Neil Hudson

As I said to the House on 10 December, Storm Darragh brought strong winds to the UK late last week, and saw a RED weather warning issued for wind covering parts of England and Wales. The Government immediately took action to prepare for the arrival of Storm Darragh. Ahead of the storm, we issued an emergency alert to over 3 million people in affected regions under a red weather warning, urging them to stay indoors. That was the largest use of the early warning system outside of a test scenario.

The Storm resulted in impacts affecting a number key services and infrastructure including power supply, transport, and telecoms. Power outages caused over two million customers to lose their electricity supply. Although the majority of customers had their power restored very quickly, our priority continues to be on ensuring that every household without power is reconnected as quickly as possible. Engineers for the National Grid and other network operators are working to ensure all possible steps are being taken to re-connect the small number of remaining customers off supply. The latest information they have provided is that remaining customers will be reconnected by the end of this week.

Over 10,000 properties were protected from flooding, however, support is being provided by the Environment Agency and local authorities to the small number of households impacted by flooding.

Although the Storm has passed, the Government will continue to follow the recovery efforts and the work of local responders who are supporting communities affected by the Storm and will ensure that lessons identified are used to further improve our resilience to severe weather.

I am grateful for the response from local resilience forums around the country. I praise our emergency responders and utility workers, who have worked so hard in difficult conditions to help the public manage the impacts of the storm.

All risks in the National Risk Register, including those related to animal and plant health, are kept under review to ensure that they are the most appropriate scenarios to inform emergency preparedness and resilience activity and to reflect the risk landscape.

The risks that meet the threshold for inclusion in the NRR would have a substantial impact on the UK’s safety, security and/or critical systems at a national level.

Lead government departments develop generic capabilities that can be used to respond to impacts, regardless of the risk that caused them. This means the government can respond flexibly to the widest range of risks.

On 8 May, the UK government announced a landmark economic deal with the United States, making the UK the first country to get an agreement with President Trump.

We have agreed new reciprocal market access on beef - with UK farmers given a guaranteed quota for 13,000 metric tonnes of beef exports at a very low tariff rate. Imports of hormone treated beef will remain illegal. Our approach to this trade deal has ensured that any agricultural imports coming into the UK will meet the highest food standards.

Our approach to trade deals ensures all agri-food products must comply with our sanitary and phytosanitary standards and wider import requirements to be placed on the UK market. There is no import ban in the UK on dairy products from cows treated with bovine somatotropin, however consignments must be accompanied by animal and public health certification and come from approved countries and establishments. We will not change this in any trade deal.

The UK prohibits the use of artificial growth hormones, beta-agonists such as ractopamine and anything other than potable water to decontaminate poultry carcasses in both domestic production and imported meat products.

We will continue to maintain our existing high standards for animal health and food hygiene, ensuring that imported products comply with our import requirements.

Our approach to trade deals ensures all agri-food products must comply with our sanitary and phytosanitary standards and wider import requirements to be placed on the UK market. There is no import ban in the UK on dairy products from cows treated with bovine somatotropin, however consignments must be accompanied by animal and public health certification and come from approved countries and establishments. We will not change this in any trade deal.

The UK prohibits the use of artificial growth hormones, beta-agonists such as ractopamine and anything other than potable water to decontaminate poultry carcasses in both domestic production and imported meat products.

We will continue to maintain our existing high standards for animal health and food hygiene, ensuring that imported products comply with our import requirements.

Our approach to trade deals ensures all agri-food products must comply with our sanitary and phytosanitary standards and wider import requirements to be placed on the UK market. There is no import ban in the UK on dairy products from cows treated with bovine somatotropin, however consignments must be accompanied by animal and public health certification and come from approved countries and establishments. We will not change this in any trade deal.

The UK prohibits the use of artificial growth hormones, beta-agonists such as ractopamine and anything other than potable water to decontaminate poultry carcasses in both domestic production and imported meat products.

We will continue to maintain our existing high standards for animal health and food hygiene, ensuring that imported products comply with our import requirements.

