Roz Savage

This is a devolved matter, and the information provided therefore relates to England only.

The Government recognises that beavers can bring many benefits for the environment including reducing downstream flooding.

A licence is needed to release any beavers into the wild. Applications will be considered against comprehensive wild release criteria. These criteria have been designed to ensure only high-benefit, low-risk projects are licenced, and that beavers are reintroduced at a measured pace in a well-managed way.

Support for farmers, landowners and local communities will be provided through a rigorous risk assessment in the application process and the existing management framework laid out in our 5-step beaver management approach.

This will be backed up by support through local beaver management groups and Environmental Land Management options.

This is a devolved matter, and the information provided therefore relates to England only.

Farmers and landowners who would like to reintroduce wild beavers on their land must first submit an Expression of Interest, which will be assessed by Natural England (NE). Projects likely to meet the licensing criteria will be invited to make a full application.

A licence is needed to release any beavers into the wild. Applications will be considered against comprehensive wild release criteria. These criteria have been designed to ensure only high-benefit, low-risk projects are licenced, and that beavers are reintroduced at a measured pace in a well-managed way.

The Fruit and Vegetable Aid Scheme is an EU legacy scheme, and in England, legislation is in place to close the scheme to English POs on 31 December 2025.

The Government has committed to championing British farming, whilst protecting the environment, and is currently considering the best way to support our farming sectors in the future, including horticulture.

We will make further announcements in due course.

The Environment Agency ensures that all its flood projects assess their impact on the environment and biodiversity, with support from the National Environmental Assessment Service. The impact of any new scheme will be undertaken in due course as part of each schemes’ assurance process.

Defra has established protocols to assess the potential environmental impacts of flood prevention infrastructure on wildlife and river ecosystems. These assessments are carried out through Strategic Environmental Assessments and Environmental Impact Assessments, which are integral to the planning and implementation of flood risk management projects.

I refer the Hon Member to the reply previously given on 21 January 2025 to PQ 24394.

The Government takes the impact of noise pollution on health, wellbeing and the natural environment seriously. Strict noise regulations for motorcycles and cars are harmonised at an international level and require vehicles to demonstrate compliance before being placed on the market.

Poor air quality poses a significant risk to public health. Delivering greener transport is a priority for the Department for Transport and we are committed to cleaning up our air and protecting the public from the harms of pollution.

The Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) Mandate sets a clear pathway for the decarbonisation of new cars and vans and is the largest carbon saving measure across government. The Department is committed to decarbonising other vehicle categories and is exploring options for implementation that meet the needs of each segment of the market. Non-ZEV motorcycles and cars are also subject to stringent emissions standards, including strict limits on pollutant emissions such as nitrogen oxides and particulate matter.

Whilst we are not considering Graduated Driving Licences, we absolutely recognise that young people are disproportionately victims of tragic incidents on our roads, and we are exploring options to tackle the root causes of this without unfairly penalising young drivers.

My Department is developing our road safety strategy and will set out more details on when it will be published in due course.

Whilst it is our ambition through public ownership to deliver a more affordable railway, any long-term changes or concessions made to rail fares policy require balancing against the potential impacts on passengers, taxpayers and the railway.

We are committed to reforming the overcomplicated fares and ticketing system to deliver simpler, easier and more flexible ways to travel and will expand ticketing innovations such as Pay As You Go in urban areas across the country.

This Government is committed to improving transport provision across the country. We recognise the challenges people face in accessing transport, particularly in rural areas like the South Cotswolds. This is why we are working at pace to deliver our five key strategic transport priorities, which include the transforming of infrastructure to tackle regional inequality and the delivery of better integrated transport networks. DfT officials will continue to meet regularly with the councils in Wiltshire and Gloucestershire to discuss their aspirations for transport provision and provide support to address their concerns.

The latest statistics show that in 2022/23, there were 1,557 children living in absolute poverty and 2,215 children living in relative poverty in South Cotswolds constituency. Figures are provided for all children (including 16- to 19-year-olds) and on a before housing costs basis, available on Stat-Xplore. Figures on an after housing costs basis are not available below region level.

Source: Stat-Xplore (Children in Low Income Families Statistics)

Although there is no upper age limit to claiming Carer’s Allowance, it cannot normally be paid with the State Pension. It has been a long-held feature of the UK’s benefit system, under successive Governments, that where someone is entitled to two benefits for the same contingency, then whilst there may be entitlement to both benefits, only one will be paid to avoid duplication for the same need. Although entitlement to State Pension and Carer’s Allowance arise in different circumstances they are nevertheless designed for the same contingency – as an income replacement. Carer’s Allowance replaces income where the carer is unable to undertake full time employment due to their caring responsibilities, while State Pension replaces income in retirement. For this reason, social security rules operate to prevent them being paid together, to avoid duplicate provision for the same need.

However, if a carer’s State Pension is less than Carer's Allowance, State Pension is paid and topped up with Carer's Allowance to the basic weekly rate of Carer's Allowance which is currently £81.90.

Where Carer’s Allowance cannot be paid, the person will keep underlying entitlement to the benefit. This gives access to the additional amount for carers in Pension Credit of £45.60 a week and potentially other means-tested support. Around 125,000 people are receiving the Carer Premium with their Pension Credit. It is paid to recognise the additional contribution and responsibilities associated with caring. And even if a pensioner’s income is above the limit for Pension Credit, they may still be able to receive Housing Benefit.

All local authorities in England have received bulletins from both DWP and MHCLG. The bulletins contained information about Pension Credit along with links to DWP’s online stakeholder toolkit which contains a range of materials to help promote Pension Credit to pensioners and their friends and family. The bulletins also invited local authorities to request printed promotional materials to support their local activity.

