Found: Q59 Chair: Finally from me, the Department obviously has to co-ordinate with DEFRA to ensure that climate

Found: This also includes providing further clarifications on the Defra waste hierarchy so that waste feedstocks

Found: Defra figures show that, between 1996 and 2022, emissions related to UK production reduced from 407

Found: lacks plant-based foods for plant-based protein, dietary fibre, vitamin C and other key nutrients (DEFRA

Found: should set a national target for biomethane generation in 2030 and 2050  EAC examine the steps that DEFRA

Found: interdependencies With biomethane, there are critical interdependencies between government departments DESNZ, DEFRA

Found: climate pathways, from a global 1.5°C pathway, through the adaptation pathway recently provided to Defra

Found: emergence of new potentially 1 Environment Agency (2025) National Framework for Water Resources 2025 2 Defra

Found: DPP0041 - Drought Preparedness Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Written Evidence

Found: Following Cunliffe recommendations, Defra is now working through the transition plans to a new integrated

Found: currently reviewing the communications plans for our draft Drought Plan 2027 which will be submitted to Defra

Found: We have called on Defra to reject effluent recycling.

Found: The EA and Ofwat work with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, water companies,

Found: establishment failures due to drought in England (2022), Forestry Commission, Rural Payments Agency and DEFRA

Found: establishment failures due to drought in England (2022), Forestry Commission, Rural Payments Agency and DEFRA

Found: The Defra Water Management Grant has stimulated interest in developing reservoirs, but short application

Found: Similar to existing flooding units, the establishment of a dedicated Drought Resilience Unit within Defra

Found: Defra is currently consulting on a minimum water efficiency standard35.

Found: Key sources we have drawn from are Hannaford et al. 2019, About Drought, 2021 and the Defra- funded

Found: efficiency must become national priority says EA, Environment Agency press release, 18 November 2025, with Defra

Found: ineffective during droughts when water supplies are already limited. 5.7 Whilst the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs

Found: item=3 14 Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) (2023) Plan for Water: our integrated

Found: all water-related issues (droughts and floods) in an integrative manner, i.e. involve all affected (Defra

Found: should embed digital and cyber resilience into drought plans, supported by coordinated action across DEFRA

Found: Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/14732971.2023.2211739. [2] Defra (2021) England Peat Action Plan

Found: Including: o Defra/FCRIP Funding: Data on (i) water balance in Chalk Streams and (ii) groundwater in

Found: Letter from Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Defra) to Lord Carlile of Berriew re Marking of Retail Goods Regs

Found: In particular, the co-ordination between Defra and DESNZ on mitigation and adaptation, with one being

Found: I also set up a Minister of State delivery team across those key Departments: DSIT, DEFRA, DBT, DESNZ

Found: The agrifood attachés are actually DEFRA.

Found: (DEFRA), the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), UK Research

Found: poverty strategy will also consider what, right across Government—MHCLG, the Department for Transport, DEFRA

Found: Tom Bradshaw: They sit within the DEFRA team, but we are worried.

Found: on Water sector regulation.1 I was pleased to see that you have accepted our recommendations for Defra

Found: .  DEFRA has yet to update the Environmental Improvement Plan, which should address the ever growing

Found:  Defra o Integrate river corridor restoration into Environmental Land Management Schemes (ELMS)

Found: Responsibility for this issue falls between DEFRA and FCDO, creating bureaucratic blind spots.

Found: This inquiry should consider and guide coherent policy across Defra, HM Treasury and BEIS, ensuring

Found: Adaptation policy officially sits in Defra but due to the inherently cross departmental nature of climate

Found:  Defra o Incorporate sewage sludge into Environmental Permitting Regulations o Extend monitoring

Found:  Monitoring and regulatory frameworks adequately capture health risks;  Responsibilities across DEFRA

Found: .  Defra must support farmers’ and growers’ access to high quality affordable compost  DHCLG must promote

Found: them;  Identify good practice in other countries to emulate in the UK;  Make recommendations to Defra

Found: especially benefit from a wide-ranging inquiry by a Committee (like the EAC) whose remit goes beyond Defra

Found: Action needed from Government An inquiry could examine:  How departments (DEFRA, DHSC, MHCLG, DfT, Treasury

Found: Ocean health cannot simply be a policy aim of Defra, but should be integrated across Government.

Found: departments, such as DBT and DESNZ, this model has not been extended to the critical interface between DEFRA

Found: DEFRA has a funding commitment from HM Treasury of over £2.7 billion for sustainable farming and nature

Found: in climate resilience, carbon sequestration, and nature recovery but they risk being wiped out as DEFRA

Found: Develop a cross-departmental Menstrual Product Safety Strategy linking DEFRA, DHSC and BEIS.

