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 23 April 2024 to Question 22013 on White Fish: Fishing Catches, how he plans to fund the compensation scheme through his Department's existing budget; and whether his Department (a) has a budget surplus and (b) will make reduce expenditure to fund the scheme.

Funding for the compensation scheme will be found by examining current spending priorities to ensure efficient use of budgets. The Department does not have a budget surplus, so adjustments and optimisations will be made to accommodate the compensation scheme without requiring substantial reductions in expenditure elsewhere in the Department.