Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to ensure that public sector food procurement meets the proposed requirement for 50% of food spend to meet higher environmental and welfare standards.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government has already published a new national procurement policy statement which sets expectations for government contracts to favour products certified to high environmental standards that British producers are well-placed to meet.
Data collection on the extent to which public sector settings are serving food from local sustainable sources is currently underway. We expect the work to be completed by Summer 2027.
Defra is considering the policy options available to deliver further on its ambitions for public sector food, including potentially updating the Government Buying Standards for Food and Catering Services.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress has been made on introducing clearer country-of-origin and method-of-production food labelling to support higher animal welfare standards since the Government response to the Fairer Food Labelling consultation.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
As set out in the Government’s animal welfare strategy, and the Farming Roadmap published in June 2026, we are committed to ensuring that consumers have access to clear information on how and where their food was produced.
To support this, we will continue working with relevant stakeholders, including the farming and food industry, scientists and NGOs to explore how improved animal welfare food labelling could provide greater consumer transparency, support farmers and promote better animal welfare. We will set out next steps in due course.
We will also continue to review origin labelling, using the outcomes of the Fairer Food Labelling consultation as supporting evidence for future labelling policy.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which public bodies will be required to comply with the revised Government Buying Standards for food and catering services.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra is considering the policy options available to deliver further on its ambitions for public sector food, including potentially updating the Government Buying Standards for Food and Catering Services.
Defra has not yet made any decisions on the content, scope, application or implementation of any future changes.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress she has made on updating Government Buying Standards relating to food procurement.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra is considering the policy options available to deliver further on its ambitions for public sector food, including potentially updating the Government Buying Standards for Food and Catering Services.
Defra has not yet made any decisions on the content, scope, application or implementation of any future changes.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when she will bring forward regulations under the Animals (Low Welfare Activities Abroad) Act 2023.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Animals (Low Welfare Activities Abroad) Act 2023 provides a framework for the introduction of future bans on the advertising and offering for sale, in England and Northern Ireland, of low-welfare animal activities taking place abroad.
As set out in the animal welfare strategy published in December 2025, Defra is continuing to explore both legislative and non-legislative options to stop the advertising of low-welfare animal activities abroad and will set out next steps in due course.
In the meantime, the department encourages all parties who interact with tourists to consider how they can use those opportunities to raise awareness of low-welfare animal activities and promote responsible tourism choices.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the forthcoming Circular Economy Strategy will include proposals to introduce Extended Producer Responsibility for the textiles sector.
Answered by Mary Creagh
This Government is committed to transitioning towards a circular economy where resources are kept in use for longer and waste is designed out. This systemic change, with investment in green jobs and vital infrastructure, builds a path to economic growth, progress towards Net Zero, restoration of nature, and a more resilient economy.
I cannot pre-empt the publication of the Growth Plan by speaking to specific measures on the roadmaps, however we have considered system-wide opportunities and end-to-end value chains, including for textiles.
The ambitions and transition that will be set out in the Growth Plan represent a systemic change, informed by extensive engagement with industry leaders, trade associations, and a breadth of key stakeholder interests across sectors. It is fundamental to ensure that our ambition to realise this circular transition reflects the needs and insights of all involved, set in the context of the Government's priorities as set out in the Plan for Change.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Answer of 10 April 2026 to Question 126120, when her Department will publish further details on the scope of its in-depth study of fostering finances.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department plans to focus on fostering allowances, fees, as well as other financial support that carers receive, and use this to inform analysis alongside existing data on recruitment and retention.
To inform this work, more data is needed about the financial support that foster carers receive across England, and we are currently exploring routes to collect more detailed data to support this study.
Our recent Call for Evidence addressed this issue. Over 90% of respondents either agreed or strongly agreed with the principle of improved financial transparency in England.
More broadly, we recognise the benefits of increased financial transparency and believe that clearer, more accessible information on fostering finance has the potential to improve understanding, trust, and confidence across the system.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of reducing care home costs for elderly and disabled people.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Secretary of State for Wales
Fee rates are set by providers of adult social care, the majority of which are in the independent sector. The Department does not have powers to set or recommend the level of fees that care homes charge. However, all businesses are required to comply with the Consumer Rights Act 2015 by ensuring that they use fair and clear terms in their standard agreements with customers.
Local authorities should negotiate fees individually with care providers to achieve a sustainable balance of quality, effectiveness, and value for money.
Under the Care Act 2014, local authorities are tasked with the duty to shape their care markets to meet the diverse needs of all local people. This includes commissioning a diverse range of care and support services that enable people to access quality care.
In undertaking these duties, there are elements of good market shaping practice that can be applied more widely. These include:
using local population and market data to inform commissioning decisions and involving providers and those with lived experience in the commissioning process;
encouraging a wide range of service provision to ensure that people have a choice of appropriate and high quality care services in their local area; and
working effectively with local providers to inform decisions on fees, drawing on providers’ insight into local market sustainability and workforce pressures.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what housing cost support is available for young apprentices living independently.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government) (Equalities)
Housing costs support is available in Universal Credit for those of working age who have a liability to pay rent for the home that they live in.
Renters that require further support, where they face a shortfall in meeting their housing costs, can apply for additional discretionary support from their local authority.
For those who live in Temporary or Supported accommodation, housing costs support is provided by Housing Benefit.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps are being taken to support stable governance for private investment in nature markets.
Answered by Mary Creagh
The Government is committed to scaling stable, high integrity markets to mobilise investment in nature recovery and sustainable farming. As detailed in the Summary of Responses to the consultation on Voluntary Carbon and Nature Market integrity, simple and proportionate guardrails, supported by and co-created with business, are critical in ensuring these markets develop with integrity.
We are actively exploring opportunities to streamline and strengthen nature market governance, building on the work of the UK Nature Investment Standards, sponsored by Defra and led by the British Standards Institution. The standards provide clear, consistent, consensus-based criteria for high integrity nature markets, with two new market standards for the supply of biodiversity and nutrient reduction benefits launched in March. The Government also signalled that suppliers should self-assess against the standards for a minimum period of two years while the market matures, during which time we will take steps to move towards accredited, independent certification.
These are critical steps in transitioning to a high-integrity governance framework for UK nature markets, alongside which we are also considering options for proportionate market oversight and coordination. This includes exploration of a potential business-led market oversight pilot, following the recommendations from Dan Corry's independent review of environmental regulation last year.
Defra works closely with the Devolved Governments to ensure, as far as possible, a consistent framework for nature markets for use across the UK, including in the South East of England.