Written questions by Naish.

What steps his Department is taking to help increase awareness of statutory parental leave entitlements among small and medium-sized enterprises in Nottinghamshire.

Guidance for businesses on supporting employee work-life balance through measures such as flexible working and parental leave can be found on gov.uk and the Help to Grow website. We are also publishing an SME Strategy Paper later this year, which will result in positive and practical support for SMEs across the UK. Paternity Leave and Parental Leave will become ‘day one’ rights through the Employment Rights Bill. We will continue to engage with business, including small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), as these changes are implemented, and through the Government’s Review of the parental leave system.

What recent assessment his Department has made of barriers to (a) flexible working and (b) statutory parental leave provision in SMEs; and whether his Department plans to bring forward (i) legislative proposals and (ii) guidance to help tackle these barriers.

Guidance for businesses on supporting employee work-life balance through measures such as flexible working and parental leave can be found on gov.uk and the Help to Grow website. We are also publishing an SME Strategy Paper later this year, which will result in positive and practical support for SMEs across the UK. Paternity Leave and Parental Leave will become ‘day one’ rights through the Employment Rights Bill. We will continue to engage with business, including small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), as these changes are implemented, and through the Government’s Review of the parental leave system.

Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to support creative exports through the UK–India Cultural Cooperation Agreement.

The Programme of Cultural Cooperation, which the Secretary of State signed with her Indian counterpart, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Minister of Culture last month, creates opportunities for the UK’s cultural sectors to reach a market of over 1.4 billion people. The agreement enables institutional level partnerships and reduces bureaucratic barriers, and will boost cultural exchange. In the context of India’s ambitious push to develop world-class institutions and facilities, this will create new opportunities for cultural exports.Together with the DCMS Creative Industries Sector Plan and our new Free Trade Agreement, the Cooperation Agreement will cement the UK’s position as a global creative powerhouse. It will grow the potential for UK Creative Industries to export and create jobs across the UK.

Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the UK–India Cultural Cooperation Agreement on economic growth in the UK.

The Programme of Cultural Cooperation, which the Secretary of State signed with her Indian counterpart, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Minister of Culture last month, creates opportunities for the UK’s cultural sectors to reach a market of over 1.4 billion people. The agreement enables institutional level partnerships and reduces bureaucratic barriers, and will boost cultural exchange. In the context of India’s ambitious push to develop world-class institutions and facilities, this will create new opportunities for cultural exports.Together with the DCMS Creative Industries Sector Plan and our new Free Trade Agreement, the Cooperation Agreement will cement the UK’s position as a global creative powerhouse. It will grow the potential for UK Creative Industries to export and create jobs across the UK.

What steps his Department is taking to ensure that (a) children with foetal valproate syndrome and (b) their families are represented in NHS reform.

The Government is committed to raising the healthiest generation of children ever. We are adopting a mission-based approach and will deliver this ambition through the Health and Opportunity Missions, and through the 10-Year Plan for the National Health Service.The Government is carefully considering the valuable work done by the Patient Safety Commissioner and the resulting Hughes Report, which set out options for redress for those harmed by valproate and pelvic mesh. This is a complex area of work, involving several Government departments, and it is important that we get this right. We will be providing an update to the Patient Safety Commissioner’s report at the earliest opportunity.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has considered introducing a farm business investment loan scheme with a subsidised interest rate; and if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of doing so on (a) resilience and (b) productivity in farming businesses facing (i) commercial and (ii) weather-related pressures.

Defra officials regularly engage with financial institutions providing farm lending, and we will continue to work to explore further opportunities to improve farmers' access to finance. This builds on the £110 million in farming grants announced earlier this year starting in 2025/6. These grants aim to support innovation and productivity investment within the farming sectors.

What assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of export opportunities for UK-produced yoghurt following the signing of recent trade agreements.

The Department for Business and Trade recognises the importance of supporting UK dairy exports, including yoghurt. DBT works closely with industry partners such as the Dairy Export Taskforce and the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board to unlock global opportunities.We have agreed with the EU to deliver a Sanitary and Phytosanitary agreement that will significantly reduce costs and paperwork for exporting dairy businesses. Under the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, tariffs on UK yoghurt and a broader range of dairy exports to Chile are reduced from 6% to 0%, enhancing competitiveness.DBT helps businesses benefit from Free Trade Agreements through tailored guidance, sector insights, and direct exporter engagement. The Dairy Export Programme provides targeted support via export promotion, market intelligence, and in-market expertise.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has made a recent assessment of the potential impact of climate-related events in 2023–24 on the financial resilience of farm businesses; and whether he plans to provide additional support to assist recovery.

