Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

We’re investing a record £2.65 billion in 2024/25 and 2025/26 to improve flood resilience by maintaining, repairing and building flood defences. The full list of over 700 schemes to benefit from fresh funding this year, including Thames Valley and Slough, was announced on 31 March and can be found here.

Since 2010, the Wiltshire Council area has experienced multiple flood incidents that have required the response of the Environment Agency and other Flood Risk Authorities. This included widespread flooding during 2023/24, resulting in two-thirds of towns and parishes in the county being flooded and over 450 properties flooded. Flooding was also particularly acute during 2012-2014, with heavy rain and ten storms experienced between October 2013 and February 2014.

Projects such as Salisbury River Park, that helps to better protect 350 properties from flooding, and property flood resilience measures that were installed in areas such as Dauntsey in 2015, help to create more flood resilient communities.

We’re investing a record £2.65 billion in 2024/25 and 2025/26 to improve flood resilience by maintaining, repairing and building flood defences. The full list of over 700 schemes to benefit from fresh funding this year was announced on 31 March and can be found here.

Defra recognises that commercialising circular economy innovations in UK supply chains is critical to driving genuine circular change and economic growth. In taking a whole-economy approach, the Circular Economy Taskforce will consider how the Government can support innovation, particularly at scale, as it develops the Circular Economy Strategy for England.

This Government is committed to transitioning towards a circular economy and has convened a Circular Economy Taskforce of experts to help develop the first ever Circular Economy Strategy for England, for which we plan to publish for consultation in the coming autumn.

The levels of pollution in our waters, including nitrates, are unacceptable. We are prioritising cleaning up our waters.

We are reviewing the Environmental Improvement Plan and will create a new, statutory plan for how the department will protect and restore our national environment and meet each of our ambitious targets, including reducing pollution. We nonetheless continue to work with farmers to deliver improvements and drive down agricultural pollution including through regulations, Environmental Land Management schemes and advisory services. As a first key step, we have established a programme to reform the agriculture water regulations to ensure they effectively deliver pollution reductions whilst supporting farm businesses to grow.

The Environment Agency (EA) is working with the Chalk Stream Restoration Group, and other partners, to protect and restore chalk streams across the South East. For example, it is ensuring that water companies have ambitious but affordable programmes that address the threats to chalk streams, including restoring sustainable abstraction in chalk catchments and reducing the impacts of discharges from storm overflows. It also continues to work with partners to lead or support numerous chalk stream restoration projects.

The Water Industry National Environment Programme (WINEP) is a programme used to continuously improve the water industry and thus protect our water and waterbodies. There are 8 WINEP water quality actions that Thames Water will undertake in AMP8 (between 2025 and 2030) at Hogsmill. The EA have also been supporting species recovery of water voles on the Hogsmill.

Following the publication of the Air Quality Information System (AQIS) review in March, we are working to increase awareness about air pollution and make air quality part of everyday conversations.

The Barnett formula is applied in the usual way, as set out in the Statement of Funding policy, to all changes to Defra’s budget. It is applied when departmental budgets change - not when departments announce how they are spending their budgets.

Barnett consequentials provided to the Welsh Government are not ringfenced for a specific policy area. It is for the Welsh Government to allocate their funding in devolved areas, including agriculture, as they see fit. The Welsh Government can therefore take its own decisions on managing and investing available resources, reflecting its own priorities and local circumstances, and it is accountable to the Senedd for these decisions.

The Government has no plans to nationalise Thames Water or any other water company.

It would cost billions of pounds and take years to unpick the current ownership model, slowing down our reforms and only worsening sewage pollution.

However, this Government stands ready to intervene to ensure the continued provision of vital public services – through the use of a Special Administration Regime (SAR) – should this be required.

A SAR is not a form of renationalisation.

Following the Spending Review, this Government has confirmed that water company fines and penalties will be allocated to projects and programmes across the country which contribute to water quality. Over £100 million in fines levied against water companies since October 2023, as well as future fines and penalties, will be reinvested into projects to clean up our waters which could include local environmental programmes to address pollution.

The Drinking Water Inspectorate is undertaking a research programme to better understand the prevalence of TFA in drinking water sources across England and to assess treatment efficacy.

