Victoria Atkins

The budget for farming and agriculture beyond this year will be part of the government’s spending review.

For this government, food security is national security.

That is why this Government will introduce new deal for farmers to boost rural economic growth and strengthen Britain's food security.

• We will cut energy bills by switching on GB Energy

• Protect farmers from being undercut in trade deals

• Use the Government’s own purchasing power to back British produce.

Furthermore, the new Government are fully committed to the Environmental Land Management (ELM) schemes. Government will restore stability and confidence amongst farmers and will not overturn the applecart by overhauling the schemes.

Instead, we will optimise schemes and grants in an orderly way, ensuring they produce the right outcomes for all farmers, food security and nature’s recovery in a just and equitable way.

The best way to do all of this effectively is to listen to farmers and others with a stake in our food system, countryside and nature. The Government is doing this as well as assessing data and information about what’s working and what isn’t before setting out detailed plans.

The budget for farming and agriculture beyond this year will be part of the government’s spending review.

The previous Government made a number of funding commitments in the Network North Command Paper. These will be examined closely by my Government in the coming months.

DWP cannot provide data down to a district council electoral ward level. Data on State Pension caseloads for GB is published and this can be found on Stat-Xplore. Users can log in or access Stat-Xplore as a guest user and, if needed, can access User Guide (dwp.gov.uk) on how to extract the information required.

To be helpful, as of the quarter ending May 2023, there are 28,694 SP claimants in Louth and Horncastle Parliamentary Constituency. The 2024 Parliamentary constituency boundaries were used to calculate this.

DWP cannot provide data down to a district council electoral ward level. Data on State Pension caseloads for GB is published and this can be found on DWP Stat-Xplore. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) publishes data on estimates of the population at different geographic boundaries. Users can log in or access Stat-Xplore as a guest user and, if needed, can access guidance on how to extract the information required.

To be helpful, as of the quarter ending May 2022, the proportion of the general population of Louth and Horncastle constituency in receipt of the State Pension is 30%. This was calculated using the State Pension caseload for the 2010 Parliamentary Constituency boundaries in the closest quarter (May 2022) to the ONS data used and dividing it by the latest available Parliamentary Constituency population estimates data from the ONS (Mid-year 2022).

Source for Population estimates: Parliamentary constituency population estimates (ONS)

The Government is committed to a preventative approach to public health. Keeping people warm and well at home and improving the quality of new and existing homes will play an essential part in enabling people to live longer, healthier lives and reducing pressures on the NHS.

We are providing support through our Warm Homes Plan which pensioners will benefit from. This will support investment in insulation and low carbon heating – upgrading millions of homes over this Parliament. Our long-term plan will protect billpayers permanently, reduce fuel poverty, and get the UK back on track to meet our climate goals.

The Government is also ensuring pensioners are supported through our commitment to protect the Triple Lock, over 12 million pensioners will benefit, with many expected to see their State Pension increase by around a thousand pounds over the next five years.

The Household Support Fund is being extended for a further 6 months, from 1 October 2024 until 31 March 2025.

In Louth and Horncastle constituency, the estimated number of pensioners who will have Winter Fuel Payments withdrawn is 26,570.

This estimation is calculated by subtracting the number of Pension Credit recipients for Louth and Horncastle constituency, from the number of Winter Fuel Payment recipients for Louth and Horncastle constituency (using the latest statistics, sources shown below). The Pension Credit data is based on the 2010 Westminster Parliamentary constituencies, not 2024 in order to be comparable with the Winter Fuel Payments statistics.

Please note that the below does not take into account any potential increase in Pension Credit take-up we might see as a result of the policy change (means testing Winter fuel payments to those on Pension Credit and other means tested benefits). We do not have data on those additional Pension Credit claims by Parliamentary constituencies or local authorities.

Also, the published Pension Credit figures refer to households, so the number of individuals will be higher (i.e. taking account of households where it is a couple claiming Pension Credit).

Furthermore, Pension Credit claimants are the majority of those that will be eligible for Winter Fuel Payments, not all. There are other pensioners who are eligible for Winter Fuel Payments (as they claim other means tested benefits) but they are not considered in these figures as it is not possible to do so.

Sources used:

winter-fuel-payments-caseload-2022-to-2023.ods (live.com)

Stat-Xplore - Table View (dwp.gov.uk) (Feb-24 data)

Energy support including for those who live in areas off-grid is the responsibility of Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.

The Home Upgrade Grant provides grants to low-income households to upgrade the energy performance of the worst quality, off-gas grid homes in England by installing multiple energy efficiency measures and low carbon heating. This will typically include insulation measures in combination with a heat pump to make the home heat efficient and suitable for the future as we build towards net zero.

This Government is committed to pensioners – everyone in our society, no matter their working history or savings deserves a comfortable and dignified retirement.

Given the substantial pressures faced by the public finances this year and next, the Government has had to make hard choices to bring the public finances back under control.

Winter Fuel Payments will continue to be paid to pensioner households with someone receiving Pension Credit or certain other income-related benefits. They will continue to be worth £200 for eligible households, or £300 for eligible households with someone aged over 80.

As of the end of June 2024, community diagnostics centres (CDCs) had delivered 9,292,578 tests, checks and scans since the 2021 Spending Review at the end of October. Over this period, the diagnostic waiting list has increased from 1,428,415 as at the end of October 2021 where 356,784 (25.0%) people were waiting over six weeks, to 1,639,813 at the end of June 2024 where 375,416 (23.9%) people were waiting over 6-weeks for a diagnostic test. 2024/25 NHS Operational Planning Guidance set an objective for just 5% to be waiting six weeks. Due to seasonal effects, some care should be exercised when comparing six week wait percentages figures in different months of the year.

