theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Jessica Toale:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of protective security measures for (a) churches and (b) other places of worship which have experienced (i) vandalism and (ii) intimidation. \p Dan Jarvis: This Government is committed to protecting the right of individuals to freely practise their religion at their chosen place of worship, and to making our streets and communities safer.

The Home Office continues to assess and respond to the security needs of places of worship through our protective security schemes for faith communities.

In 2025/26, up to £70.9 million is available to protect faith communities. This includes £18 million through the Jewish Community Protective Security Grant, £29.4 million through the Protective Security for Mosques Scheme and for security at Muslim faith schools, and £3.5 million for the places of worship and associated faith community centres of all other faiths.

Up to £10 million of additional emergency funding has also been made available for protective security for both Jewish and Muslim communities to further strengthen security measures at their places of worship and other community sites.

The Government remains in close contact with law enforcement partners to ensure that protective security measures remain effective and responsive to emerging threats.
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Rupert Lowe:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 21 October to Question 81590 on Medical Treatments: Gaza, whether routes for (a) extension and (b) variation of leave have been specified under the Immigration Rules. \p Mike Tapp: Should individuals wish to remain in the UK beyond the initial 24 months, they can apply for further permission to stay under existing routes within the Immigration Rules, before their current permission to stay expires. Details about the criteria and how to apply are available on the GOV.UK website: Visas and immigration - GOV.UK.

The Home Secretary has agreed to grant leave to stay for up to two years with the ability to access public funds, including treatment and wraparound support in the UK.
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Nick Timothy:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will meet representatives from the UK mechanical recycling industry to discuss government support for the industry. \p Mary Creagh: The Collection and Packaging Reforms – Simpler Recycling, Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging (pEPR) and a Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) – will help stimulate investment in recycling services across the UK.

In addition, Defra is working across Government to pinpoint any further interventions necessary to stabilise the sector and set it up for success.

The Minister for Nature convened a roundtable with industry earlier this year and senior officials chaired a roundtable with representatives from the recycling industry in September. Government continues to consider how best to engage the sector.
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Stuart Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will publish the evidence used by his Department to inform its policy on burning on peatlands. \p Mary Creagh: Earlier this year Natural England published a thorough evidence review looking at the effects of managed burning on upland peatlands. This remains the most comprehensive review available and can be found via the following link - An evidence review update on the effects of managed burning on upland peatland biodiversity, carbon and water - NEER155.
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Blake Stephenson:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to her Department's press release entitled Reed: Government to cut sewage pollution in half by 2030, published 19 July 2025, if he will set out how the £104 billion investment is being funded. \p Emma Hardy: The Government will introduce root and branch reform to revolutionise the water industry, working in partnership with water companies, investors and communities to deliver a systematic approach to improving drainage and wastewater systems. This will have benefits for communities, the environment, flood prevention, economic growth, and urban development, ensuring policies and services work better together to deliver real benefits for people and nature. This will include setting out the opportunity to make greater use of nature-based solutions where these represent good value for money and do more for the environment.

Ofwat published its final determinations from the 5-year price review (PR24) in December 2024. This set out a package of expenditure for the regulated water companies of £104 billion from 2025 to 2030, including over £10 billion to reduce sewage discharges from over 2,500 storm overflows in England and £4.795 billion to reduce phosphorous pollution.

Regarding the 50% target, storm overflows are designed to act as relief valves when the sewerage system is at risk of being overwhelmed, such as during heavy rain. The Government has required all storm overflows to have event duration monitors installed which provides information on sewage discharges. That information is published in near real time. The pledge is for a 50% cut in spills from storm overflows by the end of December 2029.