Our approach to trade deals ensures all agri-food products must comply with our sanitary and phytosanitary standards and wider import requirements to be placed on the UK market. There is no import ban in the UK on dairy products from cows treated with bovine somatotropin, however consignments must be accompanied by animal and public health certification and come from approved countries and establishments. We will not change this in any trade deal.

The UK prohibits the use of artificial growth hormones, beta-agonists such as ractopamine and anything other than potable water to decontaminate poultry carcasses in both domestic production and imported meat products.

We will continue to maintain our existing high standards for animal health and food hygiene, ensuring that imported products comply with our import requirements.

The Government will deliver a comprehensive inclusion programme to help ensure everyone eligible is able to access the new digital ID. This will include targeted support for those who may struggle to access or engage with digital services or devices. The inclusion programme could also have wider benefits for people who are currently digitally excluded, such as enabling them to access wider benefits of being online such as getting support with the cost of living and the public services they are entitled to.

The Government will launch a public consultation on the new digital ID by the end of the year, setting out the proposed approach in more detail and seeking views on this. This will include the proposed approach to inclusion.

The Government will work closely with expert stakeholders to make the programme as effective and inclusive as possible.

The Government will deliver a comprehensive inclusion programme to help ensure everyone eligible is able to access the new digital ID. This will include targeted support for those who may struggle to access or engage with digital services or devices. The inclusion programme could also have wider benefits for people who are currently digitally excluded, such as enabling them to access wider benefits of being online such as getting support with the cost of living and the public services they are entitled to.

The Government will launch a public consultation on the new digital ID by the end of the year, setting out the proposed approach in more detail and seeking views on this. This will include the proposed approach to inclusion.

The Government will work closely with expert stakeholders to make the programme as effective and inclusive as possible.

The Government will deliver a comprehensive inclusion programme to help ensure everyone eligible is able to access the new digital ID. This will include targeted support for those who may struggle to access or engage with digital services or devices. The inclusion programme could also have wider benefits for people who are currently digitally excluded, such as enabling them to access wider benefits of being online such as getting support with the cost of living and the public services they are entitled to.

The Government will launch a public consultation on the new digital ID by the end of the year, setting out the proposed approach in more detail and seeking views on this. This will include the proposed approach to inclusion.

The Government will work closely with expert stakeholders to make the programme as effective and inclusive as possible.

We will announce the outcomes of the Business Planning process, including the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme soon.

There is a range of funding available via DCMS and the Department’s Arm’s-Length Bodies that supports places of worship. These include Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme; the National Lottery Heritage Fund, who have committed to investing around £100m between 2023 and 2026 to support places of worship; the Churches Conservation Trust, which funds repairs and maintenance of over 350 churches in the CCT portfolio; and Historic England's Heritage At Risk grants, funding £9 million worth of repairs to buildings on Historic England’s Heritage at Risk register between April 2024 and March 2025.

Since 2022, 5 Listed Places of Worship Grants have been awarded in the constituency of Epping Forrest, with 4 grants totalling £3,041 to the Church of the Holy Cross and St Lawrence, and 1 grant of £1,847 awarded to the Church of Holy Innocents High Beach. Granular data is not available before 2022 due to a change in grant administrator.

DCMS Arms-Length Body the National Lottery Heritage Fund has also supported two listed places of worship in Epping Forest; awarding £29,000 to Grade II* St Mary’s, Chigwell in 2003, and £17,000 to Grade II listed St Mary the Virgin, Theydon Bois in 1997.

The Government is investing £123 million UK-wide in grassroots facilities via the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme in 2024/25. At the Autumn Budget on 30 October 2024, the Government confirmed our continued support for elite and grassroots sport by investing in multi-use facilities. Further details will be confirmed in due course.

The Government is committed to ensuring that everyone, regardless of background, has access to and benefits from quality sport and physical activity opportunities.

The Government provides the majority of funding for grassroots sport through our Arm’s Length Body, Sport England - which annually invests over £250 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding in areas of greatest need to tackle inactivity levels through community-led solutions.

Epping Forest has benefitted from £424,995 of investment under the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme, the Park Tennis Court Renovation Programme, and the Swimming Pool Support Fund to date.

