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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 25 April 2025 to Question 43103 on Livestock: Moorland, what sources of (a) qualitative and (b) quantitative data his Department considered when setting the tiers of grazing densities in the Low Grazing Moorland options of the Environmental Land Management schemes.

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

All prospective Environmental Land Management scheme offers have been assessed for their potential impact against a range of environmental and cultural services, including carbon sequestration and biodiversity indicators. These have included qualitative assessments, drawing upon expert opinion and evidence reviews, as well as quantitative assessments, drawing upon published datasets.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment his Department has made of the potential implications for his policies of the US National Institutes of Health's new initiative to expand human-based science while reducing animal use in research; and whether this could be replicated in the UK.

Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Labour Manifesto includes a commitment to “partner with scientists, industry, and civil society as we work towards the phasing out of animal testing”. The government will publish a strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods in basic, applied, translational and regulatory research and testing later this year. As part of this, we continually monitor international developments such as those at the US National Institutes of Health, and are in discussion with our overseas colleagues as to how we can work together on this matter.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of (a) Health Certification Requirements and (b) other veterinary and customs requirements on the cross-border movement of endangered species between the UK and the EU.

Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Defra continues to work closely with the Animal and Plant Health Agency and the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums (BIAZA) to address immediate challenges to the cross-border movement of endangered species, including the availability of Export Health Certificates and Border Control Post capacity.

An SPS Agreement will establish a UK-EU Sanitary and Phytosanitary Zone aimed at reducing trade barriers and facilitating the safe and efficient movement of terrestrial and aquatic zoo animals. Our ambition is to reach an agreement that reduces administrative burden by streamlining SPS checks and certification, while upholding the UK’s commitment to ensure its biosecurity is protected within this future framework.

Found: Members present: Chi Onwurah (Chair); Dr Allison Gardner; Tom Gordon; Kit Malthouse; Jon Pearce; Steve Race

Found: Members present: Chi Onwurah (Chair); Dr Allison Gardner; Tom Gordon; Kit Malthouse; Jon Pearce; Steve Race