Written questions by Farron.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the level of funding available to farmers in the next two years.

In the Budget announced last month, the Government committed £5 billion to the farming budget over two years, including more money than ever for sustainable food production: £1.8 billion for environmental land management schemes in 2025/26. This enables us to keep momentum on the path to a more resilient and sustainable farming sector. We’re also optimising our farming schemes, so they work efficiently for all farmers, food security and the environment, especially for those that are too often ignored such as small, grassland, upland and tenanted farms.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Autumn Budget 2024 on the timeline for announcing the phase-out of direct payments under the Basic Payment Scheme.

There is no change to the timeline for phasing out delinked payments. We plan to pay delinked payments each year from 2024 to 2027.

How many and what proportion of (a) young people have seen a dentist in the last 12 months and (b) adults have seen a dentist in the last two years.

In England in 2023/24, the number and proportion of adult patients seen in the 24 months up to the end of June 2024 was 18.4 million, or 40.3% of the adult population. The number and proportion of child patients seen in the 12 months up to the end of June 2024 was 6.7 million, or 56% of the population of children.Figures are published by the NHS Business Services Authority and are available at the following link:https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/statistical-collections/dental-england/dental-statistics-england-202324

Whether her Department has a planned timetable for when services in Helme Chase Maternity Unit at Westmorland General Hospital will be reopened.

The reconfiguration of services is a matter for integrated care boards and local healthcare systems, in cases of specialised and national services. All service changes should be based on clear evidence, clinically led, and involve engagement with patients and stakeholders, to ensure they will deliver better outcomes for patients. The trust will be publishing a timeline for the reopening of this service shortly.Due to staffing issues in May 2024, there was a temporary suspension of birth services at the Helme Chase Maternity Unit, for a period of six months. Following a full review of the service and relevant staffing models, the trust has developed options which will allow reinstatement of birth services at the unit. The best option is currently being consulted with the relevant teams, and will be shared at the earliest opportunity.Whilst birthing services are temporarily suspended, women can access antenatal and postnatal care, and outpatient appointments at Helme Chase continue as normal. The trust’s home birth service and consultant-led birth services at Furness General Hospital and the Royal Lancaster Infirmary also remain unchanged.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of the closure of ward 6 at Westmorland General Hospital on (a) social care provision and (b) hospital bed availability throughout the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust.

Responsibility for decisions about the delivery, funding, and implementation of services ultimately rests with the National Health Service commissioner, and it is important that integrated care systems operate with a high degree of autonomy in making decisions in the interests of their populations.The University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust has reviewed how beds are configured across their three main hospitals, the Furness General Hospital, the Westmorland General Hospital, and the Royal Lancaster Infirmary. This review has shown that there are opportunities to improve how beds are used within these hospitals, which would lead to:improved patient care and outcomes;improved staff and patient experience;streamlined clinical pathways which will allow them to ensure their patients receive the right care, at the right time, in the right unit, and reduce inpatient length of stay;clinical colleagues being able to spend more time with patients by reducing the need to visit various wards to see patients who should all be in the same place; andincreased resilience over the winter period.All the services will continue to be offered, but from different areas in the same hospital, or more appropriate settings within the community. Adult social care services within Westmorland and Furness Council have confirmed that they are currently able to offer support to appropriate patients.

Pursuant to the Answer of 30 October 2024 to Question 10416 on Refugees, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of allowing Ukrainian nationals who are temporarily living in the UK to bring over a spouse or minor children.

Since the launch of our Ukraine schemes, the UK has offered or extended sanctuary to nearly 300,000 Ukrainians. The UK’s support for Ukraine remains steadfast and, together with our partners and allies, the UK stands in solidarity with Ukraine and condemns the Russian Government’s unprovoked and premeditated war against Ukraine.The Homes for Ukraine Scheme remains open and available to new applications. These applications must be sponsored by someone who is British, Irish or settled.Our Ukraine schemes are kept under continual review as we look to provide stability for those we have welcomed to the UK and those who still need our sanctuary.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to support farmers with the phase-out of the direct payments under the Basic Payment Scheme.

The Government has committed to support farmers through a farming budget of £5 billion over two years, including £2.4 billion in 2025/26. This will include the largest ever budget directed at sustainable food production and nature’s recovery in our country’s history. We are continuing to phase out delinked payments. Instead, we are targeting additional investments away from direct payments towards the farms least able to adapt, with Environmental Land Management (ELM) schemes remaining at the centre of our offer for farmers. Phasing out delinked payments will allow us to focus investment on ELM schemes, which will be funded with £1.8 billion in 2025/26. This funding will deliver improvements to food security, biodiversity, carbon emissions, water quality, air quality and flood resilience. It will enable farmers to make their businesses more sustainable and resilient, including those who have been often ignored such as small, grassland, upland and tenant farmers. We are providing advice via the Resilience Scheme, which can help adaptation by those farms most affected by reducing delinked payments. We will work with the sector to continue to roll out, improve and evolve our ELM schemes, to make them work for farming and nature.