This work is being coordinated with colleagues in the Environment Agency (EA), Defra, and the Health and Safety Executive, who are also assessing TFA in the wider environment and reviewing its potential classification.

From 1 July 2025 the restricted zone (RZ) for bluetongue will be extended to include all areas of England and the current movement restrictions for live animals within England will be lifted. The bluetongue virus serotype 3 (BTV-3) Control Framework for England sought to slow the spread of disease across Great Britain through movement controls while safe and effective vaccines were developed. Given the availability now of safe and effective BTV-3 vaccines, low prevalence of severe clinical signs in affected domestic animals, and the impact restrictions have had on a very large number of keepers in England, sustaining or increasing controls on BTV-3 into the future is neither sustainable nor proportionate.

Defra is not able to provide any financial assistance to farmers in Shropshire for costs associated with pre-movement tests required by the Scottish and Welsh Governments after this date. Farmers will need to make commercial decisions regarding the costs associated with moving their animals out of the All-England Restricted Zone into Scotland and Wales.

Vaccination is the most suitable long-term approach to controlling disease and is consistent with the approach taken in Europe. The decision to vaccinate is a matter for farmers based on the possible impacts for their businesses. In the current situation we do not believe there is a case for mandatory vaccination, nor for the Government to provide or fund vaccination for BTV.

We are investing £2.7 billion a year into sustainable food production and nature’s recovery, with funding for our Environmental Land Management schemes increasing by 150%. This funding is available to all farmers, includes this in river catchments.

We have more farmers than ever in nature friendly farming schemes and are reforming SFI to target funds fairly and effectively towards food, farming and nature priorities. We will announce further details later this year.

The Secretary of State has had no discussions with stakeholders on the requirements for schools to serve meat and dairy products to children, which is a matter for the Department for Education together with the Department of Health and Social Care. To ensure quality and nutrition in meals for the future, the Department for Education and the Department of Health and Social Care are acting quickly with experts across the sector to revise the school food standards, so every school is supported with the latest nutrition guidance.

The Government maintains a Code of Practice for the Welfare of Dogs which can be found here: Code of practice for the welfare of dogs. The Code summarises important information owners and keepers should consider when caring for their dogs. This includes advice on preventing dogs suffering from heat stress in cars and other enclosed areas on warm days.

Defra officials regularly engage with financial institutions providing farm lending, and we will continue to work to explore further opportunities to improve farmers' access to finance.

This builds on the £110 million in farming grants announced earlier this year starting in 2025/6. These grants aim to support innovation and productivity investment within the farming sectors.

We know climate change presents challenges to the agricultural sector. The government is offering a New Deal for Farmers to help address this.

We are providing farmers and land managers with the support needed to help restore nature, which is vital to safeguard our long-term food security and build resilience to climate change. In the recent spending review we committed to carrying on the transition towards paying to deliver public goods for the environment, with over £7 billion directed into nature’s recovery between 2026 and 2029. This includes environmental farming schemes (£5.9 billion), tree planting (£816 million) and peatland restoration (£85 million).

To address the impacts of flooding on farmers and rural communities, we will be investing £4.2 billion over three years in flood defences across the country – an average of £1.4bn each year and a 5% increase compared to the current spending review period.

British Wool is a public body, responsible for the collection, sale and marketing of wool from across the UK. While Defra maintains regular engagement with British Wool and monitors its strategic performance through a framework agreement, the organisation remains operationally independent. As such, Defra makes no assessment on the process by which payments are returned to producers.

Sales are conducted by auction throughout the year and reflect global market developments in price and availability. Payments to British Wool’s producer members are calculated at year end once the full value of that member’s clip is known. Returns are based on the weight and quality of wool delivered and the average value each grade achieved at auction. Payments are available from 1 May at the start of the following clip year and are released automatically when new season wool is delivered or on request from members.

The Government recognises the importance of sugar beet farmers and their vital contribution to UK sugar production. Also, that sugar beet itself, used in crop rotations, is beneficial to soil and crop health and allows arable farms a season of “rest” from cereal production.

We are committed to promoting fairness across the food supply chain. That includes seeing a price agreed for sugar beet that benefits both growers and processors, in the context of the global market. There is a well-established process in place to agree the domestic sugar beet price; designed to be independent between both parties.

