Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government how capital spending on flood defences will be split between physical infrastructure and nature-based solutions.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Delivering on the Plan for Change, this Government is investing at least £10.5 billion until 2036 to construct new flood schemes and repair existing defences, protecting communities from the devastating impacts of climate change. Through the largest floods programme in history, this record investment will better protect nearly 900,000 properties.
Following a public consultation over the summer, the government published a Ministerial Statement on 14 October, announcing major changes to its flood and coastal erosion funding policy. We will invest at least £300 million in natural flood management over ten years – the highest figure to date for the floods programme. These changes will support projects that not only reduce flood risk but also deliver wider benefits to communities and nature.
The new funding policy will optimise funding between building new flood projects and maintaining existing defences and will ensure that deprived communities continue to receive vital investment. We will use Government funding to unlock investment from public, private and charitable sources, making every £1 of Government investment go further
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they plan to respond to the concerns of the UN Special Rapporteur on Environmental Defenders about the treatment of environmental defenders in the UK.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK Government takes its obligations under the Aarhus Convention seriously and remains committed to engaging constructively with its mechanisms, including the rapid response mechanism and the work of the Special Rapporteur on Environmental Defenders under the Convention.
The UK has responded to the Special Rapporteur. These responses are publicly available on the website of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to promote nature-based solutions to flooding.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government supports blue-green infrastructure, including nature-based solutions (NbS) to tackle flooding, and delivers it through various programmes including its flood and coastal erosion risk management programme and Environmental Land Management schemes.
The Government published an update on flood and coastal erosion resilience and investment on 14 October 2025 (written statement UIN HLWS955). This includes a commitment to direct at least 4% – or £300 million over ten years – towards NbS, the highest figure to date for the floods programme.
To achieve this, we’re removing barriers that have held back NbS projects. Including:
These reforms will be in place for the start of the new investment programme in April 2026 and we will review progress after three years.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what support or mitigations they are providing to assist businesses in implementing phase three food labelling requirements under the Windsor Framework, in the light of the UK-EU sanitary and phytosanitary agreement.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government has fully considered the impacts on business of phase three labelling requirements, including on costs. Those requirements are considered to be a proportionate and necessary way of enabling smooth movement of food and drink products between Great Britain and Northern Ireland. We meet regularly with affected businesses and their representatives in the interests of supporting them in meeting the requirements of the Windsor Framework.
The Government is currently negotiating an UK-EU SPS Agreement, which would remove a broad set of requirements for goods moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland. Under that agreement the need to label goods as ‘not for EU’ is expected to diminish significantly. Achieving these benefits relies on the UK continuing in the interim to meet its existing commitments under the Windsor Framework.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the costs incurred by private sector organisations in preparing for the cancelled EU fruit and vegetable import checks under the Border Target Operating Model.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Work to bring forward the end to fruit and vegetable easements (i.e. implementing BTOM checks on fruit and veg) paused earlier this year reflecting the decision not to implement the full BTOM check regime in the context of an SPS agreement with the EU. Accordingly, analysis of the business impacts of the BTOM checks on fruit and veg paused earlier this year and finalised cost impacts are not available.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - 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 costs to the private sector of preparing for and complying with the phase three food labelling requirements under the Windsor Framework.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government has fully considered the impacts on business of phase three labelling requirements, including on costs. Those requirements are considered to be a proportionate and necessary way of enabling smooth movement of food and drink products between Great Britain and Northern Ireland. We meet regularly with affected businesses and their representatives in the interests of supporting them in meeting the requirements of the Windsor Framework.
The Government is currently negotiating an UK-EU SPS Agreement, which would remove a broad set of requirements for goods moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland. Under that agreement the need to label goods as ‘not for EU’ is expected to diminish significantly. Achieving these benefits relies on the UK continuing in the interim to meet its existing commitments under the Windsor Framework.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the planned Border Target Operating Model checks on imports to Great Britain from the Republic of Ireland via west coast ports will proceed following the proposed UK-EU sanitary and phytosanitary agreement.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In light of the plans set out at the UK-EU summit on 19 May, the United Kingdom and devolved governments have decided to pause implementation of further import controls on imports of EU and EFTA live animals, and non-qualifying Northern Ireland goods arriving from Ireland and Northern Ireland. We will keep this pause under review as negotiations progress. We have been clear that compliance with existing Border Target Operating Model controls must continue until further notice because the UK’s biosecurity and public health must continue to be protected.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Hayman of Ullock on 20 May (HL7268), what engagement they have had with logistics businesses about the current system that is used to notify drivers of physical checks of their vehicle under the Border Target Operating Model without specifying which consignment is affected.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Border Target Operating model (BTOM) was developed following extensive engagement with businesses (including the logistics sector) across the UK, points of entry, enforcement agencies and with the Scottish and Welsh Governments.
Defra continues to have regular engagement with border stakeholders including the logistics sector, to discuss operational aspects of the BTOM implementation.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the annual cost savings to the food and logistics sectors resulting from the cancellation of new checks on EU fruit and vegetable imports under the Border Target Operating Model.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Work to bring forwards the end to fruit and veg easements (i.e., implementing Border Target Operating Model (BTOM) checks on fruit and veg) paused earlier this year. This reflects the decision not to implement the full BTOM check regime in the context of an SPS agreement with the EU. Accordingly, analysis of the business impacts of the BTOM checks on fruit and veg paused earlier this year and finalised cost impacts are not available.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they plan to publish a report on the implementation of the policies set out in the Joint Fisheries Statement, published on 22 November 2022.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The fisheries policy authorities are required to publish a report every three years setting out the extent to which the policies in the Joint Fisheries Statement (JFS) have been implemented, and the contribution these policies have made towards achieving the Fisheries Act 2020 objectives. The first report must cover the policies implemented in the three-year period following the publication of the JFS on 22 November 2022. We therefore expect to publish the first report in 2026.