Written questions by Dyke.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the potential financial impact of the changes to bird show and gathering licences for (a) bird breeders, (b) seed merchants and (c) cage makers.

This is a devolved matter and the information provided therefore relates to England only. Regulation 6 of the Avian Influenza (Preventive Measures) (England) Regulations 2006, as amended, sets out the legal basis for permitting gatherings of poultry or other captive birds. In England, a licence to hold a bird gathering may be granted by Defra if a veterinary risk assessment has been carried out, and if the gathering, including the movement of birds to and from it, would not significantly increase the risk of the transmission of avian influenza virus. Detailed risk assessments can be found on Gov.UK. As legislation requires this to be a risk-based decision, assessments of the financial or breeding impacts have not been made. The restrictions on certain types of gatherings do not prevent direct sales of breeding birds or their progeny from a breeder’s own premises. There are no native wild canary populations in Britain.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment the Environment Agency has made of the impact of historic highway drainage systems on downstream flooding and water pollution.

Environment Agency (EA) water quality monitoring programmes identify where ‘urban and transport’ inputs are having a potential impact on a waterbody. Water quality monitoring data is publicly available here: Water Data Explorer | Engage Environment Agency. Highways authorities should address outfalls with the potential to pollute. Water and sewerage companies in England and Wales are currently developing their first statutory Drainage and Wastewater Management Plans (DWMPs), due to be published in 2027/28. These strategic plans identify risks to the companies’ drainage and sewerage networks and set out solutions for how those risks will be mitigated, including environmental risks, which could have implications for highways inputs. The EA also works with National Highways to assess the impacts of highway drainage on downstream flooding and water quality. They are working together to deliver actions in the National Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management (FCERM) Strategy Roadmap. This includes delivering multi-benefit, nature-based solutions that reduce flood risk, improve water quality and enhance biodiversity. The EA supports this through its flood investment programmes, catchment partnerships and use of national flood risk mapping to help target priority locations and future investment.

Whether his Department is taking steps to provide small scale flower farmers with standard industrial classification codes; and if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of doing so on helping to (a) track economic activity, (b) track industry trends and (c) provide information to her Department on the contributions of ecology to the economy.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. A response to the Hon lady’s Parliamentary Question of 12th January is attached.

What steps National Highways is taking to record the potential impact of historic drainage networks associated with major roads on (a) downstream flooding and (b) river pollution.

National Highways’ (NH) standard practice is to report all flood events on the Strategic Road Network (SRN). This includes flood events within 200 metres of the SRN, or within 500 metres of a NH drainage asset. All such flood events are recorded in NH’s drainage data management system (DDMS). NH also maintain drainage and water quality records on its DDMS.

Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 28 October 2025 to Question 83876 on Eels: Conservation, what plans she has to review the root causes of these problems and to reverse the decline in the number of eels.

This is a devolved matter and therefore the response relates to England only. Actions to address the pressures on eels at the River Basin District scale are set out in Eel Management Plans, which the EA continue to deliver and report against. Additionally, as noted in response to Question 101014, Defra has recently funded three projects to improve eel management and conservation. Defra officials will meet with the Devolved Governments in early 2026 to review the current approaches to eel management across the UK nations.

Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 28 October 2025 to Question 83877 on Eels: Conservation, what research and development projects her Department are supporting through the allocated £350,000 to improve eel management and conservation; and over what time period will this funding be spent; and how this level of funding compares to budgets for similar purposes.

This is a devolved matter and therefore the response relates to England only. Defra’s funding will support three eel management and conservation projects for delivery in 2026: Developing silver eel escapement models to better estimate how many eels migrate to the sea, using survey results from the River FromeResearch to optimise the trap and transport of silver eels from landlocked water bodies and assess the success of onward migration of trap and transported eelsUpgrading and extending the life of satellite tags to track silver eels closer to their spawning grounds Due to the nature of research in the aquatic environment it is not possible to meaningfully compare costs, but all projects are assessed by Defra to ensure policy priorities will be delivered and demonstrate value for money.

What assessment he has made of the adequacy of the financial allowance for jury service in covering the cost of wages, food and travel.

Jury service is a vital civic duty, and the Government is committed to ensuring jurors feel supported throughout their service. All the support provided to jurors throughout their service is kept under review to ensure it remains appropriate and accessible. Jurors can claim subsistence and travel expenses, as well as a loss of earnings allowance from the court. For those individuals facing particular difficulties in serving the jury summoning process provides for applications for deferral or excusal based upon financial hardship.

Whether her Department will review the Annual Investment Allowance threshold and take steps to improve the eligibility and uptake of capital allowances among horticultural businesses who are investing in the transition to peat-free growing, water resilience measures, and automation to boost efficiency.

