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What steps he is taking to improve access to NHS dental services.
What steps he is taking to improve access to NHS dental services.
We are improving access to NHS dentistry with reforms to prioritise those in greatest need and by creating an urgent care safety net throughout the country. I am proud to say that we are on track to deliver 2.5 million additional treatments and that survey data released last week shows that 81% of patients in the last two years were able to get an appointment, but we will go further with fundamental reform in this Parliament.
I thank the Minister for that answer. In the area that I represent, we have a problem. NHS dental practices in Shildon and in Bishop Auckland closed in the year before the general election, and recently another practice in West Auckland has been writing to patients to say that it cannot provide NHS care. While I respect and really appreciate the work the Government have done on emergency dental treatments, for primary care dentistry it is still simply not good enough. I know that the Minister knows that as we have talked about it. Will he commit to continuing reform of the contract at pace and recognise that we need to better fund NHS dentistry? Will he or his officials meet me to discuss what we can do to help the affected patients in my constituency?
I thank the Minister for that answer. In the area that I represent, we have a problem. NHS dental practices in Shildon and in Bishop Auckland closed in the year before the general election, and recently another practice in West Auckland has been writing to patients to say that it cannot provide NHS care. While I respect and really appreciate the work the Government have done on emergency dental treatments, for primary care dentistry it is still simply not good enough. I know that the Minister knows that as we have talked about it. Will he commit to continuing reform of the contract at pace and recognise that we need to better fund NHS dentistry? Will he or his officials meet me to discuss what we can do to help the affected patients in my constituency?
My hon. Friend is a tireless advocate for his constituents. Integrated care boards are responsible for commissioning NHS dental services to meet the needs of their local population. Where a dental practice decides to close, NHS England and the relevant ICB work together to ensure that its patients have access to dental care. However, I absolutely accept his point that we still have a long way to go to get NHS dentistry back on its feet. I would be more than happy to meet him to discuss that further.
If she will publish individual country Official Development Assistance allocations for the next three years before the publication of her Department's Annual Report and Accounts.
If she will publish individual country Official Development Assistance allocations for the next three years before the publication of her Department's Annual Report and Accounts.
I like to buy British, because I know that our farmers have some of the best quality and welfare standards in the world, and I know that my constituents feel the same. However, that is difficult when everything is labelled with Union flags and fake farm names. May I invite the Minister to meet with members of the Labour Rural Research Group to discuss honest food labelling, which we are campaigning for?
I like to buy British, because I know that our farmers have some of the best quality and welfare standards in the world, and I know that my constituents feel the same. However, that is difficult when everything is labelled with Union flags and fake farm names. May I invite the Minister to meet with members of the Labour Rural Research Group to discuss honest food labelling, which we are campaigning for?
I am happy to meet the rural research group to talk about these important issues, but under UK food labelling rules, food that is not of UK origin cannot be labelled with a British flag, and if the primary ingredient is not British, it cannot be labelled as such without pointing out that the primary ingredient is not British. If my hon. Friend has any examples of where that is happening, I would like to see them.
Whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of improving the transparency of food welfare labelling.
Whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of improving the transparency of food welfare labelling.
As set out in our welfare strategy, we are working with the farming and food industry, vets and scientists to explore how improved animal welfare labelling could improve consumer transparency, support farmers and promote better animal welfare.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether everyone with a legacy Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier agreement that expired on 30 December 2025 secured a new Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier agreement.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether everyone with a legacy Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier agreement that expired on 30 December 2025 secured a new Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier agreement.
The new Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier (CSHT) service opened for applications in September 2025 for groups who had been invited to apply. This included farmers land managers with existing Higher Tier agreements due to expire in December 2025.
Not all agreement holders will have secured a new Higher Tier agreement: This is reflected by a number of factors including if the applicant has engaged in the application process taking into account their individual requirements, whether a suitable new agreement proposal can be offered and the impact of site-specific environmental requirements and assessments.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the average waiting time is for applicants between between being invited to apply online by the Rural Payments Agency to secure a Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier agreement and securing a signed agreement.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the average waiting time is for applicants between between being invited to apply online by the Rural Payments Agency to secure a Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier agreement and securing a signed agreement.
