Written questions by Morello.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of post-Brexit trade agreements on UK farmers' access to international markets.

Local authorities have a critical role in responding to the impacts of climate change in their areas. The Government is currently reviewing its approach to Climate Adaptation, including the tools and support we give to Local Authorities. in terms of finance, the Local Government Finance Settlement for 2025-26 makes available over £69 billion for local government, which is a 6.8% cash terms increase in councils’ Core Spending Power on 2024-25. The majority of this funding is un-ringfenced recognising that local leaders are best placed to identify local priorities.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help farmers adopt soil management practices that enhance moisture retention during hot and dry conditions.

Healthy soils have improved resilience to extreme weather, and soil moisture is an important factor in soil health. Our Environmental Land Management (ELM) schemes include actions that support healthy soil. This includes payments for actions to improve soil health, including herbal leys and multi-species cover crops. In the October 2024 budget, we committed £5 billion for farming over two years, including £1.8 billion for our ELM schemes - the largest ever budget directed at sustainable food production and nature’s recovery in our country’s history. We now have more than half of farmers in an ELM scheme, enabling us to boost Britain’s food security while accelerating the transition to a more resilient and sustainable farming sector.

When her Department plans to confirm funding for the adoption and special guardian support fund for 2025-26 financial year.

The department will shortly be finalising business planning decisions on how we will allocate the department’s budget for the next financial year. All decisions regarding the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund are being made as part of these discussions. An announcement will be made as soon as possible.Applications for the fund with therapy starting in this financial year are still being accepted and processed under business as usual.

What assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the time taken to approve the adoption and special guardianship support fund for 2025-26 on (a) children and (b) families requiring therapeutic support in Dorset.

The department will shortly be finalising business planning decisions on how we will allocate the department’s budget for the next financial year. All decisions regarding the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund are being made as part of these discussions. An announcement will be made as soon as possible.Applications for the fund with therapy starting in this financial year are still being accepted and processed under business as usual.

What recent steps his Department has taken to reduce waiting times for an endometriosis diagnosis.

The Government is committed to prioritising women’s health and improving the diagnosis times for gynaecological conditions, including endometriosis.We have taken urgent action to tackle gynaecology waiting lists through the Elective Reform Plan. In gynaecology, the plan supports innovative models offering patients care closer to home, and piloting gynaecology pathways in community diagnostic centres.Endometriosis is also included in the core curriculum for general practitioners, and for obstetricians and gynaecologists. The General Medical Council is introducing the Medical Licensing Assessment for most incoming doctors, including all medical students graduating from academic year 2024/25 and onwards. Within this assessment are several topics relating to women’s health, including endometriosis. This will encourage a better understanding of endometriosis among doctors as they start their careers in the United Kingdom.Clinical guidelines support healthcare professionals to diagnose and treat conditions. In November 2024 the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence published updated recommendations on the diagnosis, management and treatment of endometriosis, which are available at the following link:https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng73

Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of trends in the level of available agricultural labour on agricultural productivity.

We recognise that it is vital that the agricultural sector have the labour they need to harvest great British produce and grow their businesses. For this reason, Defra regularly monitors agricultural labour numbers, with the most recent assessment for 1 June 2024 being published here on 15 December 2024. To help support the sector, Defra and Home Office have agreed to a 5-year extension to the Seasonal Worker visa route. This will give farms a pipeline of workers and certainty to grow their businesses. However, we remain firmly committed to reduce our reliance on overseas labour. Annual quota reviews will ensure we strike the right balance – supporting farms while gradually reducing visa numbers as we develop innovative and Agri-tech solutions.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department plans to take to help promote integrated supply chains within the dairy industry.

Farmers should always receive a fair price for their products, and the Government is committed to tackling unfairness in the supply chain wherever it exists. Central to this is the Government’s commitment to improving contractual practices across the agriculture industry, using the Fair Dealings powers in the Agriculture Act 2020 to increase transparency and protect farmers from unfair practices. The Fair Dealing Obligations (Milk) Regulations 2024, which came into force last year, introduced key reforms. These include mandatory written contracts outlining key terms such as termination conditions and agreed supply volumes. They also require greater transparency in milk pricing and establish robust dispute resolution procedures, strengthening trust and cooperation between buyers and sellers. The regulations are enforced by the Agricultural Supply Chain Adjudicator, who can investigate complaints from farmers who believe they have not been provided with a contract that is compliant with the Regulations, on behalf of the Secretary of State. We will continue to monitor the dairy industry to ensure these reforms deliver their intended impact, including through a future review of the effectiveness of the dairy regulations.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure dairy farmers receive a fair price for their milk, in the context of recent trends in production prices.

