Written questions by Milne.

Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of agri-environment agreements that are due to expire in 2025 without being replaced on her environmental targets.

Defra are offering a one-year extension to more than 5,000 farmers whose Countryside Stewardship Mid-Tier (CS MT) agreements are due to expire on 31 December this year. This targeted, time-limited extension is being offered, whilst we develop the reformed Sustainable Farming Incentive for 2026, and refresh the Environmental Improvement Plan and roll out the new Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier. The one-off investment of £70m (from within existing budgets) will allow farmers to continue their vital role in sustainable food production and nature’s recovery. Ministers will now review plans for the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI), to ensure the available funding is distributed more efficiently and more fairly.

Food and Rural Affairs, how much and what proportion of her Department's agricultural budget for the 2026-27 financial year will be spent on existing multi-year agri-environment agreements.

We are investing £2.7 billion a year into sustainable food production and nature's recovery. Overall, farmers and land managers will benefit from an average of £2.3 billion a year through the Farming and Countryside Programme. And up to £400 million from additional nature schemes, including those for tree planting and peatland restorations. Funding for the Environmental Land Management schemes paid to farmers, which includes multi-annual agri-environment agreements, will increase by 150% from £800 billion in 2023/24 to £2 billion by 2028/29. Defra manages the farming budget flexibly. To respond to demand and achieve our intended outcomes for farm productivity, environment, climate and animal health and welfare. In line with its obligations under the Agriculture Act 2020, Defra regularly publishes an annual report, setting out commitments in the previous financial year, including FCP spend broken down by each scheme.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has had recent discussions with relevant stakeholders on the potential merits of implementing a one-year rollover for agri-environment agreements that are due to expire in 2025.

Defra are offering a one-year extension to more than 5,000 farmers whose Countryside Stewardship Mid-Tier (CS MT) agreements are due to expire on 31 December this year. This targeted, time-limited extension is being offered, whilst we develop the reformed Sustainable Farming Incentive for 2026, and refresh the Environmental Improvement Plan and roll out the new Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier. The one-off investment of £70m (from within existing budgets) will allow farmers to continue their vital role in sustainable food production and nature’s recovery. Ministers will now review plans for the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI), to ensure the available funding is distributed more efficiently and more fairly.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Rural Payments Agency plans to take to help support people with expiring agri-environment agreements to enter new agreements.

Defra are offering a one-year extension to more than 5,000 farmers whose Countryside Stewardship Mid-Tier (CS MT) agreements are due to expire on 31 December this year. This targeted, time-limited extension is being offered, whilst we develop the reformed Sustainable Farming Incentive for 2026, and refresh the Environmental Improvement Plan and roll out the new Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier. The one-off investment of £70m (from within existing budgets) will allow farmers to continue their vital role in sustainable food production and nature’s recovery. Ministers will now review plans for the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI), to ensure the available funding is distributed more efficiently and more fairly.

What assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the British Business Bank’s Growth Guarantee Scheme.

The Growth Guarantee Scheme (GGS) opened for applications in July 2024, replacing the Recovery Loan Scheme, and has recently been extended until 31 March 2029. Evaluations for GGS are currently being procured and will commence in 2026/27. As of June 2025, GGS had supported a total of 16,082 facilities, driving the sustainability and growth of smaller businesses across the UK. The status of these facilities is summarised in the table below. StatusNumber of facilities% of facilitiesOn Schedule13,91286.51%Arrears3682.29%Defaulted2591.61%Claimed1510.94%Settled4812.99%Fully Repaid9115.66%Total16,082100.00%

If he will take steps to include people with lived experience of (a) fluctuating conditions, (b) invisible symptoms and (c) challenges with mobility in the membership of the core group overseeing the Timms Review.

The Timms Review will be co-produced with disabled people, the organisations that represent them and other experts to ensure that expertise from a wide range of perspectives is drawn upon. This means the Government will share ownership and responsibility for how the Review runs and what it recommends. We are currently working through how to best co-produce the Review, taking into account the feedback from extensive stakeholder engagement over the summer. I anticipate it will be led by a core leadership group of around a dozen people, the majority of whom will be disabled people. Through co-production, it will be for this core leadership group – building from the Terms of Reference – to set the Review’s strategic direction, priorities and workplan. The Review will invite input from a wide range of perspectives. I will share more details about our approach to the Review, and recruitment of its leadership group, shortly.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department plans to provide funding to help support people with expiring agri-environment agreements to enter new agreements.

Defra are offering a one-year extension to more than 5,000 farmers whose Countryside Stewardship Mid-Tier (CS MT) agreements are due to expire on 31 December this year. This targeted, time-limited extension is being offered, whilst we develop the reformed Sustainable Farming Incentive for 2026, and refresh the Environmental Improvement Plan and roll out the new Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier. The one-off investment of £70m (from within existing budgets) will allow farmers to continue their vital role in sustainable food production and nature’s recovery. Ministers will now review plans for the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI), to ensure the available funding is distributed more efficiently and more fairly.

