Asked by: Adrian Ramsay (Green Party - Waveney Valley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she plans to enact (a) a mandatory Precision Bred Variety List for England and (b) mandatory labelling of precision-bred seeds and plant reproductive materials before the Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Regulations 2025 come into force.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
For the main agricultural and vegetable plant varieties, a variety must be registered on the Great Britain (GB), or Northern Ireland (NI) variety lists before seed can be marketed. To implement the Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Act 2023, a new, mandatory Precision Bred Plant Variety List for England is proposed to facilitate the evaluation of precision bred agricultural and vegetable plant varieties in England.
Feedback from recent public consultation will be used to shape the regulatory framework for precision bred plants and plant reproductive material to ensure it reflects stakeholder concerns and priorities, including the need for clear, and accessible information on precision bred plant varieties. The feedback will inform future decisions on the inclusion of precision bred status in mandatory labelling of precision bred seed and other plant reproductive material.
Asked by: Adrian Ramsay (Green Party - Waveney Valley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that the certification bodies for (a) organic and (b) conventional non-GMO seeds providers can prevent unlabelled precision-bred seeds and plant reproductive materials marketed in England from entering their supply chains.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra is working with the organic sector to prepare for the medium and longer term by discussing non-legislative options for supply chain coexistence. This includes facilitating discussions between experts to establish which measures, currently used by the industry, could be used by farmers to enable coexistence between precision bred and non-precision bred crop production. This is in line with approaches taken internationally.
To implement the Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Act 2023, a new Precision Bred Plant Variety List for England is proposed. Any precision bred agricultural or vegetable plant varieties need to be accepted onto the new variety list before being marketed. Users, including those in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, will be able to access information about precision bred plant varieties in the Plant Varieties and Seeds Gazette.
Defra are continuing to engage regularly with the Devolved Governments to discuss potential impacts.
Asked by: Adrian Ramsay (Green Party - Waveney Valley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to help ensure that the Devolved administrations can prevent unlabelled precision-bred seeds and plant reproductive materials marketed in England from entering their supply chains.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra is working with the organic sector to prepare for the medium and longer term by discussing non-legislative options for supply chain coexistence. This includes facilitating discussions between experts to establish which measures, currently used by the industry, could be used by farmers to enable coexistence between precision bred and non-precision bred crop production. This is in line with approaches taken internationally.
To implement the Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Act 2023, a new Precision Bred Plant Variety List for England is proposed. Any precision bred agricultural or vegetable plant varieties need to be accepted onto the new variety list before being marketed. Users, including those in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, will be able to access information about precision bred plant varieties in the Plant Varieties and Seeds Gazette.
Defra are continuing to engage regularly with the Devolved Governments to discuss potential impacts.
Asked by: Adrian Ramsay (Green Party - Waveney Valley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact on consumer (a) transparency and (b) trust if precision bred seeds and plant reproductive materials are labelled but the food and feed derived from them are not.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK maintains high standards on the information that is provided on food labels, whether that be mandatory or voluntary, so that consumers can have confidence in the food that they buy.
For Precision Breeding, Defra has established additional measures for transparency and regulatory oversight, including public registers. These registers published by Defra and the Food Standards Agency, will ensure that information about precision bred plants approved for marketing and for use in food and feed is available in the public domain.
Asked by: Adrian Ramsay (Green Party - Waveney Valley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will publish in full the (a) modelling and (b) assumptions underpinning her Department's £100 billion estimate of nationalising the water sector.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra has estimated the cost of nationalising the water sector to be around £100 billion. We have published in full the assumptions and methodology informing our estimate here: Nationalising the water sector: how we assessed the cost - GOV.UK.
Asked by: Adrian Ramsay (Green Party - Waveney Valley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department plans to take to maintain animal welfare standards in the context of negotiations with the EU on a sanitary and phytosanitary agreement.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The EU has accepted there will need to be a number of areas where we need to retain our own rules. It is too soon to discuss the details of the SPS agreement, which is subject to negotiation. We have been clear with the EU about the importance of establishing arrangements which enable us to maintain high animal welfare standards.
Asked by: Adrian Ramsay (Green Party - Waveney Valley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the Aarhus Convention’s Compliance Committee finding that the UK is non-compliant with the Convention on the Government’s environmental targets.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The United Kingdom Government recognises the important role played by the Compliance Committee in making recommendations to promote compliance with the Aarhus Convention. The UK is considering the Committee's recommendations in the run up to the Aarhus Convention Meeting of the Parties in November.
Asked by: Adrian Ramsay (Green Party - Waveney Valley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when her department intends to respond to the Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee's report to the Eighth Meeting of the Parties to the Aarhus Convention on Decision VII/8s, published on 3 October 2025.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The United Kingdom Government recognises the important role played by the Compliance Committee in making recommendations to promote compliance with the Aarhus Convention. The UK is considering the Committee's recommendations in the run up to the Aarhus Convention Meeting of the Parties in November.
Asked by: Adrian Ramsay (Green Party - Waveney Valley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to his oral answer to the hon. Member for Waveney Valley of 21 July 2025, Official Report, col 579, on what evidential basis his Department has estimated the cost of bringing water companies into public ownership.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra has estimated that nationalising the water industry would cost approximately £100 billion. This is based on the sector’s Regulatory Capital Value (RCV), which was £99.3 billion in 2024 and £106.7 billion in 2025. It reflects the cost of purchasing equity in all water companies as well as the cost of assuming their existing debt liabilities. For more information on the approach taken by Defra to reach its estimate, please see: Nationalising the water sector: how we assessed the cost - GOV.UK.
Asked by: Adrian Ramsay (Green Party - Waveney Valley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Climate Change Committee's letter to the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, entitled advice on the UK’s adaptation objectives, published on 15 October 2025, whether her Department plans to put in additional adaptation before the release of the next National Adaptation Plan in 2028.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra is taking forward action on climate adaptation including developing stronger adaptation objectives, improving governance through the cross Government senior officials forum, the Climate Resilience Steering Board, enhancing monitoring and evaluation, and launching a fifth round of reporting under the Adaptation Reporting Power covering key infrastructure. The Department is also supporting research through the £15 million Maximising UK Adaptation to Climate Change programme. These initiatives aim to improve preparedness and resilience across Government and society.
Defra recognises the urgency of preparing for climate change impacts and is committed to strengthening adaptation efforts. The Department is actively implementing the third National Adaptation Programme (NAP3), which includes activity across twelve departments and measures to improve resilience across sectors. Defra is also working to develop stronger adaptation objectives and delivery plans with these departments ahead of the fourth National Adaptation Programme (NAP4) in 2028 These efforts aim to reduce the risks posed by extreme weather events associated with a 2°C rise in global temperatures. Defra will respond to the advice from the Climate Change Committee letter on 15 October in due course.