theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-09)

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Ruth Jones:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to protect the welfare of live decapod crustaceans while held in commercial premises prior to sale. \p Dame Angela Eagle: The Government is committed to an evidence-based and proportionate approach to setting welfare standards for decapod crustaceans. Defra has commissioned research to address a knowledge gap about how live decapods move from sea to plate. This is due to finish in 2026. In addition, a project on the welfare of decapod crustaceans across the supply chain is included in the Animal Welfare Committee’s current work plan.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-09)

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Julia Lopez:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, which Department is responsible for monitoring of pharmaceutical provisions within the UK-US Economic Prosperity Deal; and whether he plans to update Parliament on those provisions. \p Chris Bryant: DBT Secretary of State made a written statement to Parliament on 2 December.

This deal is the first and only agreement with the US that secures zero percent tariffs on pharmaceutical products – the lowest rate offered to any country. It delivers mitigations on the US’ ‘Most Favoured Nation’ policy and preferential terms for UK medtech exports – helping expand access to innovative treatments for patients and driving crucial investment in the UK.

The Department for Business and Trade remains the lead department for EPD negotiations.

There will be further work to finalise underpinning details.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-09)

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Martin Rhodes:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what discussions his Department has had with their Colombian counterparts on the Colombia-UK Bilateral Investment Treaty in the last four years. \p Chris Bryant: My Department regularly engages with Colombia to discuss trade and investment matters, primarily through the UK-Andean countries trade agreement committees which have been meeting annually since 2022 and the UK-Colombia Trade Dialogue. My Department has not received a formal approach by its Colombian counterparts to discuss the UK-Colombia Bilateral Investment Treaty.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-09)

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Julia Lopez:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what legal instrument establishes Most Favoured Nation mitigations in the deal with the US on pharmaceuticals. \p Chris Bryant: We have secured the first and only deal with the US that delivers zero percent tariffs on pharmaceutical products – the lowest rate offered to any country.

It delivers mitigations on the US’ ‘Most Favoured Nation’ policy and preferential terms for UK medtech exports – helping expand access to innovative treatments for patients and driving crucial investment in the UK.

The UK and the US have confirmed the headline terms of this deal. Further work to finalise underpinning details is ongoing.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-09)

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Martin Rhodes:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what review processes does the Government have in place to assess the adequacy of its trade and investment treaty commitments for the UK-Russia Bilateral Investment Treaty. \p Chris Bryant: The UK’s International Investment Agreements (IIAs) aim to enhance opportunities for UK businesses to expand overseas, with commitments that seek to limit the barriers they face, make it easier to navigate local rules, and ensure investments are treated lawfully, and protected against unfair or arbitrary action. There is no specific review process within this Agreement.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-09)

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Julia Lopez:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what the mitigations are under the US Most Favoured Nation drug pricing initiative as referred to in the UK-US Economic Prosperity Deal. \p Chris Bryant: The US has committed to ensuring that access to medicines and launches of new innovative medicines in the UK are not inadvertently impacted by the US’s ‘Most Favoured Nation’ policy, thereby reducing the risk to the UK where the NHS has managed to secure lower prices for medicines.

Further work to finalise underpinning details is ongoing.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-09)

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Andrew Bowie:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether the work of the new Retail and Hospitality Envoy will extend to Scotland; and whether the Envoy will be engaging with representative bodies such as the Scottish Retail Consortium. \p Kate Dearden: At the recent Budget, the Government announced its intention to appoint a Retail and Hospitality Envoy to champion the sector across Government. The detail of the role is being finalised, the Envoy will be expected to work collaboratively with Government departments, existing councils, trade bodies and businesses.

Retail and Hospitality policy in Scotland is still devolved and any matters relating specifically to Scottish Retail or Hospitality policy should be directed to the Scottish Government.
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Stuart Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the prevalence of the use of non-disclosure agreements during corporate restructuring in safety-critical sectors. \p Kate Dearden: The Government is unable to assess the prevalence of the use of non-disclosure agreements across the economy, including in specific sectors, as they are private contractual agreements and data on their use is not collected.

