Aphra Brandreth MP: written questions
160 published records · newest first.
Written questions
Doctors: TrainingDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 9 May 2025AnsweredUIN 51223More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has considered allowing medical students in their second foundation year to apply for positions that are ring-fenced for physician associates.
Answer: No such consideration has been made. The role of physician associates (PAs) is to work with and support doctors, not to replace them. To become employed as a PA, candidates will need to have completed a recognised PA qualification.Regulation of PAs by the...
Answered 14 May 2025
Original Parliament recordSustainable Farming Incentive: Food SupplyDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 23 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 47502More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of the closure of the Sustainable Farming Incentive scheme on food security.
Answer: This Government is proud to have secured the largest budget for sustainable food production in our country’s history, with £5 billion being spent to support farmers over a 2-year period. Food security requires a long-term picture of resilience to shocks. ...
Answered 6 May 2025
Original Parliament recordAnimal Experiments: InspectionsHome OfficeTabled 17 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 46474More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the auditing process in place for animal testing facilities.
Answer: All establishments licensed to breed or supply animals, or to carry out regulated procedures on animals under ASPA in Great Britain, are subject to the full requirements of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 (ASPA).To provide assurance of compli...
Answered 28 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordAnimal Experiments: Working ConditionsHome OfficeTabled 17 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 46473More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has made an assessment of levels of welfare of employees at animal testing facilities.
Answer: Licenced establishments are responsible for the welfare of employees at animal testing facilities.The Regulator has published extensive guidance for the regulated community on the operation of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986. The published gu...
Answered 23 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordResident Doctors: EmploymentDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 17 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 46472More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help junior doctors find employment in the NHS after they have completed training.
Answer: Decisions about recruitment are matters for individual National Health Service employers. NHS trusts manage their recruitment at a local level, ensuring they have the right number of staff in place, with the right skill mix, to deliver safe and effective ...
Answered 8 May 2025
Original Parliament recordSchools: Carbon EmissionsDepartment for EducationTabled 7 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 44829More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to decarbonise schools.
Answer: The department is committed to supporting the UK net-zero carbon targets. Since 2021, the department’s own building standards require that all new school buildings delivered by the department are net-zero carbon in operation and are adapted to climate cha...
Answered 22 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordHealthy Start Scheme: Chester South and EddisburyDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 28 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 42357More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of eligible families are receiving Healthy Start in Chester South and Eddisbury constituency.
Answer: The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) operates the Healthy Start scheme on behalf of the Department. Monthly figures for the number of people on the digital Healthy Start scheme are published on the NHS Healthy Start website, which is available at ...
Answered 7 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordEnvironmental Land Management SchemesDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 18 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 39272More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much his Department has distributed from its Environmental Land Management budget this financial year to date; and how much remains.
Answer: In line with its obligations under the Agriculture Act 2020, Defra regularly publishes an annual report setting out commitments in the previous financial year. Defra intends to publish the annual report for the financial year 2024/25 later this year.
Answered 28 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordSustainable Farming IncentiveDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 18 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 39270More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many applications for the Sustainable Farming Incentive were outstanding as of 12 March 2025; and what steps his Department is taking to process applications submitted before the s
Answer: As of the 24 March, of the applications that had been submitted for the expanded Sustainable Farming Incentive offer 14,191 had received an agreement offers and 3,700 had not yet received an agreement offer.
Answered 24 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordSustainable Farming IncentiveDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 18 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 39268More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what communications his Department plans to send to farming businesses affected by changes to the Sustainable Farming Incentive; and what support he plans to provide to staff in his De
Answer: A letter from Minister Zeichner was sent to all farm businesses on 12 March advising them of the closure of the Sustainable Farming Incentive to new applications. The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) will be writing to farm businesses affected shortly with mor...
Answered 25 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordSustainable Farming IncentiveDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 18 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 39267More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the ability of the Rural Payment Agency to process changes to the Sustainable Farming Incentive.
Answer: The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) in recent years has delivered improvements to accessibility of their services, streamlined application processes and delivered improvements in the issuing of agreements and payment performance and are well placed to continu...
Answered 25 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordCountryside Stewardship SchemeDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 18 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 39266More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to open the Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier in summer 2025.
Answer: Defra announced on 11 December 2024 that the full Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier scheme guidance will be published before applications open in summer 2025.
Answered 24 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordSustainable Farming IncentiveDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 18 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 39265More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, for what reason his Department did not provide six weeks' notice when closing the Sustainable Farming Incentive scheme for new applications.
