theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-27)

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Grahame Morris:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of workplace visa rules on staffing levels within her Department. \p Andrew Western: Whilst the impact of changes to the Skilled Worker Salary threshold, introduced in April 2024, are affecting a very small proportion of staff within the Department, visa expiry and potential options for obtaining a future work visa are specific to individuals’ circumstances and the Home Office legislation which applies at the time that their current visa expires.

As current employees’ Visa expiry dates span several years and not all will be impacted by the changes to the skilled worker salary thresholds, the department does not expect changes to the Skilled Worker salary threshold to negatively impact on service levels.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-27)

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Dan Carden:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her Department's policies of the findings of the Autonomy Institute's report, entitled Transforming Employment and Support Infrastructure, published in February 2025. \p Alison McGovern: The findings from the Autonomy Institute's report, entitled ‘Transforming Employment and Support Infrastructure’, demonstrates the importance of reforming Jobcentres and the difference this can make to citizens.

Through the Get Britain Working White Paper published in November 2024, the government set out our vision to reform Jobcentre Plus and create a new service across Great Britain that will enable everyone to access employment support, aligned more effectively with skills and careers. We recognise that people are individuals with different support needs, and we want everyone who wants it to be able to access tailored support, not just those on benefits.

We are taking a test and learn approach to developing the new service and are committed to working with users of the new service, and organisations representing their needs, throughout the design process to ensure the new service is inclusive, accessible, and works for everyone.

We want to shift the focus of the customer-work coach relationship away from compliance and box-ticking around these requirements to make room for more constructive, personalised, career-focused conversations. As we set out in the White Paper, we have committed to develop the work coach profession and the careers adviser profession in England. Further building our work coaches’ capabilities is essential to delivering our ambition for the new service. We will launch a coaching academy that will upskill our teams and ensure they can deliver the high-quality, personalised, action-oriented coaching conversations.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-27)

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Pippa Heylings:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she plans to take to ensure that reform of regulations for accessing surplus in defined benefit pension schemes help improve economic growth. \p Torsten Bell: Trustees will continue to be at the heart of decision making. Working with employers, they will consider how best to use DB scheme surplus to benefit members and employers. More flexibility can fuel growth, provide benefits for the economy and ensure members remain protected. The Government will set out further details in its response to the Options for Defined Benefit schemes consultation this Spring.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-27)

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Ayoub Khan:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the child poverty taskforce will consider the impact of proposed reforms to the health and disability benefit system on child poverty rates in the UK. \p Alison McGovern: Tackling child poverty is at the heart of this Government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity, and the Ministerial Child Poverty Taskforce is working to publish a Child Poverty Strategy to deliver lasting change.

The Strategy will look at levers across four key themes of increasing incomes, reducing essential costs, increasing financial resilience; and better local support especially in the early years. This will build on the reform plans underway across government and work underway in Devolved Governments. As part of the Strategy's development, the Taskforce is considering the potential impact of policies across government.

We are committed to reforming the system of health and disability benefits so that it promotes and enables employment among as many people as possible. The system must also work to support disabled people to live independently and be financially sustainable in the long term. We will set out our proposals for reform in a Green Paper ahead of the Spring Statement later this year.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-27)

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Matt Bishop:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to help reduce the number of children in poverty in Forest of Dean constituency. \p Alison McGovern: Delivering our manifesto commitment to tackle child poverty is an urgent priority for this Government, and the Ministerial Taskforce is working to publish a Child Poverty Strategy which will deliver lasting change.

The Strategy will look at levers across four key themes of increasing incomes, reducing essential costs, increasing financial resilience; and better local support especially in the early years. This will build on the reform plans underway across government and work underway in Devolved Governments.

The Taskforce is listening to experts and campaigners and engaging with families, charities, campaigners and leading organisations across the UK to shape and inform the Strategy.

