Asked by: Charlie Maynard (Liberal Democrat - Witney)
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 she has made of the potential implications for her policies of the financial stability of Thames Water.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The water white paper published on the 20 January sets out the Government’s plans to reform the water sector and the wider water system. It will create a new regulator with powers to prevent companies from accumulating unmanageable debts and to ensure the sector as a whole is financially resilient.
Asked by: Lee Barron (Labour - Corby and East Northamptonshire)
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 the temporary removal of tariffs on egg imports from Ukraine on UK egg producers.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Under our Free Trade Agreement with Ukraine, tariffs on all goods are temporarily removed until March 2029, except for poultry and eggs, where the liberalisation is due to end on 31 March 2028 following the two-year extension announced on 19 January 2026.
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, with reference to her Department's White Paper entitled A New Vision for Water, published on 20 January 2026, what assessments he has made of the potential impact of the proposed joined‑up local planning measures on the prevention of surface‑to‑foul water misconnections in new housing developments.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In the White Paper Defra has committed to delivering an enhanced, better joined up regional water planning function.
This will enable a more holistic, coordinated approach to water environment and supply planning which supports delivery of national strategic objectives such as the economic growth mission, housing building targets and nature recovery, whilst enabling regional and local priorities to be realised.
Defra is engaging a range of stakeholders to understand what works well, and where there are challenges with water sector planning, within the current river basin planning system. This engagement is helping us test emerging thinking, identifying opportunities to strengthen planning and delivery and ensure policy development is informed by practical experience as well as evidence and analysis.
Property owners are legally responsible for resolving misconnected pipework on their property; public misconnections are the responsibility of water companies.
Should misconnections not be resolved, the responsible party can be prosecuted; in some cases, local authorities and water companies can access private property to fix misconnections and then recover their costs from the owner.
Asked by: Shivani Raja (Conservative - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what guidance is issued to police forces on the investigation of suspicious animal deaths; and what recent assessment has been made of the adequacy of investigative standards in such cases.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Police forces investigate suspicious animal deaths under the statutory powers provided in the Animal Welfare Act 2006, which enables officers to act where there is evidence that an animal has suffered, or is likely to suffer, harm. These powers apply to circumstances involving the unexplained or potentially unlawful death of an animal.
Decisions on how such investigations are carried out are matters for individual Chief Constables, who hold operational independence and are responsible for determining the investigative approach taken by their forces. Police forces may also draw on wider investigative frameworks developed by the College of Policing, which support officers in handling cases that may involve criminal harm to animals.
Defra has not undertaken any recent formal assessment of investigative standards in relation to suspicious animal deaths.
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 assessment her Department has made of the (a) economic state and (b) financial viability of independent veterinary businesses.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra has not done its own assessment of the economic state and financial viability of veterinary businesses., however, it welcomes the Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA’s) market investigation into veterinary services for household pets. As part of their market investigation, the CMA carried out an economic assessment of the sector. The CMA released its provisional decision report on 15 October for the veterinary profession to respond. The CMA will review all responses before releasing its final report. Defra will formally respond to the CMA’s final report, and the items within it, when it is published in the Spring. Some of the CMA’s provisional recommendation will require reform of the Veterinary Surgeons Act 1966, on which Defra is currently consulting, and further assessments will be carried out as required.
Asked by: Sarah Dyke (Liberal Democrat - Glastonbury and Somerton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when representatives from her Department last met with milk producers to discuss farmgate milk prices.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra officials regularly engage with stakeholders from across the UK dairy industry on a wide range of issues including farmgate milk prices. Engagement is undertaken in various forms including through ad hoc and regular meetings with industry bodies and individual dairy businesses and milk producers, farm visits and attendance at industry events.
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Asked by: Victoria Atkins (Conservative - Louth and Horncastle)
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 White Paper entitled A New Vision for Water, published on 20 January 2026, if she plans to publish the Transition Plan on a sitting day of the House this year.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Transition Plan will be published in 2026. It will set clear direction on priorities, sequencing, and engagement, giving the sector confidence as reforms begin and ahead of the introduction of an upcoming water bill.
Asked by: Monica Harding (Liberal Democrat - Esher and Walton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which animal products will be included in the exploration of method-of-production labelling outlined in the Animal Welfare Strategy, published in December 2025.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Putney, Fleur Anderson, on 26 January 2026, PQ UIN 106592.
Asked by: Sarah Dyke (Liberal Democrat - Glastonbury and Somerton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what information her Department holds on the average cost of producing a pint of milk in each of the last five years.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The average cost of production for milk is shown below. Data is from the Farm Business Survey which covers farm businesses in England with a Standard Output of more than £21,000. Whilst it captures the majority of agricultural activity, it excludes smaller businesses (which account for 2% of output).
Production costs include all financial aspects of dairy enterprises such as unpaid labour, herd depreciation and an estimated rental equivalent for owned land. An allowance is also made for non-milk revenue (mostly the sale of dairy calves), which is applied as a reduction to cost. This reflects the value of by-products from milk production. The production costs therefore represent the price that would have to be paid on all milk produced for dairy enterprises to break even. The data includes organic production which is likely to incur higher production costs.
Average cost of milk production (pence per litre) 2020/21 to 2024/25
2020/21 | 2021/22 | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
28.3 | 36.4 | 48.6 | 44.2 | 44.9 |
Source: Farm Accounts in England
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Highgate)
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 help tackle excessive household water bills based on rateable values.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government has set out in the Water White Paper a commitment to accelerate the smart meter rollout. This includes maximising cost savings to customers by moving customers away from a ratable value to a smart metered charge. Smart meters also provide data to increase leakage identification and reduction and provide customers with insights into their water usage.
Ofwat has also announced a competition, closing in March, as part of its £25 million Water Efficiency Lab to enable better data insights on water usage for customers, this includes those customers who cannot have a meter fitted and are reliant on ratable values.