While NDAs can lawfully be used to require one or more parties to keep certain information confidential (for example, trade secrets), there are a range of legal limitations on their use. For example, NDAs cannot prevent someone from making a whistleblowing disclosure (known formally as a “protected disclosure”) or a disclosure required by law.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-09)

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Marsha De Cordova:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of encouraging more businesses to become certified B corporations. \p Blair McDougall: Purpose-driven businesses, including B Corporations, have a unique and powerful ability to innovate and scale solutions to the big social and environmental challenges that we face as a country. The Government recently launched the Office for Impact Economy, which will look at the vital role of policy levers in helping the UK Government to harness and grow the impact economy, including B Corporations and other purpose-driven businesses. This builds on our manifesto commitment to support diverse business models which bring innovation and new products to the market, and to double the UK’s co-operative and mutuals sector. As part of the Autumn Budget, DBT launched a Call for Evidence on business support for Co-operatives and Non-Financial Mutuals which will be open across Great Britian for 12 weeks.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-09)

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Zarah Sultana:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that companies operating and earning revenue in the UK do not offshore jobs to reduce tax liabilities; and whether his Department plans to introduce legislative measures to safeguard UK workers from redundancies linked to such offshoring decisions. \p Kate Dearden: Our Industrial Strategy places jobs at its heart, introducing measures to support growth sectors to create high-quality, well-paid jobs across the country, backed by employment rights fit for a modern economy.

The Global Minimum Tax, a 15% effective corporate tax rate on large multinationals in each area they operate in, protects against harmful tax planning and profit shifting.

We are updating the law so that employees must be consulted when redundancies are proposed across an organisation. The specifics of this new requirement will be set in regulations following consultation.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-09)

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Neil Duncan-Jordan:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the Budget Statement on 26 November 2025, what estimate his Department has made of how many workers in the Poole constituency will benefit from the planned increase in (a) the National Living Wage and (b) the National Minimum Wage. \p Kate Dearden: Around 2.4 million workers are expected to receive a pay rise due to the increase to the NLW on 1 April 2026. In total, around 2.7 million workers are expected to receive a pay rise due to increases to the NMW and NLW on April 2026.

The Government will publish an impact assessment alongside the legislation that implements the increases to the National Living Wage and National Minimum Wage rates early next year. This will include a breakdown of the number of workers expected to benefit by region; however, constituency-level estimates will not be provided due to greater data reliability issues at this granularity.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-09)

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Blake Stephenson:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many visas a) his Department, b) the Competition and Markets Authority, c) Companies House, d) the Financial Reporting Council, e) the Trade Remedies Authority, f) the Post Office and g) the British Business Bank have sponsored since 4 July 2024. \p Kate Dearden: The requested data is not held centrally in a reportable format.
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Dan Norris:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he is taking to support the hospitality sector in North East Somerset and Hanham constituency. \p Kate Dearden: The Government recognises the significant pressures facing hospitality businesses, including those in North East Somerset and Hanham, and the Government is providing support through various measures to help ease these pressures.

We’ve introduced permanently lower tax rates for retail, hospitality and leisure properties with a ratable value under £500,000, worth nearly £900 million annually, benefitting over 750,000 properties. The new relief rates are permanent, giving businesses certainty and stability, and there will be no cap so all qualifying properties will benefit.

The Chancellor announced a new National Licensing Policy Framework as part of her budget. This sets out a vision for a proportionate licensing system that supports good businesses while continuing to tackle bad operators.

We’re also investing £440,000 with Pub is The Hub to help rural pubs diversify, aiming to support rural communities, create new jobs and services.
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Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will take steps to reduce the rate of pub closures. \p Kate Dearden: The Government recognises the significant pressures facing pubs and we are providing support through various measures to help ease these pressures.

We've introduced permanently lower tax rates for retail, hospitality and leisure properties with a ratable value under £500,000, worth nearly £900 million annually, benefitting over 750,000 properties. The new relief rates are permanent, giving businesses certainty and stability, and there will be no cap so all qualifying properties will benefit.

The Chancellor announced a new National Licensing Policy Framework as part of her budget. This sets out a vision for a proportionate licensing system that supports good businesses while continuing to tackle bad operators.

