Written questions by Farron.

What steps she is taking to ensure that pupils in rural schools have equal access to AI learning opportunities.

The department is committed to leveraging technology to benefit all schools, including those in rural areas. We are addressing barriers by connecting schools to fibre through the School Gigabit Programme and improving wireless networks through Connect the Classroom, which was expanded this year.The Plan Technology for Your School service provides tailored support to help schools meet core digital and technology standards by 2030. Our Generative AI Policy Position supports schools to implement AI safely and effectively. We have also introduced the Generative AI Product Safety Expectations framework to ensure AI tools meet safeguards, and published online toolkits to help teachers and leaders use AI safely and effectively. Alongside this, we are investing in our evidence-base via the EdTech Impact Testbed, which will evaluate AI tools’ impact on improving outcomes and reducing workload, so that schools will have confidence in products they select.

Innovation and Technology, what steps she is taking to (a) ensure that online platforms are held accountable under the Online Safety Act 2023 for hosting content that promotes the torture of animals and (b) reassure farming communities that animal welfare standards are protected online.

The Government takes animal welfare very seriously. Under the Online Safety Act 2023, platforms must remove illegal content swiftly, including material promoting or facilitating animal torture, which is a designated priority offence. Services must also implement systems and processes to protect children from harmful depictions of animal cruelty, even where it is not illegal. Ofcom, as the independent regulator, enforces these duties and can issue fines of up to £18 million or 10% of qualifying worldwide revenue.

Whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential cost to the public purse of lowering the VAT rate payable by hospitality businesses to (a) 15 per cent, (b) 10 per cent and (c) 5 per cent.

HMRC estimates that the cost of changing the 20 per cent Standard Rate of VAT on all accommodation and food and beverage services to the Reduced Rate of 5 per cent would be around £17 billion in 2026-27, rising to £19.5 billion in 2030-31. The Government recognises the significant contribution made by hospitality businesses to economic growth and social life in the UK.

Innovation and Technology, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of measures to tackle online harassment; and what steps she plans to take to protect individuals from such abuse.

Under the Online Safety Act, platforms must protect all users from illegal harassment and children from harmful content, including hateful and abusive content. These duties are now in force and Ofcom conducts regular surveys to track user experiences. DSIT and Ofcom are developing a longer-term evaluation framework to assess the Act’s impact.Additional duties will require the largest services to offer adults optional tools to reduce engagement with legal abuse. In October, the Secretary of State wrote to Ofcom and asked it to use all its levers to tackle hateful content online and maintain urgent momentum in implementing these remaining duties.

How much did (a) Health Education England and (b) NHS England pay Hill Dickinson in (i) costs and (ii) fees for legal services between 2012 and 2023.

As a parent organisation, including commissioning support units but excluding integrated care boards, NHS England has spent approximately £8 million including VAT with Hill Dickinson between 2012/13 and 2022/23. Approximately 90% of these costs were spent on legal or professional fees.Please note that this figure includes the NHS Trust Development Authority and Monitor, which merged to become NHS Improvement in 2016, as well as the two months of NHS Digital following its merger with NHS England from 1 February 2023.Health Education England, which was merged into NHS England on 1 April 2023, spent £5.2 million with Hill Dickinson between 2012/13 and 2022/23. We do not hold a breakdown of this spend.

What the cost price is of a child citizenship application.

The Home Office publishes the fees charged and the estimated unit cost of processing immigration and nationality applications on Gov.UK. This can be reviewed via the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/visa-fees-transparency-data.

If he will publish the annual figures for payments made to each of NHS Resolution's panel law firms since the current legal framework came into effect in March 2022; and, in each case, what proportion of these payments were attributable to (a) medical negligence claims and (b) other claims.

NHS Resolution (NHSR) manages clinical negligence and other claims against the National Health Service in England. The information to the question requested is not published by NHSR on its website. NHSR does publish annual statistics, however, which are available at the following link:https://resolution.nhs.uk/resources/annual-statistics/The second table in the document attached also shows the total spend for NHSR on NHS legal costs.NHSR has also responded to individual enquiries under Freedom of Information for payments made to panel law firms, which can be found on its website at the following link:https://resolution.nhs.uk/?s=FOI+Panel+firm+costs

Whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of spirits duty rates on the competitiveness of UK pubs comparted to pubs in Europe.

Alcohol duty is paid by producers, and is therefore not typically paid directly by pubs. Further, according to estimates derived from sales data collected on behalf of the Office for National Statistics, only around 15% of spirits are consumed on-trade. At Autumn Budget 2025 the Chancellor confirmed that alcohol duty will be uprated on 1 February 2026 to maintain its current real-terms value. An assessment of the impacts of decisions taken by the Chancellor at each Budget is published within the relevant Tax Impact and Information Note (TIIN). The TIIN for the inflation-linked uprating announced at the most recent Budget is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/alcohol-duty-rates-change/alcohol-duty-uprating#summary-of-impacts There is significant variation in alcohol taxation policy amongst European countries. The World Health Organization recently published a comparison of alcohol taxes across the WHO European Region, which can be found here: https://www.who.int/europe/publications/i/item/9789289061940. HMRC does not hold data on alcohol duty paid on alcohol sold in pubs.

What assessment she has made of the impact of inflation-linked duty increases on the on-trade in each of the last three years.

