Written questions by Wrigley.

What assessment he has made of the adequacy of the performance of Talkworks NHS Talking Therapy in supporting patients with mental health issues in Devon.

Integrated care boards (ICB) are responsible for commissioning services within the National Health Service, including Talking Therapies, to meet the needs of their local populations. ICBs are also responsible for ensuring that service providers adhere to the terms and conditions of their contract, including quality, performance, and the financial aspects.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much the US paid for the sub rental of Diego Garcia in the last financial year.

As agreed in the US-UK Exchange of Notes which governs the US use of Diego Garcia, there is no direct payment between the US and the UK for use of the base. The US pays for the operating and maintenance costs of the Naval Support Facility on Diego Garcia, which are significant. The US supports the Treaty, with US Secretary of State Rubio publicly noting that the Treaty "secures the long-term, stable, and effective operation of the joint US-UK military facility at Diego Garcia".

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what proportion of UK-US sub-rental of Diego Garcia atoll will be offset in the next financial year by the same year's equivalent payment of the UK's exit deal of the Chagos islands.

As agreed in the US-UK Exchange of Notes which governs the US use of Diego Garcia, there is no direct payment between the US and the UK for use of the base. The US pays for the operating and maintenance costs of the Naval Support Facility on Diego Garcia, which are significant. The US supports the Treaty, with US Secretary of State Rubio publicly noting that the Treaty "secures the long-term, stable, and effective operation of the joint US-UK military facility at Diego Garcia".

What steps he is taking to help improve the recruitment and retention of care home staff.

The Government recognises the scale of reforms needed to make the adult social care sector attractive, to support sustainable workforce growth and improve the recruitment and retention of the domestic workforce.We are introducing the first ever Fair Pay Agreement to the adult social care sector so that care professionals are recognised and rewarded for the important work that they do.We are supporting the professionalisation of the adult social care workforce, including through the expansion of the Care Workforce Pathway to a further four roles, including registered manager and deputy manager roles. The Pathway sets out how people can develop a long-term career in adult social care, with the right support and training to help attract people to join and remain in the sector.We are also continuing to fund the Adult Social Care Learning Development Support Scheme to help people build their skills and careers in care. The scheme is backed by up to £12 million this financial year and includes qualifications to enhance the quality of care more broadly, as well as opportunities to develop leadership and management skills.

What steps he is taking to support (a) manufacturing and (b) heavy industry with climate-transition policies.

Advanced manufacturing is critical to UK prosperity. This Government will continue to support the sector through our forthcoming Industrial Strategy, where advanced manufacturing has been selected as one of eight growth-driving sectors. To support heavy industry with climate-transition policies we have provided guidance to SMEs through our Business Energy Advice Service (BEAS) pilot and to local clusters through our Local Industrial Decarbonisation Plans scheme. A renewed Industrial Decarbonisation Strategy will set the strategic direction for our approach to working with industry towards a competitive and low carbon industrial base in the UK, ensuring growth opportunities are captured in tandem with emissions reductions.

Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 4 March 2025 to Question 33098 on Agriculture: Climate Change, what recent discussions he has had with the (a) Joint Nature Conservation Committee, (b) Committee on Climate Change and (c) Special representative for Nature on improving collaboration.

Defra continues to work with the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC), the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) and the Special Representative for Nature (SREP) to facilitate closer relationships for the benefit of climate and nature and build an effective engagement framework that will enhance integration.

Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to his Interim statement on the Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP) rapid review, published on 30 January 2025, what steps he is taking to improve (a) environmental data and (b) indicators of change in the natural environment.

Defra’s Natural Capital and Ecosystem Assessment Programme (NCEA) is delivering a nationwide survey of England’s land, freshwater assets and coast; mapping the location, extent, and condition of our ecosystems. The outputs of the programme will improve environmental data and metrics, fill in evidence gaps and enable a ‘whole system’ picture of the state of our natural environment, providing a more complete view of nature at both a regional and national level. Our Outcome Indicator Framework (OIF) presents an authoritative way to measure changes to our environment. It collates a comprehensive suite of measures, including data from the NCEA, which collectively describe environmental change. The OIF is continuously improved, bringing in new data sources or indicators where better data becomes available. For example, the indicator on concentrations of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in the air was updated this year with a new metric that more accurately reflects both the indicator and the target being measured.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to introduce legally binding biodiversity targets beyond those in the Environment Act 2021.

