Written questions by MacDonald.

Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with land managers in Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire constituency on the (a) management and (b) conservation of red deer.

As this is a devolved matter, any conversations with Scottish landowners on management of red deer would be conducted by the Scottish Government.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department is funding UK-wide research into hedgehog ecology and conservation.

Natural England, the Joint Nature Conservation Committee and the Forestry Commission have contributed to the first National Hedgehog Conservation Strategy. This strategy has identified several actions to facilitate and encourage data sharing on hedgehog ecology and conservation. In addition, Natural England is co-funding the National Hedgehog Monitoring Programme. The information gathered will produce insights into the factors causing hedgehog population decline, leading to the implementation of practical conservation measures to address this challenge.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to encourage data sharing on hedgehog populations between governments and wildlife organisations.

In 2024 the first National Hedgehog Conservation Strategy was published with contributions from Natural England, the Joint Nature Conservation Committee and the Forestry Commission. The strategy, which has identified several actions to facilitate and encourage data sharing on hedgehog populations, involves collaboration with stakeholders to include leading conservation NGOs, academics, and organisations within the transport and farming sectors. In addition, Natural England is co-funding the National Hedgehog Monitoring Programme. The information gathered will produce insights into the factors causing hedgehog population decline, leading to the implementation of practical conservation measures to address this challenge.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department is providing funding for UK-wide research into (a) badger conservation and (b) non-lethal wildlife health management.

As part of the ongoing work on a comprehensive new bovine TB strategy, the Department is programme funding the establishment of a new badger vaccinator field force. This initiative aims to increase delivery of badger vaccination as a non-lethal method to reduce TB transmission rates and protect badgers. No UK-wide Government funding is currently provided specifically for badger conservation.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department plans to work with devolved Administrations to improve the sharing of data on badger (a) ecology and (b) population health.

Chief Veterinary Officers from all four devolved administrations of the United Kingdom, along with policy officials, meet routinely to discuss shared priorities. This includes the TB Liaison Group, which provides a platform for coordination and updates on policy developments. This includes sharing data on badger population health, particularly in relation to TB.

What steps her Department is taking to support autistic people into work.

We are committed to supporting neurodivergent people, including autistic people, get into and thrive in work. Our Jobcentres have a range of support available, including Disability Employment Advisors. On 6th March 2025 we announced that we will deploy 1000 work coaches to help people with health conditions and disabled people towards and into work. This will build and expand on existing measures like additional work coach support which delivers personalised support for some customers on the health journey.In January this year we launched an independent panel of academics with expertise and experiences of neurodiversity. The panel will consider the reasons why neurodivergent people have poor experiences in the workplace, and a low overall employment rate, making their recommendations to government later this summer.The Secretaries of State for Work and Pensions and Business and Trade have asked Sir Charlie Mayfield to lead an independent review. While not specific to neurodiversity, this review is considering how best to support and enable employers to recruit and retain more disabled people and people with health conditions, promote healthy and inclusive workplaces, and how to support more people to stay in or return to work. Sir Charlie Mayfield will deliver his final report in the autumn.Our voluntary, locally led Supported Employment Programme, Connect to Work, is rolling out across England and Wales, as we agree local delivery plans with lead delivery authorities. The programme will provide specialist employment support to over 300,000 disabled people, people with health conditions and those with complex barriers to employment over the five-year duration of the programme. Connect to Work follows the Local Supported Employment programme, where £12.3 million has already been invested into 27 lead Local Authority areas to provide support to autistic, neurodivergent people and people with learning disabilities.We are also supporting employers to be more inclusive in their workplace practices. Our support to employers includes a digital information service, called Support with Employee Health and Disability, which provides tailored guidance on supporting employees in common workplace scenarios involving health and disability, and the Disability Confident scheme, which as of May this year has 19,000 members employing approximately 12 million paid employees in total.

Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with the devolved Administrations on measures to protect red squirrel populations.

The UK Squirrel Accord, to which Defra is a signatory, is working to better understand the appropriate strategies for conserving the red squirrel. The Accord is UK-wide, and signatories include Scottish Government, Natural England, Forestry England as well as other nature conservation organisations. This work includes identifying, protecting, and strengthening existing red squirrel populations, expanding their current range, and promoting better understanding and support for their conservation. Future conservation actions will be informed by this work.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has had discussions with the Scottish Government on conservation of red squirrels in Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire constituency.