With reference to paragraph 5.81 of the Autumn Budget 2024, HC295, what discussions she has had with stakeholders in the farming sector on the introduction of a carbon border adjustment mechanism.

The government will introduce the UK Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) on 1 January 2027, as first announced in December 2023.The UK CBAM will ensure highly traded, carbon intensive products from overseas face a comparable carbon price to those produced here, making sure that UK decarbonisation efforts lead to a true reduction in global emissions rather than simply displacing carbon emissions overseas.UK manufacturers already face a carbon price via the UK Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). The UK CBAM rate that is charged on imports will reflect the final carbon price paid by domestic industries after support mechanisms (such as free allowances within the UK ETS) have been taken into account. As a result, we expect initial liabilities arising from the UK CBAM to be modest whilst encouraging the supply and use of fertiliser with lower levels of embodied carbon than would otherwise have been the case.The Government expects that there will be no material impact on UK food prices, as a result of the UK CBAM.Over the course of the last year, His Majesty’s Treasury and His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs have undertaken significant and comprehensive engagement on the design and implementation of the UK CBAM. This includes discussions with stakeholders in the farming and fertiliser sectors.The Government Response to the recent consultation on the introduction of a UK CBAM, including a summary of responses, can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/consultation-on-the-introduction-of-a-uk-carbon-border-adjustment-mechanism

With reference to paragraph 5.81 of the Autumn Budget 2024, published on 30 October, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the carbon border adjustment mechanism on food prices.

The government will introduce the UK Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) on 1 January 2027, as first announced in December 2023.The UK CBAM will ensure highly traded, carbon intensive products from overseas face a comparable carbon price to those produced here, making sure that UK decarbonisation efforts lead to a true reduction in global emissions rather than simply displacing carbon emissions overseas.UK manufacturers already face a carbon price via the UK Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). The UK CBAM rate that is charged on imports will reflect the final carbon price paid by domestic industries after support mechanisms (such as free allowances within the UK ETS) have been taken into account. As a result, we expect initial liabilities arising from the UK CBAM to be modest whilst encouraging the supply and use of fertiliser with lower levels of embodied carbon than would otherwise have been the case.The Government expects that there will be no material impact on UK food prices, as a result of the UK CBAM.Over the course of the last year, His Majesty’s Treasury and His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs have undertaken significant and comprehensive engagement on the design and implementation of the UK CBAM. This includes discussions with stakeholders in the farming and fertiliser sectors.The Government Response to the recent consultation on the introduction of a UK CBAM, including a summary of responses, can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/consultation-on-the-introduction-of-a-uk-carbon-border-adjustment-mechanism

With reference to paragraph 5.81 of the Autumn Budget 2024, HC295, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of a phased introduction of the carbon border adjustment mechanism on the cost of imported fertiliser.

The government will introduce the UK Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) on 1 January 2027, as first announced in December 2023.The UK CBAM will ensure highly traded, carbon intensive products from overseas face a comparable carbon price to those produced here, making sure that UK decarbonisation efforts lead to a true reduction in global emissions rather than simply displacing carbon emissions overseas.UK manufacturers already face a carbon price via the UK Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). The UK CBAM rate that is charged on imports will reflect the final carbon price paid by domestic industries after support mechanisms (such as free allowances within the UK ETS) have been taken into account. As a result, we expect initial liabilities arising from the UK CBAM to be modest whilst encouraging the supply and use of fertiliser with lower levels of embodied carbon than would otherwise have been the case.The Government expects that there will be no material impact on UK food prices, as a result of the UK CBAM.Over the course of the last year, His Majesty’s Treasury and His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs have undertaken significant and comprehensive engagement on the design and implementation of the UK CBAM. This includes discussions with stakeholders in the farming and fertiliser sectors.The Government Response to the recent consultation on the introduction of a UK CBAM, including a summary of responses, can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/consultation-on-the-introduction-of-a-uk-carbon-border-adjustment-mechanism

With reference to paragraph 5.81 of the Autumn Budget 2024, published on 30 October, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the carbon border adjustment mechanism on the cost of imported fertiliser.

The government will introduce the UK Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) on 1 January 2027, as first announced in December 2023.The UK CBAM will ensure highly traded, carbon intensive products from overseas face a comparable carbon price to those produced here, making sure that UK decarbonisation efforts lead to a true reduction in global emissions rather than simply displacing carbon emissions overseas.UK manufacturers already face a carbon price via the UK Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). The UK CBAM rate that is charged on imports will reflect the final carbon price paid by domestic industries after support mechanisms (such as free allowances within the UK ETS) have been taken into account. As a result, we expect initial liabilities arising from the UK CBAM to be modest whilst encouraging the supply and use of fertiliser with lower levels of embodied carbon than would otherwise have been the case.The Government expects that there will be no material impact on UK food prices, as a result of the UK CBAM.Over the course of the last year, His Majesty’s Treasury and His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs have undertaken significant and comprehensive engagement on the design and implementation of the UK CBAM. This includes discussions with stakeholders in the farming and fertiliser sectors.The Government Response to the recent consultation on the introduction of a UK CBAM, including a summary of responses, can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/consultation-on-the-introduction-of-a-uk-carbon-border-adjustment-mechanism

With reference to paragraph 5.81 of the Autumn Budget 2024, published on 30 October, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the carbon border adjustment mechanism on the fertiliser supply chain.