While this process has been effective over many years, we continue to keep it and the regulatory framework under review.

Work is underway on a comprehensive new bovine tuberculosis eradication strategy, and findings from local initiatives such as the Gatcombe farm project will be considered as part of its development.

The Government shares the British public's high regard for animal welfare and has made clear that the production of foie gras from ducks or geese using force feeding raises serious welfare concerns.

We have been clear that we will use our Trade Strategy to promote the highest food production standards.

Imports of animals and animal products are subject to strict biosecurity controls. These may include pre-notification, veterinary health certification and Border Control Post checks. We apply additional measures in response to specific biosecurity threats. For example, in response to recent outbreaks of foot and mouth disease in Europe, we imposed immediate restrictions on commercial imports of susceptible animals and their untreated products from specific countries and banned personal imports of certain meat and dairy products from the European Union single market area.

We continue to work closely with officials at both ports and airports to deliver the required checks on goods to minimise the risk of animal diseases entering the UK. This includes providing funding to Dover Port Health Authority to support Border Force in the detection of illegal imports of animal products.

Disease control is a devolved matter, and it is for the Devolved Governments to assess the disease risks and impacts in relation to their national herds, alongside the impacts of controls, and respond accordingly. However, Defra works closely with the Devolved Governments with the aim of providing, where possible, a consistent and coordinated response across the UK. A key forum for this is the Animal Disease Policy Group, which is a UK-wide policy decision making group. Defra and Devolved Governments also engage closely with industry to inform policy development and implementation through the Livestock Core Group. It is encouraging to see that Wales is now joining Scotland in allowing some exemptions for pre-movement testing for cattle which have been vaccinated with a product that prevents viraemia - which will reduce costs for movements of these animals between England and Wales.

Defra will keep the approach to bluetongue control under review in 2025 and are grateful for the continued engagement of Devolved Governments and industry stakeholders.

Disease control is a devolved matter, and it is for the Devolved Governments to assess the disease risks and impacts in relation to their national herds, alongside the impacts of controls, and respond accordingly. However, Defra works closely with the Devolved Governments with the aim of providing, where possible, a consistent and coordinated response across the UK. A key forum for this is the Animal Disease Policy Group, which is a UK-wide policy decision making group. Defra and Devolved Governments also engage closely with industry to inform policy development and implementation through the Livestock Core Group. It is encouraging to see that Wales is now joining Scotland in allowing some exemptions for pre-movement testing for cattle which have been vaccinated with a product that prevents viraemia - which will reduce costs for movements of these animals between England and Wales.

Defra will keep the approach to bluetongue control under review in 2025 and are grateful for the continued engagement of Devolved Governments and industry stakeholders.

The UK is currently taking steps to come into compliance and will be notifying the EU of the measures the UK has taken in due course. As part of the decision-making process, it is important that the UK considers the Tribunal’s ruling and that the policy decision weighs and balances considerations in relation to the adjustment period, and also the outcomes agreed between the EU and UK on 19th May as part of the UK-EU Summit.

The Government is presently considering its response to the Tribunal’s ruling and I cannot therefore comment in detail on the work we are doing to bring the UK into compliance.

To manage the drought, the EA and water companies have activated their drought plans. These plans outline actions that are needed to reduce the impact of the drought on the economy and communities. Current actions by the EA include enhanced monitoring, acting to save fish where rivers are at risk of drying up, responding to environmental incidents, and coordinating actions through the National Drought Group. Water companies are following statutory plans, and the Government and the EA are regulating water companies to ensure they follow their plans.

Droughts pose a risk to communities and the economy by impacting public water supply, agriculture, fisheries, energy, transport, tourism and navigation. The EA recently published the National Framework for Water Resources, which identifies the ambitious actions needed to meet these significant national water resources challenges out to 2055.

In March 2024, and following a public consultation, the UK and Scottish Governments closed English waters of the North Sea and all Scottish waters to sandeel fishing. The closure will shield sandeel as an essential food source for commercially valuable fish, threatened seabird populations and for marine mammals. The EU has raised a dispute that the UK’s decision to prohibit fishing for sandeel within UK waters is not compliant with the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA). The Permanent Court of Arbitration found the UK was successful in three of four claims including Scotland successfully defending the permanent closure of fishing for sandeel in Scottish waters. The Arbitration Tribunal determined there was a procedural error in the decision-making process to close English waters to sandeel fishing, in that, the UK did not have sufficient due regard to the EU and the principle of proportionality, as required by the TCA. The Government is presently bringing the UK into compliance with the tribunal’s ruling.

