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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions his Department has had with authorities responsible for local nature recovery strategies on the land use framework consultation.

Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The consultation on Land Use in England is underway and the outcome will inform the publication of a Land Use Framework planned for later this year. Many of the authorities responsible for Local Nature Recovery Strategies were involved in discussions that informed the proposals and questions in the Land Use Consultation

During the consultation period, Government officials will be consulting with a wide range of respondents, including authorities responsible for Local Nature Recovery Strategies.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 4 March 2025 to Question 33380 on Animal Experiments, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the concordance range; whether she has made an assessment of the potential limitations of the paper; and whether she has considered evidence on the predictive value of non-animal methods.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office)

The paper in question is published in a reputable scientific journal and will have undergone rigorous peer review before publication.

The Government invests £10m annually in The National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs). The NC3Rs places significant investment into programmes and projects specifically for developing non-animal methods.

In March 2023 the NC3Rs made its biggest award to date in a single investment (£1.6M) to develop a ‘Virtual Dog’. The project aims to exploit advances in computational approaches and machine learning to ultimately replace their use as a second species in drug development.

This government has made a commitment to “partner with scientists, industry, and civil society as we work towards the phasing out of animal testing”. The government will publish a strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods later this year.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average time taken was to (a) process and (b) pay Access to Work claims once an invoice had been submitted in each of the last five years.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

In response to what the average time taken was to (a) process Access to work claim in each of the last 5 years, Access to work can provide this for the last 4 years. The average time taken was:

2021-2022 = 28.1 days

2022-2023 = 57.8 days

2023-2024 = 45.1 days

2024-2025 = 56.9 days

(b) the average time taken to process a payment once an invoice has been submitted is not available as there is no reporting systems in place.

Please note that the data supplied is derived from unpublished management information, which was collected for internal Departmental use only, and have not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard. They should therefore be treated with caution.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what his planned timeline is for launching a consultation on the phasing out of the use of cages for farm animals.

Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

I refer the Hon. Member to the reply previously given to the hon. Member for Mid Dorset and North Poole, Vikki Slade, on 29 April 2025, PQ 47556.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he plans to take with the farming sector to ensure high standards of welfare for farmed animals kept in cages and other close confinement systems.

Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

This Government was elected on a mandate to introduce the most ambitious plans to improve animal welfare in a generation. The Department is engaging with key stakeholders as part of the development of our overarching approach to animal welfare. We will be outlining more details on this in due course.

The Laying Hen Housing for Health and Welfare Grant was recently offered to commercial laying hen and pullet keepers in England. It supports these farmers to improve the health, welfare, and productivity of their flocks through access to £22.6 million in grants towards the cost of upgrading their housing. Applications closed on 18 September 2024, and all applicants have been contacted to notify them of next steps.

The use of cages and other close confinement systems for farmed animals is an issue which we are currently considering very carefully.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that people who (a) rely on cash and (b) choose to use cash can access it in North East Somerset and Hanham constituency.

Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Government recognises that cash continues to be used by millions of people across the UK, including those in vulnerable groups, and is committed to protecting access to cash for individuals and businesses.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) assumed regulatory responsibility for access to cash in September 2024. Its rules require the UK’s largest banks and building societies to assess the impact of a closure or material alteration of a relevant cash withdrawal or deposit facility and put in place a new service if necessary. Assessments are undertaken by LINK, the industry designated coordinating body responsible for conducting cash access assessments. LINK take into account a number of factors including those unique to each location, such as the size and vulnerability of the population and whether it is reasonable for people to travel to nearby facilities, factoring in geographic barriers such as hills, rivers and major roads.

The Government is working closely with industry to roll out 350 banking hubs across the UK by the end of this Parliament. These hubs will provide small businesses and individuals with critical cash and in-person banking services. Over 225 banking hubs have been recommended to date and over 150 are already open.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether estates managed by his Department are participating in the No Mow May initiative.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department has no estate with grass or lawned areas, and therefore is not participating in the No Mow May initiative.

Found: Written evidence from witnesses:  Dan Norris MP Examination of witnesses Witnesses: Dan Norris, Mayor