The vital work of the Taskforce comes alongside our commitments to triple investment in breakfast clubs to over £30 million, introduce a Fair Repayment Rate for deductions from Universal Credit, and increase the National Living Wage to £12.21 an hour from April to boost the pay of three million workers.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-27)

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Harpreet Uppal:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to help increase the number of young people in work. \p Alison McGovern: As part of our plan to Get Britain Working, we will launch a new Youth Guarantee for all young people aged 18-21 in England to ensure that they can access quality training opportunities, an apprenticeship or help to find work. The Department for Work and Pensions and the Department for Education are working closely with the eight Mayoral Strategic Authorities in England set to receive grant funding to deliver the Youth Guarantee Trailblazers from Spring 2025. We will use the learning from these Trailblazers to inform the future design and development of the Youth Guarantee as it rolls-out across the rest of England.

This is alongside a new national jobs and careers service to help get more people into work, work health and skills plans for the economically inactive, and the launch of Skills England to open new opportunities for young people. We will work in partnership with organisations and businesses at the national and local level to offer exciting and engaging opportunities to young people. This could include work experience, training courses or employability programmes.

The Government is also reforming the apprenticeships offer into a more flexible growth and skills offer, aligned to the industrial strategy. The Department for Education is working to introduce new foundation apprenticeships for young people, as well as shorter duration apprenticeships, in targeted sectors. These will help more people learn new high-quality skills at work, fuel innovation in businesses across the country, and provide high-quality entry pathways for young people.

DWP currently provides young people aged 16-24 with labour market support through an extensive range of interventions at a national and local level. This includes flexible provision driven by local need, nationwide employment programmes and support delivered by work coaches based in our Jobcentres and in local communities working alongside partners.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-27)

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James McMurdock:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of recent trends in the number of 18-24 year olds claiming unemployment benefits. \p Alison McGovern: ONS data on 18-24 year-olds claiming unemployment-related benefits is available at: CLA02: Claimant Count by age group - Office for National Statistics
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Matt Bishop:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to improve (a) employment and (b) apprenticeship opportunities for young people in Forest of Dean constituency. \p Alison McGovern: As part of the Get Britain Working White Paper the government announced that we will launch a new Youth Guarantee for all young people aged 18-21 in England to ensure that they have access to further learning, help to get a job or an apprenticeship.

The Department for Work and Pensions and the Department for Education are working closely with the eight Mayoral Strategic Authorities in England who will begin delivering the Youth Guarantee Trailblazers announced in the Get Britain Working white paper from Spring 2025. The Youth Guarantee Trailblazers will test how new local leadership, accountability structures and existing provision can be integrated into a cohesive education, training and employment support offer to tackle the rising number of young people who are not participating in education, employment or training.

We will use the learning from these Trailblazers to inform the future design and development of the Youth Guarantee as it rolls-out across the rest of England, which will include Forest of Dean constituency.

DWP currently provides young people aged 16-24 on Universal Credit with labour market support through an extensive range of interventions at a national and local level. This includes flexible provision driven by local need, nationwide employment programmes and other appropriate support, including Sector-based Work Academy Programmes, work experience and apprenticeships.

The Government is also reforming the apprenticeships offer into a more flexible growth and skills offer, aligned to the industrial strategy. The Department for Education is working to introduce new foundation apprenticeships for young people, as well as shorter duration apprenticeships, in targeted sectors. These will help more people learn new high-quality skills at work, fuel innovation in businesses across the country, and provide high-quality entry pathways for young people.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-27)

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Chris Evans:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent progress her Department has made on tackling benefit overpayments made due to (a) fraud and (b) error. \p Andrew Western: This government is determined to reduce fraud and error in the social security system. To tackle benefit overpayments, we agreed £8.6bn of savings at the Autumn Budget 2024 – the biggest fraud and error package on record, which led the independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) to forecast that we will reduce fraud and error to pre-pandemic levels.

On January 22nd 2025, we introduced the Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Bill which will help the government better identify, prevent and deter public sector fraud and error and enable the better recovery of debt owed to the taxpayer.

