Written questions by Mierlo.

Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of the implementation of crayfish barriers in (a) brooks and (b) streams to help prevent the non-anthropogenic spread of established invasive crayfish populations.

The use of barriers as a strategic means of managing crayfish spread is currently not promoted by the Environment Agency (EA). This is because such barriers also impact migratory fish and macroinvertebrates. As part of Government efforts to prevent the spread of Signal Crayfish, they are listed as a ‘Species of Special Concern’ and is subject to the Invasive Alien Species (Enforcement and Permitting) Order 2019. This means that live specimens cannot be brought into Great Britain, kept, bred, transported, sold, used or exchanged, allowed to reproduce, grown or cultivated, or released into the environment.

What steps her Department is taking to assess the environmental impact of a weight limit on Volumetric Concrete Mobile plants by 2028.

My Department engaged with hon. Members and industry stakeholders through correspondence prior to the announcement. Additionally, industry and interested parties were given the opportunity to present views and evidence on this topic as part of the Call for Evidence between October and December 2023.The call for evidence sought views on three potential options on weight limits for Volumetric Concrete Mixers (VCMs). The following factors were considered: reduction in payload per journey, increased waste, and increased vehicle mileage. Information received did not provide any compelling evidence for permitting a weight limit exemption specifically for VCMs. As part of its consideration of the evidence, the Department for Transport has assessed the potential environmental impacts in accordance with the Environment Act 2021 which requires Ministers of the Crown to have ‘due regard’ to the environmental principles policy statement when making policy.Current exemptions to weight limits for VCMs will expire in 2028. This policy is being maintained.

Innovation and Technology, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of funding to support the growth of innovative UK businesses.

Supporting innovative businesses is a key objective of the government’s growth mission. My department regularly engages with business organisations to understand the needs of their members, and significant support is available through Innovate UK. Over the last six months, Innovate UK has launched £276m of competitions, and annually it supports over 10,000 businesses on their innovation journey. This is in addition to significant work underway to increase the availability of growth capital, which includes increasing the National Wealth Fund’s capitalisation to £27.8bn, reforms to the British Business Bank, and new pension reforms aimed at unlocking £80 billion of investment.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the amount of funding that farmers receive for school (a) visits and (b) education.

Educational access features as part of the wider Environmental Land Management (ELM) schemes. The Farming in Protected Landscapes programme (FiPL) provides grant funding for farmers and land managers to work in partnership with National Parks and National Landscape bodies in England to deliver projects achieving positive outcomes for climate, nature, people, and place. Between July 2021 and March 2024, the programme delivered over 3,400 educational access visits and engaged over 600 schools to create more opportunities for diverse audiences to explore, enjoy and understand farming in these unique landscapes.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of changes to (a) Agricultural Property Relief, (b) Sustainable Farming Incentive and (c) other financial subsidies on the mental health of farmers.

This Government is committed to supporting the mental health of those working in farming and agriculture. 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 in a fair way. With the reforms, those assets will be taxed at a much lower effective rate than most other assets. Despite a tough fiscal context, the Government will maintain very significant levels of relief from inheritance tax beyond what is available to others and compared to the position before 1992. The Government continues to fund the Farmer Welfare Grant. This currently funds three charities to deliver projects which support mental health and build resilience in local farming communities.

When he plans to publish the report on economic review into community pharmacy.

NHS England commissioned Frontier Economics to undertake an independent economic analysis of National Health Service pharmacy funding in 2024. This work is now complete and was published on 28 March 2025 on Frontier Economics’ website.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward regulations on the composition of bread marketed as sourdough.

The Government has no current plans to introduce regulations to specifically cover the composition of ‘sourdough bread’. The UK maintains high food standards including on requirements relating to food labelling and information. Existing legislation ensures the labelling and marketing of food, including sourdough products, does not intentionally mislead consumers.

What steps he is taking to ensure sufficient energy supply to meet demand in the next 10 years.

Great Britain is expected to have sufficient supplies of electricity and gas to meet consumers’ demands over the short and long-term (Statutory Security of Supply Report 2024). The government’s mission is to secure our energy supply with home-grown, clean power – and we have set out the steps to achieve this in the Clean Power 2030 Action Plan. These include: cleaning up a dysfunctional grid system by prioritising the most important projects; speeding up decisions on planning permission by empowering planners to prioritise critical energy infrastructure; and expanding the renewable auction process to stop delays and get more projects connected.

