Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
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 enforce restrictions against nuisance light pollution under the The Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government has put in place a range of measures to ensure that light pollution is effectively managed through the statutory nuisance regime. Local authorities have a duty to investigate complaints about light emitted from premises which could constitute a nuisance or be harmful to health and have powers to take action where there is a problem.
The Government believes that any mitigating actions to try to reduce light pollution in urban, suburban and rural areas are best taken by local authorities as these are best dealt with at a local level.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
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 increase awareness of the issues and impact surrounding light pollution.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government recognises that good use of artificial light can contribute to preventing accidents, reducing crime and creating safer spaces and promoting the night-time economy, benefiting us all in various ways.
The Government has put in place a range of measures to ensure that light pollution is effectively managed through controls in the planning system, the Permitted Development Regime and the Statutory Nuisance Regime.
Defra will continue to work closely with researchers, non-governmental organisations and across Government to improve our understanding of the impacts of light pollution.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
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 8 September 2025 to Question 72871, on Water Charges, what cost-benefit analysis her Department carried out when choosing not to introduce a national social tariff for water bills in the policy paper entitled A new vision for water: white paper published on 20 January 2026.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is working with industry to keep support schemes under review to ensure that vulnerable customers are supported. We are working with water companies to ensure vulnerable customers across the country receive support. This includes improving the guidance for companies to design the best social tariffs for their customers.
We expect all water companies to put appropriate support in place for customers struggling to pay their bills and to proactively engage with their customers to ensure they know what support schemes are available and how to use them. Over the next five years, water companies will have more than doubled the number of customers that will receive help with their bills through social tariffs from 4% in 2025 to 9% in 2030. We expect companies to hold themselves accountable for their commitment to end water poverty by 2030 and will work with the sector to ensure appropriate measures are taken to this end.
Asked by: Luke Taylor (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
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 include a national social tariff for water bills in the Government’s Water White Paper.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is working with industry to keep support schemes under review to ensure that vulnerable customers are supported. We are working with water companies to ensure vulnerable customers across the country receive support. This includes improving the guidance for companies to design the best social tariffs for their customers.
We expect all water companies to put appropriate support in place for customers struggling to pay their bills and to proactively engage with their customers to ensure they know what support schemes are available and how to use them. Over the next five years, water companies will have more than doubled the number of customers that will receive help with their bills through social tariffs from 4% in 2025 to 9% in 2030. We expect companies to hold themselves accountable for their commitment to end water poverty by 2030 and will work with the sector to ensure appropriate measures are taken to this end.
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
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 had made of the potential impact of bottom trawling on meeting the target in the UN Global Biodiversity Framework of conserving 30% of earth’s seas by 2030.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The 30by30 target, Target 3 of the Convention on Biological Diversity Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, is a global target to effectively protect 30% of the global ocean and of land by 2030. Just over 9.8% of the global ocean is now protected. Achieving this global 30by30 target will require an international effort, from all countries and sectors and the UK is leading the way. In England, we have a comprehensive network of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) covering 40% of our waters, and we are focusing on making sure they are properly protected.
Marine regulators make evidence-based, site-by-site assessments of the fishing activities that could prevent MPAs from achieving their conservation objectives and put in place the necessary management measures. Nearly 60% of MPAs already have byelaws in place to protect them from damaging fishing activity and the Marine Management Organisation consulted last year on proposals to prohibit bottom trawling over sensitive seabed habitats in a further 41 MPAs. It is currently analysing the large number of responses received and decisions will be made in due course.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if her Department will consider a universal restriction on perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government published a PFAS Plan on 3 February 2026, which sets out our approach towards protecting human health and the environment from risks posed by PFAS. In the recently revised Environmental Improvement Plan, we have committed to reforming UK REACH. This will enable protections to be applied more quickly, more efficiently and more closely aligned with our closest trading partner the EU.
Asked by: Baroness Coffey (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many civil servants are employed through Skilled Worker visas in (1) the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, (2) Natural England, and (3) Environment Agency.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra does not employ any civil servants through Skilled Worker visas as the department is not a sponsoring organisation.
As Natural England (NE) and the Environment Agency (EA) are non‑departmental public bodies (arm’s‑length bodies), they do not employ civil servants.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to answer 109832 of 4 February 2026 on Animal Welfare: Fines, what conversations she has had with the Leader of the House regarding the planned timetabling for the introduction of legislation to strengthen penalties for cruelty against wildlife.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The commitment to review and look to strengthen penalties for cruelty against wildlife - so they are consistent with higher levels of sentencing available for animal welfare offences against pets and livestock - was made in the Government’s Animal Welfare Strategy, published in December 2025. Any strengthening of penalties for cruelty against wildlife will require primary legislation, and Defra will seek to deliver this change as soon as a suitable primary vehicle is identified. The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has not yet held conversations with the Leader of the House regarding the planned timetabling for the introduction of this legislation.
Asked by: Jayne Kirkham (Labour (Co-op) - Truro and Falmouth)
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 assessed the potential merits of amending the user risk mitigation advice for spot-on pet treatments to include all sources of the potential impact of short and long term exposure in households where pets are treated routinely, including on children.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Veterinary Medicinal Products (VMPs) undergo a product-specific user risk assessment that considers all those that may come into contact with the medicine, including adults and children. This assessment considers the identified hazards of the medicine, the likely exposure to adults and children when VMPs are used as recommended and concludes on the likely risks to humans. The identified risks are mitigated using appropriate packaging and user safety warnings on the product information supplied with the medicines. Once authorised for marketing, pharmacovigilance reporting provides further data from use of these medicines in real-world situations, and these data are used to consider any changes required to reduce identified risks, such as updating the user safety warnings. If a concern with the current mitigations is identified, then the advice can be updated.
Asked by: Jayne Kirkham (Labour (Co-op) - Truro and Falmouth)
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 assessed the potential merits of asking the VMD to reduce the unrestricted use of spot-on pet treatments by re-classifying them from general sales to POM-V.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) is responsible for setting legal distribution categories for veterinary medicines and must balance animal health and welfare, public health, environmental protection and access to treatment. Many flea and tick products containing fipronil and imidacloprid are currently classified as AVM‑GSL, allowing supply without professional advice.
In light of environmental evidence, the VMD is undertaking an evidence‑based review of the distribution categories for these products. This includes considering whether requiring professional advice at the point of sale, through a minimum classification of NFA‑VPS, could help reduce environmental risk while maintaining access for pet owners.
Further details on this review will be available in early 2026. Any future regulatory decisions will follow a transparent, consultative process and will be based on robust scientific evidence, with animal welfare remaining paramount.