Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to scrap the Chalk Stream Recovery Pack.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Cleaning up our waters, including iconic sites such as chalk streams is a top government priority. That is why on 23 October 2024, the Secretary of State announced the launch of an independent commission to fundamentally transform how our water system works.
Fixing the systemic issues in the water system is essential to address the multiple pressures facing chalk streams, namely over abstraction, phosphorous pollution and physical modifications of habitats. Restoring our chalk streams to better ecological health is part of our holistic programme of reforms for the water sector.
Alongside this, we are continuing to direct investment to projects that will improve chalk streams. In 2024/2025, there are over 45 chalk stream projects receiving funding from the Government's Water Environment Improvement Fund, each leveraging private investment.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
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 government policy on rural areas, and how they intend to ensure that government policy takes the needs of rural communities into account.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government has made a commitment that all policy decision-making should be rural proofed. Defra leads on rural proofing, but individual departments are responsible for ensuring that their policy decision-making is rural proofed.
Rural proofing ensures that rural areas are not overlooked and that the intended outcomes are deliverable in rural areas.
Defra works with government departments to encourage rural proofing by providing advice and guidance. As set out in our response to the House of Lords Select Committee report 2018, we have also published three annual reports detailing how rural proofing has been applied in England. All the reports were compiled with contributions from other Government Departments.
Our commitment to rural proofing remains strong and has been carried forward through meetings and discussions with other departments and external stakeholders. The government is also reviewing how we can improve the effectiveness of rural proofing for the future.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what methods they use to assess the impact of their policies on rural communities.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government has made a commitment that all policy decision-making should be rural proofed. Defra leads on rural proofing, but individual departments are responsible for ensuring that their policy decision-making is rural proofed.
Rural proofing ensures that rural areas are not overlooked and that the intended outcomes are deliverable in rural areas.
Defra works with government departments to encourage rural proofing by providing advice and guidance. As set out in our response to the House of Lords Select Committee report 2018, we have also published three annual reports detailing how rural proofing has been applied in England. All the reports were compiled with contributions from other Government Departments.
Our commitment to rural proofing remains strong and has been carried forward through meetings and discussions with other departments and external stakeholders. The government is also reviewing how we can improve the effectiveness of rural proofing for the future.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of Farm Retail Association forecasts that more than 700 farm shops could close in the coming decade.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government are introducing measures to support retail premises. We intend to introduce permanently lower tax rates for retail, hospitality, and leisure (RHL) properties from 2026-27. Ahead of these changes being made, we have prevented RHL relief from ending in April 2025 by extending it for one year at 40 per cent up to a cash cap of £110,000 per business and frozen the small business multiplier. This year, we’re launching a new Business Growth Service, which will simplify SME support, bringing it all under a single, trusted banner. We’re also publishing our Small Business Strategy, setting out our shared vision to help all SMEs irrespective of their sector.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to establishing an advisory body to provide advice on food security, as recommended in the National Preparedness Commission executive summary report Just in Case: 7 steps to narrow the UK civil food resilience gap, published in January.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra recognises the importance of civil preparedness in resilience alongside industry’s role in responding to supply chain disruptions. Officials have been reviewing with interest the recommendations of ‘Just in case: 7 steps to narrow the UK civil food resilience gap’ since its publication on 6 February 2025.
Food is one of the 13 Critical National Infrastructure sectors in the UK and Defra takes its role as Lead Government Department for food supply very seriously. Defra works closely with the resilience and CNI community across government to ensure impacts to food supply are considered in risk assessments and contingency planning.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will take steps to treat food security as a core component of national infrastructure planning, as recommended in the National Preparedness Commission executive summary report Just in Case: 7 steps to narrow the UK civil food resilience gap, published in January.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra recognises the importance of civil preparedness in resilience alongside industry’s role in responding to supply chain disruptions. Officials have been reviewing with interest the recommendations of ‘Just in case: 7 steps to narrow the UK civil food resilience gap’ since its publication on 6 February 2025.
Food is one of the 13 Critical National Infrastructure sectors in the UK and Defra takes its role as Lead Government Department for food supply very seriously. Defra works closely with the resilience and CNI community across government to ensure impacts to food supply are considered in risk assessments and contingency planning.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to introducing a "Food Security and Resilience Act", as recommended in the National Preparedness Commission executive summary report Just in case: 7 steps to narrow the UK civil food resilience gap, published in January.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra recognises the importance of civil preparedness in resilience alongside industry’s role in responding to supply chain disruptions. Officials have been reviewing with interest the recommendations of ‘Just in case: 7 steps to narrow the UK civil food resilience gap’ since its publication on 6 February 2025.
Food is one of the 13 Critical National Infrastructure sectors in the UK and Defra takes its role as Lead Government Department for food supply very seriously. Defra works closely with the resilience and CNI community across government to ensure impacts to food supply are considered in risk assessments and contingency planning.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to the potential role of beavers in restoring England’s chalk streams.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government is committed to the restoration of our cherished chalk streams. With 85% of the world’s chalk streams found in the UK, these unique water bodies are not just vital ecosystems but a symbol of our national heritage.
Beavers are part of the natural chalk stream fauna, and we view that these ecosystem engineers can contribute to the Government’s aspiration to deliver a healthy, sustainable water environment for people, businesses, and nature at a catchment scale. Defra and the Environment Agency are working with Natural England, stakeholders, and Beaver Management Groups, and other partners to inform and support these aims.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
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 introduction of a pair of beavers to the River Glaven in Norfolk in 2022 on (1) water pollution, and (2) flood risk.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In 2021 Natural England issued a licence to the Norfolk Rivers Trust for a fenced beaver enclosure in the upper Glaven catchment. The application was supported by the University of East Anglia, including pre-release ecological, hydrological & social science reports, and proposals to monitor impacts after release. Natural England staff have visited the site on a number of occasions, and observed a series of extensive dams retaining water and sediment in the wooded enclosure. Natural England is also aware of the project’s recent research publication, demonstrating that the beaver wetlands significantly reduced nitrate and phosphate levels in the chalk stream flowing out of the site.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the environmental risk of pesticides used in flea and tick treatments; and what plans they have to restrict their use.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
1) Parasiticides play an important role in the protecting of animal health from fleas, ticks, and vector-borne diseases, and in protecting human health from zoonotic transfer of disease. Therefore, their regulation requires a careful balance between effective parasite control for animal health and welfare and human health whilst minimising potential risks to the environment.
To address environmental safety, every veterinary pharmaceutical undergoes an environmental exposure assessment, with products for companion animals usually ending in a Phase 1 assessment. If exposure is deemed high, a more detailed Phase II risk assessment is conducted, evaluating potential environmental impact based on expected exposure and toxicity. The findings from these assessments are considered as part of the final benefit/risk assessment during the approval process. There are also warnings that accompany products advising on use and to mitigate against dogs entering water courses directly after treatment. Environmental assessments are conducted in accordance with international guidelines and data standards.
The Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) is conducting a number of research activities to provide further evidence on environmental impacts and causes. Furthermore, the VMD supports a review of the international environmental risk assessment guidelines for companion animal parasiticides, which has been proposed and is currently under consideration by the body for International Cooperation of Technical Requirements for Registration of Veterinary Medicinal Products (VICH).
2) At this stage, there are no plans to restrict the use of flea and tick treatments. Any future regulatory decisions will be based on robust scientific evidence to ensure both environmental protection and continued access to essential veterinary medicines.