Found: Yet the monitoring framework for air quality remains fragmented, with responsibility spread across Defra

Found: details about the ECOWind BOWIE project are available here: https://ecowind.uk/projects/bowie/. 3 Defra

Found: risks to these, which have been identified as “a national security blind spot”, cannot be left to DEFRA

Found: from our food system (including imports) are equivalent to more than a third of UK GHGs (Source: Defra

Found: government has opened the door to a new approach with upcoming strategies on the circular economy (Defra-led

Found: confidentiality; require use of a unified site‑level WUE/water‑source template to be published by Defra

Found: Unlike trees and peatland habitats, which have DEFRA-led Action Plans, grasslands have no overarching

Found: Develop targeted communication campaigns, through bodies like DEFRA, that leverage motivating emotions

Found: set out its ambition to grow annual private investment flows to more than £1 billion by 2030, and Defra

Found: Annex 1: Supplementary Evidence Report; Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: London,

Found: .  Options for closer alignment across DEFRA, DHSC and DLUHC to ensure ABOUT THE AUTHOR Sadie Rockliffe

Found: .  Funded via Green Gilts, DEFRA/BEIS budgets, and partnerships.

Found: Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

UK ICF was launched in 2011 as Official Development Assistance (ODA). It plays a crucial role in fulfilling the UK’s obligations under the Paris Climate Agreement and advancing the Government’s wider ambition to establish the UK as a global leader in international climate action. In 2019, the previous Government announced its commitment to spend £11.6 billion in ICF in the five years to 2025-26. The UK’s 2023 ICF strategy outlined four priority areas for the funding: clean energy; nature for climate and people; adaptation and resilience; and sustainable cities, infrastructure and transport. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and three other Government departments – the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ); Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra); and Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) – have responsibility for funding and delivering ICF.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to Replacing animals in science: A strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods, published on 11 November 2025, what the evidential basis was for including the reduction of the use of fish endocrine disruption tests by the end of 2035 in Basket 3.

Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Government’s publication “Replacing animals in science: A strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods” sets out our long-term vision for a world where the use of animals in science is eliminated in all but exceptional circumstances. Multiple stakeholders and experts in this area, including Defra and the Veterinary Medicine Directorate, were consulted during the development of the three baskets approach, which groups animal tests according to how ready they are for replacement, based on the maturity of potential alternative methods. They concluded that basket 3 was the most appropriate timeline for fish endocrine disruption tests.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to address the financial pressures on local councils arising from internal drainage board levies in areas where they have increased in recent years.

Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The government supports and values the vital work internal drainage boards (IDBs) undertake in managing water levels and reducing flood risk, benefitting communities, businesses and farmers.

In recognition of IDB cost increases and the impact on local authority special levies, the government announced as part of the Local Government Finance Settlement Policy Statement, that it will provide £5 million in funding for the local authorities most impacted by IDB levies in 2026/27. This follows the £5 million grant awarded in 2025/26. As in previous years, allocations for the 2026/27 IDB levy support grant will be announced in due course once IDB levy data has been received towards the end of the financial year.

We recognise the need to ensure IDBs are set up for the longer term. Defra and MHCLG have commissioned a research project into IDB funding and costs, which launched in early September and will close in summer 2026.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of exposure to (a) glyphosate, (b) per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances and (c) heavy metals in period products on public health.

Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

During the passage of the Product Regulation and Metrology Act 2025, the Government committed to consult on period product safety. As part of this Officials are reviewing the need for any further research and testing for harmful chemicals and heavy metals in period products to complement the consultation.

We are working closely with DEFRA who advise that studies carried out in the EU on chemicals in period products found that the chemicals identified were present only in low concentrations, with no evidence of significant risks to human health. Defra is continuing to monitor research in this area.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the 130,000 Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease hospital admissions made each year.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Smoking is the number one preventable cause of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The Tobacco and Vapes Bill will be the biggest public health intervention since the indoor smoking ban in 2007 and will help deliver our ambition for a smoke-free United Kingdom.

Poor air quality can exacerbate COPD. To address this, the Department of Health and Social Care is working across the Government with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to tackle air pollution, and the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero to fix housing and reduce damp and mould. Infections can also exacerbate COPD, so the National Health Service is running winter vaccine campaigns against respiratory infections including COVID-19, flu, and pneumococcal disease.

To enable faster diagnosis and earlier access to treatment, access to spirometry tests in community diagnostic centres (CDCs) is growing and will continue to do so as more sites come online. The first five months of 2025/26 saw an increase in CDC spirometry testing of approximately 2,000 tests per month more than in the previous year.

