The North Sea basin is mature and in long-term decline, with oil and gas production falling by around 75% between 1999 and 2024. This has affected employment and investment in oil and gas, particularly in north-east Scotland.

Britain is well-placed to mobilise our natural advantage, using the skills and expertise of our offshore workforce and supply chain to get ahead in the global race for new jobs and industries.

The North Sea Future Plan sets out how the government will deliver end to end support, including North Sea Jobs Service, helping workers, communities and businesses benefit from clean energy opportunities.

The North Sea is a mature basin, and production has been in natural decline for many years. Employment in oil and gas has therefore been declining over a prolonged period. Office for National Statistics data shows direct oil and gas employment fell by around a third between 2014 and 2024.

Since 2024, the Government has set out measures to support workers and communities through the transition, including through the North Sea Jobs Service and the Oil and Gas Transition Training Fund.

The Environment Agency (EA) and Defra are holding monthly National Drought Group meetings gathering intelligence from the agriculture sector on water resilience. Supplies in irrigation reservoirs have rapidly declined following a dry spring and many are now at less than 50% capacity. Conditions on abstraction licences to protect the environment also reduce water availability where river flows are low.

The EA has downgraded its spray irrigation prospects forecast for farmers following the dry weather and deterioration in the water resources position. The EA’s irrigation prospect report includes support packages available for farmers to increase their resilience.

The Secretary of State has regular discussions with Cabinet colleagues on a range of issues.

The Government is committed to tackling rural crime and safeguarding rural communities. That is why we have worked closely with the Home Office and the National Police Chief’s Council to deliver their 2025-28 Rural and Wildlife Crime Strategy which was published November 2025.

The strategy sets out operational and organisational policing priorities in respect of tackling crimes that predominantly affect rural communities. The strategy, lasting until 2028, will ensure efforts to reduce crime benefit every community no matter where they live, including rural communities.

The Government is committed to ensuring that people who need in-person banking can continue to access essential services.

That is why the Government commissioned an independent Review into Access to Banking Services, to assess whether changes to access to in-person banking services are causing consumer detriment, the scale of any detriment, and who it affects, including the digitally excluded. The Review will consider access to in-person banking services for both personal and business customers.

As part of this, the Review will consider existing forms of in-person banking provision. The Post Office provides banking services through over 10,000 branches via the Banking Framework agreement and, as such, the provision of services by the Post Office on behalf of banks will be considered as part of the Review.

Alongside the Review, the Financial Services and Markets Bill includes a power to allow the Government to take action in future to protect access to banking services, should this be necessary. This power ensures the Government can act swiftly and proportionately, including through future regulation, if the evidence from the Review supports intervention.

The Government is committed to ensuring that people who need in-person banking can continue to access essential services.

That is why the Government commissioned an independent Review into Access to Banking Services, to assess whether changes to access to in-person banking services are causing consumer detriment, the scale of any detriment, and who it affects, including the digitally excluded. The Review will consider access to in-person banking services for both personal and business customers.

As part of this, the Review will consider existing forms of in-person banking provision. The Post Office provides banking services through over 10,000 branches via the Banking Framework agreement and, as such, the provision of services by the Post Office on behalf of banks will be considered as part of the Review.

Alongside the Review, the Financial Services and Markets Bill includes a power to allow the Government to take action in future to protect access to banking services, should this be necessary. This power ensures the Government can act swiftly and proportionately, including through future regulation, if the evidence from the Review supports intervention.

Defra supports livestock farmers in England to improve disease prevention, biosecurity and the responsible use of antibiotics through existing initiatives, including the Animal Health and Welfare Review and the Poultry Biosecurity Review. The Department continues to assess the evidence on animal health and disease prevention to inform policy development.

Defra publishes various measures of farmer confidence, including a summary of free text comments by theme, collected via the Farmer Opinion Tracker. The latest results are published here and the next set of results will be available on the same page on 29 July 2026.

Mountain Rescue covers a broad range of capabilities provided by civilian, military, and voluntary responders. As such, individual departments sponsoring these various services are responsible for policy in those areas.

These departments include Home Office, DfT, and MOD, alongside relevant departments in devolved governments.

The savings are a small part of DESNZ’s overall budget, which saw a significant uplift at Spending Review.

Our aim is for a large proportion of the savings to be found through efficiencies. We will set out more details in due course.