The landmark economic deal with the United States announced on 8 May protects jobs in the automotive, steel, aluminium, pharmaceutical and aerospace sectors - sectors that employ over 320,000 people across the UK. For the first time ever, this deal will also open up exclusive access for UK beef farmers to the US market.

The demand for UK-produced crops is subject to global market prices and supply. Crop varieties grown in the UK can be of a specification for food, feed and bioenergy standards, and this in-built flexibility helps farmers to ensure an end-use market for their product. For farmers, the opportunity to sell into bioenergy production offers a secondary market for their surplus or lower quality crops and associated agricultural residues. In 2023, 133,000 hectares of agricultural land in the UK were used to grow crops for bioenergy. This area represents 2.2% of the arable land in the UK.

The Government is working closely with the Ethanol industry to find a way forward. The Business and Transport Secretaries met with representatives from the bioethanol industry last week to discuss their concerns.

The Government regularly monitors the effectiveness of its legislation. At present we are not planning to review the Weeds Act 1959.

Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes are internationally recognised as effective tools for promoting more sustainable product design. As part of the development of packaging EPR (pEPR) scheme, we have engaged with industry stakeholders to better understand how it can incentivise circular design principles. The introduction of modulation from year two of pEPR will benefit the most recyclable materials by providing a fee discount. In contrast, less recyclable alternatives will incur an increased fee. Producers can respond to these fee-based incentives and make their packaging easier to reuse or recycle, further, they can adapt design so that less packaging is used. A full assessment, beyond the impact assessment, has not yet been made.

No such assessment has been made. We have a vibrant, resilient and productive dairy sector which produces a range of healthy nutritious products which bring value of £5-£6 billion at farm level, and many times higher when that milk is processed into a diverse range of products and commodities, such as yogurt. This has helped make the dairy industry the UK’s largest agricultural sector accounting for 19% of total 2023 UK agricultural output, bringing significant value to our economy.

The Government supports species reintroductions, where there are clear benefits for nature, people and the environment. Taking each species in turn:

A) We are not aware of any active proposals for the reintroduction of elk.

B) The conservation and recovery of water voles has been supported by a range of projects. The Environment Agency has carried out 279 projects over the last three years, including habitat works, reintroduction or translocation, research and monitoring. Forestry England has also reintroduced water voles to Kielder forest with Northumberland Wildlife Trust and have further plans to reintroduce water voles into Wild Ennerdale in the Lake District. In addition, Natural England’s Species Recovery Programme has invested in three reintroduction projects of captive bred water voles.

C) Defra has no current plans to support restocking of eels.

D) Forestry England works closely with both active and potential pine marten reintroduction projects across the country and are also partners on the Two Moors Pine Marten Project, and the South Cumbria Pine Marten Recovery Project, both of which released animals last autumn.

This Government has committed to transitioning to a circular economy to improve lives up and down the country, grow our economy, and protect our environment for generations to come. Recent economic modelling of illustrative measures suggests we could grow GDP in England by 0.8% over 15 years, deliver green jobs, promote efficient and productive use of resources, minimise negative environmental impacts and accelerate to Net Zero.

No, the Department has not made an assessment of the potential merits of banning the sale of flying ring frisbees.
This Government is committed to moving to a circular economy for plastics – a future where we keep our resources in use for longer, waste is reduced, we accelerate the path to net zero, we see investment in critical infrastructure and green jobs, our economy prospers, and nature thrives. We will publish the first ever Circular Economy Strategy for England this autumn. It will include a series of roadmaps detailing the interventions that the government and others will make on a sector-by-sector basis. One of the five sectors we will start with is the chemicals and plastics sector.

As a part of the transition to a circular economy, managing and reducing plastic waste will be crucial. We will continue to review the latest evidence on problematic products and/or materials to take a systematic approach, in line with circular economy principles, to reduce the use of unnecessary single-use plastic products and encourage reuse solutions.

