Written questions by Maguire.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what the expected timeframe is between an ICC arrest warrant being issued and an arrest being made in the UK; and whether any preparatory legal or operational steps can be taken in advance of an individual's arrival in the UK to ensure immediate enforcement upon entry.

We respect the independence of the International Criminal Court (ICC) which is the primary international institution for investigating and prosecuting the most serious crimes of international concern. There is a domestic legal process through our independent courts that determines whether to endorse an ICC arrest warrant in accordance with the UK's ICC Act 2001. The process has not been used to date because the UK has never been visited by an individual subject to an ICC arrest warrant. An individual subject to an ICC arrest warrant must be in the UK for any arrest to be made. The Government is unaware of any planned visits to the UK by individuals subject to ICC arrest warrants.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will ensure that (a) warrants requested by the International Criminal Court are prepared promptly and (b) he is aware of potential visits by individuals subject to International Criminal Court scrutiny.

We respect the independence of the International Criminal Court (ICC) which is the primary international institution for investigating and prosecuting the most serious crimes of international concern. There is a domestic legal process through our independent courts that determines whether to endorse an ICC arrest warrant in accordance with the UK's ICC Act 2001. The Government is unaware of any planned visits to the UK by individuals subject to ICC arrest warrants.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of raising the maximum age threshold of driving volunteer minibus services to 80.

An individual driving a minibus using additional entitlements through a Category B (Car) driving licence, may drive a minibus after the age of 70 but must demonstrate they meet higher Group 2 medical standards for reasons of passenger safety and safety to other road users. There are no plans to change this.

If her Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing the maximum authorised mass permitted for volunteer minibus drivers to over 3.5 tonnes.

Drivers wishing to operate a passenger carrying vehicle with 8-16 seats must have the D1 entitlement on their driving licence. For drivers using their car licence to drive a minibus where the licence was first obtained after 1 January 1997, this weight is limited to 3,500kgs. Many minibuses come under the proscribed weights and can therefore be driven using additional entitlements on a category B (Car) licence. Any decision to amend existing rules would require a careful assessment of the road safety implications and our international obligations. The Department has no current plans to conduct such an assessment.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Prime Minister's oral response to the hon. Member for North Cornwall during Prime Minister's Questions on 16 October 2024, if she will meet with hon. Members representing Cornish constituencies.

The Deputy Prime Minister held a meeting with all six Cornish Members of Parliament on 17 December 2024. There has also been a significant number of meetings with Cornish MPs individually and collectively with government ministers.

What assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the proposed rise in employers' National Insurance contributions on small businesses.

A Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) was published alongside the introduction of the Bill containing the changes to employer NICs. The TIIN sets out the impact of the policy on the exchequer, the economic impacts of the policy, and the impacts on individuals, businesses, and civil society organisations as well as an overview of the equality impacts. The Government has protected the smallest businesses and charities from the impact of the increase to employer National Insurance by increasing the Employment Allowance from £5,000 to £10,500, which means that 865,000 employers will pay no NICs at all next year, more than half of employers will see no change or will gain overall from this package, and all eligible employers will be able to employ up to four full-time workers on the National Living Wage and pay no employer NICs.

What plans his Department has to support small-medium enterprises in Cornwall, in the context of the proposed rise in employers' National Insurance contributions.

The government is reforming business rates to offer permanent reductions for retail, hospitality, and leisure properties, which represent a significant portion of Cornwall's SMEs. We have also shielded the smallest businesses and charities from the impact of increased Employer National Insurance by raising the Employment Allowance from £5,000 to £10,500.Looking ahead, the government has announced plans to launch a Business Growth Service, designed as a national initiative with local delivery at its core, and will publish a Small Business Strategy Command Paper later this year.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the proposed increase in employer's National Insurance on public services provided by Cornwall Council.