We're also investing £440,000 with Pub is The Hub to help rural pubs diversify, aiming to support rural communities, create new jobs and services.
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Samantha Niblett:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how much his Department has spent on software licences from Microsoft in the last 12 months; and what proportion this represents of his Department’s total technology spend. \p Kate Dearden: The Department for Business and Trade has spent £4.8m on software licences from Microsoft in the last 12 months, December 2024 to November 2025. This represents 5% of the Department's total Digital, Data & Technology spend.
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Freddie van Mierlo:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the impact of leaving the EU single market on graduate employment opportunities. \p Chris Bryant: The government is committed to ensuring graduates have the skills and support needed to succeed in the modern economy, which is why the Industrial Strategy will provide an additional £1.2bn of investment in the skills system by 2028-29.

The Department for Work and Pensions has an established network of partnerships to enhance graduate employment opportunities. DWP are reforming Jobcentre Plus to create a new, more personalised employment support service across Great Britain to recognise that individuals - including graduates - have different needs.

However, the Department for Business and Trade has made no specific assessment of the impact of leaving the EU single market on graduate employment opportunities.
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Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the answer of 27 November 2025 to WPQ 92058, whether he has had discussions with manufacturers who also sell products in China on reluctance to engage with the Trade Remedies Authority because of the possibility of retaliatory action by that country. \p Chris Bryant: No, neither the Secretary of State nor I have had any such discussions.

However, the Government and the Trade Remedies Authority (TRA) regularly engage with UK manufacturers to understand their concerns, and they may always submit applications anonymously to the TRA.

Trade remedy investigations should be undertaken on the basis of evidence, pursuant to the WTO agreements, and available to all WTO members. My Department will always challenge actions taken outside this framework.

The UK and China are deepening its dialogue on trade remedy matters through the UK-China Joint Economic and Trade Commission.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-09)

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Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will publish a list of the countries from which electric vehicles are currently (a) eligible for a zero per cent import tariff and (b) not eligible for a zero per cent import tariff when entering the United Kingdom market. \p Chris Bryant: Such a list is already available as the list of electric vehicle tariffs by country can be found on the Government’s Online Tariff Tool here (https://www.trade-tariff.service.gov.uk/find_commodity), which provides the most up-to-date details on import tariffs for every country.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-24)

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Stuart Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will take steps to focus public sector procurement on locally produced food. \p Daniel Zeichner: The new national procurement policy statement sets out requirements for Government contracts, favouring high-quality products that we believe British producers are well-placed to supply, aiding our ambition for half of food supplied into public sector catering to be from local producers or those certified to higher environmental standards.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-24)

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Martin Wrigley:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will provide funding to support the electrification of UK fishing fleets. \p Daniel Zeichner: The UK Shipping Office for Reducing Emissions programme in the Department for Transport has opened a round of funding for feasibility studies and pre-deployment trials into clean maritime solutions, with fishing vessels in scope.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-24)

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Martin Wrigley:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 6 March 2025 to Question 34339 on Fisheries: civil servants, if he will assign civil servants to work on trade and co-operation agreements with the fishing industry. \p Daniel Zeichner: Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) is the title of the 2020 agreement between the United Kingdom and European Union rather than a generic concept which Defra works on with the fishing industry. In respect of whether the Government will assign civil servants to work on aspects of the UK-EU TCA affecting the fishing industry, I ref the hon. Member to the reply previously given to the hon. Member for Torbay on 6 March 2025, 34339.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-24)

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Aphra Brandreth:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to open the Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier in summer 2025. \p Daniel Zeichner: Defra announced on 11 December 2024 that the full Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier scheme guidance will be published before applications open in summer 2025.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-24)

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Andrew Rosindell:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to improve biosecurity for farmed animals. \p Daniel Zeichner: Robust measures are in place to maintain and improve our ability to understand, detect, prevent, respond and recover from outbreaks. We monitor for new and emerging threats to our biosecurity through our Veterinary Risk Group (VRG) and the Human and Animal Infections Risk Surveillance (HAIRS) Group.

We are also promoting best practice while providing practical support to livestock keepers in England through the Animal Health and Welfare Pathway. As part of the Pathway cattle, sheep and pig keepers can apply for funded visits by their choice of vet.

Alongside access to disease testing and advice on improving the health, welfare and productivity of their animals these visits are a chance to get bespoke advice on improving biosecurity that reflects the circumstances on each individual farm.

We will also be opening a further application window of the Farming Equipment and Technology Fund this spring. This includes £16.7 million of funding towards the costs of a list of items that improve the health and welfare of livestock, with a range of items that can also be used to improve biosecurity on farms.

