Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to (a) monitor and (b) protect dormice habitats in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra is not currently monitoring hazel dormice habitats in the Surrey Heath constituency. Surrey’s Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS) will map specific proposals for habitat creation and improvement that will support many species such as hazel dormice, which are considered a priority species in the LNRS.
Hazel dormice, their breeding sites and resting places are legally protected in the UK under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
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 make an assessment of the potential impact of clause 9 (c)(5) of the Bathing Water (Amendment) (England and Wales) Regulations 2025 on public information on water quality.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Regulation 9 of the Bathing Water (Amendment) (England and Wales) Regulations 2025 amends Regulation 15A of the Bathing Water Regulations 2013 and requires the appropriate Minister to prepare and publish a report on the bathing season or seasons for that year.
It broadly makes the same provision for publication of annual reports as under the previous Regulation 15A but with consequential changes to reflect that there will be a discretion to set different bathing seasons under amendments made by Regulation 5 of the 2025 Regulations. There is no change in the frequency of reports (annual) nor in the content of the reports required.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many and what proportion of local authorities currently use digital waste tracking services.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Digital Waste Tracking Service goes live from April 2026 for waste receivers, with requirements to digitally track waste received becoming mandatory in October 2026.
Waste operators currently use multiple systems – some paper based and others digital - to collect certain elements of waste tracking data. By introducing digital waste tracking, data will be collected centrally in near real time, making it much more difficult for rogue operators to compete in the industry and commit waste crime.
As part of our user research, it has been shown that the large majority of local authority waste disposal and waste collection authorities use third party contractors to manage waste in their areas, even if they are the holder of the environmental permit. As such it is difficult to quantify the number of local authorities that currently run their services in-house.
From April 2027, subject to funding, Digital Waste Tracking will onboard other waste operators including carriers which will provide an end to end view of how waste moves through the system.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many vehicles were seized for fly-tipping offences in Lincolnshire in each of the last five years.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Local authorities in England are required to report fly-tipping enforcement actions, including vehicles seized, to Defra, which are published annually here. This data is not available at a constituency level. Data for the 2024/25 reporting year is still being collected.
The Environment Agency works with local authorities and other partners through the Lincolnshire Environmental Crime Partnership (ECP). The ECP has targeted “days of action” to tackle fly-tipping, with various sanctions available – including vehicle seizure – to prevent, disrupt and tackle waste related offences.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
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 8 May 2025 to Question 45822 on Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Equality, for what reason her Department no longer holds that information centrally.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs does not hold information centrally on job titles and has not done so in the past. Collating this information would come at a disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Tonia Antoniazzi (Labour - Gower)
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 potential impact that the impairment fee applied under the Extended Producer Responsibility scheme will have on business cashflow and financial stability.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Incorporating impairment provisions for bad debt in a cost recovery scheme is an expected consideration of Government as detailed in Managing Public Money guidelines and is common practice when setting fees. Whilst Notice of Liabilities issued under the Extended Producer Responsibility scheme are due for payment after 50 calendar days, liable producers have the facility to pay in quarterly instalments. These impairment provisions can only be used for specific purposes and will be subject to regular scrutiny and review. Where the impairment provision isn’t fully utilised, liable producers will be given a refund.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment has been made of the effect of local authority fees and charges for pest control services on the reporting of infestations by members of the public since 2015.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra has not made an assessment of local authority fees and charges for pest control services on the reporting of infestations by members of the public since 2015.
Where rats and mice are concerned, under the Prevention of Damage by Pests Act 1949, local authorities have a duty to deal with infestations regardless of any local fees and charges imposed. The Act makes local authorities responsible for ensuring that their districts are kept so far as practicable free from rats and mice.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
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 20 November 2025 to WPQ 91307, whether she plans to reduce the number of grey squirrels and increase the number of red squirrels by the end of the current Parliament.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
To deliver against the statutory targets for biodiversity, in England, we are acting at scale to create, restore, manage, and protect wildlife-rich habitats, reduce pressures on biodiversity, and take targeted action for species including red squirrels.
Effective management to reduce grey squirrel populations supports the conservation of red squirrels. To help achieve this, the Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier scheme provides payments of £60 per hectare to manage and reduce the impact of grey squirrels. Additionally, Defra continues to explore non-lethal and passive control methods to reduce grey squirrel populations and has contributed funding to the fertility control research led by the Animal and Plant Health Agency and the UK Squirrel Accord.
Asked by: Tonia Antoniazzi (Labour - Gower)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has held discussions with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the potential impact of the impairment fee on financial pressures on the British brewing sector.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Incorporating impairment provisions for bad debt in a cost recovery scheme is an expected consideration of Government as detailed in Managing Public Money guidelines and is common practice when setting fees. Additionally, Managing Public Money guidelines advise that cross subsidies are not standard practice.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
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 prolonged dry weather on wildlife and natural habitats in (a) Fylde and (b) Lancashire.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Following the prolonged dry weather incident of 2025 the Environment Agency (EA) responded to numerous dry weather-related environmental incidents. These included incidents in:
a) Fylde
The Fisheries Operations Team carried out a fish rescue at a pond near Larkholme in May, following reports of fish mortalities.
b) wider Lancashire
The EA attended multiple reports of fish in distress / mortalities, algal blooms and low water levels in the Leeds Liverpool canal. Fish rescues were carried out (where necessary) along with advice and guidance to fishery owners.
Following the driest February to April since 1929, most drought reported incidents were confined to April and May. Intermittent rainfall from May onwards helped reduce environmental impacts, with the EA responding to just one dry weather incident in July in Lancashire.