There are no plans to introduce legally binding biodiversity targets beyond those in the Environment Act 2021.This Government is committed to delivering the 13 legally binding environmental targets set under the Environment Act 2021, which include water, biodiversity, resource efficiency, marine protected areas, and tree and woodland cover.The Government commissioned a rapid review of the existing Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP23) to ensure the right policies are in place to deliver our targets. A statement of the rapid review’s key findings was published in January 2025. Later in 2025, we will publish a revised EIP, setting out important delivery information for the ambitious Environment Act targets.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to balance (a) public and (b) private sector responsibilities in achieving net-zero targets.

Both the public and private sector will play a key role in achieving net zero targets. Private investment will be crucial to delivering net zero, building climate resilience and supporting nature’s recovery.This government is committed to building a robust and stable policy framework so that all parties – from farmers and land managers delivering improvements on the ground, to businesses and investors financing high quality projects – can do so with confidence. We are working at pace with the private sector to help farmers transition to greener practices, establish a taskforce to plant millions of trees to help remove carbon from the air and move towards a circular economy to reduce our demand for raw materials that destroy the environment. To take this forward, a Taskforce has been established comprising members from industry, academia, and civil society, to lead the development of a Circular Economy Strategy At the last budget in 2024, the Government secured the largest budget for sustainable food production in our country’s history, with £5 billion committed in the farming budget over a two-year period. The Environmental Land management schemes (ELM) are critical to supporting farming and landowners in their low-carbon practices. There is now a record 50,000 farm businesses in ELM schemes and more than half of all farmed land is now managed under schemes.

Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 7 April 2025 to Question 36242 on Animals: Import Controls, if he will engage with Shaldon Zoo on changes following the UK-EU deal.

An SPS Agreement will establish a UK-EU Sanitary and Phytosanitary Zone aimed at reducing trade barriers and facilitating the safe and efficient movement of terrestrial and aquatic zoo animals. Our ambition is to reach an agreement that reduces administrative burden by streamlining SPS checks and certification, while upholding the UK’s commitment to ensure its biosecurity is protected within this future framework. Defra remains committed to engaging with a wide range of stakeholders, as we seek to secure the best possible outcome.

Food and Rural Affairs, what is the timeline for local authorities to incorporate biodiversity targets into their local plans.

Public authorities play an important role in improving nature. The strengthened biodiversity duty came into force in 1 January 2023 and requires public authorities to consider how they can improve biodiversity through the exercise of their existing functions. Public authorities must also regard Local Nature Recovery Strategies, Species Conservation Strategies and Protected Site Strategies in complying with the duty. All public authorities are required to consider actions they can take to comply with the biodiversity duty before 1 January 2024. After this, public authorities must reconsider their actions within five years of their previous consideration. All local authorities and local planning authorities must report on the actions they have taken in accordance with the biodiversity duty by 1 January 2026, and then at least every 5 years. Defra does not intend to extend the reporting duty to additional public authorities.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to provide additional funding to (a) climate and (b) nature recovery programmes.

Phase 1 of the Spending Review concluded in October last year and set Defra's budget for 2025-26. Phase 2 of the Spending Review is underway and will set our Departmental budgets until 2029-29. Decisions regarding allocation of budgets for future years, including climate and nature recovery programmes, will be taken following the outcome of the SR on 11 June.

Whether she plans to take steps to (a) help reduce the pay-gap for supply teachers in comparison to full-time teachers and (b) create a pathway for supply teachers to access the Teachers' pension scheme.

Supply teachers make a valuable contribution to our schools.A supply teacher’s pay and working conditions will depend on who employs them. Supply teachers employed directly by a state maintained school or local authority must be paid in accordance with the statutory arrangements for teachers laid down in the School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document. If a supply teacher is employed by a private agency or non-maintained school, the employer can set the rate of pay and conditions of employment.The Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS) Regulations 2014, which set out the rules for the TPS, determine that for teachers to be eligible, their employment must be with an accepted employer, usually a school.Where a supply teacher is employed directly by an accepted school, they will have the same participation rights as a permanent teacher and are eligible to participate in the scheme. Where supply teachers are self-employed, or employed by a supply agency and their services are provided under a contract for services, it is not possible for them to participate in the TPS. This is because there is no organisation to pay both member and employer contributions to the scheme in these circumstances.The department does not have plans currently to revisit these positions.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of changes to PIP eligibility on the (a) health and (b) economic security of people living with mental illnesses.

