Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to resolve the recent technical issues of the Inshore Vessel Monitoring Systems (I-VMS) on English fishing vessels under 12 metres; how many, and what percentage, of relevant vessels are impacted by the technical issue; and when they plan to lay the statutory instrument to formalise the I-VMS requirement for all under-12 metre vessels in English waters.

Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) continues to work with Succorfish to resolve the issue of suspended data transmissions to the UK VMS Hub. Data continues to be transmitted from Fulcrum devices. Defra expects to lay the SI once this service issue has been resolved. In the meantime, the MMO continues to take a pragmatic approach to enforcing the existing licence condition, and all fishers who have purchased and installed an MMO type-approved IVMS device should continue to fish as normal. Defra is currently unable to disclose the number of vessels impacted by the service issue due to commercially sensitivity.

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 5 February (HL14037), whether the work being carried out by the Veterinary Medicines Directorate and the Pharmaceuticals in the Environment group will result in the meeting of the requirement of the Water Frameworks Directive for good ecological and chemical status by 2027.

Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Government continues to work towards our obligation to restore water bodies to good ecological status and remains committed to securing continuous improvement for the water environment.

The Government has committed in the White Paper to exploring setting new ambitious overarching targets for the water environment. This would enable consistent national oversight and alignment between government, regional water planning, regulators, the water industry and the private sector to better deliver agreed outcomes while maintaining environmental standards.

The Veterinary Medicines Directorate continues to contribute to its commitments under the Pharmaceuticals in the Environment Roadmap, evidence‑gathering, stakeholder engagement and regulatory review activity relating to fipronil and imidacloprid.