Written questions by Brandreth.

Food and Rural Affairs, what options his Department considered for the use of fines collected from water companies.

Following the Spending Review, the Government has confirmed water company fines will be allocated to local environmental projects and programmes to clean up our rivers, lakes and seas. Over £100 million in fines has been levied against water companies since October 2023, which will be reinvested into local environment projects and programmes to address pollution and improve water quality. More information on this announcement can be found on GOV.UK. A further announcement on the details on the projects and programmes that this funding will go towards will be set out in due course. Water company fines that accumulated between April 2022 and October 2023 will be invested through the Water Restoration Fund. Up to £11 million of funding was made available on a competitive basis to support a range of water restoration projects to improve the water environment. Successful applicants have been notified, and an official announcement will follow in due course.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether funds raised through fines on water companies will be allocated to support (a) water quality and (b) infrastructure improvements in the same areas where breaches occurred.

Following the Spending Review, the Government has confirmed water company fines will be allocated to local environmental projects and programmes to clean up our rivers, lakes and seas. Over £100 million in fines has been levied against water companies since October 2023, which will be reinvested into local environment projects and programmes to address pollution and improve water quality. More information on this announcement can be found on GOV.UK. A further announcement on the details on the projects and programmes that this funding will go towards will be set out in due course. Water company fines that accumulated between April 2022 and October 2023 will be invested through the Water Restoration Fund. Up to £11 million of funding was made available on a competitive basis to support a range of water restoration projects to improve the water environment. Successful applicants have been notified, and an official announcement will follow in due course.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of the Welsh Government’s decision to ban the movement of livestock from England into Wales; and what discussions he has had with his counterpart in Wales on the (a) scientific basis and (b) implications of that policy for farmers in England.

I refer the honourable member to the answers given on X June 2025 to PQs 61013 and 61014 regarding the potential impact of bluetongue regulations in North Shropshire. Disease control is a devolved matter, and it is for the devolved administrations to assess their disease risks and impacts in relation to their national herds, alongside the impacts of controls, and respond accordingly.

Food and Rural Affairs, how many agricultural shows (a) he and (b) his ministerial team have attended since 4 July 2024.

Ministers are attending a range of agriculture shows across the UK. Most recently, Ministers have attended the Royal Cornwall Show and the Royal Highland Show.

What steps she is taking to ensure that the updated school food standards (a) reflect current nutritional science and (b) address trends in (i) childhood obesity and (ii) food related ill health.

I refer the hon. Member for Chester South and Eddisbury to the answer of 24 June 2025 to Question 58507.

Whether she has considered taking entry-level doctor jobs off the shortage occupation skills list.

The Government published the White Paper ‘Restoring Control over the immigration System’ on 12 May 2025. The White Paper set out its intention to introduce a Temporary Shortage List to replace the Immigration Salary List (previously known as the Shortage Occupation List).The list will initially be comprised of occupations where the MAC have previously identified as in shortage and those which are key to the Industrial Strategy. The Government will set out in due course the composition of that list.

Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to ensure that people living in rural (a) communities and (b) villages will be able to contribute to planning decisions, in the context of the national scheme of delegation.

Following the introduction of a national scheme of delegation, people living in rural communities and villages will continue to be able to make representations on individual planning applications, irrespective of who the decision maker is.On 28 May 2025, the government published a technical consultation on reform of planning committees. The consultation is open until 23 July 2025 and can be found on gov.uk here.We welcome responses from people living in rural communities and villages, and their elected representatives.

What assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the recommendations of the Centre for Social Justice's report entitled Change the Prescription, published in January 2025.

We recognise that for some people, treatment through medication may not be the best option, which is why we are continuing to expand access to alternative forms of treatment through NHS Talking Therapies and Individual Placement and Support schemes. This demonstrates our commitment to addressing the root causes of mental health issues and to providing support for people to contribute to the economy by remaining in or returning to work.As part of our mission to build a National Health Service that is fit for the future and that is there when people need it, we are recruiting 8,500 mental health workers across child and adult mental health services to help ease pressure on busy services.We continue to work with NHS England to consider options to deliver this commitment, alongside publishing a refreshed workforce plan to deliver the transformed health service we will build over the next decade. There are a wide range of factors that will affect this future growth of the NHS mental health workforce, and we will provide an update in due course.