The Government is acting to support more people to get onto the pitch wherever they live through the delivery of £123 million UK-wide through the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme in 2024/25.

The Inclusion 2024 programme is available to all schools in the country, including Epping Forest. It provides both expert support and free resources, and can help schools enhance opportunities for young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) to engage in P.E. and school sports.

The Government is committed to doing more to ensure that everyone, including children, young people, and those with disabilities, has access to and benefits from quality sport and physical activity opportunities. Sport and physical activity is central to achieving our health and opportunity manifesto missions, with the biggest gains coming from supporting those who are inactive to move more.

The Culture Secretary recently attended the launch of ParalympicGB’s Equal Play Campaign where she expressed her determination to put sport at the heart of the school curriculum. This includes opening up opportunities for all young people, including those with disabilities, to be able to access sport and physical activity at school.

The Government provides the majority of support for grassroots sport through Sport England - which annually invests over £250 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding. Sport England’s work focuses on bringing the health and sport sectors together at community level and to champion physical activity with local leaders to develop interventions tailored to communities. Since 2019, Sport England has invested over £195,000 in Epping Forest for grassroots sport & physical activity.

Sport England also works to ensure that each of their programmes impact directly on disabled people and those with a long-term health condition, with initiatives like the 'We are Undefeatable' campaign and partnerships with disability organisations.

This government inherited a special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system that has failed to meet the needs of families for far too long.

We want to ensure that, where required, education, health and care (EHC) needs assessments are progressed promptly and, if required, high-quality EHC plans are issued in line with statutory deadlines.

The department continues to monitor and work closely with local authorities that have issues with EHC plan timeliness. Where there are concerns about a local authority’s capacity to make the required improvements, we help to identify the problems and put in place an effective recovery plan. This includes, where needed, providing specialist SEND Advisor support to help identify the barriers to carrying out the EHC plan process in a timely way and put in place practical plans for recovery.

We are working closely with experts, including parents, local authorities, SEND organisations and education settings across the country, as we consider the next steps for SEND reform.

The government is providing access to specialist mental health professionals in every school by expanding Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs). 53% of schools and colleges in Epping Forest constituency were supported by an MHST in March 2025. Further data for 2024/25 can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/transforming-children-and-young-peoples-mental-health-provision. This has been available since 16 May 2025 at national, regional and local authority level and since 10 July 2025 at constituency level. Around six in ten pupils nationally are expected to have access to an MHST by March 2026. Under government plans, all pupils will have access to mental health support in school by 2029/30.

This government’s ambition is that every child or young person receives the best possible educational experience, one that is academically stretching, where every child or young person feels like they belong and that sets them up for life and work.

As part of our Plan for Change, we are determined to fix the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system and restore parents’ trust by ensuring schools have the tools to better identify and support children before issues escalate to crisis point.

We will build a better system which is grounded in evidence, identifies and supports need at the earliest opportunity and ensures families can secure support swiftly without a fight. There will always be a legal right to the additional support that children with SEND need.

​​The department is providing schools with £615 million in additional funding in financial year 2025/26 to support them with overall costs, including the costs of the 4% schools teacher pay award and the 3.2% local government pay offer in respect of school support staff. This is on top of the funding increases which the government has already provided to support schools and means that the overall Core Schools Budget will total £65.3 billion in 2025/26, compared to £61.6 billion in 2024/25.

Through the Dedicated Schools Grant, Essex is receiving £1.25 billion for mainstream schools in 2025/26. This represents an increase of 2.3% per pupil compared to 2024/25. These figures do not include growth funding, falling rolls funding or the additional funding for schools announced alongside the teacher pay award this year. Allocations of that additional funding, at local authority level, will be announced in October 2025.

​​The department is providing schools with £615 million in additional funding in financial year 2025/26 to support them with overall costs, including the costs of the 4% schools teacher pay award and the 3.2% local government pay offer in respect of school support staff. This is on top of the funding increases which the government has already provided to support schools and means that the overall Core Schools Budget will total £65.3 billion in 2025/26, compared to £61.6 billion in 2024/25.