Answer: The high uptake of the scheme means it is fully subscribed. The decision to close the scheme to new applications was taken at that point. We could not give any advance notice because we needed to ensure fair access to the scheme and avoid creating a sudde...
Answered 28 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordSustainable Farming IncentiveDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 18 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 39264More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the amount of notice the National Farmers' Union was provided with before his Department announced that the Sustainable Farming Incentive
Answer: As with all demand-led schemes there comes a point when they are fully-subscribed. We ensured farmers and their representative bodies were made aware when that happened.
Answered 2 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordAgriculture: FinanceDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 18 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 39262More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to (a) monitor agricultural spend against the budget and (b) reduce the time taken to make financial decisions.
Answer: We monitor forecasts of scheme uptake and spend against the current year budget on an ongoing basis and respond accordingly to maximise the amount that can be delivered. Furthermore, we have a full understanding of commitments into future years arising fr...
Answered 28 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordSustainable Farming Incentive: ReviewsDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 18 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 39248More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how he plans to consult farmers on the review of the Sustainable Farming Incentive in a transparent way.
Answer: Since we launched the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) in 2022 we have worked closely with the farming sector to develop and improve the offer to make sure it worked for as many different farmers and land types as possible. We will continue to do this ...
Answered 28 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordSustainable Farming IncentiveDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 18 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 39247More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will reopen the Sustainable Farming Incentive to new applications.
Answer: We have closed the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) for new applications because the current SFI budget has been successfully allocated, with large-scale uptake of the scheme and 37,000 live SFI agreements delivering towards our environmental targets. ...
Answered 28 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordFood SupplyDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 18 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 39246More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of (a) the war in Ukraine (b) the wider geopolitical situation and (c) the impact of the closure of the Sustainable Farming Incentiv
Answer: (a)The war in Ukraine led to rising oil, fuel and energy prices, which created inflationary pressures right across the food chain. Farmers experienced higher energy and fertiliser costs; manufacturers experienced higher production costs; and importers and...
Answered 2 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordEnvironmental Land Management SchemesDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 18 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 39245More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the viability of farming businesses (a) whose government funding has reduced by 70% or more and (b) which are currently unable to apply for the (i) Susta
Answer: Whilst applications for the SFI24 scheme have closed, the current SFI budget has been successfully allocated. We have large-scale uptake of the scheme, with over 37,000 live SFI agreements which commit money for at least three years, and more than half of...
Answered 25 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordSustainable Farming IncentiveDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 18 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 39244More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much funding has been allocated to the Sustainable Farming Incentive for the 2025-26 financial year; and for what reason new applications have been paused since 11 March 2025.
Answer: The farming blog published on Wednesday 12 March set out Defra’s spend over the next two years (24/25 and 25/26). These are not ring-fenced figures and have the potential to change. This showed that as of 11 March, £1.05 billion had been paid to farmers o...
Answered 28 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordSjögren's Syndrome: Health ServicesDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 17 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 38796More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to (a) support people with Sjogrens to work and (b) implement a multi-disciplinary care system.
Answer: Appropriate work is generally good for health and wellbeing, so we want everyone to get work and get on in work, whoever they are and wherever they live. Disabled people and people with health conditions such as Sjogren’s syndrome are a diverse group, so ...
Answered 25 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordEmployment: DisabilityDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 13 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 38266More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to help support people with disabilities into work.
Answer: Whoever they are and wherever they live, we want individuals to secure appropriate work as we know that work is generally good for health and overall financial well being. We must ensure that disabled people and individuals with health conditions have the...
Answered 21 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordAdoption and Special Guardianship Support FundDepartment for EducationTabled 13 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 38260More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of making the adoption and special guardianship support fund permanent.
Answer: An announcement on funding for the adoption and special guardianship support fund will be made as soon as possible. All future decisions will be considered as part of the next spending review.
Answered 21 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordAgriculture and Business: Inheritance TaxTreasuryTabled 3 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 35097More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, which Finance Bill will contain the proposed changes to (a) Agricultural Property Relief and (b) Business Property Relief.
Answer: The Government believes its reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief from 6 April 2026 get the balance right between supporting farms and businesses, and fixing the public finances. Legislation implementing this policy will be ...
Answered 11 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordDomestic Waste: RecyclingDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 12 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 31284More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of standardised access for residents of all local authorities to to Household Waste and Recycling Centres in in Strate
Answer: There are no plans to standardise access to Household Waste and Recycling Centres. Household Waste and Recycling Centres play an important role in helping people manage the waste they produce in a convenient and sustainable way. The Environmental Protecti...
Answered 24 Feb 2025
Original Parliament record
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