We recognise the challenges that local authorities are facing as demand increases for critical services. That is why the government is providing an additional £2 billion of grant funding through the Settlement, which includes £502 million of additional grant funding to manage the impact of employer National Insurance Contributions (NICs) changes on council budgets.Additional funding for employer NICs has been determined based on a national assessment of the costs for directly employed staff and the grant distribution methodology has been published in an explanatory note on the government website: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/updated-explanatory-note-on-the-employer-national-insurance-contribution-grant-2025-to-2026.

If she will make an assessment with the Chancellor of the Exchequer of the potential merits of implementing a tapered clawback mechanism for agricultural property relief for farmers whose agricultural assets marginally exceed the £1 million threshold.

The Government believes its reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief from 6 April 2026 gets the balance right between supporting farms and fixing the public finances in a fair way. The reforms reduce the inheritance tax advantages available to owners of agricultural and business assets, but it still means those assets will be taxed at a much lower effective rate than most other assets. Despite a tough fiscal context, the Government will maintain very significant levels of relief from inheritance tax beyond what is available to others and the position before 1992. The Government has no plans to implement a tapered clawback mechanism.

Food and Rural Affairs, how many applications his Department has received for the (a) Sustainable Farming Incentive and (b) Environmental Land Management scheme; and what the status is of each application.

(a)The Sustainable Farming Incentive has a rolling application window and as of 04 February the RPA has received 46,765 applications of which 42,497 agreements have been offered and 35,949 accepted. ** Farmers can have more than one agreement in SFI schemes (including SFI Pilot, SFI 2023 SFI EO). The Get Funding to Improve Animal Health and Welfare Review scheme has a rolling application window and as of 04 February the RPA has received 8,992 claims, of which 8,079 claims were accepted. (b) Rural Payment Agency received 9,105 applications for Countryside Stewardship revenue agreements to start 01 January 2024. 8,313 agreements were offered, and 8,308 agreements were accepted.

Food and Rural Affairs, for what reason Sustainable Farming Incentive and Environmental Land Management scheme payments have been delayed.

The Sustainable Farming Incentive Scheme has a rolling application window, and quarterly payments begin four months after the start of an accepted agreement. As of 04 February, the Rural Payments Agency has 35,949 accepted agreement offers for which a payment is due with around 98% having received their quarterly payments. The Countryside Stewardship payment window runs from 1 December 2024 to 30 June 2025. Rural Payments Agency received 35,596 claims and as of 04 February 2025, payments have been released for 25,540 (74%) of these. The Environmental Stewardship payment window runs from 1 December 2024 to 30 June 2025. Rural Payments Agency received 5,950 claims and as of 04 February 2025, payments have been released for 5,559 (93%) of these. The Get Funding to Improve Animal Health and Welfare Review scheme has a rolling application window and as of 04 February the RPA has received 8,992 claims, of which 8,079 claims were accepted and 80.2% paid. RPA received 125% more Countryside Stewardship revenue claims in 2024 than in 2020. Recognising payments are made between December and the following June, as at end of December 2024 we’d made 22,000 payments (worth over £278.5m) which is 11,900 more payments (worth £214m more) than we had by end of December 2020.

Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 20 January 2025 to Question 24102 on Per- and Polyfluorinated Alkyl Substances, whether his Department has conducted work into assessing the suitability of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substance alternatives.

Beyond the preliminary analysis of PFAS alternatives included in the Regulatory Management Options Analysis published in April 2023, more detailed analysis is conducted as part of the preparation of a restriction dossier proposal by the Health and Safety Executive as the Agency for UK REACH. The UK REACH dossier for a restriction on PFAS in fire-fighting foams is due to be published for consultation in March 2025. Defra also supports international efforts in addressing PFAS risks. This includes support for projects undertaken by the OECD that assess availability of suitable PFAS alternatives for key sectors.

If he will publish his timetable for the third Statutory Review of the Pubs Code and the Pubs Code Adjudicator.

The next statutory review of the Pubs Code and Pubs Code Adjudicator, as required by the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 and associated regulations, will cover the period from 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2025. The review will commence once the current review period has ended. The Secretary of State is required to publish a report of the findings of the review and lay a copy of the report before Parliament as soon as practicable after the end of the review period.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of introducing a statutory duty on local planning authorities to remedy breaches of planning law for unlawful (a) demolition of public houses and (b) conversion of public houses to another use.

