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 when they plan to implement the recommendations of the Independent Reservoir Safety Report, published on 13 May 2021.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Many of the recommendations from the Independent Reservoir Safety Report have already been implemented – detail can be found here [see attached]. A public consultation on legislative reforms to take forward further recommendations from this report is planned in due course.
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 when they will bring forward the regulations to introduce the waste carriage, broker and dealer reforms as committed to in October 2023.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The commitment made in 2023 was under the previous Government. This Government published its policy paper on gov.uk in August 2025, setting out its plans for reform of the waste carrier broker dealer regime in England [see attached].
Work has begun to draft the necessary legislative amendments and will be progressed when parliamentary time allows.
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 when they will implement plans for a waste crime levy.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government published its new Waste Crime Action Plan on 20 March which is the toughest ever crackdown on illegal waste. We are now committing an additional £45 million for the Environment Agency (EA) to spend on waste crime enforcement over the next 3 financial years, on top of the £5.6 million increase for this financial year announced previously. This new funding will enable the EA to expand its on-the-ground enforcement activity and ensure waste criminals face the consequences of their actions. We continue to consider a waste crime levy to support enforcement but given the extra funding we are providing now, its introduction is not imminent.
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 whether they will introduce stricter liability for waste duty of care on large waste producing business.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government published its new Waste Crime Action Plan on 20 March which is the toughest ever crackdown on illegal waste. We have no plans to introduce a stricter liability for waste duty of care on large waste producing businesses. Businesses already have a duty to ensure their waste is lawfully managed and the Environment Agency (EA) will make full use of its powers to hold those responsible for illegal waste operations accountable. Additionally, the EA will now publicly name and shame illegal waste operators so that those working in the waste sector understand who has been involved in mishandling waste.
We are also introducing a mandatory digital waste tracking system. This will replace paper-based methods with a modern digital platform upon which details about waste movements will need to be recorded. This will provide environmental regulators with a single system to monitor waste movements in near real time, improving transparency and accountability.
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 assessment they have made of the impact of the animal welfare strategy, published on 22 December 2025, on domestic livestock producers; and what steps they will take to prevent third country producers from having a competitive advantage in not having to meet the standards in that strategy.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government will continue to build on existing high welfare standards in our farming sector in a measured way, while supporting the farming sector to be profitable and contribute to UK food security. The Government recognises that assessing the impacts of measures in the strategy is an important part of the process as proposals are brought forward. The Government will also continue to build on the Animal Health and Welfare Pathway to make sure farmers have access to the right advice and support.
As set out in the UK’s trade strategy, the Government will always consider whether overseas produce has an unfair advantage and, where necessary, will be prepared to use the full range of powers at the government’s disposal to protect the UK’s most sensitive sectors.
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 is the annual farming budget for (1) 2025–26, and (2) 2026–27; and how the spending is broken down for each year.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government has allocated a record £11.8 billion to sustainable farming and food production over this parliament. On 12 March 2025 we set out how we planned to spend the budget [see attached] (£5 billion) across the 2024/25 and 2025/26 financial years.
Scheme | Budget for 2024/25 and 2025/26 (£m) |
Delinked Payments | 1,050 |
Live existing agreements (Higher Level Stewardship and Countryside Stewardship) | 1,800 |
Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) | 1,050 |
Other environmental land management (ELM) schemes | 350 |
Farming grants (one-off payments to help improve the environment or increase productivity) | 350 |
Animal Health, Welfare and Livestock Information Transformation | 150 |
Mental health, Farming Resilience Fund, Prosperity Fund | 100 |
Advice, pilots and technical support | 150 |
Total | 5,000 |
On 16 June 2026, following the 2025 Spending Review, we set out indicative funding figures [see attached] for the 2026-27 to 2028-29 financial years, including plans to increase the amount of money paid to farmers under Environmental Land Management schemes from £800m in 2023/24 towards £2bn by 2028/29.
Indicative funding (£ million) | 2026–27 |
Delinked payments | 20 |
Environmental land management schemes | 1,950 |
Other (productivity, innovation, transition) | 350 |
Farming and Countryside Programme | 2,320 |
Nature schemes | 450 |
Farming and Nature total | 2,770 |
Please note final allocations will be agreed through business planning.
In line with its obligations under the Agriculture Act 2020, Defra regularly publishes an annual report, setting out commitments in the previous financial year, including Farming and Countryside Programme spend broken down by each scheme. The latest report covers the financial year 2024/25, and can be accessed here: Farming and Countryside Programme annual report [see attached].
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 discussions they held with domestic animal producers before the animal welfare strategy for England was published.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Animal Welfare Strategy was developed in conjunction with key stakeholders including representatives of the companion, wild companion, wild animal and farming sectors along with Non-Governmental Organisations, and those involved in enforcement. Defra held roundtable discussions on priorities whilst working to understand the underlying issues that lead to poor welfare. Defra also received input from a wide range of other interested parties.
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 whether imports of lamb from New Zealand and other countries meet animal welfare standards required of domestic producers.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
I refer the Noble Baroness to the reply given on 25 February 2026 to Question UIN HL14606.
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 steps they are taking to ensure that imported food products meet the same animal welfare standards as those which are domestically produced.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
All agri-food products must comply with our import requirements in order to be placed on the UK market. This includes ensuring that imported meat products have been slaughtered to animal welfare standards equivalent to our domestic standards.
The Government shares the public’s high regard for the high welfare standards we have in this country. As set out in the UK’s Trade Strategy, we will not lower food standards and will uphold high animal welfare standards.
The Government recognises concerns about methods of production which are not permitted in the UK. While production methods vary in line with different climates, diseases and other contextual reasons, the Government will always consider whether overseas produce has an unfair advantage and any impact that may have. Where necessary, we will be prepared to use the full range of powers at our disposal to protect our most sensitive sectors.
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 is the status of the Border Inspection Post at Stansted Airport and what assessment they have made of the long-term future of the current site.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Border Inspection Post at Stansted Airport is currently active. Defra is aware that Stansted has signalled an intention to relocate its Border Inspection Post to another site and that the timing of this remains uncertain. This is a commercial decision for the airport’s owners. No application to de-designate the existing site or designate a new site has been received. The Department stands ready to help progress such applications when received. A routine audit is due to be undertaken of the Live Animal facility in March. Further information may become available as part of the discussions of the day.