Communities and Local Government, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of the national scheme of delegation on people living in rural (a) communities and (b) villages.

Following the introduction of a national scheme of delegation, people living in rural communities and villages will continue to be able to make representations on individual planning applications, irrespective of who the decision maker is.On 28 May 2025, the government published a technical consultation on reform of planning committees. The consultation is open until 23 July 2025 and can be found on gov.uk here.We welcome responses from people living in rural communities and villages, and their elected representatives.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of (a) the arrangements for plan making at (i) borough and (ii) neighbourhood level and (b) the reduction in five year land supply to below a qualifying threshold of 80% on the target for (A) Cheshire West and Chester and (B) other boroughs that will not have a transitional period.

The government’s Plan for Change includes an ambitious milestone of delivering 1.5 million safe and decent homes in this Parliament.Delivering on that milestone requires local planning authorities to plan for sufficient homes, as well as commercial development and wider infrastructure, through their local development plans.Local plans clearly spell out to developers and communities where development will and will not take place, bringing certainty to all parties. They are also the mechanism through which local communities can have their say in how homes are built.The government inherited a planning system in which only 31% of local planning authorities have adopted plans in the last five years. That is not sustainable, and I am clear that it is unacceptable for local planning authorities to not make a local plan.We are determined to drive local plans to adoption as quickly as possible, to progress towards our ambition of achieving universal plan coverage and ensure plans contribute positively to our ambition of delivering 1.5 million homes.To that end, the transitional arrangements contained within the revised National Planning Policy Framework published on 12 December 2024 mad clear that plans which are submitted for examination on or before 12 March 2025 would continue to be examined under the relevant previous version of the NPPF.However, where the draft housing requirement in the plan to be adopted meets less than 80% of local housing need, the authority will be expected to begin working on a new plan, as soon as the new plan-making system is brought into force this summer/autumn, to address the shortfall in housing need.For plans at an earlier stage of plan making, the policies of the revised NPPF apply, including revised Local Housing Need figures.The government has provided in excess of £29 million to local planning authorities this year to support them to get plans in place as soon as possible.We want to work in partnership with local planning authorities to deliver for their communities, but where they fail to do so the Deputy Prime Minister will make use of the intervention powers available to her to get local plans in place.

What training is provided to healthcare professionals to (a) identify and (b) help tackle the causes of mental distress.

Individual health care providers are responsible for ensuring that their staff have the knowledge, skills, and competence to meet the specific needs of the communities they serve. To support this, NHS England offers a wide range of training opportunities designed to help mental health professionals identify and address the possible causes of mental distress.These programmes cover a variety of settings, from early intervention and preventative psychological therapies services, such as Mental Health Support Teams in schools and colleges and Talking Therapies for adults, to crisis services for individuals with severe mental health conditions who may be at risk of harming themselves or others. In addition, NHS England provides training for staff working in physical health, accident, and urgent care centres, ensuring they are equipped to support individuals presenting with mental distress across demographics.

What steps his Department is taking to ensure that variations in local NHS (a) capacity and (b) resourcing of (i) Early Access Programmes and (ii) the availability of tofersen support the reduction of health inequalities.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has received the application for tofersen and is currently reviewing it rapidly for quality, safety, and efficacy, for use in the United Kingdom.The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent body responsible for developing authoritative, evidence-based recommendations for the National Health Service on whether new medicines represent a clinically and cost-effective use of resources. The NICE has selected tofersen for treating amyotrophic lateral sclerosis caused by SOD1 gene mutations as a topic for guidance development through its Highly Specialised Technology (HST) programme. The HST programme appraises medicines for the treatment of very rare, and often very severe diseases, and evaluates whether they can be considered a clinically and cost-effective use of NHS resources.Companies may put in place Early Access Programmes (EAPs) to allow early access to new medicines that do not yet have a marketing authorisation. Participation in EAPs is decided at an individual NHS trust level, and under these programmes, the cost of the drug is free to both the patients taking part in it, and to the NHS, although NHS trusts must still cover the administration costs and provide clinical resources to deliver the EAP.