Defra’s Marine and Coastal Wildlife Code for England provides guidance on how to act responsibly around marine wildlife when visiting the coast, including the need for the public to take all litter home with them. We would encourage anyone who sees a sick, injured or entangled seal to contact the British Divers Marine Life Rescue on 01825 765546.

The Agricultural Supply Chain Adjudicator (ASCA) is responsible for enforcing regulations developed under the Agriculture Act 2020 'Fair Dealing' powers (section 29). Regulations introduced using these powers promote fair contractual dealing and contribute to a more equitable relationship between producers and purchasers. To date, the powers have been used to create the Fair Dealing Obligations (Milk) Regulations 2024 and the Fair Dealing Obligations (Pigs) Regulations 2025.

The ASCA can investigate relevant complaints and has significant powers to impose fines and/or order compensation to be paid by those found to be in breach. The ASCA also aims to be a convener across supply chains, working with both producers and purchasers to improve business relationships and behaviours around contracts.

The remit of ASCA deals with those who farmers supply directly, which in most cases is not supermarkets. The ASCA therefore has a distinct role and way of working to the Groceries Code Adjudicator (GCA), which instead regulates the relationship between large retailers and their direct suppliers. The ASCA and the GCA are also in regular contact as they fulfil their respective remits, ensuring co-ordination without duplication.

The Government are committed to an evidence-based approach to regulating the supply chain. The fourth statutory review of the GCA’s effectiveness was recently launched, with a public consultation open which closes on 5 August. We encourage anyone interested to respond to the review’s consultation and will carefully consider the views received. We will also conduct a statutory review into the effectiveness of the ‘Fair Dealing’ regulations in due course.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 2 April 2025 to the hon. Member for Birmingham Northfield, PQ UIN 41698.

This Government was elected on a mandate to introduce the most ambitious plans to improve animal welfare in a generation. The Prime Minister announced that we will be publishing an animal welfare strategy later this year.

This will build on the support already available through the Animal Health and Welfare Pathway, which includes access to testing for priority diseases and advice to continually improve the health, welfare and productivity of farmed animals through funded vet visits.

Defra is exploring various avenues to improve the short- and long-term capacity issues.

Defra has increased engagement across the veterinary profession and other stakeholders, to find a sustainable solution, ensuring the ongoing provision of high-quality veterinary surgeons both in the private and public sectors.

Local authorities are primarily responsible for managing graffiti on their land. Existing Defra guidance on managing graffiti and flyposting for local authorities and others outlines the options available for tackling these issues with examples of good practice. The guidance has been informed by a research report which aids further understanding of the issue. The guidance and research report are available here: understanding graffiti and fly-posting management approaches - EV0497.

Local authorities have enforcement powers to help them tackle graffiti, including issuing fixed penalty notices of up to £500. They can also tackle persistent offenders and other unreasonable behaviour that is having a negative effect on a community’s quality of life by issuing Community Protection Notices and Public Space Protection Orders.

Defra maintains regular engagement with food retailers on a range of issues, including labelling and improving accessibility requirements for all consumers.

The availability and accessibility of essential food information to all consumers is vitally important. It is already a requirement that food information must be easily visible, clearly legible and where appropriate indelible, in addition to there being a required minimum font size for mandatory information.

We are aware of moves by some retailers to provide information on food in braille format, and the government is interested in seeing how this works.

We know there are other exciting possibilities, including the use of mobile phone apps and QR codes via which consumers with visual impairments may be able to access not only the basics, but the full range of information available on the label.

Braille labelling has not been a specific focus to date. We continue to explore how food information can be made more accessible, including through wider conversations with industry and stakeholders representing consumers with disabilities, such as the Royal National Institute for Blind (RNIB).

Attracting bright new talent into land-based careers and having a skilled workforce in place is vital for the future of UK food and farming.

Defra works closely with The Institute for Agriculture and Horticulture (TIAH) which is encouraging young people and new entrants into farming in its capacity as an industry led professional body for the farming industry. This includes leading a cross-industry initiative to address common negative misconceptions about the sector and providing free TIAH membership for students.

Furthermore, the Government has launched Skills England to ensure there is a comprehensive suite of apprenticeships, training and technical qualifications for individuals and employers to access, which are aligned with skills gaps and what employers need. It will work with its partners to ensure that regional and national skills needs are met.