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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the capability of the Animal and Plant Health Agency IT equipment.

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

The APHA and Defra leadership teams have benefited from internal audits undertaken each year which look at issues including spend, governance, resilience, cyber security, and asset management. Additional insight into the need for investment in the APHA's IT capability has also come from 3 recent Government Internal Audit Agency audits on; Disaster Recovery, Cyber Security and a more targeted APHA Shadow IT Audit.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the Animal and Plant Health Agency has carried out scenario planning for potential (a) outbreaks of foot and mouth disease and (b) other significant biosecurity breaches.

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

Foot and mouth disease (FMD) scenario modelling has been completed, and initial outputs received. A report is being drafted with the deadline being end of March. APHA is undertaking assessments in relation to other diseases including ASF.

FMD scenario modelling has been carried out multiple times, for such reasons as Contingency Exercises (Exercise Rowan) and to support development of livestock traceability systems. The majority of APHA exercises are based around a plausible scenario, developed from expert opinion, and/or demonstrated incursion, and/or simulation model. Scenarios are designed to reflect plausible, whilst testing, conditions.

APHA have carried out assessments of the risk of incursion of FMD from the continent and publish these via GOV.UK.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has had discussions with Independent Sector Providers on ensuring that staff (a) who deliver NHS services and (b) whose contracts do not include automatic pay uplifts receive any agreed pay uplifts as soon as possible.

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

My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has not held any discussions with independent providers on this topic.

Independent organisations, such as social enterprises and general practices, are free to develop and adapt their own terms and conditions of employment. This includes the pay scales that they use, the extent to which pay awards are made, and when those awards are paid.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he is taking steps to ensure that the Community Pharmacy Independent Prescribing Pathfinder Programme and independent prescribing generally will continue to be supported to maximise direct prescribing capability in England.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The NHS England Pathfinder programme is running across England with the aim of developing a commissioning framework for community pharmacy clinical services with independent prescribing (IP) for National Health Service patients. We are working with integrated care boards and pathfinder sites, community pharmacies, to understand the key enablers for IP to be incorporated into community pharmacy. The programme learning will be across five key domains: clinical; digital; governance and safety; people; and funding and contracts. We hope to complete our evaluation by Autumn 2025, and to use this to inform planning for the incorporation of prescribing into community pharmacy clinical services. Further information on the NHS England Pathfinder programme is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/primary-care/pharmacy/pharmacy-integration-fund/independent-prescribing/

Found: Members present: Sarah Champion (Chair); Tracy Gilbert; Noah Law; Brian Mathew; David Mundell; James Naish

Found: Members present: Sarah Champion (Chair); Tracy Gilbert; Noah Law; Brian Mathew; David Mundell; James Naish

Found: LISA0182 - Lifetime ISA James Naish MP Written Evidence

Found: Trickett Anna Sabine Mike Martin Lizzi Collinge Jayne Kirkham Munira Wilson Gill Furniss James Naish

Submit Evidence (by 16 May 2025)

Energy lies at the core of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the 2015 Paris Agreement on Climate Change. Yet, the international community remains largely off track in meeting these commitments. According to the International Energy Agency, around 750 million people lack access to electricity, and more than 2 billion people lack access to clean cooking fuels, predominantly in sub-Saharan Africa.