Written questions by Hudson.

Food and Rural Affairs, if her Department will make an assessment of the potential impact of Waitrose's withdrawal of mackerel from sale on the UK fishing industry.

Defra does not plan to make an assessment on the impact of Waitrose’s withdrawal of mackerel from sale as this is an individual business decision. The UK mackerel supply goes to a diverse set of markets both in the UK and abroad and we do not expect this to have a significant impact on the fishing sector.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she has made an assessment of the adequacy of the capability of Mauritius to support and protect the marine environment and ecosystems of the Chagos Islands.

I refer the Hon Member to the answer provided on 21 November 2025 in response to Question 90684.

Food and Rural Affairs, what animals, food and agricultural products were moving from Cyprus to the UK a) prior to the UK Government announcement on 20/2/26 of the Foot and Mouth Outbreak and b) after the announcement on 20/2/26.

There have been no imports of live ruminant or porcine animals from Cyprus to Great Britain in the past five years. Recorded trade in this time frame consisted of certain products of animal origin derived from FMD-susceptible species, such as pasteurised cheese and other heat-treated dairy products, which meet the relevant sanitary import requirements. After the announcement there have continued to be no imports of live ruminant or porcine animals. Imports of products that meet the required heat-treatment standards and are considered safe for trade, such as pasteurised dairy products, remain permitted in line with the applicable import conditions.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of Foot and Mouth in Cyprus on the UK.

Defra’s preliminary outbreak assessment for foot and mouth disease (FMD) in Cyprus concludes that the risk of introduction of the disease into Great Britain remains low.

Food and Rural Affairs, in light of the Foot and Mouth Outbreak in Cyprus, what restrictions are now in place for the movement of animals, food and agricultural products from Cyprus to the UK.

Following the Government’s announcement on 20 February 2026, commercial import restrictions were applied to high-risk FMD-susceptible commodities, including live animals, germplasm, fresh meat, untreated meat products, untreated milk and dairy, hay and straw, and relevant animal by-products. Personal imports of cattle, sheep, goat and pig meat, and dairy products from EU countries into Great Britain have been banned since April 2025 to protect livestock health, farmers and UK food security. These safeguard measures will continue to apply until they are revoked or amended. Further detail is set out on GOV.UK: Official veterinary surgeon (OVS) notes - GOV.UK.

Food and Rural Affairs, in light of the Foot and Mouth Outbreak in Cyprus, what additional biosecurity measures are in place for people travelling to the UK from Cyprus.

Defra banned personal imports of pig and ruminant meat and dairy products from the EU into England in April 2025. The ban remains in place. Equivalent measures are in place in Wales and Scotland.

Food and Rural Affairs, what state of readiness is the UK for a possible incursion of Foot and Mouth Disease in terms of vaccine stocks and outbreak response.

The UK Government is prepared to respond to outbreaks of Foot and Mouth and has contingency arrangements in place, including for the control of infected premises and for animal movement controls in areas around confirmed cases. Vaccination is not the primary control tool. The framework to manage risk can be found on GOV.UK in the Foot and Mouth Disease Control Strategy for Great Britain supported by the Contingency plan for exotic notifiable diseases of animals in England. The UK holds a Foot and Mouth vaccine bank, although use of a vaccine requires a match to the field strain. In the absence of a match, we work with pharmaceutical companies and international vaccine banks to seek access to alternative supplies.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has had discussions with businesses that have withdrawn from the Better Chicken Commitment on the sourcing of chickens that ensures the highest animal welfare standards.

The Department continues to engage with key stakeholders as part of the development of our overarching approach to animal welfare. As set out in the animal welfare strategy, the government remains committed to supporting a move away from the use of fast-growing breeds of meat chickens.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the recent withdrawal of companies from the Better Chicken Commitment on the welfare of farmed chickens.

As set out in the animal welfare strategy, the Government remains committed to supporting a move away from the use of fast-growing breeds of meat chickens. We welcome the fact that those supermarkets who made Better Chicken Commitment pledges have fulfilled them, but it is disappointing to hear of the decision of various restaurant groups to withdraw their commitments to improve animal welfare in this way.

Media and Sport, if she will set out a timeline for when and how Places of Worship can apply for the Places of Worship Renewal Fund.

Further details regarding the timeline, eligibility criteria and application process for the new Places of Worship Renewal Fund will be published in due course.

What assessment his Department has made of (a) the prevalence of respiratory disease and (b) the number of emergency hospital admissions for respiratory conditions in Epping Forest; and what steps he is taking to ensure respiratory health is prioritised nationally, including through the introduction of a Modern Service Framework for respiratory care.

The Government will consider long-term conditions for future waves of modern service frameworks (MSFs), including respiratory conditions. The criteria for determining other conditions for future MSFs will be based on where there is the potential for rapid and significant improvements in quality of care and productivity. After the initial wave of MSFs is complete, the National Quality Board will determine the conditions to prioritise for new MSFs as part of its work programme.Available data on trends in respiratory conditions can be found on the Department’s fingertips dataset. Data is not available by parliamentary constituency. Data is available at regional, county, unitary authority, and integrated care board level. Information for Essex can be found at the following link: https://fingertips.phe.org.uk/search/Respiratory#page/1/gid/1/pat/15/ati/502/are/E10000012/iid/40701/age/163/sex/4/cat/-1/ctp/-1/yrr/1/cid/4/tbm/1

What steps she is taking to ensure that police forces receive adequate resources to tackle crime effectively.

