Written questions by Anderson.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to help retailers distribute surplus food to local charities.

The Government recognises the environmental, economic and social benefits of preventing food waste and redistributing surplus. Defra's Food and Drink Waste Hierarchy encourages food businesses, including retailers, to prioritise redistribution of any surplus should it arise. Defra funds the groundbreaking UK Food and Drink Pact, a voluntary agreement with industry to tackle food waste, managed by the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP). Through the Pact, we support the Food Waste Reduction Roadmap, which helps businesses to identify and measure their surplus and waste and take steps to reduce it. This Target Measure Act approach enables food businesses to get more surplus to redistributors. Defra also engages a working group of supply chain and redistribution sector organisations to develop best practice and overcome barriers to redistribution. Previous grant opportunities have helped the redistribution sector increase its capability and capacity for getting more surplus from the supply chain. Announced in December, £15 million has now been available to help the sector get more surplus food from farms to those in need. The total amount of surplus food redistributed in the UK in 2023 was 191,000 tonnes, equating to nearly 456 million meals with a value of around £764 million.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to reduce food waste.

The UK is an international leader on tackling food waste. We are fully committed to meeting the UN Sustainable Development Goal 12.3 target, which seeks to halve global food waste at consumer and retail levels by 2030. Through our new £15 million farm surplus fund, this Government is working with food producers and charities ensure more produce gets to those who need it most. We know that action is required across the supply chain and in people’s homes. To tackle food waste, we fund the groundbreaking UK Food and Drink Pact, a voluntary agreement with industry managed by the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP). Action through the Pact includes working with businesses to identify and reduce food waste, as well as campaigns aimed at raising public awareness of food waste and the steps we can all take to help reduce it.

Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to promote the National Youth Strategy survey in rural areas.

Our engagement for the National Youth Survey has proactively involved young people from urban and rural areas, as well as across a number of different demographic considerations.In order to reach young people in all areas of the country, we developed a communications campaign and worked with a variety of stakeholders who support young people to disseminate information. We developed a toolkit for organisations to run their own consultation workshops with young people to feed in their views. In addition to this, we have run a wide-ranging survey, workshops, focus groups and ‘hacks’ to give young people the opportunity to develop solutions.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of restricting eligibility for Winter Fuel Payments on levels of pensioner poverty in rural areas.

The last Labour Government lifted over one million pensioners out of poverty, and this Government – despite having to make the tough decisions to deal with our dire inheritance remains absolutely committed to supporting pensioners and giving them the dignity and security they deserve in retirement. Winter Fuel Payments will continue to be paid to pensioner households with someone receiving Pension Credit or other qualifying means-tested benefits or tax credits. They will continue to be worth £200 for eligible households, or £300 for eligible households with someone aged 80 or over. The latest Pension Credit applications and awards statistics were published on 27 February and are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/pension-credit-applications-and-awards-february-2025/pension-credit-applications-and-awards-february-2025 The statistics show that the Department received 235,000 Pension Credit applications in the 30 weeks since the Winter Fuel Payment announcement – an 81% increase on the comparable period in 2023/24 and made 117,800 new Pension Credit awards – a 64% increase or 45,800 extra awards on the comparable period in 2023/24. We are honouring our commitment to the Triple Lock. In April, the basic and new State Pensions increased by 4.1% and some 12 million pensioners will see an increase of up to £470 over this financial year. Our commitment to the Triple Lock also means that spending on State Pensions is forecast to rise by around £31 billion over this Parliament. And while the State Pension is the foundation of state support for older people, other help is also available for low-income pensioners. This includes Cold Weather Payments in England & Wales; help with energy bills via the Warm Home Discount scheme as well as the Household Support Fund in England which we extended for a further year with funding of £742 million, with corresponding funding for the Devolved Governments through the Barnett formula.

Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to support the renovation of (a) village halls and (b) community centres.

Community centres and village halls are important parts of our social fabric in towns and villages across the UK. Through the English Devolution Bill, we will introduce a new Community Right to Buy to help local people acquire valued community spaces, which will help to bring them back into use and rejuvenate high streets across the country. We have also announced a further £750,000 as a 1-year extension to the £3 million Platinum Jubilee Village Halls Fund for 2025/2026. This will support the modernisation or improvement of village hall facilities by providing capital grants between £2000 and £75,000, up to a maximum of 20 per cent of eligible project costs. Since 2022, it has supported 142 large projects (£7,500 to £75,000) and 90 small projects (£2000 to £5000).

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to help farmers affected by the outbreak of avian flu.