In addition, the pledge includes the EIP interim target to reduce Phosphorus loadings in treated wastewater by 50% by 31 January 2028, on a 2020 baseline. Phosphorus is a key cause of nutrient pollution in the environment, including contributing to algal blooms and eutrophication.
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Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she plans to create a national inventory to (a) capture and (b) report sources of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances. \p Emma Hardy: This Government is actively considering its approach to managing the risks posed by per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and progressing work on PFAS measures. To better understand legacy PFAS pollution, the Environment Agency (EA) has undertaken a risk screening project to identify potential PFAS sources which provides crucial information for the EA and its stakeholders to investigate and mitigate these risk issues.
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Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will take steps to produce a chemicals strategy. \p Emma Hardy: The delivery of a Chemicals Strategy was a commitment included in the Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP) 2023. Defra’s future approach to chemicals management will be set out in the revised EIP.
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Blake Stephenson:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the effectiveness of the Trees for Climate project. \p Mary Creagh: The Trees for Climate Programme is delivered by England’s Community Forests and is funded by the Defra Nature for Climate Fund Programme (NCF). Between 2020-2025 the Trees for Climate Programme has planted trees totalling 6,551ha. Defra is currently evaluating the NCF. The evaluation is comprised of three stages, covering different tree planting years and stages of NCF delivery. The evaluation findings indicate that Woodland Creation Partnerships, including the Community Forests, have a long-established record of success in generating tree planting and contributing to wider social benefits.

The interim Value for Money report (NCF Tree Programme for England: Value for Money (VfM) Interim Evaluation - AE1915) found that Community Forest planting in particular, has achieved high benefits per hectare. The first two stages of the evaluation have been completed and published [Nature For Climate Fund Tree Programme Final Interim Evaluation - LM04188, Nature for Climate Fund Tree Programme Evaluation - LM04172]. The third stage is due to take place this year with findings expected next spring.
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Blake Stephenson:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department has prepared an impact assessments on the decisions to (a) merge Ofwat and the Drinking Inspectorate and (b) remove the environmental regulatory functions of the Environment Agency and Natural England. \p Emma Hardy: The Government has committed to establishing a single, powerful regulator for the entire water sector that will stand on the side of customers, investors and the environment. The current fragmented approach to water has led to contradictory and competing priorities. The reforms will ensure regulation is in lock step to deliver for customers and the environment. Defra will work closely with the regulators to ensure a smooth transition. Further information will be provided in the white paper.
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Blake Stephenson:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to her Department's press release entitled UK government gathers business and environment leaders in support of UN nature agreement, published on 25 June 2025, how much investment the UK will benefit from. \p Mary Creagh: Investing in nature at home and abroad is critical to the UK’s security and prosperity. Healthy global ecosystems reduce the risk of supply chain shocks, create opportunities for UK businesses, and help prevent conflict and forced migration.

To advance this agenda, Defra Ministers hosted the flagship event “Nature Action: Mobilising Frameworks and Finance” on 25 June 2025 at Lancaster House during London Climate Action Week. The event, followed by a reception attended by His Majesty The King, brought together over 100 participants, including senior representatives from global financial institutions and major corporations representing over £12 trillion, alongside Indigenous leaders, NGOs and Government ministers. It made a strong business case for investing in nature and led to several announcements aimed at accelerating private finance for nature.
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Mr Andrew Snowden:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to ensure funds raised through Extended Producer Responsibility are used by local authorities on advanced recycling infrastructure. \p Mary Creagh: The Government has implemented robust measures within the packaging Extended Producer Responsibility scheme to ensure that funds raised are directed by local authorities towards recycling infrastructure. I have instructed PackUK to use regulatory powers to recover monies from local authorities in England where these funds have not been spent on packaging waste management services.
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Shaun Davies:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the capacity of the digital waste tracking service to tackle waste crime. \p Mary Creagh: Waste handled illegally and poor performing waste sites can damage the environment, blight local communities, for example by causing odour and pest issues, undermine legitimate businesses, and is estimated to cost the UK economy one billion pounds per year.

Digital waste tracking will connect fragmented systems, providing comprehensive near real time data on the movement of a load of waste from production to disposal. Digitising record keeping will give clearer oversight for regulators, making it easier for waste producers and legitimate waste companies to comply with reporting requirements; and harder for rogue operators to compete in the industry and commit waste crime, from fly tipping to illegal waste sites to illegal waste exports.
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Shaun Davies:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans her Department has for mandating digital waste tracking for (a) facilities with an environmental permit from 2026 and (b) for other operators from 2027. \p Mary Creagh: From October 2026, there will be mandatory requirements on permitted or licensed operators, installations and mobile plant that receive waste to create a digital record of waste they receive, and to then enter it onto the Digital Waste Tracking Service.

