Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they will take to put labelling provisions in place for genetically modified and hormone produced foods imported under the US–UK Economic Prosperity Deal.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
On 8 May, the UK Government announced a landmark economic deal with the United States, making the UK the first country to reach an agreement with President Trump. This delivers on the commitment by the Prime Minister and the President on 27 February to agree an economic deal in our respective national interests.
The deal protects jobs in the automotive, steel, aluminium, pharmaceutical and aerospace sectors - sectors that employ over 320,000 people across the UK. For the first time ever, this deal will also open up exclusive access for UK beef farmers to the US market.
We have always been clear that this Government will protect British farmers, secure our food security and uphold our high food, animal welfare and environmental standards in trade deals. That is exactly what we have done and will continue to do. Imports of genetically modified beef or hormone-treated beef will remain illegal. Any agricultural imports coming into the UK will have to meet our high sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) standards.
There will be no changes to labelling requirements as a result of what has been agreed so far within the UK-US agreement.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the role of the National Cyber Security Centre in preventing cyber attacks; and what advice is being provided to (1) individuals, (2) businesses, (3) Government departments and (4) national agencies to prevent cyber attacks and limit any damage caused.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
Since its inception in 2016, the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has been working to make the UK the safest place to live and work online.
The NCSC continue to provide digital and assured industry services to help bring about a real-world, positive impact against threats and are delivering real benefits for the nation, from dealing with significant cyber incidents to defending citizens against online harm and developing a skills pipeline for the future.
Active Cyber Defence (ACD) continues to be one of the NCSC's most successful ways to help bring about a real-world, positive impact against threats. 2.2 million cyber-enabled commodity campaigns were removed by Takedown Service in 2024, up from 1.8 million from the previous year.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the ratio of electric vehicle charging points in England for rural areas compared to urban areas.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The information requested is held by the Department for public electric vehicle charging devices.
As of 1 April 2025, there were 10,239 public electric vehicle charging devices in rural locations and 55,543 public electric vehicle charging devices in urban locations in England.
This equates to 15.5% of devices being in rural locations and 84.3% in urban locations.
This should be considered against population estimates for rural and urban locations. Latest statistics published by Defra, containing mid-year estimates for 2022, report that 16.6% of the population live in rural locations and 83.4% in urban locations.
The percentage increase in the number of public charging devices in rural locations is consistently higher than for urban locations. In 2024 there was a 45% increase in the number of public charging devices in rural locations, and a 35% increase in urban locations.
The Department does not hold data on the number of private electric vehicle charging devices by rural-urban classification.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to roll out more electric charging points in rural areas for (1) private motor vehicles, and (2) public transport vehicles.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Government’s £381m Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) Fund allocated funding to all local authorities in England to transform the availability of EV charging for drivers without off-street parking. LEVI funding allocations factored in the proportion of residents that are in rural areas, meaning local authorities in rural areas were allocated additional funding compared to urban ones.
To tackle the challenges faced by the Local Transport Authorities and bus operators when introducing zero emission buses (ZEBs) in rural areas, up to £25 million of the Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas 2 (ZEBRA) funding programme was initially reserved for proposals to introduce ZEBs in rural areas.
Future funding to support the continued decarbonisation of the bus sector, as well as supporting local authorities deliver charging infrastructure in rural areas, will be considered as part of the forthcoming Spending Review.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the cumulative impact on rural and coastal communities of major infrastructure projects, such as offshore wind farms, battery storage plants, and solar farms; and what steps they are taking to alleviate any negative impact on communities.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Major infrastructure projects that go through the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP) process are thoroughly considered and scrutinised on a case-by-case basis before any decision is taken on whether planning consent should or should not be granted. As part of this process, applicants are required to carry out environmental impact assessments to assess the impacts of any proposed development on the environment, and identify measures needed to mitigate negative environmental impacts. This includes consideration of cumulative impacts resulting from other projects and plans, where relevant.
Statutory consultees play a crucial role by providing assessment and feedback on applications to ensure a balance between a distinct number of needs, including environmental protections. The Examining Authority has a legal duty to test whether key environmental issues are being addressed during the examination phase. Further to this, the government has committed to introducing Biodiversity Net Gain for NSIPs, which will require these developments to have a positive impact on nature.
Through the Clean Power Action Plan, the government has made clear that where communities host clean energy infrastructure, they will benefit from it. On 21 May, DESNZ published a consultation on proposals for mandatory community benefits for low carbon infrastructure and seeking views on shared ownership – this closes on 16 July 2025.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of health inequalities between (1) rural and coastal, and (2) urban, areas; and what steps they intend to take to address any imbalances.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We support the National Health Service’s CORE20PLUS5 approach, which targets action to reduce health inequalities in the most deprived 20% of the population, and which improves outcomes for the groups that experience the worst access, experience, and outcomes within the NHS.
