Written questions by Hudson.

Whether protocols are in place to ensure that victims of crimes are contacted if the perpetrator is mistakenly released from prison.

The HMPPS Victim Contact Scheme is a service for the victims of offenders who are convicted of a specified violent, sexual or terrorism offence and are sentenced to twelve months’ or more imprisonment. Victims who decide to receive the service are allocated a Victim Liaison Officer who will keep the victim updated on key stages throughout the sentence, including if the offender is released from prison in error and when the offender is returned to custody. In emergency situations, the Police may contact the victim directly.Through the Victim and Courts Bill, we will be updating the legislative framework that establishes the Victim Contact Scheme to bring victims currently served by different post-conviction communication schemes into the Victim Contact Scheme and provide a new route for other victims to request information via a dedicated helpline.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to increase public awareness of the steps people whose homes are at risk of flooding should take to help mitigate that risk.

We welcome the publication of the Environmental Audit Committee's ‘Flood resilience in England’ report on 13 October. The department is considering its recommendations, including a national audit of flood resilience assets and on increasing public awareness of both flood risk and public bodies’ statutory duties.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department has made an assessment of the effectiveness of the (a) Property Flood Resilience Scheme and (b) Flood Re in supporting people affected by flooding.

From April 2024 to March 2025, around 350 properties were better protected by Property Flood Resilience measures under the Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management Investment Programme. Flood Re supported over 346,000 household policies in 2024/25, with 650,000 properties benefitting since launch. Flood Re’s second Quinquennial Review, published July 2024, recommends measures to improve efficiency and support transition to a risk-reflective insurance market by 2039. These will be considered by the Secretary of State. Last month, I met senior insurance leaders to explore industry support for customers, ensuring access to affordable coverage and fair claims, especially for households at high flood risk.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of commissioning a national audit of flood resilience assets.

We welcome the publication of the Environmental Audit Committee's ‘Flood resilience in England’ report on 13 October. The department is considering its recommendations, including a national audit of flood resilience assets and on increasing public awareness of both flood risk and public bodies’ statutory duties.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of creating a statutory duty for fire and rescue services to respond to flooding.

The Government is currently assessing the basis for a statutory duty for Fire and Rescue Services (FRS) in England to respond to flooding. This includes consideration of dedicated funding for training, equipment, and operational planning.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to increase public awareness of the statutory duties of public bodies with relation to flooding.

We welcome the publication of the Environmental Audit Committee's ‘Flood resilience in England’ report on 13 October. The department is considering its recommendations, including a national audit of flood resilience assets and on increasing public awareness of both flood risk and public bodies’ statutory duties.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of establishing national taskforce to tackle illegal imports of (a) meat and (b) animal products.

Defra is considering this recommendation in the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee’s report on meat smuggling.

Food and Rural Affairs, how many (a) fines and (b) prosecutions have resulted from the illegal importation of products of animal origin in each of the last three years.

Defra does not hold this information.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of auto-clearance of goods on the enforcement of biosecurity controls.

Border checks undertaken by competent authorities are an important element of the system designed to manage biosecurity risks. The SPS controls at the border on EU goods implemented under the Border Target Operating Model provide assurance that the underlying systems of controls are working as intended. This includes import conditions, certification signed by veterinarian and plant authorities in exporting countries, risk assessments, border checks, and other intelligence led controls. Auto-clearance applies to goods that fall into lower-risk categories established under the BTOM’s risk-based approach, ensuring that its impact on the enforcement of biosecurity controls is minimal while supporting the flow of goods.

Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of implementing the model of improving public awareness of the rules on importing products of animal origin that is used in Australia.

Defra is mindful of international examples, such as models used in Australia, when considering approaches for improving public awareness of rules for importing products of animal origin. Defra has worked in partnership with other government departments, ports, airports and international travel operators to improve public awareness of the rules. Defra has issued public communications about the rules via press release, social media and GOV.UK, and published posters for operational partners to display.

Whether Border Force publishes quarterly data on seizures of products of animal origin.

The Home Office does not publish quarterly transparency data on seizures of products of animal origin (POAO).

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to improve public awareness of the rules on importing products of animal origin; and whether she has made an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of the models used in New Zealand.

Defra is mindful of international examples, such as models used in New Zealand, when considering approaches for improving public awareness of rules for importing products of animal origin. Defra has worked in partnership with other Government departments, ports, airports and international travel operators to improve public awareness of the rules. Defra has issued public communications about the rules via press release, social media and GOV.UK, and published posters for operational partners to display.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department plans to provide Port Health Authorities with statutory powers to (a) stop, (b) search and (c) seize illegal meat imports.

The Trade in Animals and Related Products Regulations 2011 already give port health authorities in England, search and seize powers in relation to animal products. Defra is considering the recommendations in this area in the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee’s report on meat smuggling and will respond shortly.

What discussions she has had with the (a) Mayor of London and (b) British Transport Police on reducing the theft of mobile phone thefts on the London Underground.

