Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the current overspends in systems in the NHS, and the impact of those overspends on winter resilience.

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

As of July 2025, there is a total system overspend of £172 million, which includes some of the impact of industrial action and reflects held back deficit support funding. The issues are very concentrated, with six systems accounting for more than half of the total overspend. At the same point last year, systems had overspent by £487 million, so we are seeing strong signs of improvement following the changes made as part of the NHS Financial Reset.

Overspends must be addressed through improved financial management and they should not undermine the National Health Service’s ability to respond to winter pressures. As set out in the 2025/26 Urgent and Emergency Care Plan, the NHS is focused on improvements that will see the biggest impact on urgent and emergency care performance this winter, including improved hospital flow, reduced ambulance handover times, and improved vaccination uptake among frontline staff.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of regional variations in the uptake of prostate specific antigen testing in men.

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

Routine prostate specific antigen (PSA) testing is not offered on the National Health Service, and therefore the Department has not taken a formal assessment of uptake. However, men aged 50 years old or over can ask their general practitioner for a PSA test, even if they do not have symptoms. This applies to anyone aged 50 years old or over in any part of England.

Whilst it is recognised that the PSA test can be a valuable diagnostic tool in certain contexts, its limitations mean it is not currently recommended for population-level screening. To find better ways of testing for prostate cancer, the Government is investing £16 million into the Prostate Cancer UK-led TRANSFORM screening trial, which aims to identify more effective approaches for detecting prostate cancer earlier.

The UK National Screening Committee, which independently advises ministers, is also reviewing the evidence for both population-wide and targeted prostate cancer screening. Depending on the UK National Screening Committee’s recommendation regarding screening for prostate cancer, an impact assessment may also be produced using the HM Treasury Green Book methodology, which considers wider social and economic impacts.

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

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Hayman of Ullock on 19 September (HL10017), whether they will publish a list of the subsidy payments that do not provide returns on investment and as a result are being rapidly wound down.

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

We are backing farmers with the largest nature-friendly budget in history to support farmers and land managers to help restore nature and boost farm productivity, which in turn protects food security and builds resilience to climate change. This means carrying on the transition away from area-based payments and towards paying to deliver public goods.

We are winding down subsidy payments that do not provide returns on investment and increasing funding in Environmental Land Management schemes, from £1.8 billion in 2025/26 to more than £2 billion a year by 2028/29.

Continuing to phase out delinked payments will enable us to invest more in environmental schemes that will make a significant contribution to our Environment Act targets and will ensure that funding is targeted where it can have the greatest impact.

Furthermore, the latest FCP annual report (attached) sets out what FCP schemes delivered over 2024/25.

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

To ask His Majesty's Government how many officials were working on the Farming and Countryside Programme on (1) 4 July 2024, and (2) 16 September 2025.

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

Delivery of the Farming & Countryside programme spans across many organisations within the Defra group, and we use our resource flexibly according to demand.

Found: Morris of Yardley (The Chair); Lord Bradley; Lord Carter of Coles; Baroness Cass; Lord Laming; Lord Mott