Asked by: Sam Rushworth (Labour - Bishop Auckland)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the average waiting time is for applicants between between being invited to apply online by the Rural Payments Agency to secure a Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier agreement and securing a signed agreement.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The scheme is in an early stage “private beta” rollout where delivery times would be expected to be longer than normal. So far, the average time from invitation to apply to the Rural Payments Agency offering an agreement to the customer is around 90 daysfor what are 10-year agreements.
The length of time taken to reach agreement includes customer action and can vary considerably depending on a number of factors, including the complexity, specialist advice, site assessment, and time taken to agree management options.
Asked by: Sam Rushworth (Labour - Bishop Auckland)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier agreements have been accepted since September 2025; and how many farmers have been invited to apply for Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier since September 2025.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Since September 2025, the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) has invited 903 farmers to apply for a Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier (CSHT) agreement. Over the same period the number of CSHT agreements that have been accepted is 431.
The RPA continues to streamline the application process and ensure that agreements are progressed as efficiently as possible.
Asked by: Sam Rushworth (Labour - Bishop Auckland)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether everyone with a legacy Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier agreement that expired on 30 December 2025 secured a new Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier agreement.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The new Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier (CSHT) service opened for applications in September 2025 for groups who had been invited to apply. This included farmers land managers with existing Higher Tier agreements due to expire in December 2025.
Not all agreement holders will have secured a new Higher Tier agreement: This is reflected by a number of factors including if the applicant has engaged in the application process taking into account their individual requirements, whether a suitable new agreement proposal can be offered and the impact of site-specific environmental requirements and assessments.
Asked by: Sam Rushworth (Labour - Bishop Auckland)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Defence Industrial Strategy 2025 on Northern Ireland.
Answered by Matthew Patrick - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Northern Ireland Office)
This month has shown just how volatile the world is and the importance of the investment this Government is making in our defences.
My assessment is that the Defence Growth Deal’s potential is transformative for businesses small and large across Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Sam Rushworth (Labour - Bishop Auckland)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many paying parents were newly recorded as being in arrears by the Child Maintenance Service in each of the last 24 months.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The information requested is not readily available and providing it would incur disproportionate cost.
The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) will do everything within its powers to make sure parents comply. Where parents fail to take responsibility for paying for their children, the Service will not hesitate to use the range of enforcement powers available to collect maintenance, combining robust negotiation activity with the highly effective use of its extensive range of Enforcement Powers.
CMS has a wide range of strong enforcement powers including deductions from earnings orders, removal of driving licences, disqualification from holding a passport, and committal to prison. The CMS also introduced powers to enable the deduction of child maintenance directly from a wider range of accounts, including certain joint and business accounts, and target complex earners via a calculation of notional income based on assets.
The Service is committed to using these powers fairly and in the best interests of children and separated families.
Asked by: Sam Rushworth (Labour - Bishop Auckland)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of payments were made through the Child Maintenance Service collect and pay system in each of the last three years.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department regularly publishes Child Maintenance Service official statistics, with the latest statistics available to September 2025, and detailed quarterly statistics on the number of CMS Arrangements available on Stat-Xplore.
The table CMS Arrangement 1: Service Type and Paying Status by Quarter shows the number of CMS arrangements by service type for each quarter from March 2016 to September 2025. The table provides figures for the number of Collect & Pay arrangements for which the Paying Parent paid some child maintenance during the quarter, and those where no payment was made.
Users can log in or access Stat-Xplore as a guest and, if needed, can access guidance on how to extract the information required.
Asked by: Sam Rushworth (Labour - Bishop Auckland)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of Unitaid; and what steps she is taking to fulfil funding commitments to Unitaid.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer of 20 October 2025 given to question 80764.
Asked by: Sam Rushworth (Labour - Bishop Auckland)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether the interest accrued on the frozen £2.5 billion proceeds from the sale of Chelsea Football Club is intended to benefit the proposed foundation to support victims of the war in Ukraine; and what steps the Government is taking to ensure that no part of these funds benefits sanctioned individuals.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government is determined to see that the frozen proceeds, including the accrued interest, from the sale of Chelsea Football Club reach humanitarian causes in Ukraine. Restrictions imposed through UK sanctions laws will ensure that the proceeds do not benefit sanctioned individuals.
Asked by: Sam Rushworth (Labour - Bishop Auckland)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the interest accruing on the frozen £2.5 billion proceeds from the sale of Chelsea Football Club is subject to UK taxation.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
HM Treasury and His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) are unable to comment on the tax affairs of specific taxpayers. UK source interest is chargeable to UK tax. The quantum and timing of that charge are dependent on the status of the recipient and the precise nature of the arrangements that lead to that interest.Asked by: Sam Rushworth (Labour - Bishop Auckland)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 6 of the Strategic Defence Review 2025, published on 2 June 2025, what discussions his Department has had with (a) Durham County Council, (b) the North East Mayor and (c) industry representatives on the potential location of an always-on munitions factory in the North East.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
We are committed to ensuring the Defence industry is an engine for growth through strengthened industrial relationships and domestic investment. As published in the UK Defence Footprint the North East region has seen £178 million of Defence spending in 2024-25. We have committed £6 billion this Parliament towards munitions, as outlined in the Strategic Defence Review 2025, which supports defence capacity whilst generating local jobs and economic prosperity. This investment includes £1.5 billion for building six new energetics and munitions factories in the UK to deliver an 'always on' pipeline, locations and arrangements of which are being assessed through ongoing work. Whilst it is currently premature to comment on specific site proposals and their assessment, more detail will be available once the necessary preparatory work has been completed.