Written questions by Goldsborough.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether the Department will set out a date by which the sale of precision bred seeds will be made legal.

Awaiting answer.

Food and Rural Affairs, what plans the Department has to implement a National Listing system to recognise precision bred seeds.

Awaiting answer.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department will make an economic and environmental impact assessment on the alternatives to peat-free growing media.

This question has been interpreted as whether Defra will make an economic and environmental impact assessment on peat-free alternatives in growing media. This Government is committed to protecting our nature-rich habitats, including peat bogs and to this end, the Government has pledged to legislate for a ban on the sale of peat and peat-containing products when Parliamentary time allows. This commitment is embedded within our Carbon Budget planning and, most recently, reflected in the current version of the Environmental Improvement Plan. Whilst an Impact Assessment (IA) was prepared in support of the previous Government’s consultation on ending the sale of peat and peat containing products, IA procedures have changed and this Government would be required to carry out a new IA as part of any legislative process for a ban to end the sale of peat. Using the Responsible Sourcing Scheme for Growing Media methodology to assess the environmental impact of different types of growing media, it has been shown that whilst all materials have an environmental impact, for the most part, this is lower in peat-alternatives.

What steps his Department is taking to ensure that heating failures on the secure estate are fixed promptly.

We continue to work with prison Governors to ensure appropriate contingency measures are in place to mitigate the impact of heating and hot water systems at a prison becoming inoperative.Contingency plans are in place with the Ministry of Justice’s Facilities Management providers to enable them to respond to any incidents that impact upon heating, hot water, or loss of critical services to site as a priority and these plans are regularly reviewed.

What steps his Department is taking to ensure the safety of inmates at HMP Holme House when the heating is not functioning.

The Ministry of Justice treats any disruption to the heating and hot water supply to any prison as a priority and implements contingency measures to rectify incidents that occur as soon as practically possible.Safety and decency remained the primary focus throughout the recent disruption of the heating system at HMP Holme House, with staff instructed to monitor residential conditions closely and escalate any concerns immediately.

If his Department will work with prison governors to implement appropriate contingency plans for inmate wellbeing in the event of heating failures.

We continue to work with prison Governors to ensure appropriate contingency measures are in place to mitigate the impact of heating and hot water systems at a prison becoming inoperative.Contingency plans are in place with the Ministry of Justice’s Facilities Management providers to enable them to respond to any incidents that impact upon heating, hot water, or loss of critical services to site as a priority and these plans are regularly reviewed.

What steps he is taking to improve community healthcare in rural areas.

The Government’s 10 Year Health Plan commits to three big shifts which includes increasingly moving services away from centralised hospitals into the wider community. Integrated care boards are responsible for the planning and commissioning of health services. In doing so ICBs must take into account the needs of their local population, which includes meeting the healthcare needs of their rural populations.

Pursuant to Written Parliamentary Questions 98665, 98666 and 98668, what recourse exists for Voluntary Controlled schools to carry out urgent repairs to the school estate when the local authority fails to provide funding.

The department is investing almost £3 billion per year in capital maintenance by 2034/35 to improve the condition of the school and college estate, rising from £2.4 billion in 2025/26. As part of this, Norfolk Council received a School Condition Allocation of almost £5.5 million for the 2025/26 financial year to invest across its maintained schools, including voluntary controlled schools in South Norfolk constituency. We expect to set out allocations for the 2026/27 financial year in the spring.The department expects local authorities to carefully prioritise investment based on evidence of need, so that school buildings remain safe, operational and compliant with relevant regulations. Voluntary controlled schools should speak to their local authority about any issues so that they are considered when prioritising current and future investment. The department provides additional advice and support to responsible bodies on a case-by-case basis where there are significant and urgent safety issues with buildings that cannot be managed independently.

A) whether Voluntary Controlled schools will be eligible for nomination under the school rebuilding programme and b) which responsible body would need to nominate a Voluntary Controlled school for the next round of the school rebuilding programme.

