Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to extend the length of placements for resident doctors; and what assessment they have made of the benefits of continuity in training posts for doctors.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government recognises the importance of continuity in postgraduate medical training for both doctors and patients.

Following the 2024 Resident Doctors Agreement, the Department, working in partnership with NHS England and the British Medical Association, established a review of rotational training. This review drew on some 13,000 responses to surveys and found that rotations can provide valuable breadth of experience, but in some cases frequent moves can disrupt learning, wellbeing, team integration, and patient care.

NHS England is developing pilots under the Medical Training Review, and as set out in the 10-Point Plan, to test longer placements, smaller geographic footprints, and more flexible arrangements for less-than-full-time trainees.

These pilots will inform future policy decisions on placement length and continuity benefits.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the cost per household of the target to reach net zero in each of the next three years.

Answered by Lord Whitehead - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

Net zero is the economic opportunity of the 21st century. Meeting climate targets will cost less than failing to deal with climate change. The Climate Change Committee estimates the cost of meeting net zero targets will be on average the equivalent of 0.2% of UK GDP per year and the OBR estimates the cost of failing to deal with climate change will be around 5% of UK GDP by the 2070s.

The 0.2% cost also does not take into account the wider beneficial growth impacts of net zero investment. Since July 2024, £60bn of private investment has been announced in our clean energy industries.

The OBR is clear that the costs of climate damage are getting higher, while the cost of the net zero transition is getting lower. Only by investing in the transition now can we reduce costs in future

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

To ask His Majesty's Government when they plan to announce further details of the revised Sustainable Farming Incentive, and what support they will provide to upland and tenant farmers.

Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

We will provide more detail on the new SFI offer ahead of publishing the full scheme details before the first application window opens in June.

Eligible upland and tenant farmers will be able to apply for funding as part of the Sustainable Farming Incentive this year. The department is working with social entrepreneur Dr Hilary Cottam on a new approach to supporting the uplands and our next step will be to develop a place-based approach for what these communities need, co-designing solutions to specific problems. An example would be, developing a common understanding of how land can be best used for food production and the public good.