The waste industry involves a large number and complex array of operators. Subject to funding, additional aspects will be added to the service from 2027, drawing from our testing arising from Phase 1 of the service when it becomes available from April 2026. This will allow us to adjust as we move towards a more complete end-to-end waste tracking service.
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Pippa Heylings:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to ensure Fisheries Management Plans deliver sustainable fisheries management. \p Dame Angela Eagle: In line with the UK Fisheries Act 2020 Defra is committed to managing our fisheries sustainably. Defra has published the first set of Fisheries Management Plans (FMPs) and are on course to publish the next five by the end of 2025, with a further four to be published by the end of 2026. The plans are evidence based, collaboratively developed, and set out measures to maintain or restore stocks to sustainable levels. Implementation is underway, with critical actions already taken such as an increase in minimum conservation reference size (MCRS) for crawfish to protect the juveniles of these stocks from being landed before they have matured. Plans will be kept under review to ensure they remain effective.
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Dr Simon Opher:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent progress she has made on the introduction of the Deposit Return Scheme. \p Mary Creagh: The Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) for drinks containers will launch in October 2027 across England, Northern Ireland and Scotland. Earlier this year we appointed UK DMO as the deposit management organisation for the schemes in England, Northern Ireland and Scotland, and they are continuing to progress at pace with delivery of the scheme.
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Pippa Heylings:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the fixed quota allocation system for distributing the catch quotas. \p Dame Angela Eagle: The Fixed Quota Allocation (FQA) system was introduced in 1999 and is only one of the ways in which quota is allocated. While the UK Government does not routinely conduct formal assessments of the FQA system itself, it continually monitors fish stocks based on the latest scientific advice. In addition to the FQA system, quota is also distributed through the Quota Application Mechanism trial in England supporting our commitment to the Fisheries Act objectives.
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Lee Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to reduce antisocial behaviour from visitors to countryside areas. \p Mary Creagh: Natural England (NE) continues to actively promote the Countryside Code through a range of public information campaigns. Recent initiatives have included educational outreach in schools and broader public campaigns aimed at raising awareness of responsible behaviour in the countryside, such as the importance of keeping dogs on leads.

As part of a 2023–2025 campaign, NE partnered with Shaun the Sheep to promote responsible behaviour around livestock and to engage children, young people, and families in learning about the Countryside Code.

These initiatives reflect the Department’s ongoing commitment to ensuring that the public can enjoy the countryside safely and responsibly, while protecting the natural environment and those who live and work there.
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Dr Simon Opher:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will review plastic waste exports to promote domestic recycling. \p Mary Creagh: We are committed to ensuring a level playing field for domestic plastic recyclers and we are currently considering the role of exports in dealing with the UK’s plastic waste.

Defra is committed to building a circular economy that enhances industry competition and capitalises on the UK’s potential in plastic recycling and reprocessing, whilst realising our environmental objectives. We recognise that export markets can compliment domestic reprocessing to ensure more of our waste is recycled.
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Sir John Hayes:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will publish the National Fire Chief's Council consultation response to her Department’s policy on (a) wildfires and (b) risks to firefighters. \p Mary Creagh: The National Fire Chiefs Council’s response to Defra’s consultation on heather and grass burning in England is already in the public domain. This can be found on their website here: 250523-Heather-and-Grass-Burning-in-England-Consultation-Response-FINAL.pdf
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Barry Gardiner:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the risk that seafood imports from (a) China, (b) Russia and (c) countries yellow-carded by the EU may be linked to (i) illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing and (ii) human rights abuses. \p Dame Angela Eagle: The UK has retained the Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing Regulation following its departure from the EU and continues to apply its provisions. While the UK has not formally adopted the EU’s carding system, it does enforce import bans on seafood from countries that have been red-carded by the EU, such as Cambodia, Comoros, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Imports and landings from vessels listed on the UK’s IUU vessel list are also prohibited. Imports from yellow-carded countries are permitted to avoid unnecessary trade disruption because marking these countries as IUU offenders may undermine their efforts to improve compliance and address IUU fishing. The UK keeps issues related to IUU fishing and human rights abuses in seafood supply chains under active review, and we welcome robust evidence from stakeholders to inform future policy development.
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Barry Gardiner:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department plans to adopt a digitised catch certificate scheme that is interoperable with the EU’s new CATCH IT system for (a) receiving and (b) processing seafood catch certificates. \p Dame Angela Eagle: The UK will be updating the information required on catch certificates this year. These changes will focus on ensuring the robustness of the data on traceability measures and will ensure that UK exporters can continue to re-export seafood originating from other countries to the EU. The UK’s Fish Export Service (FES) enables exporters to generate electronic IUU catch documentation, including catch certificates. The UK also plans to integrate FES with the EU’s CATCH system in 2026 to support system interoperability.
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Ian Byrne:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of a national chemicals regulator. \p Emma Hardy: The Health and Safety Executive and the Environment Agency between them regulate the UK’s chemicals regimes.
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Shaun Davies:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department has allocated funding to expand the digital waste tracking service beyond sites holding an environmental permit. \p Mary Creagh: From October 2026, there will be mandatory requirements on permitted or licensed operators, installations and mobile plant that receive waste to create a digital record of waste they receive, and to then enter it onto the Digital Waste Tracking Service.