When outbreaks of exotic notifiable disease do occur Defra and the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) stand up their established outbreak structures to control and eradicate disease, restore normal trade, and assist recovery.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-24)

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Andrew Rosindell:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to uphold welfare standards for imported livestock. \p Daniel Zeichner: When animals are transported into Great Britain, their transportation must comply fully with legal requirements aimed at protecting their welfare. The rules relating to the commercial transportation of animals are set out in assimilated Regulation (EC) 1/2005 and The Welfare of Animals (Transport) (England) Order 2006, with equivalent domestic regulations in Wales and Scotland.

The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) acts as a national regulator for the welfare of animals in transport rules and is able to take regulatory action following non-compliance. This can include suspension or revocation of transporter authorisations. APHA works closely with its local authority enforcement partners to support enforcement action and prosecution of those involved in breaches of the welfare in transport legislation.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-24)

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Andrew Rosindell:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the use of argon gas in the slaughter of livestock. \p Daniel Zeichner: The Government encourages the highest standards of animal welfare at slaughter. A post implementation review of The Welfare of Animals at the Time of Killing (England) Regulations 2015 is underway and should be completed this year

There are long standing animal welfare concerns with high concentration carbon dioxide gas stunning of pigs. We recently commissioned the Animal Welfare Committee to provide an up to date and comprehensive animal welfare assessment of the evidence on high concentration carbon dioxide stunning of pigs and potential alternative stunning methods. We are also tracking the progress of the EU PigStun project, which is seeking to develop non-aversive stunning systems for pigs. Results from this project are expected this year.

Research has shown that pigs do not avoid an environment containing high concentrations of inert gases, such as argon. However, there are practical constraints to the use of inert gas mixtures for slaughter that have restricted commercial uptake so far. These include the need to expose pigs for longer periods of time in the inert gas mixture for unconsciousness to last until death.

We accept that there is a pressing need to address the welfare concerns associated with high concentration carbon dioxide stunning of pigs and look forward to receiving the Animal Welfare Committee’s report.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-24)

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Edward Morello:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure that Water Restoration Fund funded projects achieve their intended outcomes. \p Emma Hardy: The Water Restoration Fund is reinvesting funding based on water company environmental fines and penalties into projects to improve the water environment.

Up to £11 million of funding was made available on a competitive basis to support a range of water restoration projects, which is administered by the Rural Payments Agency (RPA).

Water environmental improvement project applications were assessed through a competitive process against published scoring criteria. Applications were assessed against other applications within the water company region that applicants applied for, by both a technical assessment panel and a moderation panel.

Following this rigorous assessment process, I am pleased to say that current applicants to the Water Restoration Fund have been contacted regarding the outcome of their application. Further details regarding which projects have been successful will be shared in due course once funding agreements have been finalised.

Details of the assessment can be found online at Gov.uk
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-24)

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Edward Morello:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how he (a) monitors and (b) evaluates the effectiveness of projects financed by the Water Restoration Fund. \p Emma Hardy: The Water Restoration Fund is reinvesting funding based on water company environmental fines and penalties into projects to improve the water environment.

Up to £11 million of funding was made available on a competitive basis to support a range of water restoration projects, which is administered by the Rural Payments Agency (RPA).

Water environmental improvement project applications were assessed through a competitive process against published scoring criteria. Applications were assessed against other applications within the water company region that applicants applied for, by both a technical assessment panel and a moderation panel.

Following this rigorous assessment process, I am pleased to say that current applicants to the Water Restoration Fund have been contacted regarding the outcome of their application. Further details regarding which projects have been successful will be shared in due course once funding agreements have been finalised.

Details of the assessment can be found online at Gov.uk
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Edward Morello:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how the criteria for the Water Restoration Fund ensure the prioritisation of projects with the highest impact on the environment. \p Emma Hardy: The Water Restoration Fund is reinvesting funding based on water company environmental fines and penalties into projects to improve the water environment.

Up to £11 million of funding was made available on a competitive basis to support a range of water restoration projects, which is administered by the Rural Payments Agency (RPA).

Water environmental improvement project applications were assessed through a competitive process against published scoring criteria. Applications were assessed against other applications within the water company region that applicants applied for, by both a technical assessment panel and a moderation panel.