The 2026–27 final police funding settlement provides up to £21.0 billion for the policing system in England and Wales. This is an increase of up to £1.3 billion compared with the 2025–26 settlement, representing a 6.7% cash increase and a 4.4% real terms increase.Police forces will have up to £18.4 billion in 2026-27. This is an increase in funding to forces by up to £796 million, equating to a 4.5% cash increase and 2.3% real terms increase.The Chancellor set out at the Spending Review that there will be a real terms increase in funding over the next three years. Despite the importance of living within the fiscal constraints, this government is prioritising funding for policing.£200 million was made available in 2025-26 to support the delivery of 3,000 more neighbourhood policing personnel this year. We are on track to deliver that 3,000 by the end of March - and remain determined to reach 13,000 additional neighbourhood officers by the end of the Parliament.The 2026-27 settlement ringfences £363 million of total funding to incentivise forces to grow neighbourhood policing teams, which includes an additional £50 million following feedback from the provisional settlement.

What assessment she has made of the adequacy of the funding settlement for Essex Police.

The 2026–27 final police funding settlement provides up to £21.0 billion for the policing system in England and Wales.Total funding to police forces will be up to £18.4 billion, an increase of up to £796 million compared to the 2025-26 police funding settlement. This equates to a 4.5% cash increase and a 2.3% real terms increase in funding.Essex Police will receive up to £455.2 million in 2026-27. This is an increase of up to £21.1 million, equating to a 4.9% cash increase.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to help tackle the crime of fly tipping in Epping Forest.

Local councils are responsible for tackling fly-tipping in their area and have a range of enforcement powers to help them do so. These include fixed penalty notices of up to £1000 and prosecution action. The Government is taking steps to develop statutory fly-tipping enforcement guidance to support councils to effectively exercise their existing powers. We are also reviewing council powers to seize and crush vehicles of fly-tippers, to identify how we could better help them use this tool. Defra chairs the National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group through which we work with a wide range of stakeholders to share good practice on preventing fly-tipping.In our manifesto we committed to forcing fly-tippers to clean up the mess that they have created. We will provide further details on this commitment in due course. The Environment Agency regulates large scale fly-tips that meet the criteria of being over 20 tonnes, consist of hazardous material, or are linked to organised crime. Within the Epping Forest constituency, there are not currently any reports of large-scale fly-tips that meet these criteria. It is worth noting that there are two illegal waste sites where active clearing is currently taking place under the guidance of the Environment Agency.

What steps her Department is taking to support pupils with SEND in Epping Forest.

On 16 January, the government announced a £200 million investment over the course of this Parliament to upskill staff in every school, college and nursery, ensuring a skilled workforce for generations to come. This builds on the landmark £3 billion investment to create more specialist places and ensure more children and young people can thrive at a setting close to home.We are also determined to deliver reform that stands the test of time and rebuilds the confidence of families, which is why we are currently engaging a wide range of people and organisations, including parents and young people, in every region of the country to inform development of our proposals and ensure that lived experience and partnership are at the heart of our solutions.We will set out our proposals for reform in the upcoming Schools White Paper, and we will consult widely on these proposals and continue to work with a wide range of partners to refine them and deliver them.Essex is currently undergoing a local area special educational needs and disabilities inspection by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission, the results of which will be published in due course.

Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the potential merits of providing further funding for its planned National Biosecurity Centre to meet the required level of funding specified in the National Audit Office's Improving the UK’s science capability for managing animal diseases Report in 2022.

Defra received the funding it requested in the current Spending Review to 2029-30 for the next stage of the National Biosecurity Centre, Weybridge Programme. Programme delivery is on track and in line with Government Project Delivery Functional Standards. Further funding in future Spending Reviews will be requested to secure operational delivery of the new facility by 2034.

Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact o changes to the Listed Places of Worship Scheme on the number of places of worship in England and Wales.

The Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme is a £23m scheme that gives grants covering VAT on eligible works. We estimate that changes to the Scheme this year, including the introduction of a 25k cap on claims, affected around 6% of claims as most claims are under £5,000. The Department has not made an assessment of the potential impact of changes to the scheme on the number of places of worship in England and Wales. However, the Department has commissioned an evaluation of the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme which will be published soon.

What steps she is taking to help address safety risks from the abandonment of e-bikes on pavements.

We understand that e-bikes parked obstructively on pavements are not just an inconvenience but a real safety risk, particularly for vulnerable pavement users. That is why the licensing regime for shared cycle schemes which we are bringing forward through the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill will create a legal requirement for shared e-cycle schemes to be licensed by local leaders and will include minimum standard conditions to ensure a national baseline of safety. This will provide local leaders with greater powers to combat street clutter and misuse of shared vehicles.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to support animal rescue and rehoming centres.

As set out in the Animal Welfare Strategy, Defra will launch a consultation on licensing domestic rescue and rehoming organisations. The consultation will include a consideration of the potential impacts on the sector.

Food and Rural Affairs, what she is taking to help support the enforcement of legislation on the compulsory microchipping of (a) cats and (b) dogs.

Local authorities and the police have powers to enforce breaches of the Microchipping of Cats and Dogs (England) Regulations 2023. It will be for each local authority and police force to determine on a case-by-case basis whether enforcement action is proportionate.