The government will introduce the UK Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) on 1 January 2027, as first announced in December 2023.The UK CBAM will ensure highly traded, carbon intensive products from overseas face a comparable carbon price to those produced here, making sure that UK decarbonisation efforts lead to a true reduction in global emissions rather than simply displacing carbon emissions overseas.UK manufacturers already face a carbon price via the UK Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). The UK CBAM rate that is charged on imports will reflect the final carbon price paid by domestic industries after support mechanisms (such as free allowances within the UK ETS) have been taken into account. As a result, we expect initial liabilities arising from the UK CBAM to be modest whilst encouraging the supply and use of fertiliser with lower levels of embodied carbon than would otherwise have been the case.The Government expects that there will be no material impact on UK food prices, as a result of the UK CBAM.Over the course of the last year, His Majesty’s Treasury and His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs have undertaken significant and comprehensive engagement on the design and implementation of the UK CBAM. This includes discussions with stakeholders in the farming and fertiliser sectors.The Government Response to the recent consultation on the introduction of a UK CBAM, including a summary of responses, can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/consultation-on-the-introduction-of-a-uk-carbon-border-adjustment-mechanism

Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of changes in the levels of subsidies for farmers in the next two years.

In October, the Government announced that it intends to accelerate the end of the era of payouts to large and wealthy landowners simply for owning land. The fastest reductions in subsidies will be to those who historically received the largest payments. For 2025 delinked payments, we plan to apply a 76% reduction to the first £30,000 of a payment, while making no payments for any portion of a payment above £30,000. On farm support more broadly, the Government has committed to support farmers through a farming budget of £5 billion over two years, including £2.4 billion in 2025/26.Phasing out delinked payments will allow us to focus more of this funding on Environmental Land Management schemes. The farming budget for future years will be agreed as part of phase 2 of the Spending Review.

Food and Rural Affairs, what recent estimate he has made of changes in levels of subsidies for farmers since 5 July 2024.

In October, the Government announced that it intends to accelerate the end of the era of payouts to large and wealthy landowners simply for owning land. The fastest reductions in subsidies will be to those who historically received the largest payments. For 2025 delinked payments, we plan to apply a 76% reduction to the first £30,000 of a payment, while making no payments for any portion of a payment above £30,000. On farm support more broadly, the Government has committed to support farmers through a farming budget of £5 billion over two years, including £2.4 billion in 2025/26.Phasing out delinked payments will allow us to focus more of this funding on Environmental Land Management schemes. The farming budget for future years will be agreed as part of phase 2 of the Spending Review.

Communities and Local Government, what her planned timetable is for a decision on planning permission for the proposed Whitehaven coal mine.

No target date has yet been set for a decision for the redetermination of this case. Following the quashing of the previous Secretary of State’s decision, the Secretary of State will now write to parties to give them the opportunity to provide any updated information to inform the redetermination. A decision will then be made on the process for redetermination, following which a timetable will be set.

Food and Rural Affairs, how many farm holdings are worth more than £1,000,000, by constituency.

Defra does not hold financial data for farms at holding level.

With reference to paragraph 2.51 of the Autumn Budget 2024, published on 30 October, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of changes to Agricultural Property Relief on family farms.

The Government has published information about the reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief at https://www.gov.uk/government/news/what-are-the-changes-to-agricultural-property-relief. In accordance with standard practice, a tax information and impact note will be published alongside the draft legislation before the relevant Finance Bill. The Government takes into account all representations made ahead of the Budget, and meets with stakeholders on a regular basis.

How many meetings Ministers in her Department have had with farming stakeholders on changes to Agricultural Property Relief in the last four months.

The Government has published information about the reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief at https://www.gov.uk/government/news/what-are-the-changes-to-agricultural-property-relief. In accordance with standard practice, a tax information and impact note will be published alongside the draft legislation before the relevant Finance Bill. The Government takes into account all representations made ahead of the Budget, and meets with stakeholders on a regular basis.

With reference to the Autumn Budget 2024, published on 30 October 2024, HC 295, what estimate her Department has made of the number of farms that will no longer be eligible for agricultural property relief.

The Government has published information about the reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief at www.gov.uk/government/publications/agricultural-property-relief-and-business-property-relief-reforms, and further explanatory information at https://www.gov.uk/government/news/what-are-the-changes-to-agricultural-property-relief. No changes are being made to the eligibility criteria for agriculture property relief. The system is being reformed to limit its generosity for claims over £1 million.

Whether she has had discussions with the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee on the potential impact of changes to Agricultural Property Relief.

The Government has published information about the reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief at https://www.gov.uk/government/news/what-are-the-changes-to-agricultural-property-relief. In accordance with standard practice, a tax information and impact note will be published alongside the draft legislation before the relevant Finance Bill. The Government takes into account all representations made ahead of the Budget, and meets with stakeholders on a regular basis.