The Home Secretary and Policing Minister are determined to take the strongest possible action to reduce the number of phone thefts in London and elsewhere across the country.This is a crime that causes significant distress to victims and fuels wider criminality. That’s why we are driving greater collaboration between policing leaders, the Metropolitan Police, National Crime Agency, the Mayor of London, British Transport Police, leading tech companies and others to break the business model of mobile phone thieves.All stakeholders must play their part in designing out and disincentivising theft, disrupting the resale of stolen phones, exploring technological solutions to make devices harder to re-register or resell, and helping the public protect themselves and the data and personal information on their devices.

Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 10 June 2025 to Question 57744 on Meat: Smuggling, how much illegally imported meat has been seized under Defra's African Swine Fever Programme since 19 April 2025.

We do not hold assured data on the amount of illegally imported meat seized under Defra's African Swine Fever Programme.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the proposed UK/EU sanitary and phytosanitary agreement on the implementation of the Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Act 2023.

We remain committed to moving forward with the Precision Breeding Act. The EU has accepted there will need to be a number of areas where we need to retain our own rules. The details of these are now subject to negotiation, but we have been clear about the importance of being able to support the use of new and innovative technologies.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the UK-EU sanitary and phytosanitary agreement on animal welfare standards in the UK.

It is too soon to discuss the details of the SPS agreement, which is subject to negotiation. We have been clear with the EU about the importance of establishing arrangements which enable us to maintain high animal welfare standards.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of potential sanitary and phytosanitary alignment with the EU on the UK's ability to (a) implement and (b) maintain a ban on the export of live animals for slaughter or fattening.

It is too soon to discuss the details of the SPS agreement, which is subject to negotiation. We have been clear with the EU about the importance of establishing arrangements which enable us to maintain high animal welfare standards.

What steps he is taking to help ensure that hospice contracts adequately reflect the (a) cost of the services they provide and (b) needs of their local populations.

Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for the commissioning of palliative care and end of life care services, to meet the needs of their local populations. To support ICBs in this duty, NHS England has published statutory guidance and service specifications. NHS England has developed a palliative care and end of life care dashboard, which brings together all relevant local data in one place. The dashboard helps commissioners understand the palliative care and end of life care needs of their local population.Whilst the majority of palliative care and end of life care is provided by National Health Service staff and services, we recognise the vital part that voluntary sector organisations, including hospices, also play in providing support to people at the end of life and their loved ones.Most hospices are charitable, independent organisations which receive some statutory funding for providing NHS services. The amount of funding each charitable hospice receives varies both within and between ICB areas. This will vary depending on the demand in that ICB area but will also be dependent on the totality and type of palliative and end of life care provision from both NHS and non-NHS services, including charitable hospices, within each ICB area.The Government and the NHS will closely monitor the shift towards the strategic commissioning of palliative care and end of life care services to ensure that services reduce variation in access and quality, although some variation may be appropriate to reflect both innovation and the needs of local populations. The Department and NHS England are currently looking at how to improve the access, quality, and sustainability of all-age palliative care and end of life care in line with the 10-Year Health Plan. Additionally, we are supporting the hospice sector with a £100 million capital funding boost for eligible adult and children’s hospices in England to ensure they have the best physical environment for care.We are also providing £26 million in revenue funding to support children and young people’s hospices for 2025/26.  I can also now confirm the continuation of this vital funding for the three years of the next Spending Review period, from 2026/27 to 2028/29 inclusive. This funding will see approximately £26 million, adjusted for inflation, allocated to children and young people’s hospices in England each year, via their local ICBs and on behalf of NHS England, as happened in 2024/25 and 2025/26.  This amounts to approximately £80 million over the next three years.

Whether he has considered fully funding the (a) specialist palliative care, (b) advice and (c) assessments that are provided by hospices.

Whilst the majority of palliative care and end of life care is provided by National Health Service staff and services, we recognise the vital part that voluntary sector organisations, including hospices, also play in providing support to people at the end of life, as well as their loved ones. Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for the commissioning of palliative care and end of life care services, to meet the needs of their local populations. To support ICBs in this duty, NHS England has published statutory guidance and service specifications. The amount of funding charitable hospices receive varies by ICB area, and will, in part, be dependent on the breadth of palliative care, including specialist palliative care, and end of life care provision within each ICB catchment area. It is important to note that hospices, like the NHS, provide both specialist and generalist palliative care and end of life care. Not all patients will require specialist palliative care. We are supporting the hospice sector with a £100 million capital funding boost for eligible adult and children’s hospices in England to ensure they have the best physical environment for care.We are also providing £26 million in revenue funding to support children and young people’s hospices for 2025/26.  I can also now confirm the continuation of this vital funding for the three years of the next Spending Review period, from 2026/27 to 2028/29 inclusive. This funding will see approximately £26 million, adjusted for inflation, allocated to children and young people’s hospices in England each year, via their local ICBs and on behalf of NHS England, as happened in 2024/25 and 2025/26.  This amounts to approximately £80 million over the next three years.