The scheme is in an early stage “private beta” rollout where delivery times would be expected to be longer than normal. So far, the average time from invitation to apply to the Rural Payments Agency offering an agreement to the customer is around 90 daysfor what are 10-year agreements.
The length of time taken to reach agreement includes customer action and can vary considerably depending on a number of factors, including the complexity, specialist advice, site assessment, and time taken to agree management options.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier agreements have been accepted since September 2025; and how many farmers have been invited to apply for Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier since September 2025.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier agreements have been accepted since September 2025; and how many farmers have been invited to apply for Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier since September 2025.
Since September 2025, the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) has invited 903 farmers to apply for a Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier (CSHT) agreement. Over the same period the number of CSHT agreements that have been accepted is 431.
The RPA continues to streamline the application process and ensure that agreements are progressed as efficiently as possible.
What assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Defence Industrial Strategy 2025 on Northern Ireland.
What assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Defence Industrial Strategy 2025 on Northern Ireland.
This month has shown just how volatile the world is and the importance of the investment this Government is making in our defences.
My assessment is that the Defence Growth Deal’s potential is transformative for businesses small and large across Northern Ireland.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many paying parents were newly recorded as being in arrears by the Child Maintenance Service in each of the last 24 months.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many paying parents were newly recorded as being in arrears by the Child Maintenance Service in each of the last 24 months.
The information requested is not readily available and providing it would incur disproportionate cost.
The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) will do everything within its powers to make sure parents comply. Where parents fail to take responsibility for paying for their children, the Service will not hesitate to use the range of enforcement powers available to collect maintenance, combining robust negotiation activity with the highly effective use of its extensive range of Enforcement Powers.
CMS has a wide range of strong enforcement powers including deductions from earnings orders, removal of driving licences, disqualification from holding a passport, and committal to prison. The CMS also introduced powers to enable the deduction of child maintenance directly from a wider range of accounts, including certain joint and business accounts, and target complex earners via a calculation of notional income based on assets.
The Service is committed to using these powers fairly and in the best interests of children and separated families.
Q4
.
Sam Rushworth (Bishop Auckland) (Lab):
The surge in the global cost of oil and gas has the risk of pushing up food and energy prices, which is a real concern for my constituents in Bishop Auckland, just as we are turning a corner on the cost of living crisis. Does this not show the importance of ignoring the opposition parties, and of investing in secure renewable energy that we control and backing our farmers to produce the food for our nation, such as those I am hosting here today from County Durham? Will the Prime Minister ensure that both energy and food security are a core mission of this Labour Government?
Q4
.
Sam Rushworth (Bishop Auckland) (Lab):
The surge in the global cost of oil and gas has the risk of pushing up food and energy prices, which is a real concern for my constituents in Bishop Auckland, just as we are turning a corner on the cost of living crisis. Does this not show the importance of ignoring the opposition parties, and of investing in secure renewable energy that we control and backing our farmers to produce the food for our nation, such as those I am hosting here today from County Durham? Will the Prime Minister ensure that both energy and food security are a core mission of this Labour Government?
Energy security is critical to food security, and the sprint to clean energy is the only way to get off the volatile international fossil fuel markets, cut bills and deliver energy security. Since we came into office, over £90 billion of investment into clean energy industry has come in, powering millions of homes. The Tories and Reform would throw all that away and cling to the failed policy that put everyone’s bills up throughout their reign.
If he will list his official engagements for Wednesday 4 March.
If he will list his official engagements for Wednesday 4 March.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of payments were made through the Child Maintenance Service collect and pay system in each of the last three years.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of payments were made through the Child Maintenance Service collect and pay system in each of the last three years.
The Department regularly publishes Child Maintenance Service official statistics, with the latest statistics available to September 2025, and detailed quarterly statistics on the number of CMS Arrangements available on Stat-Xplore.
The table CMS Arrangement 1: Service Type and Paying Status by Quarter shows the number of CMS arrangements by service type for each quarter from March 2016 to September 2025. The table provides figures for the number of Collect & Pay arrangements for which the Paying Parent paid some child maintenance during the quarter, and those where no payment was made.
Users can log in or access Stat-Xplore as a guest and, if needed, can access guidance on how to extract the information required.