Following the detection of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in poultry and other captive birds in the UK, Defra and the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) together with the Devolved Governments and their delivery agencies have stood up their well-established outbreak structures to control and eradicate disease, restore normal trade, and assist local communities’ recovery. Defra’s avian influenza disease control measures aim to minimise the economic burden of the outbreak on the food and farming sectors, bird keepers and the wider economy. As part of this approach, Defra introduced legislation in January this year which allows free-range eggs to continue to be labelled as such for the duration of mandatory housing measures, reducing costs on producers and enabling them to continue to trade fairly with imported eggs. We will be introducing similar legislation covering free-range poultry later this year. The Department works closely with both the poultry industry and wider bird keeping stakeholders and the impacts of the avian influenza outbreak are being monitored closely. Where avian influenza is confirmed on a premises, the producer receives compensation for any healthy birds culled for disease control purposes. Compensation is not available for sick birds or those that have died, or for consequential losses e.g. lost sales opportunities.

What progress she has made on launching a new National Music Education Network.

On 18 March, the department announced its intention to launch a new National Centre for Arts and Music Education.We intend to appoint the delivery partner for the Centre through an open, competitive procurement. We will engage with sector stakeholders to refine the details of the Centre ahead of the commercial process later this year. We will set out further detail shortly.The National Centre will deliver on the manifesto commitment to deliver a Music Education Network. The department’s intention is to launch the National Centre in September 2026.

What steps she is taking to help veterans access Tax-Free Childcare.

The Government is committed to supporting veterans and their families access financial support available to them such as Tax- Free Childcare. Tax-Free Childcare aims to support working parents with the cost of childcare, including veterans, to work, return to work and work more when they want or need to. To be eligible, a parent and their partner (if they have one) must expect to earn at least the National Minimum or National Living wage for 16 hours a week on average and each earn no more than £100,000 per year. A parent may still be eligible if they are not currently working but their partner is and they are in receipt of Incapacity Benefit, or Severe Disablement Allowance, or Carer’s Allowance or Contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance. HMRC promotes Tax-Free Childcare through a range of channels including GOV.UK and the Childcare Choices website. More information on the scheme is also available on the British Army’s website, through targeted campaigns to childcare providers/parents and by the service charity sector such as Help for Heroes listed in the MoD’s Service Leavers’ Guide. These efforts ensure veterans are signposted to the childcare support available to them after military service.

Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to encourage developers to use design features that provide nesting facilities for endangered birds.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer to Question UIN 22080 on 15 January 2025.

What steps he is taking to maintain the level of UK exports.

The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) is committed to supporting UK businesses to export and grow globally. The Export Academy and International Trade Advisers are helping UK SME’s build their capability to export around the world. The International Markets teams in embassies around the world are connecting UK businesses with global buyers and distributors. UK businesses can access DBT’s wealth of export support via Great.gov.uk.And we are targeting market access barriers in priority markets to open up even more opportunities for UK exporters.As part of our new trade strategy and small business strategy, we are looking at further proposals to help UK businesses to export more.

If she will reduce the level of VAT on food and hot beverages in the hospitality sector.

VAT is a broad-based tax on consumption, and the 20 per cent standard rate applies to most goods and services. Tax breaks reduce the revenue available for vital public services and must represent value for money for the taxpayer. Exceptions to the standard rate have always been limited and balanced against affordability considerations.The exceptional VAT relief for tourism and hospitality during the Covid-19 pandemic cost over £8 billion. Reintroducing a similar relief would come at a significant further cost.Delivering on its manifesto pledge, the Government will introduce permanently lower tax rates for high street retail, hospitality, and leisure (RHL) properties, with rateable values below £500,000, from 2026-27. In the meantime, the Government has prevented RHL relief from ending in April 2025 by extending it for one year at 40 per cent up to a cash cap of £110,000 per business and frozen the small business multiplier.

If he will take steps to prevent solar panels from being placed on agricultural land.

Planning guidance makes clear that, wherever possible, solar developers should utilise brownfield, industrial, contaminated, or previously developed sites. Where the development of agricultural land is shown to be necessary, lower-quality land should be preferred to higher-quality land. The total area of land devoted to solar panels is very small. As of the end of September 2024, ground-mount solar PV panels covered an estimated 21,200 hectares (52,000 acres), which is only around 0.1 per cent of the total land area of the UK.

Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to support park home owners.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 39735 on 27 March 2025.

What steps she is taking to help schools support pupils experiencing childhood bereavement.

It is vital that when a child suffers a bereavement, they are aware of and able to access the support they need. Schools know their pupils best and do an excellent job in supporting them through a range of adverse life experiences, including bereavement. The department is always looking for ways to better support schools in this role.The relationships, sex and health (RSHE) statutory guidance states that teachers should be aware of common ‘adverse childhood experiences’, including bereavement. The full guidance is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/relationships-education-relationships-and-sex-education-rse-and-health-education.The department is reviewing the RSHE curriculum and following analysis of consultation responses and further discussion with stakeholders, we will decide on any new content on bereavement.The government is also committed to improving mental health support for all children and young people, including those who have experienced a bereavement. To achieve this, we have committed to providing access to specialist mental health professionals in every school. The department also provides a resource hub for school and college mental health leads, signposting practical tools to embed effective mental health and wellbeing practice. The hub includes resources for schools to support bereaved children.The department has also published guidance to support pupils whose ability to attend exams has been affected by bereavement, including examples of effective practice. In addition, we have recently made updates to GOV.UK adding links to bereavement support specifically for children and their families. This support is available at: https://www.gov.uk/after-a-death/bereavement-help-and-support?step-by-step-nav=4f1fe77d-f43b-4581-baf9-e2600e2a2b7a.