We have not held discussions with the Scottish Government regarding the conservation of red squirrels specifically in the Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire constituency. The Government continues to work and engage proactively with the UK Squirrel Accord, which plays an important role in bringing stakeholders and governments across the UK together towards conserving our iconic native red squirrel species.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department is funding UK-wide research into red squirrel conservation.

The UK Squirrel Accord, to which Defra, Natural England, and the Forestry Commission are signatories, is working to better understand the appropriate strategies for conserving the red squirrel. This work includes identifying, protecting, and strengthening existing red squirrel populations, expanding their current range, and promoting better understanding and support for their conservation. Future conservation actions will be informed by this work. Defra also continues to support the development of novel control methods for grey squirrel such as the fertility control research led by APHA and the UK Squirrel Accord.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to support red squirrel conservation.

The Government is committed to taking action to recover our threatened native species, including red squirrels, especially through the delivery of our biodiversity targets, which will benefit many of our native species including red squirrels.We know that red squirrel decline is being driven by the squirrel pox virus, habitat availability and competition from non-native grey squirrels. To address these pressures, we are supporting research into grey squirrel fertility and have put management measures in place to control grey squirrels to aid red squirrel conservation.We are considering how to go further to reduce the impacts of grey squirrels on our woodlands and red squirrel populations and shall have an update in due course.

What her planned timeline is for completion of the review of the Adults at Risk in Immigration Detention policy.

External engagement on the review ended in May 2025 and the Home Office is currently considering the feedback received.Any resulting decisions will be announced in the normal way in due course.

What her Department's planned timetable is for publishing its review of the Adults at Risk in Immigration Detention policy.

External engagement on the review ended in May 2025 and the Home Office is currently considering the feedback received.Any resulting decisions will be announced in the normal way in due course.

What steps he is taking to increase the number of homes with heat pumps in Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire constituency.

Heat policy is devolved to Scotland, the Warm Homes Plan will help people find ways to save money on energy bills and transform our ageing building stock into comfortable, low-carbon homes that are fit for the future. We will partner with devolved governments to roll out this plan. Further support for energy efficiency measures and clean heating systems, including heat pumps, in Scotland is available on the Home Energy Scotland webpage [https://www.homeenergyscotland.org/].

What steps she is taking to assist low-income families with living costs in Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire constituency.

The Plan for Change committed to improving living standards in every part of the United Kingdom. Helping people into good work and financial independence is at the heart of our approach to supporting people on the lowest incomes. This is why we increased the National Living Wage by 6.7%, are tackling poor job security and working conditions through our plan to Make Work Pay, and are investing an additional £1 billion by 2029-30 in employment, health and skills support in the Pathways to Work Green Paper. Beyond this, the government has introduced a Fair Repayment Rate which lowers the cap on deductions in Universal Credit from April 2025, benefitting 1.2 million households by an average of £420 a year. The Warm Home Discount is also being expanded to every billpayer on means-tested benefits, meaning 2.7 million extra households will receive £150 off their energy bills next winter. Moreover, the Child Poverty Taskforce is working with the Devolved Governments to develop a comprehensive Child Poverty Strategy, which will deliver for children in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the use of ultra-processed foods through the implementation of the Government Food Strategy.

The food strategy will identify root causes of key problems such as food poverty and unhealthy diets and articulate the outcomes we want from the food system, enabling Government, civil society, and the food industry work to shared goals and priorities. Health is one of our four priority areas. A key outcome will be more easily accessible and affordable, safe, nutritious, healthy food to tackle diet-related ill health, helping to give children the best start in life and help adults live longer healthier lives, including people on low and middle incomes. Delivering the food strategy means changing the way the food system works for the better and replacing the junk food cycle’ identified by Henry Dimbleby with a ‘good food cycle’. The food strategy is aligned with and supports the Government programme, Plan for Change and Missions. The food sector has a crucial role to play in supporting our health Mission by tackling diet-related ill health and addressing poor diets. The government respects individual autonomy in making dietary choices and also wants to encourage food manufacturers to provide nutritious, sustainable food options and empower consumers to make informed decisions about their diets, to deliver better health outcomes for consumers.

What recent assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the cost of living on households in Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire constituency.

The Government is taking a comprehensive approach in response to increasing costs: supporting those in immediate need while addressing the structural changes necessary to fix the country's foundations. The Plan for Change outlines key milestones, including raising living standards in every part of the United Kingdom to put more money back in people’s pockets. In the latest data, living standards (as measured by real household disposable income per capita) are already growing at their fastest quarterly rate in two years. The Government has set out the next steps in delivering our approach for regional growth, spreading growth across the country through investment and reform. This will benefit people across the country, including in the Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire constituency.

