Written questions by Slade.

Food and Rural Affairs, what recent progress her Department has made on bringing forward legislative proposals to prohibit the importation of hunting trophies.

The Government is committed to banning the import of hunting trophies from species of conservation concern, which is the most effective approach the Government can take on this matter. The department continues to engage with relevant stakeholders to ensure that we can implement a robust ban. Timeframes for introducing legislation will be provided once the Parliamentary timetable for future sessions is determined.

With reference to page 26 of the Animal Welfare Strategy for England, published on 22 December 2025, whether she plans to make an assessment of the potential merits of (a) making wildlife crimes notifiable and (b) including them in national crime statistics.

Wildlife crime can have devastating consequences for our natural environments and countryside communities. This Government is committed to reducing crime in rural areas and anyone exploiting or deliberately harming British wildlife should face the full force of the law.There are currently no plans to make wildlife crimes notifiable (which would result in them being included in the national crime statistics). Any non-notifiable wildlife crime reported to the police can still be investigated where appropriate, as Chief Constables have operational independence to tackle the crimes that matter most to their communities.

Food and Rural Affairs, if she will take steps to include proposals on the regulation of veterinary fees for uninsured animals in the upcoming consultation on reform of the Veterinary Surgeons Act 1966.

The forthcoming consultation on potential reforms to the Veterinary Surgeons Act 1966 will include proposals for a new framework through which all pet owners would have better access to treatment options. The proposed reforms could also help address cost of living concerns, including through mandatory business regulation, and embedding any remedies proposed by the Competition and Markets Authority. Pet owners who have difficulty affording veterinary treatment can consider contacting charities such as Blue Cross and the People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals (PDSA).

Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of implementing a grading system for food labelling that rates the animal welfare standards in the food’s production.

As set out in the animal welfare strategy, the Government committed to ensuring that consumers have access to clear information on how their food was produced. To support this, the Government will continue working with relevant stakeholders, including the farming and food industry, scientists and NGOs to explore how improved animal welfare food labelling could provide greater consumer transparency, support farmers and promote better animal welfare.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she plans to take to help support UK (a) farmers and (b) fishers where (i) animal welfare standards and (ii) climate and nature policies contribute to higher farming costs, in the context of the cost of imported produce.

The Government has been clear that it will protect farmers in trade deals. The Government will not lower food standards and will uphold high animal welfare standards. It will create new export opportunities for our high-quality British produce. Supporting British farmers and boosting the nation’s food security are key priorities for the Government. The Government allocated £11.8 billion this Parliament to sustainable farming and food production, targeting public money where it delivers most value. In terms of wider support to the fishing industry, the Government is committed to the industry’s long-term prosperity and sustainability, which is why we launched the £360 million Fishing and Coastal Growth Fund.

Communities and Local Government, whether he will take steps to allow non-Mayoral authorities to access proposals for a Tourism Levy.

We are consulting whether the visitor levy should be extended to Foundation Strategic Authorities, which can be accessed on gov.uk.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to help reduce the breeding of animals who are genetically predisposed to brachycephaly.

Under The Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018 anyone breeding dogs and advertising a business of selling dogs and/or who breeds three or more litters of puppies in a twelve-month period must have a licence from their local authority. Licensees must meet statutory animal welfare standards including a prohibition from breeding dogs if it can be reasonably expected that on the basis of their genotype, phenotype or health, this would lead to welfare problems for the mother or the puppies. As part of the Animal welfare strategy for England which was published on 22 December 2025, the Government has committed to launch a consultation on dog breeding reform. As part of our consultation, we will consider ways to improve the welfare of breeding dogs and their offspring. Separately, the strategy will see us improve our understanding of the size, scale and current management practices related to cat breeding, drawing on expertise from the sector, and consider any further steps which may improve welfare practices in the cat breeding sector.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of including measures relating to fireworks’ impact on animals in her Department’s Animal Welfare Strategy.

On 22 December, the Government published our new animal welfare strategy. This strategy sets out the UK Government’s priorities for England, focusing on the changes and improvements we aim to achieve by 2030. The Government continues to engage with businesses, consumer groups and charities to gather evidence on the issues and impacts of fireworks, including on animal welfare.

What assessment her department has made of the potential impact of (a) business rates, (b) VAT thresholds (c) Employer National Insurance Contributions and (d) other employer costs on non-alcoholic drink price inflation.

Forecasting the economy, including the impact of Government policy decisions on inflation, is the responsibility of the independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR). The OBR set out its assessment of policy measures in its Autumn Budget 2025 published on the 26th of November. In their assessment, the OBR forecast that inflation had passed its peak and measures taken by the government at Budget will reduce Consumer Prices Index (CPI) inflation by 0.4 percentage points in 2026-27. This is the biggest near-term reduction in inflation due to Government policy ever forecast by the OBR at a single fiscal event, outside of a crisis, the OBR does not include a separate forecast for non-alcoholic drink price inflation

Communities and Local Government, what data his Department holds on the number of (a) town and (b) parish councils that do not have a neighbourhood plan.

