Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to her Department's report entitled Rural Economic Bulletin, updated on 10 December 2025, what assessment she has made of recent rural employment trends in Buckinghamshire.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Official Statistics Rural-Urban Classification classifies Buckinghamshire as an intermediate urban authority, having between 20% and 35% of its population within rural areas. The Department has employment figures for Buckinghamshire as a whole.
Between 2020 and 2022 the proportion of the working-age population in Buckinghamshire who were employed rose from 77.7% to 81.6% before falling back to 80.5% in 2024. Data for Buckinghamshire for the 5 most recent years is published within Defra’s Rural Economic Bulletin Supplementary Data Tables. Worksheet AD contains the percentage of the working-age population who were employed for every local authority in England across the period 2006 to 2024.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what percentage of (1) national nature reserves, (2) marine conservation zones, (3) special protection areas, and (4) Ramsar sites, are in a favourable condition in each county in England.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Data on National Nature Reserves, terrestrial Special Protection Areas (SPAs), and Ramsar sites is included in the spreadsheet attached. Due to terrestrial SPAs being considered at low-tide there is an overlap between these reported figures and the SPAs with marine components.
Data on SPAs with marine components and on Marine Conservation Zones (MCZs) is collected at feature level rather than by county, as the majority of sites are at sea and therefore often fall outside county jurisdiction. Within English waters, there are 89 MCZs (excluding HPMAs) covering 625 features, and 49 marine SPAs covering 208 features. The latest data from Natural England and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee indicates that 64.8% of English MCZs features and 19.7% of English marine SPA features are considered to be in favourable condition.
Asked by: Tessa Munt (Liberal Democrat - Wells and Mendip Hills)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many of the consignments of end-of-life tyres submitted to the Environment Agency's enhanced verification procedure for Annex VII documents between 1st October 2025 and 15th December 2025, have arrived at their final destination overseas.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency (EA) has issued 44 Information Notices, and in return received 1,891 Annex VII documents relating to outward shipments from the UK since 28 October 2025 when the new procedures were introduced.
The EA’s enhanced verification procedure requires completed annex VII documents to be submitted 8 weeks after shipment to confirm it has arrived at its destination.
The deadline for the first completed document was 28 December. The EA has since received 112 Annex VII documents from the receiving sites- this number will increase as more shipments reach the 8-week deadline.
The EA continues to request completed Annex VIIs and is actively following up the outstanding returns.
Asked by: Tessa Munt (Liberal Democrat - Wells and Mendip Hills)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many of the consignments of end-of-life tyres submitted to the Environment Agency's enhanced verification procedure for Annex VII documents between 1st October 2025 and 15th December 2025, have subsequently been subject to a Change Of Destination request made by brokers to carriers and how these requests are recorded by the Environment Agency.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency (EA) received two “change of destination” requests for shipments within the enhanced verification process.
One request was submitted while the shipment was already at sea, and the other before it left the UK. Both were sent by email and recorded by the operational team.
Whilst there is no legal requirement for exporters to inform the EA about a change of destination under the Waste Shipment Regulations, the EA monitors such changes to ensure waste is not diverted to an unsuitable destination.
Asked by: Tessa Munt (Liberal Democrat - Wells and Mendip Hills)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many of the consignments of end-of-life tyres submitted to the Environment Agency's enhanced verification procedure for Annex VII documents between 1st October 2025 and 15th December 2025 and have arrived at their final destination have returned geo-tagged photos as proof of arrival.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency has received 79 completed annex VII documents since 28 December 2025 with attached geotagged photographs. Any photos submitted without the required geotagging are considered non-compliant and further action is taken.
Asked by: Steff Aquarone (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of inflation and supply chain pressures on capital costs for local authorities delivering domestic food waste collection services; and whether she plans to review funding allocations.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The cost modelling for the new burdens funding formula, which took place in 2023, took inflation into account by conducting market research on the most recent industry prices on all aspects being funded. WRAP (the Waste and Resources Action Programme) provided us with unit price assumptions, regularly review those and use their network to inform projections on how inflationary pressure may impact further prices.
We are aware of concerns about pressure on supply chains for vehicles and containers and are engaging with key stakeholders across the sector and welcome input to help us understand the challenges and ensure successful delivery. Additionally, we are working with WRAP to scope interventions to address bottlenecks in supply chains.
Asked by: Tessa Munt (Liberal Democrat - Wells and Mendip Hills)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what enforcement action the Environment Agency plans to take against brokers who fail to submit geo-tagged photographic evidence demonstrating that consignments arrived at their intended destination.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency (EA) takes appropriate action to bring businesses within the waste sector back into compliance and to prevent and disrupt criminal activity. This includes providing advice and guidance for businesses trying to do the right thing, issuing enforcement notices where necessary, and, when required, pursuing prosecution as a last resort.
If exporters fail to provide geotagged photographs showing that consignments have reached their destination, the EA will carry out further checks, including reviewing any alternative evidence that the waste was managed appropriately. Where the destination cannot be verified, the EA may prohibit future shipments from a specific operator or to a particular destination. It will also consider taking enforcement action for failing to comply with the notice.
Asked by: Tessa Munt (Liberal Democrat - Wells and Mendip Hills)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, further to the Government’s announcement in July 2025 of the decision to remove the T8 waste tyre exemption, if she will clarify the process involved in achieving that, confirm the timeline to end the T8 waste tyre exemption and confirm when the three month transition period is to start.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Removal of the T8 waste exemption for mechanically treating end-of-life tyres is part of a package of reforms to the waste exemption regime. These reforms encompass the removal of two other exemptions, substantial amendments to seven exemptions and the introduction of a number of other controls.
Regulations will be made under section 2 of Pollution Prevention and Control Act 1999 and subject to the affirmative resolution procedure. The work preparing these regulations is underway and will be laid at a date subject to Parliamentary time.
Asked by: Steff Aquarone (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
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 adequacy of capital funding provided to local authorities for the implementation of domestic food waste collections to meet the costs of depot expansion and redevelopment required to accommodate the service including vehicle parking, washing facilities, storage and staff welfare provision.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We have run an appeals process for the funding for weekly food waste collections, which has allowed local authorities to seek financial support in circumstances where their depot space needs to be modified. These are currently being considered, and the outcome will be communicated to local authorities in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Freeman of Steventon (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they are having with the single-use nappy industry about helping parents to know when toilet training should be done.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra does not hold any information relating to this matter.