CDC activity data is published monthly and cannot be provided up to a specific date within that month. Published CDC activity data details activity from July 2021 to August 2024. This is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/diagnostics-waiting-times-and-activity/cdc-management-information/

Monthly activity and waiting list data for diagnostics is published monthly and is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/diagnostics-waiting-times-and-activity/monthly-diagnostics-waiting-times-and-activity/

The following table lists the number of checks, tests and scans delivered in each of the requested months across 2024:

Source: NHS England

Data on the routes to diagnosis for cancer, which is collated and published by the National Disease Registration Service (NDRS) does not specify the setting where the diagnostic test took place, so we do not hold the information on diagnoses following appointments in CDCs.

As of the end of August 2024, the diagnostic waiting list was 1,559,284, where 373,126 (23.9%) patients were waiting over six weeks. This compares to 1,428,415 as at the end of October 2021, following the 2021 Spending Review, where 356,784 (25%) patients were waiting over 6-weeks for a diagnostic test. 2024/25 NHS Operational Planning Guidance set an objective for just 5% to be waiting six weeks. Due to seasonal effects, some care should be exercised when comparing six week wait percentages figures in different months of the year.

In August 2024, performance against the Faster Diagnosis Standard was 75.5%, 0.5 percentage points above the operational standard. Due to the impact of working days per month and seasonality, impacting the amount of activity per month, we cannot directly compare performance to October 2021.

Monthly activity and waiting list data for diagnostics is published monthly and is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/diagnostics-waiting-times-and-activity/monthly-diagnostics-waiting-times-and-activity/

Between the 2021 Spending Review and 4 July 2024, 18 new Targeted Investment Fund (TIF2) funded surgical hubs have opened. Elective Hub data is only available from April 2024, when the Elective Hub dashboard was established.

Of the 18 new TIF2 funded surgical hubs, only 11 surgical hubs are reporting data. This data shows that between 1 April 2024 and 1 July 2024 the 11 reporting surgical hubs have delivered 18,403 procedures.

Between 30 April 2021 and 30 June 2024, the elective waiting list increased by 2,499,232 from 5,123,717 to 7,622,949.

Between October 2021 and 4 July 2024, 18 new Targeted Investment Fund (TIF2) funded surgical hubs have opened. Elective Hub data is only available from April 2024, when the Elective Hub dashboard was established.

Of the 18 new TIF2 funded surgical hubs, only 11 surgical hubs are reporting data. The data shows that 6,302 surgical procedures were delivered by the 11 reporting hubs in April 2024; 6,142 in May 2024, and; 5,959 in June 2024. There were 7,572,563 pathways on the elective waiting list in April 2024; 7,603,812 in May 2024; 7,622,949 in June 2024 and 7,624,600 in July 2024.

As of the end of June 2024, community diagnostics centres (CDCs) had delivered 9,292,578 tests, checks and scans since the 2021 Spending Review at the end of October. Over this period, the diagnostic waiting list has increased from 1,428,415 as at the end of October 2021 where 356,784 (25.0%) people were waiting over six weeks, to 1,639,813 at the end of June 2024 where 375,416 (23.9%) people were waiting over 6-weeks for a diagnostic test. 2024/25 NHS Operational Planning Guidance set an objective for just 5% to be waiting six weeks. Due to seasonal effects, some care should be exercised when comparing six week wait percentages figures in different months of the year.

CDC activity data is published monthly and cannot be provided up to a specific date within that month. Published CDC activity data details activity from July 2021 to August 2024. This is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/diagnostics-waiting-times-and-activity/cdc-management-information/

Monthly activity and waiting list data for diagnostics is published monthly and is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/diagnostics-waiting-times-and-activity/monthly-diagnostics-waiting-times-and-activity/

The following table lists the number of checks, tests and scans delivered in each of the requested months across 2024:

Source: NHS England

When estates include a claim for both APR and BPR, the estate may not consist entirely of a farming business and its working capital. HMRC estimates that of the population of estates that claimed both APR and BPR in 2021-22, almost a quarter included a BPR claim for shares on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM). It is likely that those particular assets contained within those estates represent, at least in part, investment portfolios set up in order to minimise inheritance tax liabilities, rather than being comprised solely of farming businesses. It is also possible that any claim for BPR is for a business unconnected to any farming activities.

More information is available in the Chancellor's recent letter to the Chair of the Treasury Select Committee: https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/45691/documents/226235/default/.

When estates include a claim for both APR and BPR, the estate may not consist entirely of a farming business and its working capital. HMRC estimates that of the population of estates that claimed both APR and BPR in 2021-22, almost a quarter included a BPR claim for shares on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM). It is likely that those particular assets contained within those estates represent, at least in part, investment portfolios set up in order to minimise inheritance tax liabilities, rather than being comprised solely of farming businesses. It is also possible that any claim for BPR is for a business unconnected to any farming activities.

In 2021-22, the total combined value of agricultural and business property relief (APR, BPR) from those estates that claimed both reliefs was £1.6 billion.

When estates include a claim for both APR and BPR, the estate may not consist entirely of a farming business and its working capital. HMRC estimates that of the population of estates that claimed both APR and BPR in 2021-22, almost a quarter included a BPR claim for shares on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM). It is likely that those particular assets contained within those estates represent, at least in part, investment portfolios set up in order to minimise inheritance tax liabilities, rather than being comprised solely of farming businesses. It is also possible that any claim for BPR is for a business unconnected to any farming activities.

More information is available in the Chancellor's recent letter to the Chair of the Treasury Select Committee: https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/45691/documents/226235/default/.

The Government has published information about the reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief at www.gov.uk/government/publications/agricultural-property-relief-and-business-property-relief-reforms.

In 2021-22, 782 estates making agricultural property relief claims also made business property relief claims.