Following this rigorous assessment process, I am pleased to say that current applicants to the Water Restoration Fund have been contacted regarding the outcome of their application. Further details regarding which projects have been successful will be shared in due course once funding agreements have been finalised.

Details of the assessment can be found online at Gov.uk
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-24)

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Edward Morello:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what criteria his Department uses to assess funding applications for the Water Restoration Fund. \p Emma Hardy: The Water Restoration Fund is reinvesting funding based on water company environmental fines and penalties into projects to improve the water environment.

Up to £11 million of funding was made available on a competitive basis to support a range of water restoration projects, which is administered by the Rural Payments Agency (RPA).

Water environmental improvement project applications were assessed through a competitive process against published scoring criteria. Applications were assessed against other applications within the water company region that applicants applied for, by both a technical assessment panel and a moderation panel.

Following this rigorous assessment process, I am pleased to say that current applicants to the Water Restoration Fund have been contacted regarding the outcome of their application. Further details regarding which projects have been successful will be shared in due course once funding agreements have been finalised.

Details of the assessment can be found online at Gov.uk
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-24)

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Satvir Kaur:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of pollution of chalk streams on (a) water quality, (b) biodiversity and (c) human health (i) nationally, (ii) in the River Test and (iii) in the River Itchen. \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.

There is significant investment and improvement work taking place within the Test and Itchen catchments. This includes extensive monitoring of environmental indicators on water quality and ecology; regulation of operators within the catchments such as water and agriculture sectors; working with the water industry on reducing reliance on harmful abstractions and ensuring compensation and mitigation while alternative sources are delivered (for example, Havant Thicket reservoir and associated schemes) and tackling diffuse water pollution. Much of this work includes contributions from a wide range of partners including wildlife trusts, rivers trusts, fisheries managers, landowners, water companies and regulators.

The Environment Agency undertakes regular sampling of the biodiversity in the Test and Itchen and publishes the results on the Environment Agency’s Ecology and Fish Data Explorer. This is freely available via the Government’s Open data website: EA Ecology & Fish Data Explorer
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-24)

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Satvir Kaur:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to improve the water quality of (a) the River Test, (b) the River Itchen and (c) other chalk streams nationally. \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.

There is significant investment and improvement work taking place within the Test and Itchen catchments. This includes extensive monitoring of environmental indicators on water quality and ecology; regulation of operators within the catchments such as water and agriculture sectors; working with the water industry on reducing reliance on harmful abstractions and ensuring compensation and mitigation while alternative sources are delivered (for example, Havant Thicket reservoir and associated schemes) and tackling diffuse water pollution. Much of this work includes contributions from a wide range of partners including wildlife trusts, rivers trusts, fisheries managers, landowners, water companies and regulators.

The Environment Agency undertakes regular sampling of the biodiversity in the Test and Itchen and publishes the results on the Environment Agency’s Ecology and Fish Data Explorer. This is freely available via the Government’s Open data website: EA Ecology & Fish Data Explorer
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-24)

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Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 17 March 2025 to Question 36866 on Internal Drainage Boards: Cambridgeshire, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the pumping infrastructure at St Germans Pumping Station in King's Lynn. \p Emma Hardy: St. Germans Pumping Station was completed in 2011 and is the largest pumping station in Britain. The pumping station drains an area of 700km2 which is mostly grade 1 agricultural land and encompasses 22,500 houses and 3,500 business. The fully automated pumping station plays a key part in the network of 17,000 Environment Agency and IDB assets which manage water levels to make it possible to live and work within the catchment. The asset is owned and operated by the Middle Level Commissioners who lead on identifying future capital investment needs. IDBs are eligible to bid for funding from the flood investment programme.

We expect all those responsible for flood risk management assets, including IDBs and other risk management authorities to invest in ongoing maintenance and ensure timely repairs where necessary.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-24)

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Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 17 March 2025 to Question 36866 on Internal Drainage Boards: Cambridgeshire, what the nature is of the Bevill’s Leam Pumping Station Resilience Works Phase 1; and when they are scheduled for completion. \p Emma Hardy: Bevill’s Leam Pumping Station Resilience Works Phase 1 is a project which is being delivered through Tranche 2A of the Internal Drainage Board (IDB) Fund. This funding is focused on modern replacement and improvements to IDB assets.