The Chief Medical Officer’s 2023 annual report made clear that future health and care needs will vary significantly in different areas, with the populations of rural, semi-rural, and coastal areas ageing much faster than those in metropolitan areas. This means there will be considerable variation in health and care needs even within an integrated care system. We recognise that providing services in rural areas comes with significant additional costs, for example, in travel and staff time. That is why the funding formula used by NHS England to allocate funds to integrated care boards (ICBs) includes an element to better reflect needs in some rural, coastal, and remote areas.
NHS England is responsible for determining allocations for ICBs. In allocating budgets, they have two aims, those being equal opportunity of access for equal need, and reducing health inequalities that are amenable to NHS healthcare. There are a range of adjustments made in the core ICB allocations formula that account for the fact that the costs of providing health care may vary between rural and urban areas.
Tackling health inequalities is central to our Health Mission, which is why the Government has committed to halving the healthy life expectancy gap between the richest and poorest regions, by addressing the social determinants of health. Work is currently underway across the Department, and with NHS England and the regional directors of public health, to develop approaches to address regional health inequalities.
As part of the consultation phase of the 10-Year Health Plan, we invited people from across every NHS region in England, including people from coastal communities, to provide input on how care should be designed and delivered, providing us with rich insights into these areas.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to inform members of the public about safety measures to take where a wildfire warning is in place, in particular to prevent the use of open fires such as barbecues.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Fire and rescue services (FRSs) have a statutory duty to promote fire safety within their areas. Where they identify the use of open fires and barbecues as a fire risk, such as when a wildfire warning is in place, Government would expect FRSs to promote relevant fire safety messages within their communities.
The Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government’s Fire Kills campaign works closely with the National Fire Chiefs Council to support FRSs to promote such messaging. The Government encourages the public to follow this advice, in addition to that of their local authority and landowners.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the impact of the Extended Producer Responsibility scheme on operational costs for pubs and brewers.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government has worked closely with industry, including the brewing and hospitality sectors, throughout development of Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging (pEPR). In October 2024, the Government published an updated assessment of the impact of introducing the pEPR scheme on packaging producers as a whole. This impact assessment did not split the assessment by sector.
Since Autumn 2024, the Government has been working with stakeholders, including representatives of the brewing and hospitality sector, to consider potential amendments to the definition of household packaging. Despite considering multiple approaches, a consensus on a single approach that works for all sectors and within the bounds of legal and regulatory requirements, was not reached.
We are continuing to explore options with producers and will bring forward a consultation as soon as possible. We recognise the strength of feeling but also the need for a system that can be effectively monitored and enforced, given the impact on the pEPR fees for the packaging remaining in scope of fees.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the value of European co-productions to the UK film industry, and what steps they are will take to promote European co-productions in the future.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Co-productions are integral to the success of the UK film industry, not only providing varied sources of funding and broadening audience reach, but allowing filmmakers to collaborate creatively with diverse partners from across the globe.Our film sector has strong ties with partners across Europe and a rich history of co-production both under the Council of Europe Convention on Cinematographic Co-production and through unofficial collaborations.
To further stimulate international exposure of the UK film industry the government has committed an additional £7 million for the UK Global Screen Fund for 2025/26. In addition to offering support for business development and distribution of UK films internationally, this fund offers specific support to promote international co-productions.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the water usage by data centres in the United Kingdom, and what sustainable sources of water will be used for this purpose.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra works closely with other Government Departments on plans to support the economic opportunities data centres bring, whilst making sure these developments are sustainable for local water supplies. Defra will continue to work with Ofwat to identify ways in which we can reduce overall water demand and achieve a secure supply of water for customers and the environment.
The water requirements of data centres vary, largely depending on the type of cooling systems used. Air cooled systems do not require very much water but are much more energy intensive. Closed loop systems reuse water, so have much lower water requirements than open loop systems.
As part of meeting the national statutory target to reduce the use of public water supply in England per head of population by 20% by 2038, Defra have set out an interim target to reduce non-household water use by 9% by 2030. We are currently working with TechUK, the trade association for data centres, to increase Defra and the Environment Agency's understanding of current water usage and cooling technologies being used.
When data centres are planned and designed, consideration should be given to the types of cooling technology being selected and the corresponding water needs. The water for cooling systems does not need to be drinking water quality. Consideration must also be given to where the data centre is going to be located to ensure that any water needs can be met.
The Environment Agency’s upcoming National Framework for Water Resources (2025) highlights the need for joined-up planning between different water-using sectors to identify collaborative solutions for water resources.