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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to (a) support farmers who have been unable to access funding through the Sustainable Farming Initiative, (b) seek an extension or extra funding for the SFI for those who are eligible but have not yet been able to claim and (c) ensure that future communications provide clarity and assurances on funding application deadlines.

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

We remain committed to investing £5 billion of funding in the farming budget this year and next (£2.6 billion for 24/25 and the £2.4 billion for 25/26, as previously announced).

The Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) is an important offer, but it is part of a wider package. We remain committed to investing in Environmental Land Management schemes. We plan to launch the new Higher Tier scheme later this year; Capital Grants will re-open in summer 2025; we continue to move forward with Landscape Recovery; and we are increasing payment rates for Higher Level Stewardship agreement holders to recognise their ongoing commitment to delivering environmental outcome.

Whilst we aim to give notice where possible, to ensure fair access, and to avoid the risk of overspend, we could not give any advance notice of the closure of SFI, to avoid creating a sudden increase in the level of demand.

We expect to publish more information about the reformed SFI offer in summer 2025. This will include an indication of when we expect to re-open SFI for applications.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to establish a national structure to set national standards across the UK Fire Service.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Government funds the independent Fire Standards Board (FSB) to develop and maintain a comprehensive set of professional standards for fire and rescue services in England. The FSB has published 19 national standards for fire and rescue services: these cover a range of topics relating to operational management, leadership and ethics.

The Government has accepted, in principle, the Grenfell Tower Inquiry’s recommendation to establish a national college of fire and rescue. The Inquiry report suggested a range of potential functions for a college to fulfil, including the development of policies and procedures to ensure both the effectiveness of fire and rescue services and the safety of firefighters and the public. The Government response to the Inquiry’s report notes that a necessary first step in the process will be to consult on the functions a college should have and how it could best be structured and delivered. We expect to launch this consultation later in the year.

Any future college function relating to national standards would build on the work already undertaken by the FSB.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a medal to recognise people who have suffered severe injuries in the line of duty.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)

It is only right that we recognise the sacrifices made many members of the emergency services and we are always willing to consider proposes for new medals towards that end.

However, any official award is a gift from the Government, on behalf of His Majesty The King, and the creation of a new award requires cross Government consensus and approval from the Committee on The Grant of Honours, Decorations and Medals (“HD Committee”), before advice is put to HM The King to make any subsequent decision.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that high quality candidates are (a) recruited to and (b) retained within the civil service.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

We are committed to ensuring we attract, develop and retain talented people from a diverse range of backgrounds to create a modern Civil Service that delivers high quality public services.

Recruiting and retaining talented individuals is vital to support the delivery of the Plan for Change. As my Rt Hon Friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster outlined in his Reform speech, there is a clear need to overhaul the recruitment processes to reduce bureaucracy and support external candidates.

Actions to address this include embedding a test-and-learn approach to recruitment, reviewing the current selection processes to ensure they are appropriate and support all candidates and working with departments to utilise secondments to recruit and retain key skills.

Found: Stephen Flynn Lillian Jones Mr Angus MacDonald Douglas McAllister Susan Murray Elaine Stewart Tom Rutland

Found: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat; Eastleigh) Jo Platt (Labour and Co-operative; Leigh and Atherton) Tom Rutland