Whether her Department is taking steps to identify long-term solutions to (a) potholes and (b) other road defects.

The Government takes the condition of local roads very seriously and is committed to enabling local highway authorities to maintain and renew their local highway networks effectively. For this financial year 2025/26 we have already announced a funding uplift of £500 million, compared to the last financial year, for local authorities to spend on highway maintenance. Through our new reporting requirements we are encouraging local authorities to focus on long-term preventative strategies rather than the short-term patching of potholes. The Department also encourages and supports innovation and best practice in road surface repairs in other ways. It is updating the Code of Practice for Well-Managed Highway Infrastructure, which will contain new advice on matters such as surface treatments. It is also supporting a £30 million research programme which is allowing local authorities to trial innovative low-carbon ways of looking after their networks. One of the projects is allowing novel resurfacing materials to be tested and evaluated. National Highways is also trialling innovative ways of resurfacing parts of the Strategic Road Network to give longer-lasting and more environmentally friendly results. Their work on projects like the resurfacing of the A64 in Yorkshire could pave the way for industry-wide changes, resulting in significant carbon savings and improved road surfaces for drivers.

What assessment he has made of the adequacy of the capacity of the National Health Service in helping local authorities to improve the social care sector.

The National Health Service plays an important role by working collaboratively with local authorities to deliver social care.Integrated care partnerships bring integrated care boards and partner local authorities together, alongside wider system partners, to agree priorities and take collaborative action to address cross-system challenges, improve outcomes, and reduce inequalities.The Better Care Fund (BCF) is a framework for integrated care boards and local authorities to make joint plans and pool budgets for the purposes of delivering better joined-up care. The NHS makes a minimum contribution of approximately £5.6 billion to the BCF, which includes funding for social care. This supports local authorities to provide timely and joined-up support for people with more complex health and care needs.

How many breakfast club early adopters there are in (a) rural and (b) urban areas.

In order to test and learn about how best to support schools in implementing new free universal breakfast clubs, the department has selected over 750 early adopter schools to deliver from summer term 2025, ahead of national roll out to all schools with primary aged children.Just under a third of the breakfast club early adopter schools are in rural areas, meaning over two thirds are in urban areas. This is a representative of the split of the overall make-up of state-funded schools with primary aged pupils across England. Schools have been selected to ensure a representative sample, to ensure the early adopter scheme learns from a variety of schools, including schools that are large and small, with high and low levels of deprivation, and in a range of locations.

What steps she has taken to support women impacted by increases to the State Pension Age in South Shropshire.

The Government seeks to support people who can work, by helping them to retain, return to or progress in employment. That is why the Government is reforming employment support to ensure it helps everyone who needs it.DWP currently offers employment support for eligible customers of all ages, through the network of Jobcentres across the UK, and through contracted employment programmes. A dedicated offer for older workers seeks to provide tailored support for those affected by low confidence, menopause, health and disability or caring pressures, and out of date skills or qualifications. Through Midlife reviews, delivered in Jobcentres across the UK, and online, we support older people to assess their health, finances and skills.In South Shropshire, Employer and Partnership Teams in Jobcentres work with a range of employers and partners to enhance the skills and employment support available locally for customers.We have also appointed a Menopause Employment Ambassador who will work closely with employers across the country to improve workplace support for women experiencing menopause and wider women’s health issues.

Media and Sport, what steps she has taken to improve funding available for youth sports competitions.

This Government puts children and young people at the heart of our priorities. This includes breaking down barriers to opportunity for every child to access high-quality sport and physical activity, especially those who are less likely to be active. We are committed to protecting time for physical education in school and supporting the role grassroots clubs play in expanding access to sport.The School Games Organisers are essential in ensuring that all children have the opportunity to take part in local and accessible sport and physical activity competitions. In the 2023/24 academic year, the country-wide network of 450 SGOs provided 2.3 million opportunities for school children to engage in local and inclusive sporting competitions across 40 different sports and activities. The Government has confirmed funding for the School Games Organisers until the end of the 25/26 Financial Year.We provide the majority of our funding for grassroots sport through our Arm’s Length Body, Sport England - which invests over £250 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding each year and funds National Governing Bodies and sport organisations to deliver a range of local, accessible sport for young people, including competitions.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department plans to consult on a statutory target for food production self-sufficiency.

Our ambitious food strategy will set and deliver clear long-term outcomes that create a healthier, fairer, and more resilient food system. The food strategy will consider the critical role that domestic production plays in our food security. We are developing a programme of stakeholder engagement to inform the strategy, that will include industry, civil society and consumer group representatives. We will consider the need for statutory targets as we develop the strategy.