No such assessment has been made. We are taking action to focus PIP more on those with the greatest needs, by introducing a new eligibility requirement. The change to the PIP eligibility criteria will mean that people with a higher level of functional need – for example, people who are unable to complete activities at all, or who require more help from others to complete them – still receive PIP. We are also taking action to get the basics right and improve the experience for people who use the system of health and disability benefits as set out in the Green Paper. This includes exploring ways to improve PIP assessments through digitalising transfer of medical information, using evidence from eligibility for other services to reduce the need for people with very severe health conditions to undergo functional assessments and improving communication with people receiving awards who are expected to remain on disability benefits for life. We are consulting on how best to support those who are affected by the new eligibility changes, including how to make sure health and eligible care needs are met. PIP is not based on condition diagnosis but on functional disability as the result of one or more conditions, and is awarded as a contribution to the additional costs which result. We also intend to launch a wider review of the PIP assessment which I will lead, and we will bring together a range of experts, stakeholders and people with lived experience to consider how best to do this and to start the process as part of preparing for a review. We will provide further details as plans progress. Information on the impacts of the Pathways to Work Green Paper has been published here ‘Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper’(opens in a new tab).A further programme of analysis to support development of the proposals in the Green Paper will be developed and undertaken in the coming months.

What steps he is taking to improve health outcomes for people with a UTI in Devon.

Information is published nationally on the National Health Service website outlining the symptoms, treatment, self-care, causes, and prevention of urinary tract infections (UTIs). Further information is available at the following link: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/urinary-tract-infections-utis/ In addition, there is also local patient-facing information on the MyHealth Devon website, which is available at the following link: https://myhealth-devon.nhs.uk/my-condition/condition/utis/ The local NHS service in Devon has a series of referral and treatment guidelines for UTIs. These include: - UTIs in females;- UTIs in males;- suspected UTIs in children; and- UTIs in general. These guidelines include information on assessment, red flags, investigations, management, and referral, and further information on each of the topics above is available at the following link: https://southwest.devonformularyguidance.nhs.uk/referral-guidance/south-devon-torbay/urology There is also a new clinical referral guideline for recurrent UTIs that is currently in development with local specialists. These guidelines cover the management of many UTI related topics, including: - the management of asymptomatic bacteriuria;- the management of catheter-associated urinary tract infection;- the management of chronic pelvic pain syndrome;- the management of community multidrug-resistant urinary tract infection;- the management of lower urinary tract infections;- the management of prostatitis, acute;- the management of pyelonephritis, acute;- the management of recurrent urinary tract infection; and- resources for urinary tract infections. Further information on each of the above is available at the following link:https://southwest.devonformularyguidance.nhs.uk/formulary/chapters/5-infections/urinary-tract-infections

Whether he is taking steps to financially support oil and gas workers during the transition away from fossil fuels.

The Government is committed to a managed just transition for the North Sea, supporting affected regions and communities as the energy system evolves. It recently consulted on ‘Building the North Sea’s Energy Future’ to unlock long-term clean energy investment in the basin while delivering economic opportunities across the affected regions. A response setting out its next steps will be published in due course. The Office for Clean Energy Jobs will continue to coordinate work to support building the skilled workforce we need for the clean energy and net zero transition.

If he will take steps to increase levels of (a) prescribing rights and (b) public health advisory services for qualified (i) pharmacists, (ii) nurse practitioners and (iii) paramedics.

The Department remains committed to exploring the extension of medicine responsibilities for non-medical professionals, where it is safe and appropriate to do so. Paramedics, nurse practitioners, and pharmacists can all train as independent prescribers, allowing them to prescribe a wide range of medicines, including some controlled drugs, within their professional scope of practice.All health and care professionals play an important role in delivering evidence based public health interventions. The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities has already developed resources and tools under a programme called All Our Health, which supports professionals to increase their focus on public health interventions. The 10-Year Health Plan will set out further actions which will support the shift from treatment to prevention.

What assessment she has made of the adequacy of the process for Ukrainian military personnel to apply to visit family in the UK.

All visit applications from Ukrainian nationals made in Ukraine are currently being processed within UK Visas and Immigration’s customer service standards.Customers wishing to apply for a visit visa may apply within 3 months in advance of their intended date of travel to the UK.

Whether she plans to introduce an expedited visa process for immediate family members of Ukrainian military personnel who are on active service.

UKVI are currently operating the Ukraine Scheme visa routes within the published processing times, so there are no plans to introduce an expedited route.

Whether her Department is taking steps to support Ukrainian armed forces personnel with restricted leave periods who are applying for six-month visitor visas.

All visit applications from Ukrainian nationals made in Ukraine are currently being processed within UK Visas and Immigration’s customer service standards.Customers wishing to apply for a visit visa may apply within 3 months in advance of their intended date of travel to the UK.