Written questions by MacAlister.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to support farmers in the north of England reliant on cross-border stock movements following the extension of the bluetongue virus restricted zone.

I refer the honourable member to the answer given on 4 June 2025 to question UIN 57569. We continue to work closely with industry representatives to ensure that keepers are kept up to date with developments and that issues and concerns are addressed promptly. In order to minimise the burdens on keepers whilst ensuring controls are proportionate to risk, from 1 July 2025 cattle may move to live from England to Scotland without a pre-movement test if vaccinated with a BTV-3 vaccine that prevents viraemia in that species and 21 days have elapsed since completing the full course of primary vaccination. Defra is working closely with vaccine manufacturers to understand supply availability.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether (a) his Department and (b) each of its arms length bodies offers employees who are foster carers (i) flexible working, (ii) paid time off for (A) training and (B) settling a new child into their home and (iii) other support.

Employees have a statutory right to request flexible working which applies from the first day of employment. Employees can make two statutory requests for flexible working in any 12-month period. This will include requests to support employees who undertake foster caring outside of their employment. In addition, foster carers may apply for flexible working when settling a new child into their home. We do not have a policy which explicitly covers paid time off for foster carers for (A) training and/or (B) settling a new child into their home. Employees are able to take annual and flexi leave (if eligible) as required and request flexible working. In addition to the statutory right to reasonable unpaid time off work to deal with an emergency involving a dependant, and the statutory right to 5 days unpaid leave for those with caring responsibilities, the Department and its arm’s length bodies offeran additional 5 days’ off as paid leave for carers (with the exception of the Environment Agency)an additional 5 days’ off as paid leave for those with dependents If the fostering arrangement leads to Adoption (Fostering to Adopt), both Adoption Leave and Parental Leave may be applied for. Other Support Parental Network: Defra’s Parental Network is a staff-led, informal group. It provides support and information for want-to-be, soon-to-be and current parents, as well as line managers or those supporting parents as part of their role. Carers Network: The Defra Carers’ Network is a staff-led group providing support for carers who work at Defra. A carer is anyone who cares for a friend or family member who, because of an illness, a disability, a mental health problem, or an addiction, cannot cope without their support.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of issuing a Regulation 12 determination under the Justification of Practices Involving Ionising Radiation Regulations 2004 confirming that the use of ionising radiation for the generation of electricity from nuclear energy using oxide fuel of low enrichment in fissile content in light water cooled, water moderated thermal reactors is considered an Existing Practice for projects such as those proposed by Great British Nuclear.

In his role as Justifying Authority for nuclear energy, the Secretary of State can consider a broad class or type of practice under Regulation 12 of the Justification of Practices Involving Ionising Radiation Regulations 2004. A determination to justify a broad class or type of practice would assume that all potential nuclear reactor designs in scope of that class or type of practice would result in a similar balance of benefits and detriments. Where there is sufficient evidence to make such an assessment, the Justifying Authority remains open to the possibility of accommodating a broader range of designs in a class or type of practice when assessing justification applications.