As part of the £8.6bn savings, this Bill is estimated to deliver benefits of £1.5bn over the next five years, as scored by the OBR. This is made up of £940 million in savings related to fraud and error overpayments, and £565 million in additional debt recoveries.
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Vikki Slade:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking with HMRC to establish data-sharing processes to enable the auto-enrolment for Pension Credit for individuals on very low incomes. \p Torsten Bell: HMRC and DWP already have well established data-sharing processes and procedures, which are governed by the rules on how data can be accessed, shared and used whilst safeguarding individuals’ data and privacy. DWP officials are currently considering options of using government data, including HMRC data, more effectively to help identify households eligible for Pension Credit. However, a person’s eligibility for Pension Credit and the amount they may get depends on their particular financial and personal circumstances and not all of these can be accurately determined from Government data alone.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-27)

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Jayne Kirkham:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average waiting time is for Child Maintenance Service Mandatory Reconsideration decisions. \p Andrew Western: The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) aim to complete each Mandatory Reconsideration within 28 days (20 working days).

The average clearance time for a Mandatory Reconsiderations is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

Table 9: Mandatory Reconsiderations, Great Britain, April 2015 to September 2024 is available in the latest CMS published statistics, and it shows that between July and September 2024, 79% of CMS Mandatory Reconsiderations were cleared within 28 days of receipt.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-27)

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Joe Robertson:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 11 February 2025 to Question 28705 on Department for Work and Pensions: Muslim Council of Britain, if he will declare his attendance at the Muslim Council of Britain's leadership dinner on 20 January 2025 in ministerial (a) meetings and (b) hospitality returns. \p Sir Stephen Timms: Policy on engaging with the Muslim Council of Britain was not discussed prior to attending this event.

This engagement will not be recorded as a ministerial meeting. As the value of hospitality did not surpass the de minimis level, this event will not be recorded in hospitality returns.
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Vikki Slade:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to create effective information sharing processes with the Department for Health and Social Care so that people with a permanent disability are no longer required to repeatedly prove the existence of their disability for receipt of disability benefit. \p Sir Stephen Timms: Personal Independence Payment, the main disability benefit, is based on an assessment of the customer’s needs and not whether they have a particular condition or not. Award reviews are a key feature of these benefits to ensure that the level of benefit matches the customer’s current needs.

The Health Transformation Programme is modernising health and disability benefit services to improve efficiency and customer experience. By improving how we gather evidence and by enabling the re-use of information, the new service will provide DWP agents and Healthcare Professionals with easier access to relevant information. This will reduce the burden on customers to provide complex information and reduce the need for them to provide it more than once. As part of this, we are exploring the potential for data sharing between the Department for Health and Social Care and DWP.
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Jim Shannon:To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of reports of disappeared Tibetans on freedom of religion in that region. \p Catherine West: We note reports, including one from UN Special Rapporteurs and Working Groups in November 2024, further evidencing China's repression of the people of Tibet. We raise human rights at the highest levels: the Prime Minister, Foreign Secretary and Chancellor all raised human rights recently with their counterparts (President Xi, Foreign Minister Wang and Vice Premier He respectively).
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-27)

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Tom Morrison:To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has had discussions with his counterparts in India on ensuring that Jagtar Singh Johal will receive a fair trial; and if he will monitor legal proceedings. \p Catherine West: The UK Government remains absolutely committed to pushing the Government of India for faster progress to resolve Jagtar Singh Johal's case. The Foreign Secretary raised Mr Johal's case with his Indian counterpart on numerous occasions, most recently on 25 November. The Prime Minister also raised Mr Johal's case with Prime Minister Modi on 18 November. I raised Mr Johal's case on 19 November with the Indian Minister of State for External Affairs. Consular officials regularly attend court hearings as observers, most recently on 15 January and they also visit Mr Johal in detention regularly, most recently on 20 January.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-27)

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Ellie Chowns:To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the UK's nuclear testing on the (a) medical, (b) public and (c) genetic health of the population in Kiribati. \p Catherine West: The UK has arranged several assessments of the impacts of nuclear testing in the Pacific region and it has been the UK Government's position since 2008 that any remediation work required due to UK nuclear tests in Kiribati has been completed. There are no plans for the UK Government to undertake a further assessment of the health of the population or environment of that nation. The UK is committed to creating long standing partnerships with Pacific Island countries including Kiribati, and supporting their priorities including tackling environmental and climate related issues.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-27)