The government is investing almost £20 billion in the School Rebuilding Programme (SRP) from 2025/26 through to 2034/35, delivering rebuilding projects at over 500 schools across England within the existing programme and expanding the SRP with a further 250 schools to be selected.The department plans to launch a nomination process early this year to identify schools for the next 250 places. Responsible bodies will be invited to submit schools for assessment at that point. We will publish full details on GOV.UK when the process launches.Voluntary controlled schools are eligible for consideration under the SRP, alongside other state funded schools and sixth form colleges in England. The responsible body for a voluntary controlled school is the relevant local authority.

Whether his Department plans to (a) alter and (b) mitigate the National Institute for Care and Excellence's downgrading of terminal cancer to moderately severe.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has not classified terminal cancer as moderately severe. The NICE is an independent body and is responsible for developing the methods and processes it uses to evaluate whether new medicines should be recommended for routine National Health Service funding.In developing recommendations on whether medicines represent a clinically and cost effective use of NHS resources, NICE is able to apply a weighting that recognises the additional value that society places on treatments for severe conditions. The weighting that is applied is calculated for each appraisal based on information on the expected shortfall in life expectancy and quality of life of people with the condition taking into account existing treatment options. NICE has concluded for several appraisals of medicines for advanced cancer that a weighting should be applied based on the severity of the condition. The latest data for appraisals published up to September 2025, show that NICE has recommended 84.8% of treatments for advanced cancers since the severity modifier was introduced compared to 69.1% under its previous methods.NICE is monitoring the impact of the changes made following the methods review and has committed to considering modular updates to its methods and processes in the future. NICE has also commissioned research to gather further evidence on societal preferences that will inform future methods reviews.

Whether his Department plans to take steps to ensure Enhertu remains available on the NHS.

Decisions on whether new medicines should be routinely funded by the National Health Service in England are made on the basis of recommendations from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) following an evaluation of a treatment’s costs and benefits. These are very difficult decisions to make, and it is important that they are made independently and on the basis of the available evidence.NICE has recommended Enhertu (trastuzumab deruxtecan) for use through the Cancer Drugs Fund for the treatment of HER2-positive unresectable or metastatic breast cancer after one or more anti-HER 2 treatments and for treating HER2-positive unresectable or metastatic breast cancer after two or more anti-HER2 therapies. Enhertu is now funded for eligible patients in England through the Cancer Drugs Fund in line with NICE’s recommendations. NICE will consider the evidence collected on the use of Enhertu through the Cancer Drugs Fund into account in making recommendations for the NHS on whether it should be routinely funded by the NHS.NICE published guidance in July 2024 on the use of Enhertu for the treatment of HER-2 low metastatic and unresectable breast cancer and was unfortunately unable to recommend it for routine NHS funding.

Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 4 November 2025 to Question 80333, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of funding public awareness campaigns, including advertisements at airports and ports, on (a) foot and mouth disease and (b) African swine fever.

Biosecurity is a priority for this Government. To protect UK farmers and animals from serious diseases like Foot and Mouth Disease and African Swine Fever, we used the Christmas period as an opportunity to remind the public about the personal imports ban on travellers from the EU and EEA countries bringing dairy and meat products to GB, that came into force last year. This included promoting awareness of the rules to the travelling public and extending our reach through partnership channels across Government and with industry. Our insights survey results indicate that over 90% of respondents are aware that they should not bring back meat and dairy products from these countries. Any decisions on funding paid campaigns will be made based on the current threat level, evidence of effectiveness and available resources, ensuring maximum impact in protecting UK biosecurity.

Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 4 November 2025 to Question 80333 if she will take steps to help increase the audience reach of her Department's digital communications on risks of personal imports, including the risks of (a) foot and mouth disease and (b) African swine fever.

Biosecurity is a priority for this Government. To protect UK farmers and animals from serious diseases like Foot and Mouth Disease and African Swine Fever, we used the Christmas period as an opportunity to remind the public about the personal imports ban on travellers from the EU and EEA countries bringing dairy and meat products to GB, that came into force last year. This included promoting awareness of the rules to the travelling public and extending our reach through partnership channels across Government and with industry. Our insights survey results indicate that over 90% of respondents are aware that they should not bring back meat and dairy products from these countries.Any decisions on funding paid campaigns will be made based on the current threat level, evidence of effectiveness and available resources, ensuring maximum impact in protecting UK biosecurity.

