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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what proportion of funding under the (a) Landscape Recovery and (b) Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier scheme has been received by farms smaller than 200 acres.

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

The Landscape Recovery (LR) scheme does not directly award funding to participant land managers. Rather, the scheme awards funding to Projects, when in their development phase, and to a Single Legal Entity when they are in their implementation phase. This funding is then disbursed as per their project plans. The two pilot rounds of LR has seen in excess of 1400 land managers participating in LR projects with a range of holding sizes, with some choosing to enter whole farms into the project and others entering only part of their holdings. It should be noted that due to the dynamic nature of development proposals, this participation figure is subject to change.

The Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier (CSHT) scheme pays farmers and land managers to manage land in a way that: protects, restores, or enhances the environment and mitigates the effects of climate change.

The table below shows the total value claimed under the CSHT scheme and the percentage paid to farm businesses which were 200 Acre and under.

** This includes woodland management and woodland creation plans and is based on land recorded as linked in the Rural Payments Portal.

To Note -The New improved CSHT opened in September 2025 and is being rolled out by invitation only - no annual payments will be due until the payment window opens in December 2026.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent progress her Department has made on digitising the catch certificate scheme.

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

UK catch certificates for export are already available digitally through the Fish Export Service.

Catch certificates the Government receive from third countries are generally paper-based documents. The Government will consider any opportunities to move to a more digital-based system as they arise.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent progress her Department has made on aligning the Fish Export Service with the EU CATCH system.

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

Following the entry into force of the EU’s new CATCH system on 10 January, we have successfully updated the UK’s Fish Exports Service to allow UK exporters to generate compliant documentation. UK Government has engaged extensively with both UK industry and the EU Commission and continues to support industry to adjust to the new requirements, ensuring the smooth flow of trade.

We are working to integrate the UK's Fish Export Service with the EU's CATCH platform to facilitate the automatic digital transfer of information. This will remove the need for manual entry of information, ensuring UK seafood exports remain competitive.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of including wraparound extensions within permitted development rights for householders.

Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The government continues to keep permitted development rights under review.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of salary differences between college lecturers and school teachers on recruitment to further education teaching posts for (a) construction and (b) electrical engineering courses.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Further education (FE) colleges are responsible for setting and negotiating staff pay and terms and conditions within colleges.

The government recognises that colleges are facing recruitment challenges in construction and engineering. That is why our targeted retention incentive scheme gives eligible early career college teachers in priority subjects, including building and construction and engineering, up to £6,000 after tax annually. In the 2024/25 academic year, almost 6,000 teachers received payments.

In addition, we have announced that areas with Local Skills Improvement Plans will benefit from £20 million to form partnerships between FE providers and construction employers. This will help to build links between colleges and industry and boost the number of teachers with construction experience in FE.

Across the spending review period, we will provide £1.2 billion of additional investment per year in skills by 2028/2029. This significant investment will ensure there is increased funding to colleges and other 16 to19 providers to enable the recruitment and retention of expert teachers in high value subject areas, and interventions to retain top teaching talent.

117th anniversary of the West Stanley Pit Disaster

Found: Somerton) Terry Jermy (Labour; South West Norfolk) Jayne Kirkham (Labour; Truro and Falmouth) Josh Newbury

Found: present: Mr Alistair Carmichael (Chair); Charlie Dewhirst; Sarah Dyke; Terry Jermy; Jayne Kirkham; Josh Newbury