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 they plan to introduce a system to audit water companies in England and Wales.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Water companies are already subject to statutory audit requirements and regulatory assurance. Large water undertakers are required to publish Annual Performance Reports each year, in line with Ofwat’s Regulatory Accounting Guidance. These must be independently audited and are reviewed by Ofwat as a licence requirement.
The Government is also strengthening existing oversight arrangements. Through the Water (Special Measures) Act, Ofwat has been given powers to reinforce governance requirements and is working to align its governance principles more closely with the UK Corporate Governance Code, including in relation to audit and assurance.
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 plan to take to maintain collection of plant biosecurity risk data when routine border controls are removed as part of the future UK-EU Sanitary and Phytosanitary agreement.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is currently negotiating a Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Agreement to make agrifood trade with our biggest market cheaper and easier, cutting costs and removing trade barriers for British producers and retailers. While those negotiations are ongoing, the Government cannot comment further on the SPS agreement, but it will mean the UK will work jointly with the EU on threats to the UK’s biosecurity.
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 impact of measures requiring checks of large, mature tree imports as part of the UK-EU Sanitary and Phytosanitary agreement on preventing the introduction of novel pests or pathogens.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is currently negotiating a Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Agreement to make agrifood trade with our biggest market cheaper and easier, cutting costs and removing trade barriers for British producers and retailers. While those negotiations are ongoing, the government cannot comment further on the SPS agreement, but it will mean the UK will work jointly with the EU on threats to the UK’s biosecurity.
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 plans they have to introduce a set of core standards for agri-food imports to ensure both fair competition for farmers and quality for consumers.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government shares the public’s high regard for the UK’s environmental protections, food standards and animal welfare.
As set out in the UK’s Trade Strategy, the Government will not lower food standards and will uphold high animal welfare standards. Defra 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.
This reflects the Government’s commitment to uphold our high environmental protection, animal welfare and food safety standards, areas in which the UK is a world leader.
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 the communiqué for the Inter-Ministerial Group for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs meeting held on 5 February will be published on gov.uk.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The communiqué was published on 5 March 2026 at Inter-Ministerial Group for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs communiqués - GOV.UK.
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 15 September (HL10372), what estimate they have made of the (1) initial, and (2) ongoing, costs of 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 considered the practical and cost impacts of Northern Ireland Retail Movement Scheme Phase Three labelling requirements through detailed conversations with industry. However, based on previous experience showing the difficulty of accurately estimating labelling costs due to variability in business practices, we did not seek to quantify Phase Three cost estimates prior to it commencing. The data in the Impact Assessment on the costs of GB-Wide ‘Not for EU’ labelling published alongside the Marking of Retail Goods Regulations provides some context, however.
Businesses have already successfully carried out Phase Three, and we continue to monitor the market and work closely with industry across the United Kingdom to implement 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, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Hayman of Ullock on 15 September (HL10371), what estimate they have made of the (1) initial, and (2) ongoing, costs of 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 considered the practical and cost impacts of Northern Ireland Retail Movement Scheme Phase Three labelling requirements through detailed conversations with industry. However, based on previous experience showing the difficulty of accurately estimating labelling costs due to variability in business practices, we did not seek to quantify Phase Three cost estimates prior to it commencing. The data in the Impact Assessment on the costs of GB-Wide ‘Not for EU’ labelling published alongside the Marking of Retail Goods Regulations provides some context, however.
Businesses have already successfully carried out Phase Three, and we continue to monitor the market and work closely with industry across the United Kingdom to implement 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 when they plan to publish the post-implementation review of the Reduction and Prevention of Agricultural Diffuse Pollution (England) Regulations 2018.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We will publish the statutory report into this important regulation (known as the Farming rules for Water) in due course.
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 training and guidance is provided to civil servants on how to fulfil the requirements of section 19 of the Environment Act 2021 when drafting proposals for secondary legislation.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra has been working closely with departments across Government to support them in the duty contained in section 19 of the Environment Act 2021 to have due regard to the Environmental Principles Policy Statement when making policy (which may include secondary legislation). Our ‘toolkit’ of resources was disseminated widely across government ahead of the duty coming into force. The toolkit includes advice notes and examples about the environmental principles to help understand the duty, and information about where to go for further help. We have also revised relevant cross-government guidance, including the Cabinet Office Guide to Making Legislation. The Environmental Principles Policy Statement training course on Civil Service Learning is available to all civil servants and provides an overview of the duty, the environmental principles and how to apply them. Some departments and arm’s length bodies have developed additional internal guidance and training. Defra recently published its “Environmental Principles Policy Statement (EPPS) Implementation - Early-Stage Review” (see attached) where the content of the toolkit and learning materials are discussed in more detail.
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 15 September (HL10370), what assessment they made following engagement with logistics businesses of 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)
Defra continues to have regular engagement with border stakeholders including the logistics sector, to discuss operational aspects of the Border Target Operating Model implementation. Defra continues to use this engagement with stakeholders for review and improvement purposes