Alcohol duty is paid by producers, and is therefore not typically paid directly by pubs. Further, according to estimates derived from sales data collected on behalf of the Office for National Statistics, only around 15% of spirits are consumed on-trade. At Autumn Budget 2025 the Chancellor confirmed that alcohol duty will be uprated on 1 February 2026 to maintain its current real-terms value. An assessment of the impacts of decisions taken by the Chancellor at each Budget is published within the relevant Tax Impact and Information Note (TIIN). The TIIN for the inflation-linked uprating announced at the most recent Budget is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/alcohol-duty-rates-change/alcohol-duty-uprating#summary-of-impacts There is significant variation in alcohol taxation policy amongst European countries. The World Health Organization recently published a comparison of alcohol taxes across the WHO European Region, which can be found here: https://www.who.int/europe/publications/i/item/9789289061940. HMRC does not hold data on alcohol duty paid on alcohol sold in pubs.

What data she holds on spirits duty revenue generated from pubs in (a) rural areas and (b) urban areas.

Alcohol duty is paid by producers, and is therefore not typically paid directly by pubs. Further, according to estimates derived from sales data collected on behalf of the Office for National Statistics, only around 15% of spirits are consumed on-trade. At Autumn Budget 2025 the Chancellor confirmed that alcohol duty will be uprated on 1 February 2026 to maintain its current real-terms value. An assessment of the impacts of decisions taken by the Chancellor at each Budget is published within the relevant Tax Impact and Information Note (TIIN). The TIIN for the inflation-linked uprating announced at the most recent Budget is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/alcohol-duty-rates-change/alcohol-duty-uprating#summary-of-impacts There is significant variation in alcohol taxation policy amongst European countries. The World Health Organization recently published a comparison of alcohol taxes across the WHO European Region, which can be found here: https://www.who.int/europe/publications/i/item/9789289061940. HMRC does not hold data on alcohol duty paid on alcohol sold in pubs.

Food and Rural Affairs, what localised hotspots for exceedances of the nitrogen dioxide annual limit value have been identified by which Air Quality Annual Status Report in each reporting zone in 2024.

Local authorities are expected to publish their Annual Status Reports detailing exceedances of the air quality objectives on their own websites. Annual limit values under the Air Quality Standards Regulation 2010 are assessed separately to the Annual Status Report process.

Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the answer of 16 July 2025 to UIN 66131, which (a) local authorities and (b) Metro Mayors have not published local plans to achieve compliance with legal limits for nitrogen dioxide.

I refer the Rt Hon. Member to the reply previously given on 16 July 2025, PQ UIN 66131.

Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the answer of 16 July 2025 to UIN 66132, what progress she has made on further policies to tackle ammonia emissions to help reduce the risk to the 2030 target.

The UK is compliant with the UK’s statutory reduction target for ammonia emissions, which has applied since 2020. The latest projections show that further action is needed to meet the UK’s ammonia reduction for 2030.

Food and Rural Affairs, when her Department plans to publish the revised Environmental Improvement Plan.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Tamworth on 17 March 2025, UIN 37341.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether she plans to (a) revoke Environment Act 1995 Air Quality Directions and (b) introduce further directions to (i) achieve compliance with nitrogen dioxide limit values and (ii) avoid future exceedances.

Existing Directions under the Environment Act 1995 relating to nitrogen dioxide (NO2) exceedances are revoked once the local authority area concerned has successfully demonstrated that compliance with legal limit levels for NO2 has been achieved, and that compliance will be maintained.

Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 17 April 2025 to Question 45555 on Nitrogen Dioxide: Pollution Control, which local (a) monitoring and (b) modelling as part of the Local Air Quality Management process showed measurements in 2024 above 40ug/m3 within a 10-mile radius of Heathrow.

Local authorities are expected to publish their Annual Status Reports on their own websites, detailing their assessments of the air quality objectives.

Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the answer of 8 July 2025 to UIN 63555, which localised hotspots in which reporting zone in (a) England, (b) Northern Ireland, (c) Scotland and (d) Wales are delaying compliance with the nitrogen dioxide annual limit value beyond 2024.

Local authorities are expected to publish the data from their locally managed nitrogen dioxide measurement networks on their websites. Data from Defra-managed networks is published annually online at UK-Air as part of the national compliance assessment.

Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the answer of 26 March 2025 to UIN 39815, which (a) cities, (b) towns, (c) agglomeration zones and (d) non-agglomeration zones in which reporting zones in (i) England, (ii) Northern Ireland, (iii) Scotland and (iv) Wales exceeded the nitrogen dioxide annual mean limit value in 2024; and by which year they are expected to become compliant.

The results of the UK’s air quality assessment for 2024 are published online on the UK-Air website (https://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/).

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to support farmer uptake of innovative tools such as virtual fencing.

Defra has funded virtual fencing technology projects through the Farming in Protected Landscape Programme which are helping to deliver our environmental targets in Protected Landscapes. Defra does not currently offer funding for virtual fencing technology under other schemes. We will keep the matter under review when considering future grants offers.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has considered aligning agricultural support in England with the approach taken in Scotland, where virtual fencing systems are eligible under the Future Farming Investment Scheme (FFIS), in order to ensure consistency for farmers and crofters across the UK.

Defra has funded virtual fencing technology projects through the Farming in Protected Landscape Programme which are helping to deliver our environmental targets in Protected Landscapes. Defra does not currently offer funding for virtual fencing technology under other schemes. We will keep the matter under review when considering future grants offers.