What assessment she has made of the potential merits of extending the Household Support Fund after March 2026.

This Government is committed to a sustainable, long-term approach to drive up opportunity and drive down poverty across the UK. That is why we are providing £742 million in England to extend the Household Support Fund by a further year, from 1 April 2025 until 31 March 2026. This will enable Local Authorities to continue to provide vulnerable households with immediate crisis support towards the cost of essentials, and develop their schemes to help prevent poverty locally and build local resilience. However, no decision has been made at this stage on funding beyond the end of March 2026. As with all other government programmes, any such funding will be considered in the round at Phase 2 of the Spending Review.

What steps he is taking to support British bakeries.

We intend to introduce permanently lower tax rates for retail, hospitality, and leisure properties from 2026 - 27. Ahead of these changes being made, we have extended retail, hospitality, and leisure relief for one year at 40 per cent up to a cash cap of £110,000 per business and frozen the small business multiplier.The Government will protect the smallest businesses by increasing the Employment Allowance to £10,500. This means that 865,000 employers will pay no National Insurance Contributions at all. We are also working with businesses to understand their barriers to growth and High Streets will be a key pillar of our forthcoming Small Business Strategy.

Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 26 March 2025 to Question 40119 on Members: Correspondence, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of a reduction in access to UK’s National Trails on the work of (a) VisitBritain and (b) VisitEngland.

DCMS has not specifically undertaken a formal assessment of the impact of any potential reduction in access to the UK’s National Trails on the work of VisitBritain or VisitEngland.However, we recognise that access to National Trails plays a role in supporting rural tourism and promoting the natural and cultural assets of England, which are central to the work of VisitEngland. VisitBritain also promotes outdoor and nature-based tourism as part of its international marketing activity to showcase the UK’s diverse visitor offer.While responsibility for public access and National Trails policy rests with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), DCMS continues to work closely with Local Visitor Economy Partnerships, including Experience Oxfordshire, to ensure England’s natural landscapes can support the growth of a sustainable and resilient visitor economy.

How much funding was allocated to dementia research by (a) the National Institute for Health and Care Research, (b) UK Research and Innovation and (c) other public bodies in each of the last five years.

The Government’s responsibility for delivering dementia research is shared between the Department of Health and Social Care, with research delivered via the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, with research delivered via UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).The following table shows NIHR and UKRI spend data for dementia research across five financial years, from 2019/20 to 2023/24:YearNIHRUKRITotal2019/20£29,000,000£56,600,000£85,600,0002020/21£21,900,000£63,700,000£85,600,0002021/22£30,300,000£56,000,000£86,300,0002022/23£35,100,000£64,800,000£99,900,0002023/24£42,800,000£96,300,000£139,000,000Total£159,100,000£337,400,000£496,400,000 Spend for dementia research is calculated retrospectively, with a time lag due to annual reporting cycles, therefore 2023/24 is the most recent year for which we have data. The Department does not centrally hold data on dementia research funding from other public bodies.The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health and care, including dementia. These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money, and scientific quality. All NIHR programmes welcoming applications on dementia enables maximum flexibility both in terms of the amount of research funding a particular area can be awarded, and the type of research which can be funded.

How many phase (a) one, (b) two and (c) three dementia clinical trials there have been in the UK in each of the last ten years; and how many participants were recruited for each of those trials.

The Department delivers dementia research via the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The Department does not hold information centrally on clinical trials hosted in Wales and Scotland. The Department is therefore unable to provide how many phase one, phase two, and phase three clinical trials for dementia have taken place in Wales and Scotland in each of the last 10 years.The following table shows the number of phase one, two, and three trials in England for dementia, supported by the NIHR Research Delivery Network, from 2014/15 to 2023/24:YearPhase 1Phase 2Phase 32014/15-12172015/16115182016/17-12242017/18114262018/19112182019/2021362020/211882021/22213112022/23411112023/244139In addition, the following table shows the number of participants recruited into phase one, two, and three trials in England for dementia, supported by the NIHR Research Delivery Network, from 2014/15 to 2023/24:YearPhase 1Phase 2Phase 32014/15-7556632015/16108431,1652016/17-4646252017/1834154712018/19125777,4732019/2046004402020/21248462021/22635612022/23468752023/2415123190Note: studies are sometimes conducted across multiple phases, for example a study may cross phase one/two or phase two/three. Therefore, figures cannot be totalled.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of Macquarie Bank’s involvement in UK infrastructure development; and what steps she plans to take to ensure the stability and sustainability of essential services.