We recognise that waste can also be received under authorisations that are issued by regulators to ensure compliance, other than licenses or permits, such as registered exemptions. We will consider over the next few months whether there are any specific sectors or categories of operation within this group that can be sensibly included in mandatory requirements to create a digital record and enter it onto the Digital Waste Tracking Service alongside permitted and licenced operators.
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Shaun Davies:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to help tackle organised crime in the waste sector. \p Mary Creagh: This Government is committed to tackling waste crime from the fly-tippers who blight our towns and villages to the serious and organised crime groups who are exploiting the waste sector.

We have increased the Environment Agency’s budget for waste crime enforcement by over 50% this year to £15.6 million. We are making policy and regulatory reforms to close loopholes exploited by criminals - fundamentally reforming the waste carriers, brokers and dealers system, tightening waste permit exemptions and introducing digital waste tracking. The Environment Agency hosted Joint Unit for Waste Crime has nearly doubled in size thanks to our extra funding and its UK-wide partnership work with the Environment Agency, HMRC, National Crime Agency, the police and others continues to share intelligence, powers and resources to disrupt waste criminals. HMRC has also consulted on making mandatory tax checks required for waste sector operators to combat hidden economy activity. In addition, the Environment Agency’s Economic Crime Unit was launched in 2024 and targets the financial motivations behind waste crime using asset freezes and proceeds of crime actions.
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Shaun Davies:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to her Department's policy paper entitled Resources and waste strategy for England, published on 18 December 2018, what her planned timetable is for implementing reforms to the carriers', brokers' and dealers' regime. \p Mary Creagh: The Resources and Waste Strategy for England was published under the previous Government. This Government has published a policy paper on gov.uk setting out its plans for reform of the waste Carrier Broker Dealer regime in England https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/reforming-the-waste-carrier-broker-and-dealer-system.

Work has begun to draft the necessary legislative amendments and will be progressed when parliamentary time allows.
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Caroline Voaden:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help support innovation in the agricultural sector. \p Dame Angela Eagle: The Farming Innovation Programme is supporting research and innovation in the agricultural sector to help English farmers and growers increase productivity, sustainability and resilience.

The UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy, published on 23 June, recognises Agri-Tech as a key growth sector and at least £200 million is allocated to the Farming Innovation Programme up to 2030. This will offer targeted funding to drive innovation in agriculture, supporting critical investment into the UK Agri-Tech innovation pipeline helping further the commercialisation of Agri-Tech.
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Layla Moran:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of phasing out of the use of farrowing crates for pigs. \p Dame Angela Eagle: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 2 April 2025 to the hon. Member for Birmingham Northfield, PQ UIN 41698.
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Ian Byrne:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she will make an assessment of the potential merits of bring forward proposals to strengthen the Hunting Act 2004 by (a) removing exemptions, (b) introducing custodial sentences for illegal hunting and (c) banning trail hunting. \p Dame Angela Eagle: This Government is committed to enacting a ban on trail hunting in line with our manifesto commitment. Work to determine the best approach for doing so is ongoing and a consultation seeking views on how to deliver a full ban will be held early next year.