What assessment they have made of the effectiveness of the Growth Guarantee Scheme in providing loans to small and medium-sized enterprises on terms more favourable than those available commercially.

The Growth Guarantee Scheme (GGS) opened for applications in July 2024, replacing the Recovery Loan Scheme, and has recently been extended until 31 March 2029. Evaluations for GGS are currently being procured and will commence in 2026/27. As of June 2025, GGS had supported a total of 16,082 facilities, driving the sustainability and growth of smaller businesses across the UK. The status of these facilities is summarised in the table below. StatusNumber of facilities% of facilitiesOn Schedule13,91286.51%Arrears3682.29%Defaulted2591.61%Claimed1510.94%Settled4812.99%Fully Repaid9115.66%Total16,082100.00%

If he will take steps to ensure that the Timms Review includes workstreams on the potential impact of (a) illness fluctuations, (b) invisible symptoms and (c) mobility on the PIP assessment process.

The Timms Review will be co-produced with disabled people, the organisations that represent them and other experts to ensure that expertise from a wide range of perspectives is drawn upon. This means the Government will share ownership and responsibility for how the Review runs and what it recommends. We are currently working through how to best co-produce the Review, taking into account the feedback from extensive stakeholder engagement over the summer. I anticipate it will be led by a core leadership group of around a dozen people, the majority of whom will be disabled people. Through co-production, it will be for this core leadership group – building from the Terms of Reference – to set the Review’s strategic direction, priorities and workplan. The Review will invite input from a wide range of perspectives. I will share more details about our approach to the Review, and recruitment of its leadership group, shortly.

Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of agri-environment agreements that are due to expire in 2025 without being replaced on farm business cashflow.

Defra are offering a one-year extension to more than 5,000 farmers whose Countryside Stewardship Mid-Tier (CS MT) agreements are due to expire on 31 December this year. This targeted, time-limited extension is being offered, whilst we develop the reformed Sustainable Farming Incentive for 2026, and refresh the Environmental Improvement Plan and roll out the new Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier. The one-off investment of £70m (from within existing budgets) will allow farmers to continue their vital role in sustainable food production and nature’s recovery. Ministers will now review plans for the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI), to ensure the available funding is distributed more efficiently and more fairly.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to help support the holders of agri-environment agreements that expire in 2025 to access new agreements.

Defra are offering a one-year extension to more than 5,000 farmers whose Countryside Stewardship Mid-Tier (CS MT) agreements are due to expire on 31 December this year. This targeted, time-limited extension is being offered, whilst we develop the reformed Sustainable Farming Incentive for 2026, and refresh the Environmental Improvement Plan and roll out the new Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier. The one-off investment of £70m (from within existing budgets) will allow farmers to continue their vital role in sustainable food production and nature’s recovery. Ministers will now review plans for the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI), to ensure the available funding is distributed more efficiently and more fairly.

What assessment she has made on the potential impact of extending the Armed Forces Covenant Duty across her Departmental responsibilities.

I refer the hon. Member for Horsham to the answer of 8 September 2025 to Question 73095.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made on the potential impact of extending the Armed Forces Covenant Duty across his Departmental responsibilities.

Local authorities are already bound by this duty when they discharge their housing and homelessness duties, and independent Returning Officers and Electoral Registration Officers support service personnel and their families to register and to vote. Extending the legal duty of the Armed Forces Covenant to MHCLG would therefore align with my department’s existing policies.A detailed assessment can be found in our response to the Defence Committee in April, available at: committees.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/142062/default/.

What estimate his Department made of the level of imported emissions from liquefied natural gas for carbon capture, usage and storage in the policy paper entitled Clean Energy Industries Sector Plan, published on 23 June 2025.

Natural gas is used as an input for Power CCUS and CCUS-enabled hydrogen production. However, the Clean Energy Industries Sector Plan (23 June 2025) did not include a specific estimate of imported LNG emissions for CCUS. We are clear that future emissions from the production of natural gas will need to reduce in the UK and across the world and we are working with the US, EU and others to develop a framework to better measure, monitor, and report methane emissions from imported gas.

With reference to page 392 of the report by the Climate Change Committee entitled The Seventh Carbon Budget, published on 26 February 2025, if he will take steps to (a) identify priority sources of imported emissions and (b) define a benchmark for reducing emissions imported into the UK.

