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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of auto-clearance of goods on the enforcement of biosecurity controls.

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

Border checks undertaken by competent authorities are an important element of the system designed to manage biosecurity risks.

The SPS controls at the border on EU goods implemented under the Border Target Operating Model provide assurance that the underlying systems of controls are working as intended. This includes import conditions, certification signed by veterinarian and plant authorities in exporting countries, risk assessments, border checks, and other intelligence led controls.

Auto-clearance applies to goods that fall into lower-risk categories established under the BTOM’s risk-based approach, ensuring that its impact on the enforcement of biosecurity controls is minimal while supporting the flow of goods.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to his Department's press release entitled Boost to mental health services from thousands of extra staff, published on 27 June 2025, how the recruitment of 6,700 mental health staff in the most recent year compares with the number recruited in each of the previous five years.

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

NHS England publishes monthly data on the National Health Service Hospital and Community Health Service (HCHS) workforce in England. This includes data on the NHS mental health workforce employed by NHS provider trusts and integrated care boards.

Within the NHS Monthly Workforce Statistics series, data on the mental health workforce is included in the file titled “Preliminary – NHS HCHS Workforce Statistics, Trusts and core organisations – data tables, September 2025”. The file is available at the following link:

https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/nhs-workforce-statistics/august-2025

Tab 21 within the file contains information on the mental health workforce broken down by staff groups, NHS England region, and care setting or specialty, including a monthly time series from January 2024 onwards and earlier annual figures for each September.

Further data on the mental health workforce is included in the file titled “HCHS Mental Health Workforce in NHS Trusts and core orgs June 2025”. The file is available at the following link:

https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/nhs-workforce-statistics/june-2025

This file provides quarterly FTE data from 30 September 2009 to 30 June 2025.