Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what proportion of funding to deliver the Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP) 2025 is expected to be raised from the private sector for environmental schemes under landscape recovery within the EIP.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The pilot phase of Landscape Recovery will help us understand how much private finance projects are able to secure from private nature markets and what areas of projects that funding supports.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
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 increase the proportion of livestock in the UK that are pre-stunned before slaughter.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Regulations require that animals must be stunned prior to slaughter so that they are unconscious and insensible to pain. The only exception to the requirement to stun is where animals are slaughtered in accordance with religious rites. The Government would prefer all animals to be stunned before slaughter, but we respect the rights of Jews and Muslims to eat meat prepared in accordance with their religious beliefs.
For sheep and goats, the Government supports an industry-led initiative called the Demonstration of Life Protocol, which provides assurance for Muslim consumers that the stunning of these animals is compatible with halal slaughter requirements, while protecting the welfare of the animals involved and supporting opportunities for trade.
Asked by: Aphra Brandreth (Conservative - Chester South and Eddisbury)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many reprocessors and exporters are awaiting accreditation approval from the Environment Agency as of January 2026.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
As of 28 January 2026, the Environment Agency has received 294 Accreditation applications, of these 237 have been assessed and determined.
Of the remainder, 28 applications are still under assessment and 29 were incomplete and have not progressed to the assessment stage.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
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 made an assessment of the potential impact of non-compostable fresh produce stickers on the bio-waste industry and soil health; and whether she plans to take steps to discourage the usage of non-compostable stickers.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Department has not considered the potential impact of non-compostable fresh produce stickers on the bio-waste industry and soil health and does not currently have plans to discourage or ban the use of these stickers.
However, we remain committed to supporting sustainable packaging solutions and continue to monitor developments in this area.
Asked by: Aphra Brandreth (Conservative - Chester South and Eddisbury)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps are being taken to decrease the time taken to provide Environment Agency accreditation approvals.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency (EA) is committed to reducing the time taken to determine accreditation applications. While the Packaging Regulations set a 12‑week statutory determination period, the new regulations now require more detailed information from operators. The EA has expanded its resources dedicated to assessing these more comprehensive applications.
To support quicker and higher‑quality submissions, the EA has also updated its guidance, increased pre‑application support, and engaged extensively with industry through events and webinars. These steps are already helping to reduce avoidable delays caused by incomplete or low‑quality applications.
The EA will continue to refine its processes, streamline assessment where possible, and work with industry to ensure applications can be determined as quickly as the regulations allow.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to help protect people in Stockport from regular flooding.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency (EA) carries out routine inspections of all main watercourses across Stockport. The primary purpose of these inspections is to ensure that flood‑risk infrastructure is properly maintained and that any emerging issues are identified at an early stage. Inspectors also monitor anything that could increase flood risk, including fallen trees or debris that may cause blockages.
EA operational teams are on call 24/7, 365 days a year to operate flood defences and respond to incidents. This includes clearing debris from watercourses, supported by remote monitoring through telemetry systems. Across the Stockport constituency, the teams manage and clear a total of three debris screens.
Recent community drop‑ins were held for Stockport residents. The purpose of these was to help residents register for flood warnings so they can better prepare for and respond proactively to potential flooding.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford 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 she has made of the potential impact of air pollution on different groups by ethnicity.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
While air pollution impacts many people’s health, the department recognises that these impacts are not felt equally. This is an issue that Defra takes seriously, which is why the Government commissioned the independent Air Quality Expert Group (AQEG) to examine the evidence on air pollution disparities across different communities and regions in the UK.
Their report demonstrates spatial differences in pollution emissions and concentrations. There is evidence of higher air pollution concentrations being experienced by certain minority ethnicity groups.
The report provides a number of recommendations to address this complex challenge, which the department is now considering and have fed through to commitments in the NHS 10 Year Plan and the Environmental Improvement Plan.
Asked by: Aphra Brandreth (Conservative - Chester South and Eddisbury)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department has considered the potential merits of providing financial support or temporary relief for recyclers affected by the loss of PRN income.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
As the PRN/PERN market remains operational and has not closed, our focus is on delivering functionality of a new digital system as soon as possible. The Government is working closely with affected businesses to understand the impact of the delay to delivery of the new PRN digital system and are committed to continuing to work closely with them to resolve the issue.
Asked by: Aphra Brandreth (Conservative - Chester South and Eddisbury)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether staffing levels at the Environment Agency are adequate to manage the transition to the new PRN system.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency (EA) has increased staffing to ensure it can manage the transition to the new PRN system and deliver its regulatory duties under the new packaging regulations. Additional resource has been allocated to support both the new operational requirements and the bedding‑in of the updated IT system.
The EA will continue to monitor resourcing levels closely and adjust as necessary to ensure a smooth transition for industry and effective regulatory oversight.
Asked by: Aphra Brandreth (Conservative - Chester South and Eddisbury)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether an impact assessment on recycling companies was conducted prior to the closure of the existing PRN/PERN system in January 2026.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Risks to delivery of the new PRN/PERN system were assessed and a broad range of delivery options were considered. The previous system (the National Waste Packaging Database) does not have the capability to support delivery of new regulatory requirements which take effect for 2026. It is not feasible to run two systems in parallel during the year, given that the PRN market operates on a calendar year basis. Defra is working hard to resolve issues as quickly as possible to minimise disruption to businesses.