Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate her Department has made of the number of waste-processing facilities currently operating with expired permits.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Environmental Permitting Regulations require operators of industrial/waste facilities to get permits from regulators to control pollution to air, land, and water, ensuring compliance with set conditions, and protecting public health through legal frameworks. Waste management site permits do not expire; they have to be surrendered by the permit holder. Therefore, there are no sites operating with expired permits.
Asked by: Chris Hinchliff (Labour - North East Hertfordshire)
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 publish a cross-government nature strategy, including requiring all departments to have a duty to consider nature.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra plans to publish the Cross Government Nature Strategy (CGNS) in March 2026.
Under the Environment Act 2021, the Biodiversity Duty established in s40 of the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006 was strengthened. This requires all government departments to identify and implement actions to conserve and enhance biodiversity, consistent with the exercise of their function.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
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 she made of the implications for UK waste disposal and consumer product policy of the levels of unwanted electrical items discarded annually by households which could be reused or repaired.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We have not undertaken this assessment. The WEEE Regulations 2013 are designed to minimise the amount of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) incinerated or sent to landfill sites. The regulations require producers of electrical equipment to take financial responsibility for products they place on the market when they become waste and to ensure they are properly collected and treated. The Government is committed to move towards a Circular Economy where we keep products in use for longer and waste is designed out. In the new year, we will publish the Circular Economy Growth Plan that sets out how the Government will deliver this transition in sectors right across the economy, including electricals.
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, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the feasibility test introduced under the Bathing Water (Amendment) (England and Wales) Regulations 2025 on the designation of sites.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government’s reforms introduce a feasibility assessment that will consider these factors ahead of formal designation. This will focus resources on sites where water quality can feasibly be improved to ‘sufficient’ standard and allow the public to make informed decisions before using sites.
This feasibility assessment is being designed by an external research organisation in partnership with Defra and the Welsh Government. Two workshops took place in November 2025 to capture stakeholder views.
This reform will come into force on 15 May 2026, and we will update public guidance before then, ahead of future applications being submitted.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent steps her Department has taken to address extreme flooding.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Over the last year, this Government has made significant progress by committing record investment in flood and coastal erosion defences; introducing the most significant change in flood and coastal erosion funding policy for nearly fifteen years; and building partnerships to improve flood preparedness and resilience.
As part of the Government’s Plan for Change, we are investing £4.2 billion over three years (2026/27 to 2028/29) to construct new flood and coastal erosion schemes and maintain and repair existing defences across England. In our first year in Government, 151 flood defence schemes have been delivered, better protecting over 24,000 homes and businesses.
This Government will invest at least £10.5 billion into our flood defences between April 2024 and March 2036 benefitting nearly 900,000 properties across England.
The Environment Agency’s National Flood Risk Assessment data now includes climate change scenarios, providing the best evidence to inform long-term risk assessment and the development of flood mitigation strategies.
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, whether the Department has formal requirements for suppliers receiving support to report on waste-reduction outcomes.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We are responding on the basis that this question relates to reporting under the Packaging Extended Producer Responsibility (pEPR) scheme and the Packaging Waste Recycling Note (PRN) system for domestic waste, and specifically on the support that obligated producers may receive in meeting the reporting requirements under these regulations.
Under the pEPR regulations, producers are required to report detailed data on the packaging they place on the UK market, including material types and tonnages. This reporting underpins the calculation of fees and recycling obligations (PRNs) and ensures that costs for household packaging waste management are recovered in line with the polluter pays principle. These obligations are designed to incentivise waste reduction by linking fees to recyclability and packaging weight, with modulation of fees from 2026 to further encourage sustainable packaging choices.
Similarly, the PRN system requires accredited reprocessors and exporters to issue evidence notes for packaging waste that has been recycled. These notes form part of the compliance mechanism for meeting recycling targets and provide transparency on the amount of packaging waste recovered and recycled within the UK.
Under the regulations, obligated producers may receive support from compliance schemes in meeting their reporting obligations and recycling targets. Regulation 43 of the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging and Packaging Waste) Regulations 2024 specifies the obligations of compliance schemes, and Schedule 6 outlines the approvals framework ensuring schemes are able to provide guidance and assistance to producers. This ensures producers have access to help in fulfilling their legal responsibilities effectively.
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 much OFWAT has spent on translation and interpretation services in each of the last five years.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Ofwat has spent a total of £74,983 on translation and interpretation services in the last five financial years. This expenditure is for translating key documents into Welsh given Ofwat’s role as the water regulator for England and Wales.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans her Department has to stop companies from using biobeads.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Polluting our waterways is unacceptable. It is right that Southern Water has taken responsibility for the incident at Camber Sands, East Sussex, caused by a failure of a screening filter at their Eastbourne Wastewater Treatment Works.
Defra Ministers are in close contact with the Environment Agency, which is now conducting an active investigation into the incident. A decision on the enforcement action will be made in the coming weeks.
The sector must step up to deliver improvements for the benefit of customers and the environment, and we are taking decisive action to clean up our rivers, lakes and seas.
Water companies should take all necessary precautions to ensure all equipment is properly constructed and maintained to prevent the unauthorised or accidental escape of bio-beads from wastewater treatment works into the environment.
The Government is looking into developing new standards for infrastructure resilience which, coupled with robust water company planning through Drainage and Wastewater Management Plans and the new statutory Pollution Incident Reduction Plans, will drive investment to improve wastewater assets and reduce pollution into our environment.
I have written to Water Companies asking them to explain their use of bio-beads in the water industry and alternatives.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment the Department has made of the effectiveness of policies to protect pollinator populations.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Following the conclusion of our National Pollinator Strategy in 2024, Defra will deliver a refreshed Pollinator Action Plan, as part of the broader Environmental Improvement Plan. This will set out key actions for pollinators in England.
Defra partly funds the UK Pollinator Monitoring Scheme (UK PoMS) providing systematic data on the abundance of key pollinators at a national scale. This data contributes to measuring trends in pollinator populations and targets conservation efforts.
The Health and Safety Executive has published updated guidance for emergency authorisations of pesticides. This is the next step in delivering on the commitment the government made in December 2024 to end the use of banned neonicotinoid pesticides in England.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment the Department has made of potential food security risks arising from supply chain disruption.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK has a resilient food supply chain that is well equipped to deal with situations that have the potential to cause disruption. Defra works closely with industry and across Government to identify and monitor food security risks.
In compliance with the Agriculture Act 2020, the United Kingdom Food Security Report (UKFSR) is presented to Parliament at least once every three years, most recently in 2024. This examines past, current, and future trends relevant to food security and presents a full and impartial analysis of UK food security. In the intervening years, the UK Food Security Digest (UKFSD) is published containing a selection of summary statistics on issues relevant to a range of aspects of food security, drawn from national and international sources. This year’s report was published on 11 December 2025.