Pulmonary rehabilitation is a key intervention to improve the health of people with COPD and reduce pressure on NHS hospitals. NHS England has published commissioning standards for pulmonary rehabilitation, setting out the benchmarks that high-quality services should aim for. This includes reducing health inequalities and ensuring equitable access.

Found: across England, 29 January 2025; CSN0W, CS-N0W: Future water resources, [accessed December 2025] 9 Defra

Found: spent on the CJRS to the £800,000 spent by the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA

Found: spent on the CJRS to the £800,000 spent by the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA

Found: It is proposed that the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and Food Standards

Found: Similarly, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs will be working with departments

Found: Food and Energising Britain: Your voice in our Clean Energy Superpower Mission 14 Rural Affairs (Defra

Found: The UK noted that Member State applications would need to be assessed by Defra and the Devolved Administrations

Found: Figure 56: Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (2024).

Found: UrbanNon-metropolitan1 Rural Urban classifications of Fire and Rescue Service as defined by Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Found: CS-N0W Climate Services for a Net Zero Resilient World CSRP Climate Science Research Programme Defra

Found: (Defra); HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC); the Home Office; and the Department for

Found: (Defra); HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC); the Home Office; and the Department for

Found: All proposals remain subject to formal decision-making processes led by Defra and the BMG.

Found: Important note: These recommendations do not represent the official position of Defra or MMO at this

Found: calendar year for CCU Plant Table S4.3 Large combustion plant performance parameters for reporting to DEFRA

Found: East Staffordshire councils, annual status report, air quality networks spread across the UK and Defra

Found: applications are determined on behalf of the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra

Found: We have confirmed with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and DfE, that

Found: We have confirmed with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and DfE, that

Found: We have also worked closely with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and

Found: We have also worked closely with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and

Found: With their support, we are making a request to Defra to re‑baseline our carbon footprint, as little

Found: be found in the Statement on Revisions and Errors at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/defra-policy-statement-on-revisions-and-corrections

Found: Since 1952 figures have been supplied by the District Fishery Officers of Defra and now the MMO.

Found: helpline@defra.gov.uk www.gov.uk/defra Date December 2025 Dear Sir/Madam, Stakeholder

Found: available at www.gov.uk/government/publications APHA is an Executive Agency of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Found: We’ve worked closely with Defra to make this Plan more streamlined and delivery-focused, with greater

Found: We endorse work by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to help coordinate cross-government

Found: FROMLORDKATZNIBI GOVERNMENTWHIPCO,DEFRA,PWP,HO,HOUSEOFLORDS NIO,SOANDWOLONDONSWIAOPW 02072196802 Telephone

Found: Library Churches Conservation Trust Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra

Found: Library Churches Conservation Trust Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra

Found: Library Churches Conservation Trust Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra

Found: Library Churches Conservation Trust Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra

Found: Library Churches Conservation Trust Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra

Found: Library Churches Conservation Trust Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra

Found: consider the Environment Targets (Fine Particulate Matter) (England) Regulations 2023 and associated Defra

Found: process is essential to accelerate deployment of offshore wind and DESNZ is working closely with Defra

Found: be based on soil and ALC surveys in line with the 1988 ALC criteria and due consideration of the Defra

Found: Library Churches Conservation Trust Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra

Found: infrastructure aligns strongly with the Innovation focus for Grangemouth We note primary stakeholders DEFRA

Found: welfare issues (see Work Group Updates section below)Officials continue to monitor and work with  DEFRA

Found: work – Conservation advice / SEA / Drafting / Nephrops.Currently reviewing timescales and plans with Defra

Found: Islands Regional Marine Plan31 Clean & Safe • NatureScot – Marine Biosecurity Planning Guidance • DEFRA

Found: Strategy has been developed by the Scottish Government in collaboration with Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Found: Strategy has been developed by the Scottish Government in collaboration with Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Found: Marine Strategy Part One: UK updated assessment and Good Environmental Status Consultation document - Defra

Found: mesurau rheoli posibl, gan gynnwys drwy Raglen Camau Gweithredu Galluogi Gwynt ar y Môr (OWEAP) Defra

Found: MP Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Minister for Water and Flooding, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Found: Cetacean Stranding Investigation Programme CSIP, Defra contracts CR0346 and CR0364.

Found: online] Available at: Consultation on Offshore Wind Environmental Compensatory Measures Reforms - Defra

Found: We also use the DEFRA conversion factors for 2020 for carbon dioxide equivalent (CO 2e) figures.

Found: of ESF, ERDF and ETC programmes, as well as undertaking audits for the EMFF programme on behalf of DEFRA

Found: The UK Government Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) monitors injury data published