The UK clean energy economy is booming, with over £100bn of private sector investment announced since July 2024 thanks to the government’s clean energy mission.

The UK aims to maintain high standards on the information that is provided on food labels. All food sold on the UK market, including that which is imported, must comply with UK food labelling rules. The fundamental principle of our food labelling rules is that information provided to the consumer must not mislead and must enable the safe use of food.

Food that is not classed as UK origin cannot be sold or labelled as being British. Processed foods and composite foods manufactured in the UK are British products, many of which are well known British brands abroad. But if these contain a primary ingredient that is not British then under existing rules a British claim can only be made on the label if the label also highlights that the primary ingredient is not British. Food simply re-packaged in the UK, without any further processing, does not confer UK origin on it.

Major retailers go further than the regulations by having already committed in the 2010 ‘Voluntary Principles on country-of-origin labelling’ to only include Union flags or imagery on products containing meat or dairy products (milk, cream, cheese, butter) when the meat or milk is sourced from the UK.

The Government has no current plans to bring forward legislative proposals in this area.

Road safety policy in Scotland is fully devolved, and responsibility for the operation, maintenance and safety of the A96 between Aberdeen and Inverness rests with the Scottish Government and its agency, Transport Scotland.

I refer the Hon Member to the answer of 21 May 2026, Official Report, PQ 2387.

The UK Agriculture Market Monitoring Group (UKAMMG), formed by Defra and the Devolved Governments, has routinely followed the changes in pigmeat prices, including their recent downturn after several years of strong prices.

The Department does not consider there is a case for support in the pig sector at this time but will continue to monitor the situation, including through the UKAMMG and regular engagement with industry.

The ‘Fair Dealing Obligations (Pigs) Regulations’ aim to strengthen the pig sector by improving how contracts operate and giving farmers more control over how they sell their pigs.

They introduce statutory requirements for written contracts between pig producers and purchasers, supporting more transparent and equitable supply arrangements across the supply chain, including processors supplying major retailers.

The FDOP are the result of extensive consultation with farmers, producer groups and the wider industry. They have applied to any new contracts since August 2025 and will come into force fully (for all contracts) from August 2026.

The Government routinely monitors imports of sensitive agricultural products for any unforeseen surges that could impact domestic industry. Imports from Spain currently account for 9.5% of UK pigmeat imports on a country-of-origin basis.

The EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement – as is usual in trade agreements - confirms that both parties retain rights on trade remedies, including anti-dumping measures and WTO safeguards under GATT Article XIX. The Trade Remedies Authority investigates cases where imports may cause serious injury to domestic industries.

The UK also maintains robust sanitary and phytosanitary controls; in cases such as African Swine Fever, import restrictions and certification requirements apply.

The status of the War Pension Unemployability Supplement as a qualifying benefit for passporting purposes is set through regulations by the relevant departments. The Ministry of Defence does not have the authority to amend this status and has not made formal representations on its recognition as equivalent to income-replacement benefits.

We continue to work closely with partner departments to support veterans and will keep this issue under review in line with wider government policy.

Commercial imports of pork and pork products from Spain into Great Britain must be accompanied by health certification signed by an official veterinarian, attesting compliance with animal health requirements to mitigate the risk of spread of African swine fever.

Importers must make customs declarations and pre-notify arrival to an approved Border Control Post (BCP). Customs holds are in place until the goods have passed BCP checks. Consignments bypassing checks are followed up by the relevant competent authorities.

Border Force carries out customs checks at ports and airports aimed at intercepting non-compliant goods.

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) recognises the importance of supporting veterans in receipt of the War Pension Unemployability Supplement (UnSupp) and continues to work with relevant parties to ensure veterans receive appropriate support. However, responsibility for passported benefits remains with the relevant government department, devolved administration, or organisation responsible for those benefits. These operate independently of MOD compensation schemes.

The MOD does not have a policy to extend passported benefits to UnSupp recipients. However, those who claim UnSupp may be eligible for additional War Pension Scheme benefits, including Invalidity Allowance and Comforts Allowance.

Currently, while recipients of the War Pension UnSupp do not automatically qualify for the same passported benefits as those receiving equivalent income-replacement benefits administered by the Department for Work and Pensions, they may still be eligible to apply for such benefits.