Written questions by Moore.

What assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of renewable energy output variability on the total generation capacity of renewable energy required to meet UK demand.

The capacity ranges for renewable electricity set out in the Clean Power 2030 Action Plan (115-127GW of total wind and solar) account for variability in output and are based on analysis by NESO and internal DESNZ modelling. As the Clean Power Action plan shows, we expect to have renewable capacity alongside a mix of generation technologies, including nuclear, low carbon dispatchable power, energy storage, interconnectors, consumer-led flexibility, and some unabated gas capacity to ensure security of power supplies.

What steps her Department is taking to ensure that children receive ability-appropriate teaching in mixed ability classes.

High-quality teaching is the most important in-school factor for improving outcomes for all children. All initial teacher training (ITT) providers must ensure their courses enable trainee teachers to meet the Teachers’ Standards, which set clear expectations that teachers must adapt teaching to respond to the strengths and needs of all pupils.The ITT core content framework and the early career framework set out the core body of knowledge, skills and behaviours that define great teaching. From September 2025, these will be superseded by the initial teacher training and early career framework, which contains significantly more content related to adaptive teaching. This includes developing an understanding of different pupil needs and providing opportunities for success for all pupils.The framework for the national curriculum in England states that teachers should set high expectations. They should plan stretching work for pupils whose attainment is significantly above the expected standard. Teachers should use appropriate assessment to set targets which are deliberately ambitious.Additionally, the government has commissioned an independent Curriculum and Assessment Review to ensure all children are able to achieve excellence. The Review will report on final recommendations later this year.

With reference to recommendation 3 of The Report of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, published in October 2022, what recent discussions she has had with the Minister for the Cabinet Office on the potential merits of creating a new Cabinet Minister for Children.

In April, the Government published the ‘Tackling Child Sexual Abuse Progress Update’ which sets out the action this Government is taking in response to the recommendations in IICSA’s final report, alongside broader steps to tackle child sexual abuse and exploitation.As set out in the Progress Update, the Government agrees with the importance of having a clear focus on children across Government, including at Cabinet level. The Secretary of State for Education is the Cabinet minister for children. A new Keeping Children Safe ministerial board will also drive and mainstream the strong collective cross Government focus on children’s wellbeing, safety and opportunity. This will bring together Ministers from the Government departments with a key role on issues affecting children.The Progress Update also sets out the Government’s commitment to create a Child Protection Authority for England to help make the child protection system clearer, more unified and to ensure there is ongoing improvement through effective evidence-based support. The Progress Update sets out the next steps the Government will take to establish a Child Protection Authority, which will build on the foundation of the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel.

What information her Department holds on when the Child Protection Authority will begin its work.

In April, the Government published the ‘Tackling Child Sexual Abuse Progress Update’ which sets out the action this Government is taking in response to the recommendations in IICSA’s final report, alongside broader steps to tackle child sexual abuse and exploitation.As set out in the Progress Update, the Government agrees with the importance of having a clear focus on children across Government, including at Cabinet level. The Secretary of State for Education is the Cabinet minister for children. A new Keeping Children Safe ministerial board will also drive and mainstream the strong collective cross Government focus on children’s wellbeing, safety and opportunity. This will bring together Ministers from the Government departments with a key role on issues affecting children.The Progress Update also sets out the Government’s commitment to create a Child Protection Authority for England to help make the child protection system clearer, more unified and to ensure there is ongoing improvement through effective evidence-based support. The Progress Update sets out the next steps the Government will take to establish a Child Protection Authority, which will build on the foundation of the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel.

Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions his Department has had with relevant stakeholders on the the potential impact of the potential closure of the Vapormatic site in Exeter on the supply chain in that sector.

This Government recognises the importance of a fully functioning supply chain but does not normally intervene in the decisions made by individual companies.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to prevent Natural England having a conflict of interest as (a) regulator and (b) service provider in the nutrient credit market.

Natural England has robust internal processes in place to ensure the integrity of their advice to Local Planning Authorities and others - including with respect to nutrient neutrality and nutrient mitigation standards and services. While Natural England provides advice, it is Local Planning Authorities who make decisions on what nutrient mitigation to accept. In accordance with the Direction from the Secretary of State of 28 July 2022, Natural England only intervenes to establish nutrient mitigation schemes itself where there is market failure, prioritising those catchments where interventions will have the most impact in addressing development pressures. The Government recognises the importance of avoiding any perception of conflict of interest and will continue to ensure that standard setting and service delivery are clearly seen to be independent as nature services markets develop and mature.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of recent dry weather on (a) reservoir and (b) aquifer levels; and what steps he plans to take if levels fall below seasonal averages.