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Wendy Morton:To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the oral contribution of the Minister for Development of 23 January 2025 on International Day of Education, Official Report, column 434WH, whether he plans to consult hon. Members on the findings of the development review. \p Anneliese Dodds: The Foreign Secretary is considering his response to the three reviews he commissioned into the UK's Global Impact, Development and Economic Diplomacy. He plans to inform Hon. Members of the findings of the reviews and his response in the coming weeks.
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Jim Shannon:To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his Pakistani counterpart on the protection of people non-adherent to the majority religion. \p Mr Hamish Falconer: Promoting the rights and safety of religious minorities is a core part of the UK's diplomatic engagement in Pakistan. I underlined the importance of religious tolerance and harmony when I met Pakistan's Human Rights Minister on 19 November. In a meeting with Pakistan's Interior Minister on 20 November, the British High Commissioner and I also raised these issues.
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Gideon Amos:To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, when he plans to respond to correspondence from the hon. Member for Taunton and Wellington of 5 November 2024 on the ABCD Bethlehem charity, with reference GA00849. \p Mr Hamish Falconer: The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has no record of his correspondence being sent to us and has not received a response on contacting his office. Once the correspondence has been received, we will prioritise a response.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-27)

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Jim Shannon:To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department is taking steps in response to reports of religious oppression in Kabylie, in the context of the designation of Algeria by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom as a Special Watch List country. \p Mr Hamish Falconer: The UK champions Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) for all. It is our firm opinion that no one should live in fear because of what they do or do not believe. The British Embassy in Algiers raises FoRB with the Algerian authorities, doing so most recently when the Ambassador met the Minister of Religious Affairs on 10 February. The Embassy remains in regular contact with religious groups on how best to support FoRB. We will continue to raise the issue and advocate for freedom of expression, including in Kabylie and regarding the operation of the Protestant Church of Algeria.
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Tom Morrison:To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of reports of transnational repression of the families of British protestors of Pakistani origin; and if he will have discussions with his Pakistani counterpart on that issue. \p Mr Hamish Falconer: The UK Government continually assesses potential threats and takes the protection of individuals' rights, freedoms, and safety very seriously, including in relation to Pakistan. Any attempt by any foreign power to intimidate, harass or harm individuals or communities in the UK will not be tolerated. During my visit to Pakistan, I raised the importance of upholding civil and political rights with senior Ministers, including the Minister for Human Rights and the Interior Minister. We will continue to urge the Government of Pakistan to respect these fundamental freedoms, underlining that any human rights violations should be fully investigated in line with international human rights law.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-27)

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Dame Caroline Dinenage:To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure the safe return of refugees to their homes in Northeast Syria. \p Mr Hamish Falconer: The security situation in Northeast Syria remains unstable and we are concerned about the impact that current tensions may have on the civilian population and on civilian infrastructure. Northeast Syria also faces an ongoing humanitarian crisis, with 82 per cent of the population in need of humanitarian assistance. We are working through diplomatic, security and humanitarian channels to monitor and address these issues. Syrians are best placed to make decisions regarding their own future, and we will continue to support refugees and host countries while the situation across Syria remains uncertain. It is essential that international law is respected and that any returns are safe, voluntary, and dignified.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-27)

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Ayoub Khan:To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, What assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the ICJ Advisory Opinion on the Legal Consequences arising from the Policies and Practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem. \p Mr Hamish Falconer: The UK is fully committed to international law and respects the independence of the International Court of Justice (ICJ). We continue to consider the Court's Advisory Opinion carefully, with the seriousness and rigour it deserves.  We are of the clear view that Israel should bring an end to its presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territories as rapidly as possible, but it must be done in a way that creates the conditions for negotiations towards the two-state solution.
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Chris Law:To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department holds information on whether Yoav Gallant travelled through British airspace in December 2024. \p Mr Hamish Falconer: We do not hold this information.
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Warinder Juss:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to respond to correspondence from the hon. Member for Wolverhampton West of (a) 22 January, (b) 29 January, (c) 5 February and (d) 13 February concerning a constituent's shipment that has been held at Felixstowe. \p Daniel Zeichner: A reply to the hon. Member is being prepared and will be issued as soon as possible. I apologise for the delay in responding to the hon. Member.
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Jenny Riddell-Carpenter:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when the Improving Farm Productivity solar grant will be made available for farmers. \p Daniel Zeichner: We are committed to supporting all farming sectors to increase levels of productivity whilst increasing their sustainability and resilience. We are looking carefully at how to position further investment and support to enable the delivery of this Government's objectives.