The Annual Investment Allowance allows both incorporated and unincorporated businesses to deduct the entire cost of investment in both main and special rate assets in one go, up to £1 million per year, which covers the investment of 99% of businesses. In line with the commitments in the 2024 Corporate Tax Roadmap, at Budget the government confirmed it has maintained the parts of the UK Corporate Tax offer that are most important for attracting new investment for the duration of the parliament: the low Corporation Tax main rate of 25%, the generous full expensing offer for plant and machinery and the Annual Investment Allowance.

How much additional funding her Department plans to provide to Avon and Somerset Police as part of the Rural and Wildlife Crime Strategy 2025-2028.

This financial year the Home Office has provided the first Government funding since 2023 for the National Rural Crime Unit (£365,000) as well as continuing funding for the National Wildlife Crime Unit (£450,000). The National Rural Crime Unit assists all police forces, including Avon and Somerset, in tackling rural crime.The National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) Rural and Wildlife Crime Strategy 2025-2028 is a vital step in our mission to deliver safer streets everywhere and comes as we give the police new powers to take on the organised criminal gangs targeting the agricultural sector.As part of the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee, the Government has made £200 million available in FY 25/26 to support the first steps of delivering more neighbourhood policing personnel across England and Wales. Of this, Avon and Somerset Police have been allocated £4,574,856 for an increase of 70 police officers.

If she will provide additional funding to help mitigate ongoing soil moisture deficit effects for railway companies.

The Department for Transport funds Network Rail to operate, maintain, and develop the nation's railway infrastructure. As the climate changes, we expect to see hotter, drier summers, and therefore we will expect to encounter more instances of soil moisture deficit. To plan for the changing climate, Network Rail is undertaking a programme of adaptation pathways across the network to develop a long-term strategic adaptation plan and identify priority areas for further adaptation investment. This approach will help identify those parts of the network which may require work to increase resilience to enable safe and reliable services to continue in the future climate. Adaptation pathways consider different climate hazards, including those which affect earthworks, such as soil moisture deficit and heavy rain. This work is already informing discussions for future funding periods.The soil moisture deficit was particularly disruptive for South Western Railway’s West of England line customers this summer, with a reduced timetable having been in place since August.South Western Railway and Network Rail closely monitored the ground conditions, and as soon as it was safe to do so, the track repairs were made. I am pleased to confirm that the usual timetable will be reinstated from Saturday 29 November.

What discussions she has had with South Western Railway on the delivery of new stock.

Department officials meet regularly with South Western Railway (SWR) to hold it accountable for performance, safety, and fleet. The rollout of the new Arterio trains is continuing with great progress being made. Since transferring to public ownership, the number of trains in service has quadrupled with 28 now in service. In addition to the new Arterio fleet, SWR is currently in the process of refurbishing its Class 158 and 159 diesel fleet, which will benefit customers using the West of England line. Collectively, the enhancements will improve comfort, connectivity and productivity for customers travelling on these trains.

Food and Rural Affairs, how much money has been spent on improving flood defences in Somerset since 2014.

Since the flooding of 2013/14, over £200 million of Flood and Coastal Risk Management Grant-in-Aid (FCRM GiA) and local levy has been spent on improving the standard of flood protection in the local authority areas of Somerset, North Somerset, and Bath and North East Somerset. This is in addition to the annual budget of over £3 million for the Somerset Rivers Authority and the annual budget the Environment Agency has for repairing existing assets and individual property-level resilience programmes. Improvements have included dredging, building new flood defences, raising river banks and roads and upgrading existing flood defences. The Environment Agency has also spent additional money on providing a local stock of Ultra High Volume Pumps so they are guaranteed to be available in the event of a major incident.

Food and Rural Affairs, how much maintenance activity has been carried out on Somerset’s Main Rivers in the last a) year, b) 5 years and c) 10 years.

Since the flooding of 2013/14, over £47 million has been spent on operating flood defences and maintaining rivers in Somerset. This includes £4.7 million this financial year and over £24 million in the last five years. This includes the daily operation and maintenance of hundreds of flood defence assets across the Somerset Levels and Moors and on the coast, the clearing of vegetation from river channels, the management of flood storage reservoirs and the deployment of additional pumps after heavy rainfall. In addition to this, the Environment Agency also provides a flood warning service and incident response 365 days of the year.

What steps he is taking to reduce carbon emissions from peatland.

England’s peatlands are our largest terrestrial carbon store. By 2030, we will invest £85 million to restore and manage peatlands. We are committed to restoring approximately 280,000 hectares of peat by 2050.