We know climate change presents challenges to the agricultural sector. The government is offering a New Deal for Farmers to help address this. We are providing farmers and land managers with the support needed to help restore nature, which is vital to safeguard our long-term food security and build resilience to climate change. In the recent spending review we committed to carrying on the transition towards paying to deliver public goods for the environment, with over £7 billion directed into nature’s recovery between 2026 and 2029. This includes environmental farming schemes (£5.9 billion), tree planting (£816 million) and peatland restoration (£85 million). To address the impacts of flooding on farmers and rural communities, we will be investing £4.2 billion over three years in flood defences across the country – an average of £1.4bn each year and a 5% increase compared to the current spending review period.

What steps he is taking to help ensure equal geographic access to NHS hyperbaric chamber services.

NHS England is committed to ensuring equitably accessible, high-quality services, for anyone who requires hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT). This will be achieved through the commissioning of six geographically dispersed services across England. Three preferred providers have been identified to date, and a further procurement exercise will take place to identify the three remaining centres.The contract for HBOT services, also known as recompression, was reviewed in 2024, as existing contract terms expired. This included an update of the service specification using the published full methods process, and a public consultation on the proposal to reduce the number of commissioned providers in England from eight to six centres. Further information on the service specification, the published full methods process, and the consultation is available, respectively, at the following three links:https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Hyperbaric-oxygen-therapy-services-all-ages-Service-specification-January-2025.pdfhttps://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/methods-national-service-specifications/https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/reviewing-hyperbaric-oxygen-services-consultation-guide/#:~:text=Background-,Background,Manual%20of%20Prescribed%20Specialised%20ServicesThe updates to the specification seek to ensure timely access to treatment for the most acutely unwell patients with the specification requiring:the delivery of care that is integrated with other services, including the emergency department, critical care, and other healthcare professionals as required; andthat facilities should be capable of receiving patients in any diagnostic category who may require advanced life support either immediately or during HBOT.The geographical scope of the six services will ensure that there are no more than four hours travelling time by road from coastal locations, from the furthest borders, or between neighbouring commissioned HBOT centres, which is in line with good practice guidelines. The published Equality and Health Inequalities Impact Assessment sets out an evaluation, including access to services and where appropriate action was taken to ensure fair access to any patient who requires this service. Further information on the Equality and Health Inequalities Impact Assessment is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/2.1-Hyperbaric-oxygen-therapy-equality-and-health-inequalities-impact-assessment.pdf

What recent progress he has made in ensuring that all sub-postmasters impacted by failures in the Horizon IT system receive their full compensation; and what steps he is taking to address (a) delays and (b) discrepancies in payments under the (i) Historical Shortfall Scheme, (ii) Group Litigation Order Scheme and (iii) Overturned Historical Convictions Scheme.

As of 2 June 2025, £1,039 billion has been paid to over 7,300 claimants across the Horizon schemes. This represents a fourfold increase since July 2024, with more than 4,500 victims receiving compensation for the first time.Claims across schemes are assessed by applying the specific facts of the case to established legal principles and other factors which support reaching a fair outcome.We continue to seek the views of the Horizon Compensation Advisory Board to ensure fairness and consider ways we can speed up redress.We are taking a variety of measures to increase the pace of the delivery of redress across our schemes. For example, we recently announced that we are reintroducing facilitated discussions in the GLO scheme – as requested by claimants’ lawyers. This should provide significant help in increasing the pace at which challenges are resolved.

Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the shared rural network is fully implemented in the Rushcliffe district council area by the end of 2025.

According to the latest information published by Ofcom, outdoor 4G coverage in Rushcliffe, from all four operators currently stands at 99% and coverage from at least one mobile network operator is almost 100%. Consequently, there will not be any further coverage improvements from the Shared Rural Network in Rushcliffe.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of exempting agricultural development from Biodiversity Net Gain requirements.

We are currently consulting on improving the implementation of Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) for minor, medium and brownfield development. This includes a range of options looking at how threshold exemptions are used which will cover some agricultural developments.

