Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many seizures of illegal pork imports have been recorded at UK ports and airports in the last 12 months.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra does not record this information. Border Force, supported by port health and local authorities, is responsible for seizing illegal imports of pork at UK ports and airports.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the risk of African Swine Fever entering the UK.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra’s latest assessment for African Swine Fever (ASF) dated 1 December 2025, considers that the risk of the virus entering the UK remains at medium.
We have strict measures in place to mitigate this risk. These include the listing of countries and regions eligible to export pigs and porcine products to Great Britain commercially, prohibitions on importing pigs, fresh pig meat, porcine semen and untreated porcine meat products from areas with ASF, veterinary health certification, and import checks at the border. Personal imports of pork and pork products are not permitted. It is also illegal to feed catering waste to livestock.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what biosecurity procedures are in place for (a) detained and (b) uncollected meat consignments at UK border control posts to prevent the transmission of African Swine Fever.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
All consignments of pork and pork products are checked at bio-secure border control posts to ensure that they have been effectively treated to mitigate the risk of African Swine Fever or they originate from a region declared free of the disease. Border Force with the support of Port Health Authorities carry out checks at the border to identify, seize and destroy illegally smuggled meat.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many consignments of pork meat and associated products originating from Spain have been seized at UK borders since 28 November 2025.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The seizure data for detained consignments associated with a specific disease outbreak is recorded locally by Port Health Authorities. Defra does not record this information centrally.
Asked by: Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether their plans to introduce nine new river walks and three new national forests will include the creation of new permanent legal rights of access.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Our nine new river walks and three new national forests will both increase available natural space and make it more accessible.
We are progressing plans to deliver nine new National River Walks across England, one in each region, to enhance access to nature and are currently considering several delivery options. Further details will be announced in due course.
Our three new national forests in the West of England, the Oxford-Cambridge corridor and the Midlands or North of England, once confirmed, will support delivery of environmental improvement goals including improving access to green space and better connecting people with nature. The Government will set out plans for new national forests in the coming months which will incorporate many factors, including a consideration of new permanent legal rights of access.
Asked by: Chris Hinchliff (Labour - North East Hertfordshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will consider establishing a duty on all government departments to consider nature recovery in their work.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Under the Environment Act 2021, the existing duty in s40 of the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006 was strengthened. This now requires that all Government departments must consider the action they can take, consistent with the exercise of their functions, to conserve and enhance biodiversity and then take that action.
Asked by: Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government how plans to introduce nine new river walks and three new national forests will contribute towards ensuring that everyone in England has access to green or blue spaces within fifteen minutes' walk from their home, as committed to in the Environmental Improvement Plan 2025, published on 1 December.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is pleased to commit to progress in ensuring everyone should live within a 15-minute walk of a green or blue space. We have recently published for the first time green and blue space interim statistics and will continue to mature the metric and map the status.
As part of our work to improve public access to nature, we are also progressing plans to deliver nine new National River Walks across England, one in each region, to enhance access to nature. We will announce further details on this in due course.
Our new national forests will support delivery of environmental improvement goals including improving access to green space and better connecting people with nature. The ‘Western Forest’ will see 20 million trees planted across the West of England over the coming years and serve over 2.5 million residents, bringing trees and woodlands closer to where people live.
The second new national forest will be in the Oxford-Cambridge corridor, and a competition will be launched for a third new national forest in the Midlands or North of England in early 2026.
Asked by: Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of section 147ZA of the Highways Act 1980 on the rights of disabled people to access the outdoors with ease and confidence.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government is supportive of the provision within section 147ZA of the 1980 Act that enables an authority to work with landowners and relevant parties to replace or improve existing structures so that they can be used more easily by individuals that may experience mobility challenges. There is currently no national assessment available of the impacts of this provision. However, we will continue to improve access to green and blue spaces, ensuring that it is safe and appropriate for all users, through our various initiatives.
Asked by: Lord Black of Brentwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what progress they have made in the implementation of the Animals (Low-Welfare Activities Abroad) Act 2023, and when they plan to lay secondary legislation under that Act.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Animals (Low Welfare Activities Abroad) Act 2023 provides a framework for the introduction of future bans on the advertising and offering for sale, in England and Northern Ireland, of low-welfare animal activities abroad.
We continue to engage with stakeholders including the tourism industry and animal welfare groups to explore both legislative and non-legislative options to stop the advertising of low-welfare animal activities abroad and will be setting out next steps in due course.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues about the adequacy of government funding for the Environment Agency.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Secretary of State has regular discussions with Cabinet colleagues on a range of issues.
The Department works closely with the Environment Agency (EA) at every level to closely monitor funding to ensure it can carry out its duties effectively and deliver for the public and the environment.