Through the Dedicated Schools Grant, Essex is receiving £1.25 billion for mainstream schools in 2025/26. This represents an increase of 2.3% per pupil compared to 2024/25. These figures do not include growth funding, falling rolls funding or the additional funding for schools announced alongside the teacher pay award this year. Allocations of that additional funding, at local authority level, will be announced in October 2025.

UK consumer food prices depend on a range of factors including agri-food import prices, domestic agricultural prices, domestic labour and manufacturing costs, and Sterling exchange rates. Changes in food prices are dependent on changes in one or more of these factors.

The latest available data (up to 2023) show that food prices in the UK remained lower than in most advanced economies and the lowest among G7 countries (OECD).

After the USA, UK households spend the lowest share of their expenditure on food and non-alcoholic drinks in the G7 (OECD).

In FYE 2024, households spent 11.3% of their spend on food, rising to 14.3% for the lowest 20% by income. Over the last 10 years these figures have been relatively stable, barring the impact of coronavirus in 2020-22.

We have taken the decisions needed to stabilise the public finances, but we know there’s more to do to ease the cost of living – which working people face the brunt of.

That’s why we’ve raised the minimum wage, extended the £3 bus fare cap, expanded free school meals to over half a million more children, and are rolling out free breakfast clubs for every child in the country.

The Government has also extended Free School Meals to over half a million more children. That policy alone will lift 100,000 children out of poverty.

And our commitment to the Triple Lock means that 12 million pensioners will receive an increase of up to £470 a year – worth £1,900 over the Parliament.

Through our Plan for Change we’re going further and faster to put more money in people's pockets.

Over the past year, Defra Ministers have regularly engaged with HM Treasury Ministers on cost-of-living pressures, including the inflationary impacts on food and drink.

The Child Poverty Taskforce provides a helpful cross-Whitehall forum for ministers across departments, including HM Treasury, to discuss and align measures to reduce household costs and improve access to affordable essentials. In parallel, Defra’s food strategy is developing policies to ensure that individuals across the country have access to affordable, nutritious food.

As a Government, we have taken the decisions needed to stabilise the public finances, but we recognise there is more to do to ease cost-of-living, which continues to place pressure on working households.

That’s why we’ve raised the minimum wage, extended the £3 bus fare cap, expanded free school meals to over half a million more children, and are rolling out free breakfast clubs for every child in the country.

Our commitment to the Triple Lock means that 12 million pensioners will receive an increase of up to £470 a year, worth £1,900 over the Parliament.

Through our Plan for Change we’re going further and faster to put more money in people's pockets.

Defra and the Animal and Plant Health Agency regularly discuss capacity and capability to manage disease outbreaks at a variety of governance boards including the Outbreak Readiness Board and the Disease Emergency Response Committee.

APHA has dealt with multiple disease incidents in 7 of the last 10 years, including concurrent outbreaks of bluetongue and avian influenza since 2023.

In the Public Accounts Committee hearing on 4 September, Defra acknowledged that a category 5 outbreak would pose challenges and explained that there are contracts and agreements in place that would enable draw down of additional veterinary and administrative capacity.

Outbreak structures and governance are set out in the ‘Contingency Plan for Exotic Notifiable Diseases of Animals in England’ published on GOV.UK. This is reviewed annually.

Defra is aware of the numerous challenges facing recruitment and retention of qualified veterinary surgeons into Government roles. The Animal and Plant Health Agency and the Food Standards Agency have been looking at ways to increase recruitment into Government and Defra has been working with the vet sector at blockers and options to support recruitment and retention.

The Flood Resilience Taskforce meets quarterly to coordinate and drive forward work on national flood resilience by national and local government and partners including the emergency services, environment and farming sectors and community groups.

Since its launch, it has met four times: on 12 September 2024, 5 February 2025, 21 May 2025, and 8 September 2025 and discussed matters including preparations for autumn and winter flooding, flood insurance and reform of the floods funding formula. The fourth meeting is scheduled for 8 September 2025.

Taskforce members also meet frequently on specific issues. Examples include events on flood forecasting and warning, held on 19 December 2024, a briefing on the National Flood and Erosion Risk Assessment on 17 January 2025, and a roundtable on 20 January 2025 on delivering natural flood management.