Written questions by Naish.

Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to his speech at the NFU conference on 25 February 2025, whether the requirement for government catering contracts to favour high-welfare products will be determined with reference to the highest welfare tiers set out in his Department's proposed animal welfare label in the Fairer Food Labelling consultation which closed in May 2024.

The National Procurement Policy Statement underscores the Government's commitment to increasing the procurement of food that meets higher environmental standards, supporting local suppliers and upholding ethical sourcing practises across public sector contracts. This includes sourcing products from all farmed animals which have been raised to high UK welfare standards as defined in current animal welfare legislation.

If she will (a) increase the tax-free childcare allowance and (b) allow parents to use that allowance in place of funded hours.

The £2,000 Tax-Free Childcare (TFC) top-up, which can be claimed per year and per child up to age 11 (and £4,000 per disabled child, up to age 16), was set at this level because the Government believes it strikes the right balance between helping parents with their childcare costs and managing the public finances in a responsible way. From September 2025, childcare entitlements for eligible working parents of children aged from nine months will increase from 15 hours to 30 hours, helping hundreds of thousands of families with the cost of childcare and supporting parents to work. This year alone, we expect to provide over £8 billion for the early years entitlements – which is an additional £2 billion (over 30% increase) compared to 2024. Please note that parents can claim both TFC and DfE childcare entitlements so long as they are eligible. The government keeps all aspects of childcare policy under review.

Communities and Local Government, whether she has issued recent guidance to housing associations on the level of contribution they should make to estate service management fees.

The Department has not issued recent guidance around the level of contribution Housing Associations make to estate management fees.Housing Associations may be responsible for managing communal areas on estates that they own, and the extent to which they can pass on the costs of such maintenance to leaseholders and tenants will depend on the terms of the lease and tenancy agreements.The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 includes measures designed to drive up the transparency of service charges to make them more easily challengeable if leaseholders consider them to be unreasonable.The government is committed to acting quickly to implement the provisions of the Act. Further detail can be found in the written ministerial statement published on Thursday 21 November (HCWS244).

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department plans to take to tackle (a) wildlife crime, (b) hare coursing and (c) badger baiting.

Wildlife crime is unacceptable. Defra is providing £424,000 for the National Wildlife Crime (NWCU) in 2025-2026. The NWCU helps prevent and detect wildlife crime by obtaining and disseminating intelligence, undertaking analysis which highlights local or national threats and assisting law enforcers with investigations. This government recognises the importance of tackling rural crimes such as hare coursing. A package of measures introduced in the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 broadened the circumstances in which police can investigate and bring charges for hare coursing-related activity. This legislation, as well as improved police tactics, intelligence and information sharing and the use of community protection notices and criminal behaviour orders appears to be having an impact on reducing hare coursing offences. Badger persecution is one of the seven UK wildlife crime priorities. A police-led Badger Persecution Priority Delivery Group works to tackle horrific criminal offences like badger baiting. Anyone found guilty of these activities should be subject to the full force of the law. The Protection of Badgers Act 1992 and the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 provide protection against certain methods of killing, injuring, or taking of badgers, or interference with their setts.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential implications for his policies of the Animal Welfare Committee’s December 2024 report recommendation to ban any further deliberate breeding of domestic cats with any non-domestic felid species.

The Government welcomes the Animal Welfare Committee’s Opinion on the welfare implications of current and emergent feline breeding practices. We are carefully considering the Committee’s recommendations.

Communities and Local Government, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of standardising the contribution that Housing Associations make to estate service management fees.

The Department has not made a specific assessment of the implications of standardising the contribution that Housing Associations make to estate management fees.

Communities and Local Government, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of amending council tax legislation so new owners bringing previously empty properties back into use are not required to pay a council tax premium while renovating the property for a period of time.

The government recognises there may be circumstances where it would not be appropriate for a council tax premium to apply. That is why this government introduced a number of exceptions to council tax premiums which came into effect from 1 April 2025. This includes an exception for up to 12-months for empty dwellings undergoing major repairs. The government has published guidance setting out when premiums and exceptions may apply. This is available here - Guidance on the implementation of the council tax premiums on long-term empty homes and second homes - GOV.UK.