What steps his Department is taking to support access to affordable, minimally processed food.

The Government’s Eatwell Guide already advises that people should eat more fruit, vegetables, and wholegrain or higher-fibre foods, as well as less processed meat, and less food and drink that is high in sugar, calories, saturated fat, and salt.The Eatwell Guide principles are communicated through a variety of channels, including the NHS.UK website and Government social marketing campaigns. For example, the Better Health Healthier Families website and the Healthy Steps email programme, which aims to help families with primary aged children in England to eat well and move more.The range of actions that have already been taken to create a healthier environment to help children reduce their consumption of processed foods that are high in energy, saturated fat, salt, and free sugars, and to improve access to affordable, minimally processed foods, include:- the Healthy Start scheme, which supported over 361,000 people in April 2025;- the Nursery Milk Scheme, which provides a reimbursement to childcare providers in England and Wales for a daily 1/3 pint portion of milk to children and babies; and- the School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme, which provides approximately 2.2 million children in Key Stage 1 with a portion of fresh fruit or vegetables per day at school.In relation to foods and drinks high in calories, saturated fat, salt, and free sugars, work on our commitments is progressing through:- implementing the television and online advertising restrictions for less healthy food or drink;- consulting on plans to ban the sale of high-caffeine energy drinks to children under 16 years old; and- giving local authorities stronger, clearer powers to block new fast-food outlets near schools and where young people congregate.

What assessment his Department has made of (a) trends in the level of ultra-processed food consumption and (b) the potential impact of those foods on public health.

United Kingdom dietary recommendations are based on robust independent risk assessments by the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN). The SACN has considered the impact of processed foods on health in position statements published in 2023 and 2025.The SACN did not assess trends in ultra processed food (UPF) consumption. However, a review of the available evidence that uses the UK National Diet and Nutrition Survey (NDNS) dataset to apply the NOVA food processing classification system was conducted. The 2023 position statement found that estimates of UPF intake varied by age group, varying from 51% to 57% in adults, 68% in adolescents, and 64% in children up to 11 years old. The SACN, however, identified limitations in applying the NOVA classification to dietary data such as the NDNS, due to the broadness of the NOVA definition and the fact that the dietary data rarely captures the detail, for example the presence of additives, included in the NOVA definition.The SACN concluded that the observed associations between higher consumption of UPFs and adverse health outcomes are concerning, but it is unclear whether these foods are inherently unhealthy due to processing or due to their nutritional content. The SACN noted that diets high in UPFs are often energy dense, high in saturated fat, salt, or free sugars, high in processed meat, and/or low in fruit and vegetables and fibre. The SACN has previously concluded in previous robust risk assessments that consumption of excess energy, saturated fat, salt, free sugars, and processed meat is linked to poor health outcomes, and that higher consumption of fruit and vegetables, wholegrain foods, and fibre reduces health risks.The SACN recommended that on balance, most people are likely to benefit from reducing their consumption of processed foods high in energy, saturated fat, salt, and free sugars, and low in fibre. This is based on the nutrient content of many UPFs and concerns raised in relation to health.The SACN will continue to keep the topic of UPFs under review and will consider it again at its horizon scanning meeting in 2026. The Government continues to invest in research on UPFs through the National Institute for Health and Care Research and UK Research and Innovation.

Whether he has had discussions with representatives of the food industry on the health impact of ultra-processed foods.

The Department regularly engages a range of stakeholders including in the food industry. My rt. Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, has had no meetings with the food industry specifically on the health impact of ultra-processed foods.

What recent discussions she has had with representatives of (a) the cryptoasset industry and (b) UK banks on improving access to basic banking services for legitimate blockchain and digital asset firms.

The Government is aware that cryptoasset firms are facing challenges associated with access to banking services, and it is engaged with the sector on these matters. Whilst the Government recognises that such decisions are commercial in nature, we also expect business to be treated fairly. That is why the Government has already taken action in this space, including laying legislation to enhance relevant protections in cases where a business has their bank account terminated by their provider. The Government is also currently finalising legislation to create a financial services regulatory regime for cryptoassets in the UK. Under this regime, firms will need to be licensed by the FCA to provide relevant cryptoasset services in or to the UK, and the Government would not expect such licensed firms to be subject to restrictions by banking services providers simply because of the sector they belong to.