The nature of trail hunting makes it very difficult to do safely. The use of large packs of hounds reduces the control huntsmen have, putting wild mammals, household pets and even members of the public at risk.

Trail hunting also provides a convenient cover for those seeking to participate in illegal hunting activities by obscuring their intention and enabling the inevitable chasing of animals to be labelled as ‘accidental’. This is why we want an effective, enforceable ban that truly protects our wildlife, countryside, and rural communities.
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Ian Byrne:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department plans to bring forward a public consultation on (a) banning the use of cages and (b) close confinement systems for farmed animals; and if she will make it her policy to phase out those practices. \p Dame Angela Eagle: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 29 April 2025 to the hon. Member for Mid Dorset and North Poole, PQ UIN 47556.
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Ian Roome:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to ensure land management schemes are designed to support hill and upland farming. \p Dame Angela Eagle: Our Environmental Land Management schemes include a comprehensive offer to support the management of a wide range of different grassland and moorland types that exist in the English uplands. Defra works closely with farmers and industry stakeholders – for example, the Government set up an Uplands Task and Finish Group to identify solutions to issues that have been raised by upland farmers and environmental stakeholders.

Defra, in partnership with Dr Hilary Cottam OBE, have been working closely with upland communities across England over the last 12 months to better understand the unique challenges and opportunities in these landscapes. This insight is being shared across Defra and next steps worked up.
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Pippa Heylings:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the outcomes of the 2025 Quota application mechanism trial; and whether she plans to expand this system to distribute a greater proportion of England’s fishing quota for a greater number of stocks in (a) 2026 and (b) beyond. \p Dame Angela Eagle: An assessment of the 2024 Quota Application Mechanism trial has been published online, and an assessment of the 2025 trial will be developed and published once the 2025 trial has concluded at the end of the fishing year.

Applications for the 2026 trial are now open until 31 October 2025. The trial is being expanded for 2026 to potentially include 14 stocks subject to the outcome of fisheries negotiations, a significant increase from the 5 stocks included in the 2025 trial. Decisions regarding the future of trial will be taken once further assessment of the current trial has been concluded.
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Pippa Heylings:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate she has made of the percentage of UK fixed quota allocation units that are held by non-UK entities. \p Dame Angela Eagle: The Fixed Quota Allocation (FQA) Register is an online resource listing UK fishing vessel licences, the associated FQA units, and their respective owners. You can access the register at: www.fqaregister.service.gov.uk.

The UK’s fishing quota is currently distributed based on FQA units and linked to UK vessel licences. These units can only be assigned to vessels that are both registered and licensed in the UK.
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Pippa Heylings:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that fishing quotas are distributed in ways that incentivise (a) lower impact and (b) selective fishing. \p Dame Angela Eagle: There are a number of mechanisms in place to incentivise lower impact and selective fishing. In terms of quota distribution, in England we have been running a trial since 2024 called the Quota Application Mechanism, which allocates quota based on environmental, social and economic criteria. As part of this, with the support of scientists, we have developed a gear ranking system to incentivise selective fishing.
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Pippa Heylings:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she plans to introduce mandatory Remote Electronic Monitoring for (a) over 24m pelagics vessles, (b) over 10m demersal seine vessels and (c) over 10m demersal trawls. \p Dame Angela Eagle: Defra is working to implement Remote Electronic Monitoring in five priority fisheries. They are:

- Pelagic trawls, over 24m, all English waters

- Demersal seines, over 10m, English waters of the Southern North Sea and English Channel

- Demersal trawls using mesh sizes up to 120mm, over 10m, English waters of the North Sea

- Fixed and drift nets (gill and trammel), over 10m, English waters of the Celtic Sea and English Channel

- Demersal trawls including beam trawls, over 10m, English waters of the Celtic Sea and English Channel