Communities and Local Government, whether she plans to (a) limit and (b) prohibit the use of joint and several liability contracts in student housing.

The government does not intend to restrict or prohibit the use of joint and several liability contracts in the student housing market. This is a well-established practice in the sector, allowing groups of students to choose to live together with their friends.

Innovation and Technology, whether he plans to limit phone line rental charges for analogue landlines; and what assessment he has made of the adequacy of phone-only line rental charges following the transition to Voice over Internet Protocol landlines.

The Department does not have plans to limit phone line rental charges for analogue landlines as this is a matter for industry. However, under Ofcom’s telephony universal service conditions, BT and KCOM (in Hull) are required to offer a voice service to everyone, on request, at an affordable price. The telephony universal service obligation (USO) does not specify the technology that providers should use to meet this obligation, therefore the migration to digital landlines does not change the telephony USO.It is worth noting that many other telecoms providers offer fixed voice services, however unlike BT and KCOM (in Hull) they do not have an obligation to do so. Ofcom’s telephony universal service conditions can be found at this link: https://www.ofcom.org.uk/phones-and-broadband/telecoms-infrastructure/universal-service-obligation

What recent progress has been made on the appointment of a new chair for the Competition and Markets Authority; and when this position is likely to be filled.

Doug Gurr was appointed Interim Chair of the Competition and Markets Authority (“CMA”) on 21 January 2025 for a period of up to 18 months. The Secretary of State is grateful for the leadership Doug Gurr has shown in re-focusing the CMA on growth, investment and building business confidence while protecting consumers. An open competition to appoint a new permanent Chair will be launched in due course.

What assessment she has made of the merits of extending the home fee status for UK citizens living in (a) the EEA and (b) Switzerland beyond 1 January 2028.

British citizens and their family members living in the EEA or Switzerland at the end of the transition period (31 December 2020) who meet the relevant residency requirements, will generally be eligible for home fee status, tuition fee and maintenance support from Student Finance England for courses starting before 1 January 2028.In the absence of this additional seven year period, in order to be eligible for home fee status and student support, British citizens and their family members would need to be ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands for three years prior to the start of their course, in line with the general requirement for all British citizens. There are no plans to extend this seven year period further.

Whether she plans to bring forward regulations to require all road cyclists to wear an approved safety helmet.

The Highway Code recommends that cyclists should wear helmets. The Government encourages cyclists, particularly children, to do so, but has no plans to make this a legal requirement. The safety benefits of mandating helmets would be likely to be outweighed by the fact that it would put some people off cycling, thereby reducing the wider health and environmental benefits.

Whether she (a) is taking and (b) plans to take steps to regulate hygiene standards within the (i) hairdresser, (ii) barber and (iii) beauty industries.

Businesses in the hair and beauty sector, which includes barber shops, hairdressers and beauty salons are required to comply with the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and associated regulations, which place duties on businesses to assess the risk of infection for employees and others affected by their work, including members of the public.While Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has the policy lead for the hair and beauty sector, responsibility for enforcing health and safety legislation at individual businesses rests with the local authority where the premises are located.Where there is evidence that risks are not being properly managed, local authorities are able to intervene and take appropriate enforcement action to ensure that employees and customers are protected.Local authorities are also responsible for managing hygiene standards in businesses, but this is not within HSE’s remit.

What steps he is taking to ensure that websites such as Checkatrade are vetting tradespeople appropriately to reduce the risk of fraud to platform users.

Checkatrade is a private company providing a UK-based online platform that connects homeowners with vetted and approved local tradespeople. Government is not directly involved in the vetting process or checks undertaken by Checkatrade. TrustMark is a UK government-endorsed quality scheme that covers work carried out in or around the home. It was established to ensure that consumers can find reliable and trustworthy tradespeople for various home improvement and repair tasks. TrustMark operates under a Master Licence Agreement held by the Department for Business and Trade. Consumers seeking tradespeople to undertake work in their home should consider checking for TrustMark certification.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has made representations to his counterpart in Nicaragua on the suppression of (a) human rights and (b) religious freedoms in that country.