Farmers should always receive a fair price for their products, and the Government is committed to tackling unfairness in the supply chain wherever it exists. Central to this is the Government’s commitment to improving contractual practices across the agriculture industry, using the Fair Dealings powers in the Agriculture Act 2020 to increase transparency and protect farmers from unfair practices. The Fair Dealing Obligations (Milk) Regulations 2024, which came into force last year, introduced key reforms. These include mandatory written contracts outlining key terms such as termination conditions and agreed supply volumes. They also require greater transparency in milk pricing and establish robust dispute resolution procedures, strengthening trust and cooperation between buyers and sellers. The regulations are enforced by the Agricultural Supply Chain Adjudicator, who can investigate complaints from farmers who believe they have not been provided with a contract that is compliant with the Regulations, on behalf of the Secretary of State. We will continue to monitor the dairy industry to ensure these reforms deliver their intended impact, including through a future review of the effectiveness of the dairy regulations.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to support the implementation of nature-based solutions to help reduce flooding risks along the River Frome.

The Environment Agency (EA) is committed to supporting Natural Flood Management (NFM) measures across the West Dorset constituency. NFM comprises of using natural processes to reduce the risk of flooding, often to slow and store water. The EA is currently supporting, (via the Water Environment Improvement Fund), a Dorset Wildlife Trust flagship project, Frome Headwaters. This project has a multi-beneficial focus including enhanced water quality monitoring, stakeholder engagement and project development and delivery with a focus on working with natural processes to reduce sediment input and improve habitat that will also reduce flood risk. The EA has previously funded projects on the River Hooke upstream of Maiden Newton and will continue to explore NFM options with partners and communities across the area.

What steps she is taking to integrate agricultural education into school curriculums.

Cooking and nutrition are mandatory in the design and technology curriculum for key stages 1 to 3. At GCSE, pupils can choose to study a food preparation and nutrition course. The subject content requires pupils to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of how foods are grown, reared or caught, and the primary and secondary stages of processing and production.In the citizenship curriculum, the non-statutory programmes of study at key stages 1 and 2 include content about what improves and harms local, natural and built environments and how people look after them. Pupils also consider social and moral dilemmas that they come across in everyday life, such as environmental issues.Oak National Academy’s (Oak) freely available curriculum resources explore agricultural education in a number of subject areas, including science, history and geography. New Oak science lessons for key stages 1 to 4, which will cover how humans can live sustainably to protect earth for a better future, are also being developed. These will refer to agricultural practices and their impact on the environment.The government has established an independent Curriculum and Assessment Review, covering ages 5 to 18, chaired by Professor Becky Francis CBE. The review seeks to deliver a curriculum that readies young people for life and work, building the knowledge, skills and attributes young people need to thrive.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department is taking steps to help encourage the adoption of forward contracts between dairy producers and processors.

Farmers should always receive a fair price for their products, and the Government is committed to tackling unfairness in the supply chain wherever it exists. Central to this is the Government’s commitment to improving contractual practices across the agriculture industry, using the Fair Dealings powers in the Agriculture Act 2020 to increase transparency and protect farmers from unfair practices. The Fair Dealing Obligations (Milk) Regulations 2024, which came into force last year, introduced key reforms. These include mandatory written contracts outlining key terms such as termination conditions and agreed supply volumes. They also require greater transparency in milk pricing and establish robust dispute resolution procedures, strengthening trust and cooperation between buyers and sellers. The regulations are enforced by the Agricultural Supply Chain Adjudicator, who can investigate complaints from farmers who believe they have not been provided with a contract that is compliant with the Regulations, on behalf of the Secretary of State. We will continue to monitor the dairy industry to ensure these reforms deliver their intended impact, including through a future review of the effectiveness of the dairy regulations.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has commissioned research into developing cereal crop varieties more resilient to prolonged periods of drought.