My Department does not collect information on which Town or Parish Councils in England do not currently have a neighbourhood plan. I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 59114 on 19 June 2025.

Communities and Local Government, in the context of his Department’s open consultation on reforms to the statutory consultee system, whether he will consider the potential merits of legislation providing that Sport England is notified for any loss of land but retained as a statutory consultee where a significant loss is proposed.

I refer the hon. Members to the answer given to Question UIN 103087 on 13 January 2026.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the withdrawal of funding for the neighbourhood planning support programme on (a) town and (b) parish councils who will need to update their Neighbourhood Plan following the development of a new Local Plan.

My Department does not collect information on which Town or Parish Councils in England do not currently have a neighbourhood plan. I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 59114 on 19 June 2025.

Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the level of public toilets on the public.

In keeping with our commitment to funding simplification, the Government has no current plans to introduce a statutory duty or ringfenced funding relating to toilet provision.Local authorities are responsible for assessing and managing toilet provision and are best placed to do so due to their ability to account for local needs. However, we recognise the importance of toilet provision and have taken steps to support local leaders. At the 2025 Spending Review, we committed over £5 billion in new grant funding over the next three years for essential local services such as toilets. In addition, we continue to provide 100% mandatory business rates relief for separately assessed public toilets. No specific assessment on the level of provision of public toilets has been made.

What plans he has for future NHS staff pay negotiations in terms of (a) groups who will be involved and (b) when such negotiations will take place.

The Government remitted the independent pay review bodies (PRBs) in respect of National Health Service staff on 22 July, which formally began the 2026/27 pay round. This was over two months earlier than last year.The Pay Review Bodies (PRBs) are independent advisory bodies made up of industry experts who carefully consider evidence submitted to them from a range of stakeholders, including Government and trade unions to make recommendations on headline pay for their remit groups. It is for individual trade unions to decide whether to engage with the PRB process, but we encourage them to do so in order for the PRBs to have the full breadth of evidence available when forming their recommendations.The PRBs base their recommendations to the Government on a range of factors including the economic context, cost of living, recruitment and retention, morale, and motivation of NHS staff.The Government carefully considers the independent PRBs’ recommendations once received. Ministers are not obligated to accept these, although the Government did accept the recommendations on headline pay in full for 2024/25 and 2025/26.As my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, stated on 15 December, the Government is open to discussing multi-year pay deals with trade unions if we can bridge the gap between affordability and expectation.

Whether his Department is taking steps to deliver the outstanding recommendations from Sir Stephen Bubb's report for the Public Accounts Select Committee, entitled Care services for people with learning disabilities and challenging behaviour, published On 23 March 2015.

Care services for people with learning disabilities and challenging behaviour was published for the Public Accounts Select Committee in 2015, under a previous administration. The Government is committed to reducing the number of people with a learning disability and autistic people in mental health inpatient settings and ensuring they receive the right support in the community which aligns with the recommendations set out in the report.Our 10-Year Health Plan sets out to make three big shifts towards more preventative, digitally-enabled care, with more holistic, on-going support in the community to tackle health inequalities, including for disabled people. Our 2025 Mental Health Act will limit the scope to detain people with a learning disability and autistic people so that they can only be detained for treatment in a mental health hospital if they have a co-occurring mental disorder that requires hospital treatment. The act will also introduce measures to improve community support for people with a learning disability and autistic people by putting Care (Education) and Treatment Reviews and Dynamic Support Registers on a statutory footing and placing certain duties on integrated care boards and local authorities when exercising existing commissioning duties.The NHS Medium Term Planning Framework 2026/27 to 2028/9 maintains a focus on improving mental health and learning disability care with an explicit objective to deliver a minimum 10% reduction in the use of mental health inpatient care for people with a learning disability and autistic people year-on-year.

Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to create and implement a duty on every council to develop a public toilet strategy.

In keeping with our commitment to funding simplification, the Government has no current plans to introduce a statutory duty or ringfenced funding relating to toilet provision.Local authorities are responsible for assessing and managing toilet provision and are best placed to do so due to their ability to account for local needs. However, we recognise the importance of toilet provision and have taken steps to support local leaders. At the 2025 Spending Review, we committed over £5 billion in new grant funding over the next three years for essential local services such as toilets. In addition, we continue to provide 100% mandatory business rates relief for separately assessed public toilets. No specific assessment on the level of provision of public toilets has been made.