We plan to simplify and rationalise our grant funding, ensuring that grants deliver the most benefit for food security and nature. We will confirm any future grant rounds in due course.
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Helena Dollimore:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much their Department spent on (a) media and (b) voice training for Ministers between 4 July 2022 and 4 July 2024. \p Daniel Zeichner: Between 4 July 2022 and 4 July 2024, the Department spent £2,292 on media training for members of the Ministerial team. No spend on voice training for Ministers was incurred during this period.
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Edward Morello:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to reduce E. coli levels in the River Char. \p Emma Hardy: The River Char is not a designated site, therefore we do not hold any data on E.Coli levels for that river.

The Environment Agency (EA) does not routinely monitor for E. Coli, as this is not a measure used to classify the ecological health of our rivers. E Coli monitoring is normally only undertaken at designated bathing waters to provide information to bathers on possible health risks. The Char has no designated bathing waters so is not monitored for E Coli. The nearest designated bathing water site in the catchment is on the coast at Charmouth West. This has been classified as having Excellent Bathing Water Quality.
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Edward Morello:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent data his Department holds on E. coli levels in the River Char. \p Emma Hardy: The River Char is not a designated site, therefore we do not hold any data on E.Coli levels for that river.

The Environment Agency (EA) does not routinely monitor for E. Coli, as this is not a measure used to classify the ecological health of our rivers. E Coli monitoring is normally only undertaken at designated bathing waters to provide information to bathers on possible health risks. The Char has no designated bathing waters so is not monitored for E Coli. The nearest designated bathing water site in the catchment is on the coast at Charmouth West. This has been classified as having Excellent Bathing Water Quality.
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Rachel Gilmour:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department can take to ensure (a) existing drainage infrastructure is maintained and cleaned to appropriate levels to deal with high water volumes and (b) that future drainage infrastructure is built with resilient water capture systems to avoid flooding events, in the context of flooding in Tiverton and Minehead constituency. \p Emma Hardy: The Environment Agency (EA) maintains assets and infrastructure, including flood relief channels to divert water during heavy flows. EA monitoring teams use telemetry systems to identify and respond to high levels, while field teams ensure water conveyance is maximised by removing obstructions and blockages from channels & trash screens, including proactive checks in advance of expected high rain volumes. We work alongside partner agencies such as Highways & Local Authorities whose duty is to ensure road gulleys are clear to allow surface water to drain and roads to remain open.

Protecting communities from the dangers of flooding is one of Defra’s top priorities.

Watercourse management responsibilities fall to different bodies. Riparian landowners are required to keep watercourses clear of anything which could cause an obstruction to the flow of water on their land, or downstream if washed away.

The Environment Agency has permissive powers to undertake maintenance on main rivers. Lead local flood authorities (LLFAs) or internal drainage boards (IDBs) have permissive powers for ordinary watercourses. The Environment Agency focuses its efforts on those activities which will achieve the greatest benefit in terms of protecting people and property from flooding.

The Government is investing a record £2.65 billion over two years in building, maintaining and repairing our flood and coastal defences, better protecting 52,000 properties. We are also shifting £108 million towards maintenance to shore up creaking defences, benefitting a further 14,500 properties.
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Neil Duncan-Jordan:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to (a) reduce and (b) replace the use of dogs in testing required under plant protection product legislation. \p Emma Hardy: The UK Government is committed to maintaining a rigorous regulatory system which ensures that animal research and testing is carried out only where no practicable alternatives exist and under controls which keep suffering to a minimum.