We are working first with volunteers to design and test systems and will then move to mandatory implementation.
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Pippa Heylings:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had with the devolved Administrations on protocols for mandatory Remote Electronic Monitoring for vessels fishing in UK territorial waters. \p Dame Angela Eagle: Defra has regular discussions with the devolved administrations on the design of Remote Electronic Monitoring protocols. We will continue to work with our colleagues around the UK to discuss our policies where it is right to do so.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-29)

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Pippa Heylings:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if her Department will take steps to publish full vessel ownership, license, quota, subsidy, and sanctions information for all types of fishing vessels in a publicly accessible format. \p Dame Angela Eagle: Although fisheries control is a devolved matter, the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) publish UK wide lists of licensed fishing vessels, details of fishing vessel licences and detailed quota allocations which are set out by the MMO in their annual apportionment and allocation spreadsheets. Funding provided by Defra to the fishing industry is publicly available through the Government Grants Information System.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-29)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-29 conversation_307

Pippa Heylings:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of current protocols to account for (a) fishing catches and (b) fishing vessel activities. \p Dame Angela Eagle: Seafood sold in the UK is subject to traceability requirements to ensure fish and fisheries products can be tracked from the final point of sale back to its point of origin and included in catch figures. These traceability requirements include rules on recording catches, sales, purchases and labelling of fish that is landed in the UK and placed on the market.

Seafood traceability and fishing vessel activity information is further strengthened by vessel monitoring systems which are now required on all English fishing vessels and all fishing vessels of any nationality over 12 metres in length fishing in English waters. These devices track a vessel’s location, speed and heading in real time, providing evidence about vessel activity and where seafood is being caught, providing enforcement agencies a view of fishing.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-29)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-29 conversation_308

Pippa Heylings:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department is taking steps to align fisheries management policies with the Global Charter for Fisheries Transparency. \p Dame Angela Eagle: The UK Government already has robust fisheries management measures in place and has previously welcomed the broad principles underpinning the Global Charter for Fisheries Transparency. We continue to engage with the organisations who have produced the charter with a focus on tackling Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-29)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-29 conversation_309

Dr Neil Hudson:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the proposed UK/EU sanitary and phytosanitary agreement on the implementation of the Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Act 2023. \p Dame Angela Eagle: We remain committed to moving forward with the Precision Breeding Act.

The EU has accepted there will need to be a number of areas where we need to retain our own rules. The details of these are now subject to negotiation, but we have been clear about the importance of being able to support the use of new and innovative technologies.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-29)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-29 conversation_310

Andrew Gwynne:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she has taken to (a) protect fishing populations and (b) support fishing communities. \p Dame Angela Eagle: We are committed to the long-term sustainability and prosperity of the UK fleet. Our aim is to ensure that catch limits are set sustainably, consistent with the best available scientific advice, and rebuild stocks for the long term whilst also maintaining a viable and profitable fishing industry. Fisheries Management Plans (FMPs) will help deliver this ambition for sustainable fisheries - they are evidence-based plans that set out short, medium and long-term actions to restore or maintain stocks to sustainable levels.

We are also supporting fishing communities through the £360 million Fisheries and Coastal Growth Fund which we announced in May. Over the next twelve years this funding will support the next generation of fishermen and breathe new life into our coastal communities.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-29)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-29 conversation_311

Edward Morello:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will allocate funding to support rural communities with (a) infrastructure and (b) service delivery costs in the Autumn Budget 2025. \p Dame Angela Eagle: This Government is committed to improving the quality of life for people living and working in rural areas, so that we can realise the full potential of rural business and communities.

Rural communities make an important contribution to the UK economy and in 2023, rural areas contributed £259 billion to England’s Gross Value Added (GVA), representing 12.2% of the total GVA for England.

The Government recognises the additional challenges they face with respect to infrastructure resilience and essential service delivery, and Defra works across government to ensure that these factors are appropriately reflected when funding decisions are made.

In June, departmental budgets across Government were set up to 2029/30.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-29)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-29 conversation_312

Edward Morello:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will allocate funding to support mental health services for farmers in the Autumn Budget 2025. \p Dame Angela Eagle: Since May 2024, Defra has funded the Farmer Welfare Grant, providing £500k to support charity projects that improve the mental health and wellbeing of farmers in England. The fund, which runs until March 2026, supports projects designed to offer tailored support to farmers and their families as well as prevent further cases of poor mental health by helping to build resilience within farming communities, and deliver a range of essential services including the development of new online resources, provision of workshops, training events and networking opportunities, and one-to-one support.

