Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent conversations her Department has held with animal charities regarding veterinary bills.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Proposed reforms to the VSA support the result of the Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA’s) market investigation into veterinary services for household pets. The CMA has provisionally recommended making fees more transparent, thus helping owners to make more informed choices on of the type of veterinary care they value.
Defra has engaged closely with several sector stakeholders, including representatives from the charity sector, in relation to our consultation on proposed reforms of the Veterinary Surgeons Act 1966. Defra shall continue to involve animal charities in this work. Proposed reforms will allow veterinary nurses to independently carry out a greater range of work within their skillset. Independently, this will aid animal charities by giving them more choice over who can provide treatment.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
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 press release entitled UK leads global efforts to help communities save the ocean and beat poverty, published on 26 January 2026, whether funding awarded for LED lighting on fishing nets will provide research applicable to fishing in UK waters.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The funding awarded for the ‘Illuminar el Mar’ project in Ecuador through the UK’s OCEAN Grants Programme will support research applicable to fishing in UK waters. In partnership with University College London, the project will use low-cost LED bycatch-reduction technology that operates through visual deterrence. The research is designed to support global replication and will be made open access.
Asked by: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour - Poole)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she is taking steps to ensure that water companies provide low income customers with cheaper social tariffs.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government expects water companies to ensure their customers know what support schemes are available and how to access them if they need help. Companies offer a range of support schemes for customers struggling to afford their bills, including social tariffs, WaterSure, debt support schemes, financial hardship funds, flexible payment plans and payment breaks.
All companies voluntarily offer social tariff schemes for households – each setting their own eligibility criteria and level of support. Defra is working with water companies to ensure social tariffs are more consistent and taken up by those most in need. Defra also expects companies to hold themselves accountable for their public commitment to end water poverty by 2030.
Additionally, the Government has committed to reforming the WaterSure scheme to extend scope and increase support to low-income households who have higher water usage due to medical needs or three or more children.
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, what assessment her Department has made of whether examples of best practice exist in England to achieve compliance with legislation and regulation to improve local air quality in each of (a) ambient air and (b) indoor air.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra supports local authorities in implementing their statutory air quality duties by providing both resources and practical tools. A key example is the Air Quality Hub, which enables local authorities to collaborate, share best practice, and access guidance, case studies, and training materials. This platform strengthens alignment between local delivery and national objectives by ensuring that evidence, lessons learned, and emerging policy priorities are shared consistently across the local authority network.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
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 press release entitled UK leads global efforts to help communities save the ocean and beat poverty, published on 26 January 2026, what proportion of the £14 million OCEAN funding will be spent in each recipient country.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
OCEAN Round 2 projects remain subject to final due diligence. The finalised list of projects, along with the countries in which OCEAN works, will be made available on the OCEAN website in due course.
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, what assessment her Department has made of potential barriers and/or challenges to achieving national targets, requirements and performance standards for ambient air quality, indoor air quality and national emission ceilings in England.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra regularly assesses potential barriers and/or challenges to achieving national targets, requirements and performance standards in relation to ambient air quality and emissions. Performance against targets are reported annually in the emissions inventory and air pollution in the UK report.
Asked by: Ben Spencer (Conservative - Runnymede and Weybridge)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress her Department has made on the River Thames Scheme; what her planned timetable is for that scheme; and what the (a) current and (b) projected expenditure is for that scheme, in the context of the project’s mid-project review.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Significant progress has been made in preparing for The River Thames Scheme to undergo Statutory Consultation to inform the application of a Development Consent Order (DCO).
The mid-project review, initiated by Project Sponsors: The Environment Agency (EA) and Surrey County Council, is ensuring the scheme design is optimised before finalising the DCO.
In addition, the Sponsors commissioned the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority (NISTA) to independently assess the readiness of the project and sponsoring organisations to deliver the project. The cost of the development work up to this point has been £104 million.
The EA will be bringing forward an updated business case this Summer, which will set out the revised timetable to submit the DCO, an updated cost assessment, and any revised arrangement for delivery of the scheme.
Subject to approval of this business case, the next stage in progressing the project is to secure the DCO.
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, what evidence exists of the direct and indirect impact of air pollution on (a) crop yields, (b) biodiversity, (c) pollinator, (d) rain, (e) stratospheric ozone, (f) water quality and (g) soil quality.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Evidence is set out in the recent house of Lords Environment and Climate Change Committee’s Nitrogen report:
https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld5901/ldselect/ldenvcl/161/16102.htmand and the Critical loads expert report Air_Pollution_Trends_Report_2024.
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, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of national targets, requirements and performance standards for air quality and national emission ceilings in protecting public health, climate and the environment.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra regularly assesses the adequacy of national air quality targets and emission ceilings through statutory annual reporting and formal reviews of the Environmental Improvement Plan.
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, what assessment her Department has made of how well examples of local best practice that exist to enforce existing legislation and regulation to improve local air quality are being rolled out elsewhere in England.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
National targets and local actions are aligned through statutory duties that require local authorities to assess air quality, designate Air Quality Management Areas, and produce Air Quality Action Plans tied to national air quality objectives. Local authorities retain flexibility to tailor interventions to local circumstances.