The Climate Change Committee’s (CCC) recommendations are independent advice, not government policy. The Government is considering the CCC’s advice and will set the CB7 level by 30th June 2026. Alongside reporting the UK’s territorial emissions, the Government publishes UK carbon footprint statistics, which includes imported emissions. In July 2025, we announced the Production and Consumption Transformation (PACT) Centre. PACT will conduct independent world class research to expand the evidence base on production and consumption, providing actionable insights on energy and material efficiency solutions, including assessing imported emissions. This will support effective analysis and policy making in this field.

What steps his Department is undertaking to tackle imported emissions in the supply chain of liquefied natural gas.

Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) provides the UK with a flexible source of gas supply to meet gas demand – helping respond when demand peaks, for example over winter when gas demand rises for home heating. However, we are aware of the emissions associated with its use and we are working with international partners to explore ways to minimise methane and CO2 emissions across the LNG supply chain. This includes considering enhanced measuring, monitoring, reporting and verification of emissions to improve accountability and progress toward lower-emission LNG production and transport.

Communities and Local Government, what recent discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on ensuring that (a) new and (b) existing housing developments have adequate access to (i) GP surgeries and (ii) other healthcare infrastructure.

The National Planning Policy Framework sets out that the purpose of the planning system is to contribute to the achievement of sustainable development, including the provision of supporting infrastructure in a sustainable manner. Local development plans should address needs and opportunities in relation to infrastructure and identify what infrastructure is required and how it can be funded and brought forward. When preparing a Local Plan, Planning Practice Guidance recommends that local planning authorities use available evidence of infrastructure requirements to prepare an Infrastructure Funding Statement. Such Statements can be used to demonstrate the delivery of infrastructure throughout the plan-period. The government provides financial support for essential infrastructure in areas of greatest housing demand through Land and Infrastructure funding programmes, such as the Housing Infrastructure Fund. The revised National Planning Policy Framework published on 12 December 2024 will also support the increased provision and modernisation of various types of public infrastructure. The government is also committed to strengthening the existing system of developer contributions to ensure new developments provide necessary affordable homes and infrastructure. Further details will be set out in due course. Our Planning and Infrastructure Bill includes various provisions designed to streamline the delivery of new homes and critical infrastructure. My Department engages on a regular and ongoing basis with other government departments to ensure that the planning system supports the provision of necessary infrastructure, including in respect of healthcare and education, alongside new housing development.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the policy paper entitled UK Infrastructure: A 10 Year Strategy, published on 19 June 2025, what steps she is taking to help ensure that all new housing developments have access to (a) GP surgeries and (b) other essential local services.

The National Planning Policy Framework sets out that the purpose of the planning system is to contribute to the achievement of sustainable development, including the provision of supporting infrastructure in a sustainable manner. Local development plans should address needs and opportunities in relation to infrastructure and identify what infrastructure is required and how it can be funded and brought forward. When preparing a Local Plan, Planning Practice Guidance recommends that local planning authorities use available evidence of infrastructure requirements to prepare an Infrastructure Funding Statement. Such Statements can be used to demonstrate the delivery of infrastructure throughout the plan-period. The government provides financial support for essential infrastructure in areas of greatest housing demand through Land and Infrastructure funding programmes, such as the Housing Infrastructure Fund. The revised National Planning Policy Framework published on 12 December 2024 will also support the increased provision and modernisation of various types of public infrastructure. The government is also committed to strengthening the existing system of developer contributions to ensure new developments provide necessary affordable homes and infrastructure. Further details will be set out in due course. Our Planning and Infrastructure Bill includes various provisions designed to streamline the delivery of new homes and critical infrastructure. My Department engages on a regular and ongoing basis with other government departments to ensure that the planning system supports the provision of necessary infrastructure, including in respect of healthcare and education, alongside new housing development.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 14 July 2025 to Question 65505 on Housing: Construction, what her planned timetable is for improving the system of developer contributions.

The government has already taken important steps to strengthen the system of developer contributions. This includes the introduction of new ‘Golden Rules’ for major development involving the provision of housing on land within or released from the Green Belt, and other changes to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) published in December 2024 which will support the increased provision of affordable housing and infrastructure. The government is taking further action by giving all mayors of strategic authorities the power to raise a Mayoral Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) through the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill. We have also committed to updating the planning practice guidance on viability to ensure that the system works to optimise developer contributions, allowing negotiation only where genuinely necessary. Details of any further changes to strengthen the system of developer contributions will be set out in due course.

Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to increase the role of health commissioners in the planning system.

Health commissioners already have opportunities to engage in the planning system through consultations on Local Plans and planning applications. They are expected to advise on how developments may impact health services and to support the planning and delivery of appropriate infrastructure. While their role is not statutory, many local authorities have adopted protocols to formalise engagement with health commissioners, reflecting a broader shift toward place-based planning and integrated service delivery. We have no current plans to change these arrangements or to increase their formal role in the planning system.