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, pursuant to the Answer of 17 April 2025 to Question 45555 on Nitrogen Dioxide: Pollution Control, which road links within 10 miles of Heathrow airport exceeded 20 micrograms per cubic metre in 2024.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The results of the UK’s air quality assessment for 2024 are published online on the UK-Air website (https://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/). Local authorities are expected to publish the data from their locally managed nitrogen dioxide measurement networks on their websites.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
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 merits of a standalone clean air act.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
As set out in the Environmental Improvement Plan, we are committed to a series of interventions to improve air quality to deliver benefits for public health, the environment, and the economy.
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, pursuant to the Answer of 26 March 2025 to Question 39815 on Nitrogen Dioxide: Pollution Control, which of the exceedances mentioned complied with the annual limit for nitrogen dioxide in 2024.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The results of the UK’s air quality assessment for 2024 are published online on the UK-Air website (https://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/). Local authorities are expected to publish the data from their locally managed nitrogen dioxide measurement networks on their websites.
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 and what proportion of civil servants in her Department are (a) on temporary contract and (b) consultants.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Information on the number of civil servants employed on temporary contracts is published quarterly by the Office for National Statistics as part of the quarterly Public Sector Employment statistics. Information can be accessed for September 2025 at the following web address:
Departmental expenditure on consultancy is published within the Annual Report and Accounts. The latest report for Defra FY 2024/25 can be found at the following web address:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/defras-annual-report-and-accounts-2024-to-2025.
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 the (i) mean, (ii) median, (iii) fastest and (iv) slowest timelines were for the permitting of chemical (a) production and (b) processing sites by the Environment Agency over the last ten years.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency’s (EA) target assessment time to process chemical production or processing permit applications is 250 days. These permits are among the most complex the EA handles, involving thorough assessments to protect the environment and public, and to ensure operators are supported and can comply with necessary permit conditions.
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 full time equivalent staff in her Department have been employed for the purpose of making social media content in each of the past three years.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Due to the difficulty of disaggregating the number of staff who are employed to produce social media content from staff who are employed to work on broader digital communications, it is not possible to report exact figures in response to this question.
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, whether the average length of time required for chemical (a) production and (b) processing sites to be permitted by the Environment Agency varies by region.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency’s (EA) target assessment time to process chemical production or processing permit applications is 250 days. These permits are among the most complex the EA handles, involving thorough assessments to protect the environment and public, and to ensure operators are supported and can comply with necessary permit conditions. Over the last 12 months the EA has issued within an average of 260 days.
Asked by: Juliet Campbell (Labour - Broxtowe)
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 ensure that food products imported into the UK are labelled correctly with regards to animal welfare practices.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK maintains high standards on the information that is provided on food labels so that consumers can have confidence in the food that they buy. All food sold on the UK market, whether produced domestically or imported, must comply with food labelling rules, which include the requirement for specific information to be presented in a specific way.
As set out in the Government’s animal welfare strategy, we are committed to ensuring that consumers have access to clear information on how their food was produced. To support this, we will continue working with relevant stakeholders, including the farming and food industry, scientists and NGOs to explore how improved animal welfare food labelling could provide greater consumer transparency, support farmers and promote better animal welfare.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
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 17 December 2025 to Question 99506 on Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS), whether the upcoming PFAS Plan will commit to the Health & Safety Executive's (HSE’s) suggestions, following on from the RMOA and the HSE UK REACH Work Programme 2024-25, to restrict PFAS in wide dispersive uses and PFAS in consumer products.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government’s approach to PFAS includes consideration of appropriate regulatory interventions as well as other actions, and more details will be provided in the PFAS Plan when it is published.
We recognise that PFAS is used in a wide range of contexts, including wide dispersive uses and in consumer products. Current work includes a 6 month HSE consultation on whether to restrict the wide dispersive use of PFAS in fire-fighting foams, as one of the largest sources of direct releases of PFAS to the environment.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what (a) coastal modelling, (b) geomorphical studies and (c) monitoring programmes the Environment Agency has commissioned in relation to Hemsby since 2020.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency was a partner in the development and publication of the Shoreline Management Plan for northeast Norfolk: Kelling Hard to Lowestoft SMP6 | Shoreline Management Plans. In 2018/19, the Environment Agency worked with the Anglian Regional Flood and Coastal Committee to provide local levy funding to Great Yarmouth Borough Council to undertake a high-level study of options for the Hemsby coastal erosion issues. The Environment Agency’s Anglian Coastal Monitoring Programme (ACMP) undertakes detailed coastal monitoring of the coastline which began in 1991. The ACMP team works closely with Risk Management Authorities, including Great Yarmouth Borough Council staff, to refine monitoring to meet their local needs.
In January 2025 the Environment Agency published an update to the National Coastal Erosion Risk Mapping online. The new mapping includes data from the National Coastal Monitoring Programme (NCMP), which includes coastal assets, beach profiles, bathymetry, aerial photography, LiDAR and coastal habitats. All coastal monitoring data, reports and analysis are available as open data on the coastal monitoring website ( Programmes - Welcome).