry, particularly in view of the implementation of the Windsor Framework and cost pressures.

Whether his Department plans to take steps to commission a public inquiry into the Kingsmill shooting of 5 January 1976.

The Coroner in the Kingsmill Inquest delivered clear and detailed findings on 12 April 2024, setting out that this was a horrific and sectarian terrorist atrocity carried out by the IRA with absolutely no justification. While these findings will have provided important information to the families, I also recognise that there remain unanswered questions. We now await the publication of the Police Ombudsman’s report into the Kingsmill shootings. I would encourage any family still seeking answers in respect of this or any other Troubles-related death or serious injury to speak to the independent Commission about how they might be able to help.

What plans he has to engage with the President of the United States to promote (a) trade, (b) investment and (c) cultural links with Northern Ireland.

I hope to visit the US soon to build on the already strong partnership between the US and Northern Ireland - and indeed the whole of the UK - including in the crucial areas of trade and investment. The US has been pivotal in supporting peace, stability and prosperity for Northern Ireland, and we will continue working together, with the support of our Embassy in the US, to make Northern Ireland a great place to live, work and do business.

Media and Sport, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of broadcasting regulations on the impartiality of news coverage in Northern Ireland.

The regulation of due impartiality in broadcast news is a matter for the independent regulator Ofcom.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure the protection of assistance animals from abuse and neglect; and what additional steps he plans to take to improve safeguards for these animals.

Causing unnecessary suffering to an animal, including assistance animals, is an offence under section 4 of the Animal Welfare Act 2006. The maximum sentence for this offence is five years imprisonment and/or an unlimited fine. Those convicted of an offence may also be disqualified from owning or keeping animals. The 2006 Act is backed up by the statutory Code of Practice for the Welfare of Dogs which provides owners and keepers with general welfare information including a specific section on how to provide the correct environment for their dog and protect them from pain, suffering, injury and disease: Code of practice for the welfare of dogs - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

What recent assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the Parades Commission for Northern Ireland; and what steps he plans to take to help ensure (a) its decisions are transparent and (b) it is held accountable for its decisions.

Decisions regarding parades in Northern Ireland are an operational matter for the Parades Commission for Northern Ireland in line with the legislation contained within the Public Processions (NI) Act 1998. Details of any determinations made by the Commission are published on their website as a matter of course. The Parades Commission continues to have the full support of the Government.