I know that the people who elect us to this place believe that it is important for politicians to uphold standards, whether at a national or local level. There is growing concern about the public behaviour of the leader and deputy leader of the Reform-led council in Durham, but they have changed the regime for standards, so that a committee of only three, with two Reform members, looks at those issues. Will the Minister consider an independent commissioner for standards for local government to ensure that we can hold our representatives to account?
I know that the people who elect us to this place believe that it is important for politicians to uphold standards, whether at a national or local level. There is growing concern about the public behaviour of the leader and deputy leader of the Reform-led council in Durham, but they have changed the regime for standards, so that a committee of only three, with two Reform members, looks at those issues. Will the Minister consider an independent commissioner for standards for local government to ensure that we can hold our representatives to account?
I thought I was going to get away without answering any questions, Mr Speaker. My hon. Friend raises an important issue. On 11 November last year, we published a Government response to a consultation and I am anxious to get on with taking more steps to address the kind of thing that he raises as quickly as we can.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of Unitaid; and what steps she is taking to fulfil funding commitments to Unitaid.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of Unitaid; and what steps she is taking to fulfil funding commitments to Unitaid.
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer of 20 October 2025 given to question 80764.
Merry Christmas, Mr Speaker.
As we are all sleeping in or children are opening their stockings on this Christmas morning, farmers in Teesdale and Weardale will be up tending to their sheep and cows, and we thank them for that. As the Minister knows, at the moment only 25% of subsidies go to just 4% of farms. Smaller upland farms in areas like those I represent have done particularly badly under the transition. There are so many issues I could raise, but to avoid Mr Speaker’s cough may I just ask this? I am bringing a delegation of farmers from my constituency to Parliament in the new year. Will the Secretary of State meet them to hear their wisdom?
Merry Christmas, Mr Speaker.
As we are all sleeping in or children are opening their stockings on this Christmas morning, farmers in Teesdale and Weardale will be up tending to their sheep and cows, and we thank them for that. As the Minister knows, at the moment only 25% of subsidies go to just 4% of farms. Smaller upland farms in areas like those I represent have done particularly badly under the transition. There are so many issues I could raise, but to avoid Mr Speaker’s cough may I just ask this? I am bringing a delegation of farmers from my constituency to Parliament in the new year. Will the Secretary of State meet them to hear their wisdom?
I echo my hon. Friend’s thanks to farmers working hard over the festive season. Upland communities face unique challenges. I or the Minister for Food Security and Rural Affairs will be delighted to meet his delegation. We are reforming the sustainable farming incentive to make it simpler and easier for farmers to apply to. We want more farmers to benefit from these schemes, and under this Government we already have a record number of farmers in these schemes.
What steps she is taking to help increase the profitability of farming.
What steps she is taking to help increase the profitability of farming.
As this House knows, Baroness Batters is a long-standing champion of British farming. Today, the Government have published her independent farming profitability review 2025, which we commissioned earlier this year. We will set out a more detailed response in the new year, but I can confirm today that, following her recommendations, we are establishing a farming and food partnership board to give farmers a stronger voice in Government. We will take forward sector plans to build profitability in sectors with great potential, and we will seek to boost private finance into farming.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether the interest accrued on the frozen £2.5 billion proceeds from the sale of Chelsea Football Club is intended to benefit the proposed foundation to support victims of the war in Ukraine; and what steps the Government is...
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether the interest accrued on the frozen £2.5 billion proceeds from the sale of Chelsea Football Club is intended to benefit the proposed foundation to support victims of the war in Ukraine; and what steps the Government is...
The Government is determined to see that the frozen proceeds, including the accrued interest, from the sale of Chelsea Football Club reach humanitarian causes in Ukraine. Restrictions imposed through UK sanctions laws will ensure that the proceeds do not benefit sanctioned individuals.
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the interest accruing on the frozen £2.5 billion proceeds from the sale of Chelsea Football Club is subject to UK taxation.
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the interest accruing on the frozen £2.5 billion proceeds from the sale of Chelsea Football Club is subject to UK taxation.
What steps she is taking to help improve local bus services.
What steps she is taking to help improve local bus services.
We are taking ambitious steps to improve local buses, and our landmark Bus Services Act 2025 empowers local authorities to deliver better services. We are investing over £1 billion in 2025-26, and in the coming weeks, we will confirm multi-year allocations for local authorities, to help improve bus services in the long term.