The government is committed to delivering a cross-cutting 10 Year Strategy for the UK’s social, economic and housing infrastructure to support a flourishing modern economy, drive growth, deliver net zero and support improved public services. The government has been engaging openly with industry as it develops this Strategy to ensure that it is credible and deliverable.

If he will make an assessment of the potential impact of closing NHS England on the (a) timeline for the production of the NHS 10-year plan and (b) publication date of that plan.

We do not envisage that the changes set out by the Prime Minister on 13 March 2025 will affect the publication of the 10 Year Plan. We still intend to publish the plan later in the spring.The changes will set the National Health Service up to deliver on the three big shifts needed to make the service fit for the future, from hospital to community, from analogue to digital, and from sickness to prevention.

If he will consider the final costs and benefits statement for programmes delivered under the National Programme of Technology, published on 6 June 2013, in his plans for (a) an NHS Federated Data Platform and (b) a single patient record.

We are keen to draw on the lessons from the National Programme for IT in delivering the Federated Data Platform and the single patient record.NHS England publishes information each quarter on the benefits being realised by the Federated Data Platform, with further information available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/digitaltechnology/nhs-federated-data-platform/solution-exchange/fdp-uptake-and-benefits/

If her Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of exempting (a) GP surgeries, (b) social care providers, (c) hospices, (d) NHS dentists, (e) charitable providers, and (f) pharmacies from the increase in employer's National Insurance contributions.

The Government has taken a number of difficult but necessary decisions on tax, welfare, and spending to fix the public finances, fund public services, and restore economic stability after the situation we inherited from the previous administration. The Government will provide support for departments and other public sector employers for additional employer National Insurance costs only. This does not include support for the private sector, including private sector firms contracted by central or local government.This is the usual approach Government takes to supporting the public sector with additional employer NICs costs, as was the case with the previous government’s Health and Social Care Levy. As a result of this measure, along with others announced at Budget, the NHS will receive an extra £22.6 billion increase in resource spending which will benefit employers.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to mark the 30th anniversary of the Thames Path National Trail; and what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the closure of the trail at Marsh Lock Horsebridge on the (i) anniversary and (ii) tourism to the Henley and Thame constituency.

There will be a programme of events in the summer of 2026 celebrating the history and importance of the Thames Path National Trail. The Environment Agency recognises the importance of Marsh Horse Bridge to the community within the Henley & Thame constituency and the role it plays supporting tourism along the Thames Path National Trail. The Health, Safety, and Wellbeing of river users is the Environment Agency’s foremost consideration. The current condition of the bridge is such that closure was the only option to keep people safe. The Environment Agency is in regular contact with National Trails, to ensure it has the latest information on the bridge closure. It has published details of a diversion route on their website to ensure progress along the trail is not significantly hampered by the bridge closure.

Whether his Department has plans to link pharmacy funding to inflation and National Living Wage increases.

We have taken the necessary decisions to fix the foundations in the public finances at the Autumn Budget, and this enabled the Spending Review settlement of a £22.6 billion increase in resource spending for the Department from 2023/24 outturn to 2025/26.The Department has considered the increases in the National Living Wage when consulting on the funding arrangements for community pharmacy. We have now agreed with Community Pharmacy England to increase the community pharmacy contractual framework to £3.073 billion from April 2025. This deal represents the largest uplift in funding of any part of the National Health Service, at over 19% across 2024/25 and 2025/26. This shows a first step in delivering stability for the future and a commitment to rebuilding the sector.

If he will made an assessment of the potential merits of increasing the length of funding periods of pharmacies.

We have now concluded the consultation on funding for 2024/25 and 2025/26, and have agreed with Community Pharmacy England to increase the community pharmacy contractual framework to £3.073 billion. This deal represents the largest uplift in funding of any part of the National Health Service, at over 19% across 2024/25 and 2025/26. This shows a first step in delivering stability for the future and a commitment to rebuilding the sector.Government spending is normally agreed through spending reviews, and we are currently planning the Spending Review which will cover budgets beyond 2025/26.We agree that funding agreements that cover multiple years can bring certainty for contractors and support investment decisions, but it is also difficult to flex such agreements to take into account unforeseen events, as demonstrated in the last five-year deal for pharmacy.