The Bevill’s Leam project aims to deliver repairs and improvements to the pumping station after Winter 2023/24 flooding to improve the reliability and resilience of the asset. The scope of works includes improvements to the weed screens and repairs/replacements to engine and electrical components within the pumping stations. The project has received £254,596 of grant funding to be delivered by 31 March 2025.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-24)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-24 conversation_16

Robin Swann:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the French Government's Third National Climate Adaptation Plan. \p Emma Hardy: The UK approach to managing climate risks is set out by the Climate Change Act 2008 and involves a Climate Change Risk Assessment and National Adaptation Programme. Similar to the French approach our National Adaptation Programme is developed on a 5 yearly cycle, outlining national-level measures that aim to address the impacts of climate change, and is based on planning adaptation against a longer-term climate change scenario.

The most recent National Adaptation Programme was published in 2023 and covered five sectors, infrastructure, natural environment, health, communities and built environment, business and industry and international dimensions, and 61 climate risks all owned and managed by specific government departments. We are managing the National Adaptation Programme as an ongoing programme of delivery against climate risks and are considering a range of options to achieve this and will set out our refreshed approach in due course.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-24)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-24 conversation_17

Helen Maguire:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of environmental contamination caused by sewage discharges by water companies in Epsom and Ewell constituency. \p Emma Hardy: For too long, water companies have discharged unacceptable levels of sewage into our rivers, lakes and seas.

That is why we are placing water companies under special measures through the Water (Special Measures) Act. The Act will drive meaningful improvements in the performance and culture of the water industry as a first important step in enabling wider, transformative change across the water sector.

To further support understanding of the impact that sewage discharges have on the receiving watercourse, a programme to rollout Continuous Water Quality Monitors is beginning in Price Review period (PR24), which runs from 2025-2030. Monitors will be installed near 25% of storm overflows and sewage treatment works in scope for the programme in this period. Sites prioritised for monitoring will be based on Defra’s priority areas.

During PR24, Thames Water will invest £784 million to reduce the use of storm overflows, including in the Epsom and Ewell constituency. Additional improvement actions also include increasing treatment capacity at sewage works, providing storage for high flows, reducing flows entering the system and provision of treatment for storm overflows which are separate from the main treatment route.

There are no sewage treatment works in the Epsom and Ewell constituency.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-24)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-24 conversation_18

Edward Morello:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to (a) monitor and (b) track the effectiveness of measures to reduce nitrogen leaching from agriculture. \p Emma Hardy: The Environment Agency (EA) is tasked with enforcing the Nitrate Pollution Prevention Regulations (Nitrate Regulations) and the Reduction and Prevention of Agricultural Diffuse Pollution Regulations (Farming Rules for Water (FRfW)).

The EA monitors nitrate concentrations in surface and groundwaters and any changes in water quality. The Nitrate Regulations include requirements on maximum application rates for manures and fertilisers containing nitrogen.

Under the FRfW, land managers are required to plan their applications of organic manures and manufactured fertilisers, taking account of up-to-date soil sampling. This ensures that they do not apply more nitrogen than the soil and crop need, which would present significant risk of diffuse agricultural pollution.

Defra have statutory duties to periodically review the effectiveness of the Nitrate Regulations and the FRfW. Though these reviews are overdue, this Government is prioritising finalising them and aim to publish them as soon as practically possible.
wrans/answers2025-03-24 conversation_19
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-24)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-24 conversation_19

Wendy Morton:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the closure of the Sustainable Farming Incentive on the effectiveness of the Environmental Land Management scheme. \p Daniel Zeichner: Defra has closed the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) for the submission of new applications, but existing agreements will continue. We now have over 37,000 live SFI agreements. Every penny in all existing SFI agreements will be paid to farmers, and outstanding eligible applications that have been submitted will be processed.