In addition, this Government is investing in mental health to ensure it receives the same attention as physical health. This includes the hiring of 8,500 new mental health support workers, which will reduce delays and provide faster treatment closer to people’s homes – including in rural communities.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-29)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-29 conversation_313

Pippa Heylings:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of compliance of fishing vessels with (a) AIS, (b)VMS and (c) iVMS; what steps he is taken ensure there is full compliance with these systems; and what steps he is taking to provide additional resource to strengthen enforcement efforts. \p Dame Angela Eagle: As fisheries control and enforcement is a devolved matter, each Devolved Administration is responsible for enforcement capacity in their waters. Defra is committed to maintaining a robust and adaptive enforcement system to protect English waters from illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing, and works closely with the Marine Management Organisation (MMO), Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authorities, and other organisations to make sure the appropriate arrangements to enforce fisheries regulations are in place to protect our waters.

Additionally, Defra and the MMO work actively with the Joint Maritime Security Centre (JMSC) to utilise available maritime surveillance and enforcement resources for fisheries enforcement in partnership with the Ministry of Defence and other relevant departments and agencies including from the Devolved Administrations.

Although there is no direct metric for assessing compliance of fishing vessels with the vessel monitoring systems mentioned, overall performance is monitored through annual reports required under the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009. These reports, published online, at the GOV.UK and individual IFCA websites such as Eastern IFCA, highlight each body's contributions, successes and challenges in a wide variety of areas including enforcement.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-29)

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Ben Lake:To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what recent discussions she has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on fiscal steps to reduce the cost of living in Wales. \p Jo Stevens: The Welsh and UK Labour Governments are determined to boost living standards for families right across Wales.

It’s why we secured a record wage increase to the National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage for up to 160,000 workers.

It’s why we are creating thousands of new jobs in our green industries, our freeports and investment zones.

And it’s why, just two weeks ago, we confirmed a second year of funding for our three economic inactivity trailblazers across Wales – to help people into good, well-paid jobs.

Labour is the only party on the side of working people in Wales and across the UK.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-29)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-29 conversation_315

Tracy Gilbert:To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on the potential for the development of offshore wind in Wales. \p Jo Stevens: This government is supporting offshore wind projects in Wales which will deliver jobs, boost economic growth and clean power.

Under this government, the 1.5GW Mona offshore wind farm off the North Wales coast was awarded development consent, with the potential to support over 3,000 jobs.

And Floating Offshore Wind projects are progressing in the Celtic Sea, which could support over 5,000 new jobs and deliver a £1.4 billion-pound boost to the UK economy.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-29)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-29 conversation_316

Nick Smith:To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of increased defence spending on Wales. \p Jo Stevens: The Defence Industrial Strategy will ensure that defence is an engine for growth across the UK, including Wales.

Wales’s thriving defence sector will benefit from its own Defence Growth Deal backed by a share of £250m.

The deal will harness Wales’s strengths in autonomy and aerospace, unlocking growth, innovation, and jobs across defence and the wider advanced manufacturing sector.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-29)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-29 conversation_317

Mr Richard Quigley:To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what recent discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on support for clean energy projects in Wales. \p Jo Stevens: This government is supporting clean energy projects right across Wales – from tidal stream on Anglesey to floating wind in the Celtic Sea - which will create jobs, deliver regional growth and accelerate our drive towards lower bills for households and businesses.

Our new Clean Energy Jobs Plan sets out how we will at least double the number of jobs supported by clean energy industries in Wales by the end of the decade.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-29)

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John Lamont:To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what discussions she has had with the Welsh Government on strengthening the Union. \p Anna McMorrin: I have regular discussions with the Welsh Government on how our two governments are delivering, investing in Wales’s future and strengthening our union.

Through a record budget settlement for the Welsh Government, alongside our investment into Welsh rail, Growth Deals, Investment Zones, Freeports, Pride in Place Funds and our Defence Growth Deal for Wales – we are working together to improve public services, support communities, drive jobs, and deliver economic growth.