Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether issues associated with the potential merits of introducing information about methods of slaughter on food labelling have been raised in her discussions with the [i] British Meat Processors Association, [ii] the International Meat Trade Association, [iii] the Association of Independent Meat Suppliers, and [iv] the British Poultry Council.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra engages regularly with all relevant stakeholders in the farming and food industry on a range of topical matters, including food labelling. Defra also engages regularly with other interested stakeholders, such as animal welfare NGOs, on matters relating to farm animal welfare.
As set out in the recently published animal welfare strategy, the Government is committed to ensuring that consumers have access to clear information on how their food was produced. To support this, the Government will continue working with relevant stakeholders, including the farming and food industry, scientists and NGOs to explore how improved food labelling more generally could provide greater consumer transparency and promote better animal welfare.
Asked by: Chris Webb (Labour - Blackpool South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many items of correspondence relating to the British Council her Department has received since 5 July 2024.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Regarding items of correspondence, the requested information could only be accurately collated and verified for the purposes of answering this question at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Chris Webb (Labour - Blackpool South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what the value of the Government grant-in-aid to the British Council was in each financial year from 2004–05 to 2024–25; and what assessment she has made of the real-terms change in value over that period.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The level of grant funding provided in each financial year from 2004-05 to 2024-25 can most readily be found in the British Council's archive of annual reports and accounts. No assessment is currently available of the real-terms change in the value of those grants over the period in question.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether any further financial support is planned for individuals in the culture and arts sector.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government believes that British artists and creators are second-to-none and is committed to giving them security and a regulatory and fiscal environment where creativity can flourish. Arts Council England, a Department for Culture, Media and Sport arm’s length body, receives grant-in-aid funding and money from National Lottery Good Causes to enable it to fund individuals and organisations in the culture and arts sector.
Arts Council England currently provides a number of funds open to individuals including National Lottery Project Grants and Developing Your Creative Practice. Arts Council England expects to launch the next round of Developing Your Creative Practice in April 2026. Between rounds of Developing Your Creative Practice, Arts Council England introduced dedicated R&D funding for individuals, as part of the National Lottery Project Grants under £30,000 strand.
Asked by: John Whitby (Labour - Derbyshire Dales)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he is taking to take ensure that any consultations with pubs include independent publicans.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
We recognise the valuable contributions of independent publicans in the pubs consultation process.
Ministers and officials from my Department regularly meet with independent publicans and their trade association representatives at the British Institute of Innkeeping and are represented on the Hospitality Sector Council. Last month, I met with pub landlords at a roundtable organised by the British Institute for Innkeeping, attended by several of their members.
We always encourage them to engage with all consultations such as the recent ones on licensing reforms, market access for local beers, the Pubs Code Adjudicator and on the forthcoming review of the rateable valuation methodology for pubs.
Asked by: Lord Pitt-Watson (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of British companies’ and auditors’ readiness to apply the new guidance set out by the International Accounting Standards Board in Disclosures about Uncertainties in the Financial Statements—Illustrative examples, published on 28 November 2025, in their financial reporting this year; and what assessment they have made of the contingency plans that the Financial Reporting Council and other regulators have in place should those companies and auditors fail to apply the new guidance.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The illustrative examples provide guidance to help preparers meet the mandatory requirements within IFRS Accounting Standards, which are adopted in the UK as UK-adopted international accounting standards. However, application of this guidance does not form part of mandatory requirements and it is ultimately for companies and auditors to decide whether to use the examples. Any FRC engagement with companies and their auditors will be through either reviews of annual reports, or reviews of audits, undertaken as part of its Supervision work.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to Written Ministerial Statement HCWS1281 of 28 January 2026 on reform to the Veterinary Surgeons Act 1966, what timeline the Government has set for the consultation, response and any subsequent legislation; what engagement is taking place with the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, veterinary nurses, allied veterinary professionals and animal welfare organisations; and what interim measures are being considered to address workforce shortages while reforms are developed.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The consultation on reform of the Veterinary Surgeons Act 1966 opened on 28 January and is due to close on 25 March. Defra will analyse the responses and aim to reply within 12 weeks of the consultation closing, with subsequent legislation depending on parliamentary time.
Defra has co-designed the consultation with numerous stakeholders including the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, the British Veterinary Association, the British Veterinary Nursing Association and the Vet Schools Council. Key stakeholders for allied veterinary professions, including animal welfare organisations, have also worked with officials on how they would fit into any new legislation.
Defra is working across Government to address the shortfall in vets including the UK Government manifesto commitment to prioritise UK-EU recognition of professional qualifications (RPQ). Defra welcomes the fact that the number of homegrown vet students continues to rise with four new vet schools opening in the last six years.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she is taking to support the British Council.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer I provided on 28 October in response to question 906060, and to the oral evidence provided to the Foreign Affairs Committee on 9 December by the Permanent Under-Secretary to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, and on 16 December by the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, where this issue was addressed at length.
Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many letters to her Department relating to the British Council have received a substantive response since 5 July 2024; and what the average response time was.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
As the Minister responsible, I have had a number of meetings with the leadership team within the British Council, details of which are routinely disclosed in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office's quarterly publications of ministerial transparency data. My office also deals with a large amount of correspondence relating to the British Council and my other areas of responsibility, all of which we seek to respond to as promptly as possible.
Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many meetings she has held with the (a) Chief Executive and (b) Chair of the British Council since 5 September 2025.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
As the Minister responsible, I have had a number of meetings with the leadership team within the British Council, details of which are routinely disclosed in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office's quarterly publications of ministerial transparency data. My office also deals with a large amount of correspondence relating to the British Council and my other areas of responsibility, all of which we seek to respond to as promptly as possible.