The GB pesticides regulation (assimilated EU Regulation 1107/2009) requires that any testing on vertebrate animals is undertaken only where no other methods are available and that duplication of tests and studies on vertebrates must be avoided. It is an offence to carry out animal tests in contravention of the regulations. The HSE implement and enforce these requirements as the competent authority for the GB pesticide regulations, acting on behalf of the UK and Devolved Governments in Scotland and Wales.
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Tim Farron:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government on ensuring all planning decisions will support nature and climate targets. \p Mary Creagh: The Department works closely with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to deliver planning reforms with regular discussions on how planning can improve outcomes for nature whilst enabling the development of housing and infrastructure.
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Sir John Hayes:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to increase the number of available sites for biodiversity net gain credits in Lincolnshire. \p Mary Creagh: The national Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) register now lists 46 gain sites, covering over 1300 hectares of area habitats in England. Defra also know that there are many more BNG units available in the private market, which will be added to the register.

Defra have funded the Planning Advisory Service (PAS) to support Local Planning Authorities with developing local markets, and there are also a growing number of designated responsible bodies, who are able to enter into legal agreements to enhance land for nature with landowners in England.
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Dr Luke Evans:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the forthcoming consultation about the Flooding funding formula will consider instances when small communities do not qualify for the threshold for funding due to the (a) size of the communities and (b) flooding focused on roads and connectors rather than houses. \p Emma Hardy: A consultation will be launched in the coming months on the flood investment framework. This will include a review of the existing floods funding formula to ensure that the challenges facing businesses and rural and coastal communities are adequately taken into account when delivering flood protection.

The consultation will be open to everyone, and we will be inviting all stakeholders, including organisations that play a role in flood resilience, community groups and members of the public, to share their views and be part of the consultation. We will review all responses received to improve our approach to floods investment.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-27)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-02-27 conversation_47

Joe Robertson:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has conducted research on the potential links between fly-tipping and the availability of frequent and comprehensive household rubbish collections. \p Mary Creagh: Research into fly-tipping commissioned by Defra, published in 2022, found that “Good infrastructure and services offered by local authorities will play a significant part in cutting fly-tipping at source”. The report is here.

Local authorities are responsible for the operation and management of household waste collection services in their area.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-27)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-02-27 conversation_48

Chris Bloore:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the merits of a variable rate of deposit for the Deposit Return Scheme. \p Mary Creagh: The Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) regulations provide the powers for the Deposit Management Organisation (DMO) - who will be appointed by Government to administer the DRS. The regulations also set out what the DMO must consider and who they must consult in determining the deposit level, including whether a fixed or variable rate deposit is appropriate and, when doing so, have regard to the views expressed in responses to the consultation.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-27)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-02-27 conversation_49

Chris Bloore:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the benefits of introducing statutory recycling targets for local authorities. \p Mary Creagh: The Government is committed to reducing waste by transitioning to a circular economy. To support the Government in achieving this goal, a Circular Economy Taskforce of experts has been established from across the Government, industry, academia, and civil society to help us develop a Circular Economy Strategy for England.

The taskforce will consider the evidence for sector-specific interventions from right across the economy and will be exploring a wide range of levers to drive circularity.

Local Authorities are best placed to determine the effective delivery of local services. We want to provide the framework in which they do this and ensure that there is consistency in what is collected.
wrans/answers2025-02-27 conversation_50
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-27)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-02-27 conversation_50

Andrew Rosindell:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will take steps to publish a national beaver reintroduction strategy. \p Mary Creagh: This is a devolved matter and the information provided therefore relates to England only.

Defra will continue to work with Natural England to develop our approach to beaver reintroductions and management in England. Further information on this will be published in due course.
wrans/answers2025-02-27 conversation_51
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-27)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-02-27 conversation_51

Ian Roome:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress he has made on the introduction of the Digital Waste Tracking Service. \p Mary Creagh: The introduction of a digital waste tracking service will play an important role in supporting our transition to a Circular Economy that protects our natural resources and mitigates the effects of their extraction and disposal.

Having listened to feedback from our stakeholders across the waste sector and following a review of our original plans and timelines, we are developing plans to allow us to prepare for implementation, allow for greater levels of engagement and training with those concerned and ensure better system development and testing.
wrans/answers2025-02-27 conversation_52
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-27)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-02-27 conversation_52

Robbie Moore:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has plans to reform waste exemptions under the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016. \p Mary Creagh: Defra is developing reforms to the waste exemptions regime which will ensure activities carried out under waste exemptions are indeed low risk and small scale and which will prevent exemptions from being used to hide illegal activity.
wrans/answers2025-02-27 conversation_53
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-27)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-02-27 conversation_53

Joe Robertson:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the re-introduction of wolves to the wild on biodiversity. \p Mary Creagh: This is a devolved matter, and the information provided therefore relates to England only.