Defra works closely with the Cabinet Office who join the National Drought Group meetings to coordinate the strategic management of drought. The National Drought Group is comprised of senior members of Government, the Environment Agency, and relevant stakeholders including water companies. Minister Hardy attended the National Drought Group, chaired by the Environment Agency, held on 7 May, to discuss water resources levels, assess any impacts and to ensure actions are being taken to secure water supplies, should the recent dry weather continue. The Government is committed to a twin track approach to improving water resilience. This involves action to improve water efficiency and reduce water company leaks alongside investing in new supply infrastructure, including new reservoirs and water transfers. Improved investment is allowing water companies to improve drought resilience, ensuring a high level of resilience. Water company drought plans align with their long-term Water Resources Management Plans. Drought plans must be maintained and revised by water companies every five years. A drought plan is a tactical plan that shows how a secure water supply is maintained, while minimising impacts on the environment during dry weather and drought. We expect water companies to follow their drought plans, acting early to ensure there are sufficient water supplies.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to ensure adequate levels of drought preparedness in (a) agriculture, (b) energy and (c) public health sectors.

Defra works closely with the Cabinet Office who join the National Drought Group meetings to coordinate the strategic management of drought. The National Drought Group is comprised of senior members of Government, the Environment Agency, and relevant stakeholders including water companies. Minister Hardy attended the National Drought Group, chaired by the Environment Agency, held on 7 May, to discuss water resources levels, assess any impacts and to ensure actions are being taken to secure water supplies, should the recent dry weather continue. The Government is committed to a twin track approach to improving water resilience. This involves action to improve water efficiency and reduce water company leaks alongside investing in new supply infrastructure, including new reservoirs and water transfers. Improved investment is allowing water companies to improve drought resilience, ensuring a high level of resilience. Water company drought plans align with their long-term Water Resources Management Plans. Drought plans must be maintained and revised by water companies every five years. A drought plan is a tactical plan that shows how a secure water supply is maintained, while minimising impacts on the environment during dry weather and drought. We expect water companies to follow their drought plans, acting early to ensure there are sufficient water supplies.

Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of UK's preparedness for drought conditions in summer 2025; and what steps the Government is taking to ensure water supply resilience mitigate the (a) environmental and (b) economic impact of prolonged dry weather.

Defra works closely with the Cabinet Office who join the National Drought Group meetings to coordinate the strategic management of drought. The National Drought Group is comprised of senior members of Government, the Environment Agency, and relevant stakeholders including water companies. Minister Hardy attended the National Drought Group, chaired by the Environment Agency, held on 7 May, to discuss water resources levels, assess any impacts and to ensure actions are being taken to secure water supplies, should the recent dry weather continue. The Government is committed to a twin track approach to improving water resilience. This involves action to improve water efficiency and reduce water company leaks alongside investing in new supply infrastructure, including new reservoirs and water transfers. Improved investment is allowing water companies to improve drought resilience, ensuring a high level of resilience. Water company drought plans align with their long-term Water Resources Management Plans. Drought plans must be maintained and revised by water companies every five years. A drought plan is a tactical plan that shows how a secure water supply is maintained, while minimising impacts on the environment during dry weather and drought. We expect water companies to follow their drought plans, acting early to ensure there are sufficient water supplies.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department made projections on the number of Sustainable Farming Incentive applications it would receive in financial year 2024-25.

We monitor forecasts of scheme uptake and spend against the current year budget on an ongoing basis and respond accordingly to maximise the amount that can be delivered. We committed to spending £2.6 billion in 24/25 and are on track to deliver that having responded to a number of demands in year. Furthermore, we have a full understanding of commitments into future years arising from multi-annual agreements. We monitor the uptake of our demand led schemes which have a budgetary impact on future years (such as SFI) on a regular basis, increasing the frequency of this as the level of commitment approaches the budget available in future years.

Whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of the abolition of NHS England on the timeframe for rebuilding of Airedale Hospital as part of the Hospital Rebuilding Programme.

On 20 January 2025, my Rt. Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, announced a new, realistic timeline to deliver schemes on the New Hospital Programme; the abolition of NHS England should not impact these timelines.

Food and Rural Affairs, what comparative assessment he has made of the potential impact of closing the Sustainable Farming Initiative in England on farmers in (a) England, (b) Wales, (c) Scotland and (d) Northern Ireland.

The Sustainable Farming Incentive is an England-only scheme. We therefore have undertaken no such assessment.

What steps he is taking to ensure that local opinion is considered during the development of large-scale renewable energy infrastructure.

This government has a very simple principle: if you live near new clean energy infrastructure, you should benefit from it. That's why the Planning and Infrastructure Bill proposes much-needed reforms, including direct bill discounts for communities, easier access to community funds, and a streamlined, less burdensome planning process. We know that to deliver on our mission we must bring communities with us.

Food and Rural Affairs, if he will publish key performance indicators of SFI24 alongside department targets.