Whether his Department has considered allowing medical students in their second foundation year to apply for positions that are ring-fenced for physician associates.

No such consideration has been made. The role of physician associates (PAs) is to work with and support doctors, not to replace them. To become employed as a PA, candidates will need to have completed a recognised PA qualification.Regulation of PAs by the General Medical Council (GMC) began at the end of 2024. To join the register, PAs must meet the GMC’s requirements and pass both parts of the Physician Associate National Examination.

What recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the (a) career and (b) job search support provisions available to junior doctors.

There has been no recent assessment. Under the UK Foundation Programme curriculum, foundation doctors should receive career guidance and advice from educational supervisors, along with the opportunity to explore potential careers.A variety of other tools and support are available to support resident doctors with their career development and job searches. This includes an e-learning for healthcare course on career planning, and guidance on training pathways and career opportunities for doctors on the NHS Health Careers website, which is available at the following link:https://www.healthcareers.nhs.uk/explore-roles/doctors

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether any UK Government-funded humanitarian aid projects in Ukraine are scheduled to conclude in 2024; and what assessment has been made of the impact of discontinuation on the Ukrainian population.

We are proud of our fast, flexible, and responsive support to Ukrainians living through Russia's invasion. The UK has provided £477 million in humanitarian support to Ukraine and the region since the start of the full-scale invasion. The Prime Minister has recently said in Parliament that we will continue to support Ukraine's humanitarian needs. Funding allocation decisions for the current financial year are ongoing, which will prioritise support for those most in need. We continue to work with Ukrainian government systems, local organisations, international partners, and non-governmental organisations to respond to those needs.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, which ODA-funded programmes in countries classified as (a) non-priority, (b) high-income and (c) of no current strategic interest are due to receive funding in the 2 025-26 financial year; and whether any such programmes are planned for reduction or cessation.

We will publish the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Official Development Assistance allocations for Financial Year 2025/26 in the Annual Report & Accounts in July.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many ODA-funded projects currently operating in Ukraine (a) have secured funding beyond 2024–25 and (b) are at risk of early termination due to ODA budget constraints.

Both the Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary have reaffirmed the need to support Ukraine's needs over the long term as a priority for our future development assistance. Detailed decisions on how the Official Developmental Assistance budget will be used are being worked through as part of the ongoing Spending Review based on various factors including impact assessments. Funding allocation decisions for the current financial year are ongoing and will prioritise support for those most in need, including for Ukraine.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many ODA-funded projects operating in Ukraine (a) have secured funding beyond 2024–25 and (b) are at risk of early termination due to ODA budget constraints.

Both the Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary have reaffirmed the need to support Ukraine's needs over the long term as a priority for our future development assistance. Detailed decisions on how the Official Developmental Assistance budget will be used are being worked through as part of the ongoing Spending Review based on various factors including impact assessments. Funding allocation decisions for the current financial year are ongoing and will prioritise support for those most in need, including for Ukraine.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to ensure continuity of humanitarian aid funding to Ukraine beyond the 2025-26 financial year; and whether there are any forthcoming funding cliff-edges.

As the Prime Minister has said in Parliament, we will continue to support Ukraine's humanitarian needs. Funding allocation decisions for the current financial year are ongoing, and we will prioritise support for those most in need. We continue to work with international partners and non-governmental organisations to respond to those urgent needs. The second phase of the Spending Review is currently underway and will inform spending plans for 2026/27 onwards.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what proportion of the revised ODA budget in the 2024–25 financial year is allocated to support Ukraine; and how much was allocated in (a) 2022–23 and (b) 2023–24.

The UK is a leading bilateral donor to Ukraine. In 2022-23, UK Official Developmental Assistance (ODA) spend for Ukraine was £210.11 million and in 2023-2024 it was £222.95 million.The UK allocated £236.7 million of ODA financing for Ukraine in the 2024/25 financial year. The final outturn and future planned allocations will be published in the 2024-25 Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Annual Report and Accounts in summer 2025 (https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2025-02-06/hcws421 5 February 2025).