Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average wait time is for a patient to see a GP in (a) England and (b) by integrated care board.

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

NHS England publishes monthly data on general practice appointments, including the approximate length of time between appointments being booked and taking place, at a national and integrated care board level, although this is not a proxy for “waiting times”.

Several factors can affect when appointments take place, for example, patients may choose to book routine check-ups in advance for their own convenience. It is not possible to estimate the time between the patient’s first attempt to contact their surgery and an appointment.

Nationally, in November 2025, 43.1% of appointments were delivered on the same day, and 81.2% were delivered within two weeks. In the NHS Suffolk and North East Essex Integrated Care Board, 42.7% of appointments were delivered on the same day, 0.4 percentage points below the national average. 79.5% were delivered within two weeks, 1.7 percentage points below the national figure.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to publish proposals on access to primary care for patients without the means of digital communication.

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

We recognise that not all patients are able or wish to use online services. That is why the GP Contract is clear that that patients must always have the option to contact their practice by telephone or attend in person. Online tools should always be offered in addition to existing access routes, not as a replacement for them.

In July 2023, NHS England published guidance to support primary care networks in reducing digital exclusion. This guidance reinforces these requirements and provides further practical advice, with further information available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/supporting-digital-inclusion-in-general-practice-10-top-tips/

Over 73% of people find it easy to contact their general practice. This has shown a significant improvement of 12.2 percentage points since July 2024, when the figure was 60.9%.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to help improve the profitability of farming in England.

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

The Farming Roadmap and the full Government response to the Farming Profitability Review will be published later this year, setting out the wider plan to boost profitability and long-term viability.

The Government is already taking forward a series of measures. A new Farming and Food Partnership Board will bring together farmers, processors, retailers, and the wider supply chain to strengthen collaboration across the sector. The Government is investing £30 million in a Farmer Collaboration Fund to support peer-to-peer networks so farmers can share knowledge.

The Sustainable Farming Incentive will also be reformed to make it simpler and fairer, with two application windows this year. The June window will support smaller farms and those without agreements, and the September window will be open to all farms. The Farming in Protected Landscapes programme will be extended for three additional years, supported by £30 million of funding next year.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to ensure the long-term financial viability of farming.

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

The Farming Roadmap and the full Government response to the Farming Profitability Review will be published later this year, setting out the wider plan to boost profitability and long-term viability.

The Government is already taking forward a series of measures. A new Farming and Food Partnership Board will bring together farmers, processors, retailers, and the wider supply chain to strengthen collaboration across the sector. The Government is investing £30 million in a Farmer Collaboration Fund to support peer-to-peer networks so farmers can share knowledge.

The Sustainable Farming Incentive will also be reformed to make it simpler and fairer, with two application windows this year. The June window will support smaller farms and those without agreements, and the September window will be open to all farms. The Farming in Protected Landscapes programme will be extended for three additional years, supported by £30 million of funding next year.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to protect British agricultural produce from foreign competition.

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

Strengthening food security by supporting our farmers and food producers is a priority for this Government. Defra is backing British farmers to create a productive, profitable and sustainable future for farming.

As set out in the UK’s Trade Strategy, Defra will not lower food standards and will uphold high animal welfare standards. Defra recognises concerns about methods of production which are not permitted in the UK.

While production methods vary in line with different climates, diseases and other contextual reasons, Defra will always consider whether overseas produce has an unfair advantage and any impact that may have. Where necessary, Defra will be prepared to use the full range of powers at our disposal to protect our most sensitive sectors.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of funding the construction of a Northern Bypass around Ipswich.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Ipswich Northern Bypass was a scheme developed by Suffolk County Council, who are the Local Transport Authority for this region. A decision was taken locally by Suffolk County Council to withdraw the scheme back in 2020.

Suffolk County Council did not engage with the Department on the scheme and did not submit a Strategic Outline Business Case before withdrawing it. As a result, the Department has never been in a position to assess the proposal.

The department would go through the relevant assessment process if this or other schemes were put forward and if funding became available in the future.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions she has had with Suffolk County Council regarding the construction of a Northern Bypass around Ipswich.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Ipswich Northern Bypass was a scheme developed by Suffolk County Council, who are the Local Transport Authority for this region. A decision was taken locally by Suffolk County Council to withdraw the scheme back in 2020.

Suffolk County Council did not engage with the Department on the scheme and never submitted a Strategic Outline Business Case to progress the scheme.

The department would go through the relevant assessment process if this or other schemes were put forward and if funding became available in the future.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the impact of housing (a) refugees and (b) asylum seekers in Ipswich on social cohesion.

Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)

We have a set of Asylum Accommodation Plans which take an evidence-based approach to the procurement and occupancy of Dispersal Accommodation; ensuring we are finding suitable accommodation to fulfil our statutory duty, while considering the impacts on local areas.

The Home Office continues to work with local government to allocate asylum seekers based on a range of evidence, including the availability of housing, pressure on services and community cohesion.

Whatever decisions are made regarding specific locations, we are clear that the impact on communities must be minimised.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with Suffolk County Council on the (a) social and (b) economic impact of housing (i) refugees and (ii) asylum seekers on the local area.

Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office continues to work closely with local authorities to manage all the pressures arising from the provision of asylum accommodation including the impact on wider local authority obligations and plans.

The Home Office has delivered various grants through which we provide funds to support local authorities housing asylum seekers.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what data her Department holds on the number of farms that have become (a) insolvent and (b) ceased trading in the last three years.

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

The numbers of companies with Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) 2007 code 011, 012, 013, 014, 015 and 016 that entered insolvency in the UK in the last three years (2023 to 2025) are presented in the table below. This information has been provided by the Department for Business and Trade.

The Insolvency Service’s Monthly Company Insolvencies Official Statistics Publication provides more information and a breakdown of SIC codes.

Information on business closures for farms is best obtained from the Office for National Statistics’ quarterly business demography publication. This release is regarded as ‘official statistics in development’. However, it is not possible to separately identify farm closures from within the published group which contains them, which is ‘Agriculture, forestry and fishing’.

Business closures in the UK for Agriculture, forestry and fishing from the first quarter of 2023 until the fourth quarter of 2025 are shown in the table below.

UK Agriculture, forestry and fishing business closures

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will set out the agreed definition of being housebound that is used by the NHS; and under what circumstances is a person's status from being classed as housebound.

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

It is the responsibility of the commissioner to ensure patients registered with a general practice (GP) have access to urgent care when they are at home and unable to attend the practice they are registered with.

Under the GP Contract, GPs are required to provide services to a patient outside of practice premises, for instance via a home visit, in instances where the practice considers that a consultation is required, and it would be inappropriate for the patient to attend the practice.

Commonly, a patient is considered housebound if they cannot leave their home environment due to physical or psychological illness.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate has been made of the economic impact of housing (a) refugees and (b) asylum seekers in Ipswich.

Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office works closely with local authorities and takes into account the pressures associated with providing asylum accommodation. We continue to engage with local authorities to manage these impacts, including on their wider statutory responsibilities and local plans.

To support this work, the Home Office administers a range of grants to help local authorities meet the costs of accommodating asylum seekers.

Costs associated with asylum accommodation and support are reported at a national level in the Home Office Annual Report and Accounts, available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/ho-annual-reports-and-accounts.