Defra’s flagship crop breeding programme, the crop Genetic Improvement Networks (GINs), funds research to develop crop varieties that are more productive; sustainable; and have greater resilience against a changing climate, including drought tolerance. The latest investment in this research programme - £15 million over 5 years - covers five crop types, including wheat. The GINs have already successfully identified genetic traits to improve resilience to climate change and common pests and diseases; and the programme is working closely with breeders to incorporate these traits into elite UK crop varieties. On 25 February the legislation needed to implement the Precision Breeding Act for plants in England was laid in Parliament and through a new Farming Innovation Programme thematic competition, we have announced £12.5 million to help deliver the practical benefits of precision breeding technology to farmers. This will help transform the plant breeding sector, including potentially supporting more drought resilient cereals.

What assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the Gravehawk air defence system recently supplied to Ukraine in countering Russian aerial threats.

Gravehawk is a bespoke air defence system rapidly developed for the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) and jointly funded by the United Kingdom and Denmark. Designed to be capable of engaging air threats in Ukraine, it was tested in the UK prior to transfer to Ukraine, proving basic operating capability.In Autumn 2024, two prototypes were handed over to the AFU and completed successful testing against representative targets, which confirmed full operating capability. The positive response from the AFU and their subsequent formal request for additional Gravehawk systems corroborated this assessment.We cannot comment on the operational employment of systems by the AFU.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of recent trends in veterinary service costs on farm veterinary insurance premiums over the last five years.

Insurance providers are private businesses and are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. We are therefore not able to provide further information on this matter.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of parking provisions in rural towns during peak tourist seasons.

Parking is the responsibility of local authorities, and it is for them to determine what is appropriate in their own area.To support this, the majority of funding in the Local Government Finance Settlement is un-ringfenced recognising that local leaders are best placed to identify local priorities.Where authorities raise income from parking services, which are often influenced by increased seasonal visitors, they are able to reinvest this in additional parking capacity as they see fit.

Communities and Local Government, what support she is providing to coastal communities to help improve parking facilities in areas with increasing domestic tourism.

Parking is the responsibility of local authorities, and it is for them to determine what is appropriate in their own area.To support this, the majority of funding in the Local Government Finance Settlement is un-ringfenced recognising that local leaders are best placed to identify local priorities.Where authorities raise income from parking services, which are often influenced by increased seasonal visitors, they are able to reinvest this in additional parking capacity as they see fit.

What assessment his Department has made of the availability of speech and language therapy services in rural areas.

It is the responsibility of integrated care boards to make available appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including speech and language therapy services in rural areas.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the reliability of smart meters on farms, in the context of their impact on the operation of automatic livestock feeders.

We are not aware of any particular problems with the reliability of smart meters on farms, nor of them impacting the operation of automatic livestock feeders. Any customer experiencing issues with their smart meter should contact their energy supplier for further guidance. Smart meters enable accurate billing by automatically recording consumers’ energy use in every half-hour period, allowing suppliers to bill based on consumers’ actual rather than estimated usage. They are replacing analogue gas and electricity meters as part of the national infrastructure upgrade needed to achieve the Government’s mission to build a flexible and decarbonised power system by 2030.

Food and Rural Affairs, what guidance his Department issues to farmers on steps to mitigate risks associated with smart meter failures.

We are not aware of any particular problems with the reliability of smart meters on farms, nor of them impacting the operation of automatic livestock feeders. Any customer experiencing issues with their smart meter should contact their energy supplier for further guidance. Smart meters enable accurate billing by automatically recording consumers’ energy use in every half-hour period, allowing suppliers to bill based on consumers’ actual rather than estimated usage. They are replacing analogue gas and electricity meters as part of the national infrastructure upgrade needed to achieve the Government’s mission to build a flexible and decarbonised power system by 2030.

What assessment his Department has made of the causes of reductions in the percentage of adults attending NHS dental appointments in West Dorset constituency.

The Government plans to tackle the challenges for patients trying to access National Health Service dental care with a rescue plan to provide 700,000 more urgent dental appointments and recruit new dentists to the areas that need them most. To rebuild dentistry in the long term and increase access to NHS dental care, we will reform the dental contract, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of NHS dentists.The responsibility for commissioning primary care services, including NHS dentistry, to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to the integrated care boards (ICBs) across England. For the West Dorset constituency, this is the NHS Dorset ICB.