We will provide further details about the reformed SFI offer once the Spending Review has been completed.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-24)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-24 conversation_20

Edward Morello:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what penalties exist for owners of private sewage systems which leak into (a) soil and (b) watercourses. \p Emma Hardy: In cases where private sewerage systems cause pollution of either soil or watercourses the operator of that system may be committing an offence under the Environmental Permitting Regulations 2016 and, as such, may be subject to the potential penalties set out in those Regulations. When determining what compliance or enforcement action is appropriate in any given case the Environment Agency uses its enforcement and sanctions policy. Penalties may also arise under legislation for which local authorities are responsible, including the Public Health Act 1936 and the Building Act 1984.
wrans/answers2025-03-24 conversation_21
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-24)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-24 conversation_21

Edward Morello:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how often inspections are conducted on private sewage systems to prevent environmental contamination. \p Emma Hardy: In 2022, 2023 and 2024 respectively the Environment Agency carried out 185, 224 and 202 inspections of private sewerage systems, excluding private discharges of trade effluent.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-24)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-24 conversation_22

Edward Morello:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what support is available to help homeowners with private sewage systems to meet environmental standards. \p Emma Hardy: In some cases involving more than one property, and where the other qualifying criteria set out in the legislation and associated Ministerial guidance are met, the relevant sewerage undertaker may have a duty to provide and pay for a new public sewer to serve those properties under s101A, Water Industry Act 1991. There is no other financial help available nationally, either through the Environment Agency or directly from the Government, for improvements needed to comply with the requirements of the Environmental Permitting Regulations relating to private sewerage systems. Recognising the costs involved, the EA seek to agree a reasonable timescale for improvements to be made with the owner of the affected property, usually within 1 year, although this may be agreed on a case-by-case basis. There are some local schemes in place which offer support for the replacement of existing private sewerage systems in certain circumstances however, such as through United Utilities’ bespoke performance commitment relating to private sewerage systems around Windermere.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-24)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-24 conversation_23

Edward Morello:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what regulations exist to prevent leakage from private sewage systems into (a) soil and (b) groundwater. \p Emma Hardy: Discharges to ground or watercourses from private sewerage systems are regulated by the Environment Agency under the Environmental Permitting Regulations 2016. The requirements of these regulations are implemented through a combination of statutory general binding rules for small discharges and environmental permits for larger ones. Other relevant regulations are the responsibility of local authorities, in particular the relevant provisions set out in the Building Act 1984 and the Public Health Act 1936.
wrans/answers2025-03-24 conversation_24
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-24)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-24 conversation_24

Jas Athwal:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with the Mayor of London on reducing pollution in (a) London and (b) Ilford South constituency. \p Emma Hardy: Poor air quality continues to be the biggest environmental risk to human health. Responsibility for air quality is devolved in London, but we welcome the progress made in London to address air pollution and improve people’s health. Defra officials regularly meet with the Greater London Authority to discuss air quality.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-24)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-24 conversation_25

Sarah Gibson:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the reduction in the Rural England Prosperity Fund for 2025/26 on rural businesses. \p Daniel Zeichner: The Department announced on 4 March that it would be providing an additional £33 million for the Rural England Prosperity Fund in financial year 2025-26. This announcement continues funding beyond the lifetime of the original scheme providing new money for new projects in rural areas.

The Autumn Statement on 30 October confirmed Defra’s budgets for 2024-25 and 2025-26. Funding allocations for individual programmes have been determined through the departments business planning exercise. Future funding decisions remain subject to the Government spending review.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-24)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-24 conversation_26

Grahame Morris:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will take steps to introduce a national digital equine ID system. \p Daniel Zeichner: This is a devolved matter, and the information provided therefore relates to England only.

The Government recognises the importance of the equine sector to the UK economy and of improving equine identification. We have no current plans to implement mandatory digital identification, but we remain in close touch with the industry to look at potential improvements to equine ID.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-24)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-24 conversation_27

Ian Byrne:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Answer of 5 September 2022 to Question 41982 on Sewers, whether he plans to launch a consultation with stakeholders on the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals on the adoption of private sewerage assets by sewerage companies. \p Emma Hardy: The Government recognises that current arrangements for private sewerage need review. The Government has included private sewerage in the terms of reference for the Independent Water Commission and will examine how best to address the problems. The Government is committed to using legislation to reform the water sector and will continue to do so where necessary.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-24)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-24 conversation_28

Wendy Morton:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many incidents of fly-tipping have been reported in the 2024-25 financial year. \p Mary Creagh: Local authorities in England are required to report fly-tipping incidents to Defra, which are published annually at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fly-tipping-in-england. Data for the 2023/24 reporting year is available at this link.

Data for the 2024/25 reporting year is still being collected.