Whether funding decisions through the National Wealth Fund consider food supply chain resilience.

The National Wealth Fund does not provide grant funding, it invests in capital intensive projects and companies by offering financing in the form of debt, equity and guarantees. The Statement of Strategic Priorities to the National Wealth Fund, issued by the Chancellor on 19 March 2025, sets out that the National Wealth Fund will prioritise investment into the Industrial Strategy sectors of clean energy, advanced manufacturing, digital and technologies, and transport, and support supply chain resilience across these priority sectors. The NWF remains flexible to invest in support of emerging government priorities and in response to changing market conditions.

Whether the Growth Mission Fund will include eligibility criteria for (a) rural job creation and (b) the farming supply chain.

The Growth Mission Fund will invest £240 million of capital from 2026/27 to 2029/30 in projects that enable local job creation and the economic regeneration of local communities. Further detail on this fund and the criteria that will be applied for project selection will be set out in due course.

Whether she plans to allocate rural crime teams in each police force.

This financial year the Home Office will be providing the first funding since 2023 for the National Rural Crime Unit (NRCU) as well as continuing funding for the National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU). The funding boost of over £800,000 will help the units tackle those crimes that predominantly affect our rural communities.The Government is committed to strong neighbourhood policing for everyone in England and Wales, wherever they live – including those in our rural communities. The Neighbourhood Policing Programme has been given £200m for 2025/2026. Individual forces will decide how best to spend their allocation of this funding to recruit a workforce mix tailored to suit their local context and operational needs, informed by a force-level understanding of these priorities and objectives.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of access to capital from the British Business Bank on rural businesses.

The British Business Bank’s programmes are designed to support businesses across the UK, including in rural areas, to access the finance they need to invest and thrive. Start Up Loans have been issued to new businesses in every UK parliamentary constituency, while the Nations and Regions Investment Funds provide debt and equity finance to businesses in both rural and urban areas outside London and the South East.ENABLE transactions with the likes of Oxbury Bank are helping more rural and agricultural businesses to access lending tailored to their needs.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the merits of taking steps to ensure that the National Planning Policy Framework 2024 gives greater weight to (a) food production and (b) agricultural infrastructure in planning decisions.

The government places great importance upon our agricultural land and food production.The National Planning Policy Framework is clear that planning policies and decisions should recognise the benefits of the Best and Most Versatile Agricultural Land (land in grades 1, 2 and 3a of the Agricultural Land Classification (ALC) system).Where significant development of agricultural land is demonstrated to be necessary, areas of poorer quality land should be preferred to those of a higher quality.Later this year, the Government will publish a Land Use Framework for England, which will set out the evidence, data and tools needed to support development that safeguards our most productive agricultural land.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has made a recent assessment of the potential impact of digital-only (a) services and (b) reporting requirements on farming businesses.

Defra seeks to introduce services that are digital by default which help users to succeed first time, and an assisted digital route is provided for those who are unable to complete a service online. This equally applies to reporting requirements on farming businesses, the main requirement being the Annual Survey of Agriculture and Horticulture which is digital by default but also available as a paper survey form.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has had discussions with the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government on issuing guidance to local planning authorities on giving further weight to food production in rural planning decisions.

The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) safeguards the best and most versatile agricultural land. Where significant development of agricultural land is demonstrated to be necessary, areas of poorer quality land should be preferred to those of higher quality. Defra is working with MHCLG on policy and guidance to ensure that planning decisions made by local planning authorities are informed by the impacts on food production. Later this year, the Government will publish a Land Use Framework for England, which will set out the evidence, data and tools needed to support development that safeguards our most productive agricultural land.

Innovation and Technology, whether his Department plans to offer (a) rural and (b) agriculture-specific digital skills training as part of its national digital inclusion initiatives.

The Government published its Digital Inclusion Action Plan in February 2025, which outlines the first five actions we are taking over the next year to boost digital inclusion in every corner of the UK, including rural areas.These will be targeted at local initiatives for boosting digital skills and confidence, widening access to devices and connectivity, and getting support to people in their own communities so everyone can reap the benefits of technology. This includes supporting digital upskilling, and enhancing support for the Essential Digital Skills framework, which supports businesses and individuals to get the digital skills they need.