No, the Government does not have any plans to make an assessment of the potential impact of the reintroductions of wolves to the wild on biodiversity. Defra has not assessed the potential merits of reintroducing wolves in England and is not aware of any plans to reintroduce them. Wolves are listed on the Dangerous Wild Animals Act 1976, which means local authorities must licence wolf keeping, and they cannot be released unless into a secure enclosure.

Large predators present some significant challenges to the environment around them.

These would need to be overcome and managed prior to the consideration of their reintroduction. More evidence is needed on the impact of doing so.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-27)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-02-27 conversation_54

Jayne Kirkham:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what support she is giving to gleaning organisations as a method to help reduce on-farm food waste. \p Mary Creagh: Food redistribution charities in England can apply for a new £15 million Government scheme to help get surplus food from farms to those in need.

Applications are welcome from the gleaning community before the deadline of 13 March 2025. More information about the fund and supporting guidance about how to apply can be found here on the Defra eCommercial System.
wrans/answers2025-02-27 conversation_55
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-27)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-02-27 conversation_55

Jayne Kirkham:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether extended producer responsibility will apply to sales from January 2024 or from April 2025. \p Mary Creagh: No, a producer will only be liable for pEPR fees during assessment years that run from the 1 April to 31 March, if they meet the regulations definitions of a Producer on the 1 April, or any part of that assessment year.

Only when a producer meets these definitions in all or any part of assessment year 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026 will they be liable for pEPR fees. Packaging placed on the market data provided by a producer in the previous calendar year (2024) will be used to determine their share of pEPR fees during the assessment year 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-27)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-02-27 conversation_56

Martin Wrigley:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of existing levels of pesticide pollution on (a) (i) terrestrial and (ii) aquatic ecosystems and (b) public health. \p Emma Hardy: A pesticide may only be sold in Great Britain if it has been authorised by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) following thorough scientific risk assessment. Pesticides that pose unacceptable risks to the environment or human health are not authorised.

Defra funds monitoring that provides information on the levels of pesticides found in the environment, as well as development of the UK Pesticide Load Indicator (UK PLI). The PLI outputs help us to understand the potential pressures from pesticide use on the UK environment. The Environment Agency regularly test water sources across the UK to measure chemical and pesticide concentrations.

The GB pesticide Maximum Residue Level (MRL) regime sets high standards of consumer protection to ensure that residues in food do not harm human health. An MRL is the maximum concentration of a pesticide residue in or on food that is legally tolerated. MRLs are always set below the level considered safe for people eating the food. HSE report that compliance is high, at 98%.

There are very strict limits on the levels of pesticide residues legally tolerated in drinking water. Water company tests reported by the Drinking Water Inspectorate indicate compliance is high, at nearly 100%.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-27)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-02-27 conversation_57

Siân Berry:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to answer Question 23103 on Air Pollution, published on 9 January 2025. \p Emma Hardy: The next review of our statutory Air Quality Strategy is due to be completed by mid-2028. We intend to bring forward that date whilst ensuring we have time to work closely with stakeholders to co-design the new strategy.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-27)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-02-27 conversation_58

Mr Lee Dillon:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress he has made on the Chalk Stream Recovery Plan. \p Emma Hardy: Cleaning up our waters, including iconic sites such as chalk streams is a top government priority. That is why on 23 October 2024, the Secretary of State announced the launch of an independent commission to fundamentally transform how our water system works.

Fixing the systemic issues in the water system is essential to address the multiple pressures facing chalk streams, namely over abstraction, phosphorous pollution and physical modifications of habitats. Restoring our chalk streams to better ecological health is part of our holistic programme of reforms for the water sector.

Alongside this, we are continuing to direct investment to projects that will improve chalk streams. In 2024/2025, there are over 45 chalk stream projects receiving funding from the Government's Water Environment Improvement Fund, each leveraging private investment.