Defra is tracking contributions to outcomes and is planning to publish information this year. We recently published statistics on the area within agri-environmental schemes, which showed that 64% of England’s farmed area is in a scheme. 3.3 million hectares is in SFI 2023 and over 380,000 hectares in the SFI expanded offer. We have published quarterly data on SFI uptake and are preparing publications on how schemes are contributing to environmental outcomes as part of our comprehensive monitoring and evaluation programme. An update on the farming budget was recently published on our Farming Blog. It shows the following spend over the next two years (24/25 and 25/26). The information requested can be found publicly available here: https://defrafarming.blog.gov.uk/2025/03/12/update-on-the-farming-budget/ . The first process evaluation report covering the launch of SFI22 and SFI23 will be published this Spring. We will update this with further evaluation work for SFI24 once this is completed. In addition, process, impact and value for money evaluations for the SFI pilot will be published this Autumn.

Food and Rural Affairs, how many applications that were started but are unsubmitted are held by the Rural Payments Agency for SFI24.

The Sustainable Farming Incentive Expanded Offer (SFI EO) is an online application and as of the 12 March there are 6,626 applications currently started but not submitted on the Rural Payments Portal.

Food and Rural Affairs, if he will publish the spend breakdown of (a) the farming budget for this year to date and (b) the proposed breakdown for 2025-2026.

The information requested can be found publicly available here.

What steps she is taking to help improve access to cash.

Banking has changed significantly in recent years with many customers benefiting from the ease and convenience of remote banking. While branch closures are commercial decisions for banks, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) guidance expects firms to carefully consider the impact of planned branch closures on their customers’ everyday banking and cash access needs and put in place alternatives where reasonable. This seeks to ensure that branch closures are implemented in a way that treats customers fairly. The Government understands the importance of face-to-face banking to communities and high streets and is committed to championing sufficient access for all as a priority. This is why the Government is working closely with industry to roll out 350 banking hubs across the UK. The UK banking sector has committed to deliver these hubs by the end of this Parliament. Over 200 hubs have been announced so far, and over 100 are already open. The FCA introduced regulatory rules for access to cash in September 2024. Its rules require the reasonable provision of free cash withdrawal and deposit facilities for personal current accounts. Where a branch closure is announced or a community has submitted a cash access assessment request, LINK (the operator of the UK’s largest ATM network) assesses a community’s access to cash withdrawal and deposit needs, and can recommend a new service if necessary. Where a resident, community organisation or other interested party feels access to cash in their community is insufficient, they can submit a request for a cash access assessment. Further information about submitting a cash access request can be found on LINK’s website. Alternative options to access everyday banking services can be via telephone banking, through digital means such as mobile or online banking and via the Post Office. The Post Office Banking Framework allows personal and business customers to withdraw and deposit cash, check their balance, pay bills and cash cheques at 11,500 Post Office branches across the UK.

What targets her Department has for the proportion of young people who should (a) go to university, (b) complete an apprenticeship and (c) take another form of higher education.

This government’s missions include breaking down barriers to opportunity and delivering economic growth. Every young person should be able to follow the pathway that is right for them, whether through a high-quality apprenticeship or going to university or college. This includes ensuring all young people have access to expert careers advice and guidance, offering high-quality vocational and technical training such as Higher Technical Qualifications and T Levels, introducing foundation apprenticeships as part of our Growth and Skills Levy, and reforming the higher education system so that it delivers better value for money for students and taxpayers.

If she will steps to ensure that bodies working with young people are required to verify an individual’s DBS certificate directly with the Disclosure and Barring Service.

The safety and security of young people is top priority for this Government and DBS checks are one way we can help to protect them.The DBS is moving to a model where ‘online results’ will be the default way in which employers engage with DBS products. This approach will help to improve employers’ confidence in any online result that they view, as it will be viewed via secure Government web services.The Crime and Policing Bill will further strengthen the Disclosure and Barring regime by removing the exemption which currently prevents those working closely with children but under supervision from undergoing the highest level of DBS checks (enhanced with a check of the children’s barred list).There are already a number of security features relating to Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) certificates to assist organisations with verifying their authenticity. These include the certificate being produced on a uniquely sized paper stock, the presence of a crown seal watermark, and a complex design using specific inks. Nevertheless, if an organisation is unsure of a DBS certificate’s authenticity, then they can contact the DBS to explore their concerns.Additionally, the DBS run an ‘Update Service’ which can confirm whether a DBS check is up to date and contains the most recent relevant information. This annual subscription service allows employers to do an online check which confirms whether the certificate that has been presented to them remains valid, or whether they should apply for a new DBS check to be presented with any updated criminality information.

If she will make it her policy to automatically recall to prison any released offender who (a) seeks and (b) obtains employment in a position they are barred from through the Disclosure and Barring Service.

Recall is a vital tool to protect the public. All offenders on licenced supervision in the community are liable to recall to prison if they fail to comply with the conditions of their licence or if the Probation Service assess that they can no longer be safely managed in the community.