We share widespread international concern about the relentless suppression of democratic, religious, and other freedoms in Nicaragua. We continue to urge the Nicaraguan authorities to re-establish democratic freedoms in our engagements with the Nicaraguan Embassy and in Managua, as well as through our public statements in international fora. Most recently, on 28 February at the 58th session of the UN Human Rights Council, we raised our grave human rights concerns, including relating to freedom of religion and belief, and arbitrary detentions. Nicaragua's declaration on 27 February that it is leaving the UN Human Rights Council does not change the need to hold the authorities accountable for the suppression of human rights in Nicaragua.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department is taking steps to help ensure that sugar beet growers receive an adequate price for their product.

The Government recognises the importance of sugar beet farmers who are vital to UK sugar production. Also, that sugar beet itself, used in crop rotations, is beneficial to soil and crop health and allows arable farms a season of “rest” from cereal production. We are committed to promoting fairness across the food supply chain. That includes seeing a price agreed for sugar beet that benefits both growers and processors, in the context of the global market. There is a well-established process in place to agree the sugar beet price; designed to be independent between both parties. An Inter Professional Agreement is agreed each year between both parties and sets out the process for negotiating and agreeing price, terms and conditions for the upcoming crop year, as well as any dispute resolution process.

What steps she is taking to promote the Advance into Justice scheme; and whether she plans to take steps to establish continuity of service between the armed forces and civil service pension schemes.

‘Advance into Justice’ is a Ministry of Justice recruitment initiative aimed at providing a direct recruitment channel for Armed Forces Service Leavers, Veterans and Veterans Spouses into key operational roles across HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS).The Ministry of Justice recognises that Armed forces personnel have a wide range of transferable skills that are aligned with many HMPPS roles, allowing them to form a second career whilst continuing to protect the public.Ahead of the launch of the next Advance into Justice campaign in May 2025, the Ministry of Justice is working on a marketing and communication strategy to promote the scheme externally using various media approaches.The Ministry of Justice attends regular Armed Forces Recruitment events across the country managed by the Career Transition Partnership, the official resettlement provider for the Ministry of Defence and British Forces Resettlement Services.The Department does not hold information on any plans to establish continuity of service between the armed forces and the Civil Service pension schemes as this is the remit of Cabinet Office.

Whether he is taking steps to ensure that the Community Pharmacy Independent Prescribing Pathfinder Programme and independent prescribing generally will continue to be supported to maximise direct prescribing capability in England.

The NHS England Pathfinder programme is running across England with the aim of developing a commissioning framework for community pharmacy clinical services with independent prescribing (IP) for National Health Service patients. We are working with integrated care boards and pathfinder sites, community pharmacies, to understand the key enablers for IP to be incorporated into community pharmacy. The programme learning will be across five key domains: clinical; digital; governance and safety; people; and funding and contracts. We hope to complete our evaluation by Autumn 2025, and to use this to inform planning for the incorporation of prescribing into community pharmacy clinical services. Further information on the NHS England Pathfinder programme is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/primary-care/pharmacy/pharmacy-integration-fund/independent-prescribing/

Whether he has had discussions with Independent Sector Providers on ensuring that staff (a) who deliver NHS services and (b) whose contracts do not include automatic pay uplifts receive any agreed pay uplifts as soon as possible.

My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has not held any discussions with independent providers on this topic.Independent organisations, such as social enterprises and general practices, are free to develop and adapt their own terms and conditions of employment. This includes the pay scales that they use, the extent to which pay awards are made, and when those awards are paid.

Whether he has considered limiting the sale of oil and gas from the North Sea to domestic markets.

The UK government does not own the oil and gas infrastructure in the North Sea and does not dictate where the commodities are sold or the price. Oil and gas are traded on international markets, therefore domestically produced oil and gas does not mean cheaper prices. The UK's diverse gas supplies allow exports to continental Europe while meeting domestic demand. This enables reciprocal imports when needed, supporting European allies in reducing dependence on Russian gas and undermining Putin's influence. As long as consumers remain exposed to international energy markets through dependency on oil and gas, wherever it is produced, they will be vulnerable to shocks impacting energy costs which drove the cost-of-living crisis.