The Department also shares extensive data with all local authorities for a variety of purposes. Local authorities are allowed to re-use that data under the terms of a data sharing Memorandum of Understanding, subject to them seeking their own legal advice and subject to them notifying the Department of their intent. Through this process, local authorities can re-use the data originating from DWP to help identify people eligible for Pension Credit.

Since 16 September, the Department has also been running national paid marketing activity, including radio (Greatest Hits Radio and Smooth Radio air in Wiltshire and Gloucestershire); national and regional press (including the Swindon Evening Advertiser); paid social media; and GP and Post Office Screens (including six medical centres and nine Post Offices in Wiltshire and Gloucestershire).

The NHS Business Services Authority operates the Healthy Start scheme on behalf of the Department. Monthly figures for the number of people on the digital Healthy Start scheme are published on the NHS Healthy Start website, which is available at the following link:

https://www.healthystart.nhs.uk/healthcare-professionals/

In February 2025, the number of people who were on the digital Healthy Start scheme in the Cotswolds was 260, and in Wiltshire was 1,875.

There are no plans to commission a review into the medicines supply market.

Medicine supply chains are complex, global, and highly regulated, and there are a number of reasons why supply can be disrupted, many of which are not specific to the United Kingdom and outside of Government control, including manufacturing difficulties, access to raw materials, sudden demand spikes or distribution issues, and regulatory issues. We have drawn on up-to-date intelligence and data on the root causes of medicine supply issues, with manufacturing problems being the most dominant root cause.

The resilience of UK supply chains is a key priority, and the Department and NHS England are committed to helping to build long term supply chain resilience for medicines. We are continually learning and seeking to improve the way we work to both manage and help prevent supply issues and avoid shortages.

The Department, working closely with NHS England, is taking forward a range of actions to improve our ability to mitigate and manage shortages and strengthen our resilience. As part of that work, we continue to engage with industry, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, and other colleagues across the supply chain as we progress work to co-design and deliver solutions.

In our assessment, concessionary prices support medicine supply by helping to ensure that when prices rise in a global market, pharmacy contractors can be paid fairly and continue to access medicines for their patients.

Pharmacies play a vital role in our healthcare system. We are committed to expanding the role of pharmacies and better utilising the skills of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians. That includes making prescribing part of the services delivered by community pharmacists as part of the shift from hospital to community and from treatment to prevention.

The Government recently resumed its consultation with Community Pharmacy England regarding funding arrangements. for 2024/25 and 2025/26.

Community pharmacies play a vital role in our healthcare system. We are committed to expanding the role of pharmacies and better utilising the skills of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians. That includes making prescribing part of the services delivered by community pharmacists as part of the shift from hospital to community, and from treatment to prevention.

Community pharmacies already play a key role in delivering a wide range of vaccine services. Currently, NHS England commission the Community Pharmacy Seasonal Influenza Vaccination Advanced Service and the COVID-19 Vaccination National Enhanced Service on a national level. The Department will keep the scope of vaccinations available in community pharmacies under review.

The Government recently resumed its consultation with Community Pharmacy England regarding funding arrangements for community pharmacy across 2024/25 and 2025/26.

Additionally, the Government has also launched a 10-Year Health Plan to reform the National Health Service. A central part of the 10-Year Health Plan will be our workforce and how we ensure we train and provide the staff, technology, and infrastructure the NHS needs to care for patients across our communities. The 10-Year Health Plan will also align with our priority for implementing the Women’s Health Strategy as we reform the NHS, ensuring that all women can access the care that they need.

The Department also remains committed to supporting people with long-term conditions and ensuring they receive the support that they need, including referral to specialist services as appropriate. We invest in health research for long term conditions through the National Institute for Health and Care Research, the Medical Research Council, and UK Research and Innovation.

Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning most services for people with long-term conditions. ICBs are allocated funding by NHS England to meet local needs and priorities and improve outcomes. NHS England continues to set national standards, service specifications, and clinical access policies which ICBs are expected to apply.

Community pharmacies play a vital role in our healthcare system. We are committed to expanding the role of pharmacies and better utilising the skills of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians. That includes making prescribing part of the services delivered by community pharmacists as part of the shift from hospital to community, and from treatment to prevention.

Community pharmacies already play a key role in delivering a wide range of vaccine services. Currently, NHS England commission the Community Pharmacy Seasonal Influenza Vaccination Advanced Service and the COVID-19 Vaccination National Enhanced Service on a national level. The Department will keep the scope of vaccinations available in community pharmacies under review.

The Government recently resumed its consultation with Community Pharmacy England regarding funding arrangements for community pharmacy across 2024/25 and 2025/26.

Additionally, the Government has also launched a 10-Year Health Plan to reform the National Health Service. A central part of the 10-Year Health Plan will be our workforce and how we ensure we train and provide the staff, technology, and infrastructure the NHS needs to care for patients across our communities. The 10-Year Health Plan will also align with our priority for implementing the Women’s Health Strategy as we reform the NHS, ensuring that all women can access the care that they need.

The Department also remains committed to supporting people with long-term conditions and ensuring they receive the support that they need, including referral to specialist services as appropriate. We invest in health research for long term conditions through the National Institute for Health and Care Research, the Medical Research Council, and UK Research and Innovation.

Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning most services for people with long-term conditions. ICBs are allocated funding by NHS England to meet local needs and priorities and improve outcomes. NHS England continues to set national standards, service specifications, and clinical access policies which ICBs are expected to apply.