What steps he is taking to help close the gap in average life expectancy between those with a learning disability and those living without a learning disability.

We recognise the unacceptable health inequalities faced by people with a learning disability. We do not have comprehensive data on the life expectancy of people with a learning disability, broken down by gender and age, although we do have crucial insights into life and health outcomes which support service improvements.in July 2025 NHS Digital published data on the mortality and life expectancy of people with a learning disability and autism which showed that people with a learning disability have a life expectancy at birth of 59.5 years old, compared to the general population life expectancy at birth of 81.4 years old, a difference of 21.9 years. These figures are based on data from April 2022 to March 2023, with further information avaiable at the following link:https://digital.nhs.uk/supplementary-information/2025/learning-disabilities-and-autism---mortality-and-life-expectancy-2022-23Significant action is underway to improve access to and the quality of care for people with a learning disability, and to achieve the critical prevention shift set out in our 10-Year Health Plan. This includes mandatory training for health and social care staff, improving identification on the general practice learning disability register and uptake of annual health checks, and rolling out a Reasonable Adjustment Digital Flag to ensure that care is tailored appropriately. The national Core20Plus5 approach also guides action to tackle health inequalities at a system level, and NHS England expects learning disability to be identified as a priority cohort at a local level.Furthermore, each integrated care board (ICB) must have an executive lead for learning disability and autism who will support the board in addressing health inequalities, support access to care across all health services, and improve overall health outcomes.  Each ICB must also consider and demonstrate how they will reduce inequalities for people with a learning disability within their five‑year strategic plans under the Medium-Term Planning Framework. The Medium-Term Planning Framework is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/medium-term-planning-framework-delivering-change-together-2026-27-to-2028-29/

Communities and Local Government, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the potential benefits of providing funding through councils' public health grants for public toilet provision.

In keeping with our commitment to funding simplification, the Government has no current plans to introduce a statutory duty or ringfenced funding relating to toilet provision.Local authorities are responsible for assessing and managing toilet provision and are best placed to do so due to their ability to account for local needs. However, we recognise the importance of toilet provision and have taken steps to support local leaders. At the 2025 Spending Review, we committed over £5 billion in new grant funding over the next three years for essential local services such as toilets. In addition, we continue to provide 100% mandatory business rates relief for separately assessed public toilets. No specific assessment on the level of provision of public toilets has been made.

How many and what proportion of adults with a learning disability are registered on the learning disability register in (a) England (b) each region of England.

Work is currently underway in NHS England to encourage children and young people to join the learning disability register at the age of 14 years old, and to support people who do not have a confirmed learning disability diagnosis to access the register and appropriate services.NHS England has published guidance to support general practitioners (GPs) in identifying people with a learning disability. People with a learning disability are identified using specific codes within a patient record which are then grouped into a ‘code cluster’. Further information on the guidance is avaiable at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/improving-identification-of-people-with-a-learning-disability-guidance-for-general-practice.pdfThe learning disability register code cluster includes conditions and diagnoses that are highly likely to indicate that a person has a learning disability. Code cluster contents are dynamic and are updated regularly to account for new content. The latest cluster contents can be found in the Primary Care Domain Reference Set Portal, with further information available at the following link:https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/data-collections-and-data-sets/data-collections/quality-and-outcomes-framework-qof/quality-and-outcome-framework-qof-business-rules/primary-care-domain-reference-set-portalIn addition, my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, recently wrote to GPs, emphasising the importance of the learning disability register and providing high quality annual health checks.As part of efforts to monitor uptake, NHS England data shows that, as of October 2025, there were 343,520 people aged 14 years old and over with a learning disability on the learning disability register in England. The following table shows the number of people on the learning disability register in each region of England:RegionRegister size age 14 years old and overLondon46,823South West35,950South East50,528Midlands67,118East of England38,983North West43,676North East and Yorkshire60,442Source: NHS England published data on the Learning Disability Health Check Scheme for October 2025, a copy of which is attached.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of (a) the number of people with additional needs awaiting a Specialised Supported Housing home and (b) the estimated cost r of housing people with additional needs in unsuitable accommodation.

In November 2024, my department published independent research on supported housing supply, demand, funding and commissioning across Great Britain – which can be found here. The published research report included coverage of working-age adults with learning disabilities, autistic people, and people with mental health needs. The research estimated that in 2023 there were 53,000 units of supported housing serving working-age adults with a learning disability and/or autism in England, and 19,000 units for working-age adults with mental health needs. The report noted that half of local commissioners surveyed who responded said that there was a lot of or some unmet demand for working-age adults with a learning disability and/or autism, and that almost two-thirds of commissioners thought there was some or a lot of unmet need for supported housing for working-age adults with mental health needs.