Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government, following the announcement on 25 February that they will invest £208 million in a new national biosecurity centre, whether those funds were previously committed to go directly to farmers as payments for 'public goods'.

Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The National Biosecurity Centre is the new name for the facility delivered at APHA Weybridge, previously known as the Science Capability in Animal Health programme. This funding has not been previously committed to other purposes.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to extend funding for NHS Practitioner Health beyond March 2026.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

NHS England has recently extended the NHS Practitioner Health service to the end of March 2026. Discussions around the mental health and wellbeing provision for future staff, including this service, are ongoing.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the speech by the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to the National Farmers Union on 25 February, when the requirements to favour high-welfare products in government catering contracts will come into effect, and what sectors other than hospitals and schools are being targeted.

Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

As announced at the National Farmers Union Conference, the National Procurement Policy Statement (NPPS), which sets out the Government’s strategic priorities for public procurement, came into effect alongside the Procurement Act on 24 February. The NPPS underscores the Government's commitment to increasing the procurement of food that meets higher environmental standards, supporting local suppliers and upholding ethical sourcing practises across public sector contracts, including catering contracts. Defra officials are currently exploring the options for any future changes to public sector food and catering policy.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to support the steel industry by reducing their electricity costs.

Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

Government is committed to tackling high industrial electricity prices in the UK. This is why Government has taken action to mitigate high electricity costs for energy intensive industries by continuing the Energy Intensive Industries compensation scheme and implementing the British Industry Supercharger.

The Plan for Steel, which will be published in Spring, will address electricity prices for steelmakers. We are committed to providing up to £2.5bn to rebuild steel industry which will be available through the National Wealth Fund and other routes.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to preserve productive farmland by encouraging the installation of solar panels on buildings and car parks rather than such farmland.

Answered by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath

The deployment of rooftop solar is a top priority. Permitted development rights mean most rooftop projects do not require an application for planning permission, including non-domestic arrays of any size, and solar canopies on car parks. New buildings standards will ensure that all newly built houses and commercial buildings are fit for a net zero future. We expect these standards to encourage the installation of solar panels.

Ground mount solar is also needed to meet our 2030 clean power ambitions. Planning guidance makes clear that, wherever possible, projects should utilise previously developed land. Where the development of farmland is judged necessary, lower-quality land should be preferred.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the link between online misinformation about health, and poor media literacy; and how they are taking this into account in public health policy.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department has not made a specific assessment of the impact of health misinformation on public health decision making, but recognises the importance of accurate health information being available to the public and of preventing misinformation.

The Department regularly rebuts factual inaccuracies when they appear in traditional media and undertakes extensive planning, engagement, and strategic work to ensure accurate public health information is available on social media channels, to mitigate misinformation. In addition, the Department strives to ensure that all of the information it publishes is accurate, clear, and accessible to a variety of audiences, including using easy read versions.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will publish the key performance indicators of the Sustainable Farming Incentive, and how these have been met.

Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Defra is monitoring the Sustainable Farming Incentive and tracking contributions to outcomes. We recently published statistics on the area within agri-environment schemes, which showed that 64% of England’s farmed area is in a scheme. 3.3 million hectares are in SFI 2023 and over 380,000 hectares are in the SFI expanded offer.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of mandatory animal welfare labelling on consumer purchasing decisions.

Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

A public consultation on fairer food labelling was undertaken last year by the previous Government. The consultation sought views on proposals to improve and extend current mandatory method of production labelling and was accompanied by an impact assessment which assessed the potential costs and benefits. Research was also commissioned to explore animal welfare considerations in consumer purchasing decisions, which will be published in due course.

We are now carefully considering all responses before deciding on next steps and will respond to this consultation in due course.