The change of use or demolition of a public house requires planning permission.The government does not collect data on the number of public houses which have unlawfully changed use or have been demolished in Cornwall or England.We have not made any assessment of the potential merits of introducing a statutory duty on local planning authorities to remedy breaches of planning law in relation to such matters. We continue to keep the operation of the current protections for public houses under review.

Communities and Local Government, how many public houses have been unlawfully (a) converted to another use and (b) demolished in (i) Cornwall and (ii) England since 2017.

The change of use or demolition of a public house requires planning permission.The government does not collect data on the number of public houses which have unlawfully changed use or have been demolished in Cornwall or England.We have not made any assessment of the potential merits of introducing a statutory duty on local planning authorities to remedy breaches of planning law in relation to such matters. We continue to keep the operation of the current protections for public houses under review.

Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to prevent the permanent conversion of public houses to other uses through the High Street Rental Auctions scheme in (a) Cornwall and (b) England.

The government champions the community value of pubs and has included a number of protections in the high street rental auction legislation. The local authority may restrict the use of the property within the lease terms. Should a change of use be approved, key infrastructure must be maintained, and the premises will revert to being a pub unless an application for change of use is made under the standard process. Therefore, even if a pub is subject to a High Street Rental Auction, its ability to become a functioning pub again can be guaranteed.

What steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to balance the needs of different sea users, in the context of offshore energy.

The UK Government is committed to accelerating to net zero, delivering clean power by 2030, and to restoring nature. Through the cross-government Marine Spatial Prioritisation Programme (MSPri), the Department is engaging across government and with marine users to improve its understanding of future demands and identify opportunities for greater co-location. The Department will work with Defra to bring together its ministerial colleagues, who share responsibilities for marine sectors, to discuss how best to consider wider demands on the seabed as we develop future offshore wind.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of banning perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances where there are alternatives.

A Regulatory Management Options Analysis (RMOA), published in April 2023, made a detailed assessment of the range of hazards and risks from Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) identified in Great Britain, as well as a preliminary analysis of the availability of alternatives for a range of applications. The RMOA recommended a range of actions including the development of UK REACH Restrictions for a wide range of PFAS uses. Under the UK REACH Work Programme, we are investigating whether to restrict PFAS in firefighting foams and are progressing work to consider other measures relating to PFAS. The preparation of a UK REACH Restriction proposal requires there to be an assessment of the suitability of alternatives. Innovation of suitable PFAS alternatives is also needed and we are working to harness industry leadership in the transition away from PFAS.

Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the needs of sea users, in the context of food security.

The Secretary of State has regular discussions with Cabinet colleagues on a range of issues, and Cabinet discussions are considered confidential. Food security is national security, and working closely with our fishing and seafood sectors to ensure they are vibrant, profitable and sustainable is key to achieving that. Nonetheless, the Government needs to assess how we can best deliver our future targets and ambitions on food security, net zero, shipping, energy security, fishing and the environment, among others. Through the Marine Spatial Prioritisation Programme, Defra is engaging across Government and with marine users to improve our understanding of future demands and identify opportunities for greater co-location.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to further restrict the use of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances where there are alternatives.

A Regulatory Management Options Analysis (RMOA), published in April 2023, made a detailed assessment of the range of hazards and risks from Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) identified in Great Britain, as well as a preliminary analysis of the availability of alternatives for a range of applications. The RMOA recommended a range of actions including the development of UK REACH Restrictions for a wide range of PFAS uses. Under the UK REACH Work Programme, we are investigating whether to restrict PFAS in firefighting foams and are progressing work to consider other measures relating to PFAS. The preparation of a UK REACH Restriction proposal requires there to be an assessment of the suitability of alternatives. Innovation of suitable PFAS alternatives is also needed and we are working to harness industry leadership in the transition away from PFAS.