How many of the remedial notices handed out by the Food Standards Agency in the last year were given to abattoirs with a throughput of less than 5,000 livestock units per year.

During the period from 1 November 2024 until 31 October 2025, the Food Standards Agency has served five Remedial Action Notices in three abattoirs with a throughput of less than 5,000 livestock units per year.

How many injuries were caused due to reindeers in the UK over the past year.

This information is not collected centrally. NHS England does not record hospital admissions specifically caused by reindeer. The closest available data is for admissions with the external cause ‘Bitten or struck by other mammals’. In 2024/25, there were 4,620 such admissions in England. However, this category covers a wide range of animals and is not limited to reindeer. It also does not capture all animal-related injuries such as those coded under ‘Car occupant injured in collision with pedestrian or animal’.Data on hospital admissions by external cause is published by NHS England and is available at the following link:https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/hospital-admitted-patient-care-activity

What steps he is taking to increase access to dentistry for vulnerable residents in care homes.

We recognise that certain groups of patients may be vulnerable to oral health problems and may find it difficult to access dental care. Specialised dental services are in place to provide dental treatment in several settings, including care homes, and are commissioned by integrated care boards (ICBs). The frequency of dental checks for those living in care homes will be determined by dentists on an individual basis according to need.The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guideline on oral health in care homes sets out a number of recommendations for care homes to help maintain and improve oral health and ensure timely access to dental treatment for their residents. The Government expects care homes to be following NICE guidance and recommendations in this area.More generally, we have asked ICBs to commission extra urgent dental appointments to make sure that patients with urgent dental needs can get the treatment they require. ICBs have been making extra appointments available from April 2025.The appointments are available to National Health Service patients experiencing painful oral health issues, such as infections, abscesses, or cracked or broken teeth. Appointments will be available across the country, with specific expectations for each region. These appointments are more heavily weighted towards those areas where they are needed the most.We are working with NHS England, the NHS Business Services Authority, and ICBs to set out the requirements for monitoring and reporting progress against these urgent appointments which will enable us to identify where further support is needed. These urgent appointments are available to those living in care homes.

How many remedial action notices the Food Standards Agency have handed out to abattoirs in England and Wales over the last (a) year, (b) 5 years and (c) 10 years.

The number of Remedial Action Notices (RANs) served in England and Wales are as follows:59 over the last year, from 1 November 2024 to 31 October 2025;176 over the last five years, from 1 November 2020 to 31 October 2025; and341 over the last seven years, from 1 November 2018 to 31 October 2025.Data is not held beyond seven years due to data retention policy.Before 2022, the reported number of RANs related to the number of breaches which were escalated to a formal notice, which may include more than one breach per RAN. This means that the numbers of RANs served may be less than the figure reported here for five years and seven years of data.

How many veterinary students are currently enrolled in veterinary public health courses in the UK.

The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) is responsible for collecting and publishing data on the UK higher education (HE) sector. These data are shared with the department and include a wide range of information on student courses.In the 2023/24 academic year, across all levels and modes of study, there were 12,880 student enrolments in the subject area ‘Veterinary sciences’ across all UK HE providers. The following table presents numbers of HE students by subject area and sex for each academic year from 2019/20 to 2023/24: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/sb271/figure-13.

What discussions she has had with the Financial Conduct Authority on ensuring that people with disabilities and without access to mobile phones are not excluded from accessing online quotations and other financial services that require a mobile phone number.

The Government works closely with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the independent regulator of the UK’s financial services sector, to ensure that all customers get the right support with their financial products and services. FCA guidance highlights the actions firms should take to understand the needs of customers who may be vulnerable, such as individuals with a disability, and to consider these needs appropriately. Specifically, the guidance sets out that firms should offer multiple channels of communication to their customers where possible and should ensure these meet the needs of their customers, including individuals with characteristics of vulnerability. The FCA also introduced the Consumer Duty in July 2023 which raises the standard of care expected from firms for all customers, including those who may be vulnerable. It aims to deliver products and services that offer fair value and are designed to meet customers’ needs and seeks to increase firms’ focus on delivering good outcomes and preventing harm. In addition, under the Equality Act 2010, all service providers must make reasonable adjustments to ensure their services are accessible to all. More widely, ensuring all individuals have access to the appropriate financial products and services they need is a key priority for Government. I published the Government’s Financial Inclusion Strategy on 5th November, which was developed alongside a Committee of consumer and industry representatives, including the FCA, and sets out a range of interventions to improve financial inclusion for underserved groups across the UK. This includes a focus on the issues of digital inclusion and access to banking, and considers accessibility as a key theme throughout, in recognition of the particular challenges individuals can face in relation to this.