Whether his department will work with the Department for Education to legislate to allow prisoners to obtain a student loan more than 6 years from their earliest release date.

The Ministry of Justice is committed to enabling prisoners to access higher education while in custody and, alongside HMPPS, works with partners such as the Prisoners Education Trust and the Open University to widen access to higher education for prisoners.The Ministry of Justice and the Department for Education will continue to consider access to student finance for prisoners.

If his department will provide the total number of prisoner days, aggregated across all prisoners, in which an individual prisoner with a disability received a) no time in open air and b) no time out of cell.

The information requested for adult prisoners is not held by the Ministry of Justice, as collecting data on time in and out of cell would require detailed monitoring of cell activity in each prison establishment.PSI 75/2011 (Residential Services), which includes general guidance on time-out-of-cell, can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/residential-services-psi-752011.

If his department will provide the average number of visitation days, per prisoner, for a) all prisoners and b) disabled prisoners.

This information could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.However, a report about Social Contact in Prison published 11 December provides information about visit frequencies. The report notes that in the 12 months prior to June 2024, almost two thirds of prisoners (63%) had at least one face-to-face visit. 31% of prisoners received remote contact only and 5% of prisoners appeared to have had no contact.The report can be accessed via the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/social-contact-in-prison-april-2019-to-june-2024.We know that visits are crucial to sustaining relationships with close relatives, partners and friends, and help prisoners maintain links with the community. HMPPS aims to encourage and assist the maintenance of relationships between prisoners and their families to support their social rehabilitation. The Help With Prison Visits scheme (HWPV) supports visitors on low incomes by providing a contribution towards visits costs for close relatives, partners or sole visitors.All visits areas must be accessible for all, including disabled prisoners and visitors.

How many a) reported illnesses or b) hospitalisations of prisoners in each of the last 10 calendar years have been partially or wholly attributed to unhygienic prison conditions.

Statistics on prisoners’ health are the responsibility of the NHS. I am informed that the figures that are collected do not indicate whether an illness or hospitalisation relates to unhygienic conditions or show the causes of illnesses linked to E-coli.Arrangements are in place to ensure hygiene standards are maintained across the prison estate. These include regular monitoring and cleaning delivered through a combination of prisoner working parties and contracted cleaning services.

What steps his department is taking to improve or increase provision of training for newly appointed prison governors.

The Enable Programme is a workforce transformation programme that aims to change how HMPPS trains, develops, leads, and supports its prison staff to ensure that they feel safe, supported, valued, and confident in their skills and ability to make a difference.A key focus for the programme is to strengthen prison leadership and operational capability and build a quality pipeline of leaders for the future. This includes a new national Governor Induction programme which provides a dedicated package of learning for new Governors, offering professional, personal, and practical support to ensure they have the best start to their governing career.

How many cases of e-coli were reported in each individual prison in each of the last 10 calendar years.

Statistics on prisoners’ health are the responsibility of the NHS. I am informed that the figures that are collected do not indicate whether an illness or hospitalisation relates to unhygienic conditions or show the causes of illnesses linked to E-coli.Arrangements are in place to ensure hygiene standards are maintained across the prison estate. These include regular monitoring and cleaning delivered through a combination of prisoner working parties and contracted cleaning services.

Pursuant to the Answer of 5 November 2024 to Question 11190, what progress he has made on tackling remand numbers.

We continue to work closely with partners from across the criminal justice system to manage the growth in the prison remand population. The Sentencing Bill, currently being considered before parliament, introduces a package of amendments to the Bail Act 1976, which, alongside the presumption to suspend short sentences of 12 months or less, will help to address the unsustainable growth in the prison remand population.This package of amendments includes changing the “no real prospect” test in the Bail Act 1976 so that fewer exceptions to bail will apply where the court considers that a sentence of immediate custody is unlikely. We are also adding to the factors that the courts must consider when deciding whether to refuse or grant bail to include consideration of whether the defendant is pregnant, a primary caregiver, or a victim of domestic abuse.