Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many staff network events took place in his Department in May 2025; and what the names of those events were.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra can confirm that during May, no staff network events were recorded centrally by HR.
Asked by: Seamus Logan (Scottish National Party - Aberdeenshire North and Moray East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 27 May 2025 to Question 53765 on Fishing and Coastal Growth Fund, whether he has held discussions with his counterpart in the Scottish government on this fund.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Fishing & Coastal Growth Fund will be investing £360 million over the next 12 years. Ministers are committed to working closely with the industry and local communities in order to ensure investment is targeted to where it is needed most. As part of that planned engagement we will work closely with Devolved Governments. We will look to provide more details on the fund, including devolution, at the earliest possible opportunity.
Asked by: Irene Campbell (Labour - North Ayrshire and Arran)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to end the use of enriched cages for hens in England.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
I refer the Hon. Member to the reply previously given to the hon. Member for Liverpool West Derby, Ian Byrne, on 16 May 2025, PQ 50228.
Asked by: Fred Thomas (Labour - Plymouth Moor View)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many water supply outages there were in Plymouth in (a) 2022, (b) 2023, (c) 2024 and (d) 2025.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Under the Security and Emergency Measures Direction 2022 (SEMD), all water companies must report to Defra any water outages that impact over 5,000 properties or will last over 24 hours.
In 2025, one incident affecting Plymouth was reported to Defra. Between 21 April and 23 April, a burst water main at a Dousland Water Treatment Works caused a water supply outage to approximately 9,800 properties in Plymouth.
There were no water supply outages in Plymouth reported to Defra in 2022, 2023, and 2024.
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the availability of veterinary medicine to treat botulism in cattle in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is committed to taking steps to support the availability of veterinary medicines to Northern Ireland after the end of 2025.
Regarding the botulism vaccines, the situation will not change. Veterinary surgeons can continue to access the vaccines after 31 December; in the same way they do now.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will set out the procurement mechanism used by the Environment Agency to award the contract for the Environment Agency Community Engagement Platform (National) 2024 to Hello Lamp Post Limited; and if he will publish the procurement agreement.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The contract is available on contracts finder via Environment Agency Community Engagement Platform (National) 2024 - Contracts Finder.
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 his Department had with the Paymaster General regarding UK-EU trade and environmental standards prior to the UK-EU summit in London on 18 May 2025.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Ministerial colleagues have had and maintain regular discussions with the Cabinet Office and other relevant departments on UK-EU trade and environmental standards.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 28 April to Question 45559 on Nitrogen Dioxide: Pollution Control, which (a) cities and (b) towns in the Eastern reporting zone are delaying compliance.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
All NO2 exceedances delaying compliance in the Coventry and Bedworth zone are in the city of Coventry. Bradford is the only city, and Keighley is the only town, in the West Yorkshire Urban Area delaying compliance with the NO2 limit value. All NO2 exceedances delaying compliance in the Eastern zone are in the town of Basildon.
The 2023 compliance assessment reported one exceedance of the annual mean limit value for NO2 in the South East reporting zone - on the A34 in the Vale of White Horse. This road link is part of the Strategic Road Network (SRN) which is managed by National Highways.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 28 April to Question 45559 on Nitrogen Dioxide: Pollution Control, which localised hotspot in the West Midlands Urban Area reporting zone is delaying compliance until 2032.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The localised hotspots that inform our estimates of when each reporting zone is predicted to become compliant are set out in the following table. The predicted years of compliance in Question 45559 were based on 2023 data. For each zone, the hotspot location with the highest 2023 annual average NO2 concentration has been given, as that site drives the predicted compliance year.
This data is based on data gathered under the previous Government.
Reporting Zone | Estimated Compliance Year | Hotspot Location | Measured 2023 Concentration µg/m3 | |
Bristol Urban Area | 2031 | Colston Avenue, Bristol | 48.9 | |
Coventry and Bedworth | 2026 | Holyhead Road, Coventry | 45.9 | |
Eastern | 2026 | Southend Arterial Road, Basildon | 48.9 | |
Greater London Urban Area | 2024 | A201 (City of London), A501 (Westminster) | 41.9; 41.6 (modelled value) |
|
Liverpool Urban Area | 2029 | Pembroke Place, Liverpool | 49.7 | |
Nottingham Urban Area | 2024 | Ilkeston Road, Nottingham | 41.1 | |
Portsmouth Urban Area | 2026 | Alred Road, Portsmouth | 43.7 | |
Reading and Wokingham Urban Area | 2024 | Malcolm Place, Reading | 42.6 | |
Sheffield Urban Area | 2031 | Brightside Lane, Sheffield | 48.8 | |
The Potteries | 2032 | Etruria Road, Stoke-on-Trent | 58.4 | |
West Midlands Urban Area | 2032 | Moor Street Queensway, Birmingham. | 51.5, 51.5 | |
West Yorkshire Urban Area | 2029 | Shipley Airedale Rd, Bradford | 47.8 | |
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 28 April 2025 to Question 45557 on Nitrogen Dioxide: Pollution Control, in which year she expects the Eastern reporting zone to become compliant.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The localised hotspots that inform our estimates of when each reporting zone is predicted to become compliant are set out in the following table. The predicted years of compliance in Question 45559 were based on 2023 data. For each zone, the hotspot location with the highest 2023 annual average NO2 concentration has been given, as that site drives the predicted compliance year.
This data is based on data gathered under the previous Government.
Reporting Zone | Estimated Compliance Year | Hotspot Location | Measured 2023 Concentration µg/m3 | |
Bristol Urban Area | 2031 | Colston Avenue, Bristol | 48.9 | |
Coventry and Bedworth | 2026 | Holyhead Road, Coventry | 45.9 | |
Eastern | 2026 | Southend Arterial Road, Basildon | 48.9 | |
Greater London Urban Area | 2024 | A201 (City of London), A501 (Westminster) | 41.9; 41.6 (modelled value) |
|
Liverpool Urban Area | 2029 | Pembroke Place, Liverpool | 49.7 | |
Nottingham Urban Area | 2024 | Ilkeston Road, Nottingham | 41.1 | |
Portsmouth Urban Area | 2026 | Alred Road, Portsmouth | 43.7 | |
Reading and Wokingham Urban Area | 2024 | Malcolm Place, Reading | 42.6 | |
Sheffield Urban Area | 2031 | Brightside Lane, Sheffield | 48.8 | |
The Potteries | 2032 | Etruria Road, Stoke-on-Trent | 58.4 | |
West Midlands Urban Area | 2032 | Moor Street Queensway, Birmingham. | 51.5, 51.5 | |
West Yorkshire Urban Area | 2029 | Shipley Airedale Rd, Bradford | 47.8 | |