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 has taken to prioritise tree planting in communities that have the least tree cover.
Answered by Jenny Riddell-Carpenter - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government provides a range of support for community tree planting in England. This includes the Defra funded England Community Forests which plants trees in and around urban areas, with over 1800 hectares planted in 2025/26. On 30 September the Government announced a new £53 million Community Trees Fund which will further support community tree planting in England.
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 the England Trees Action Plan will include a feasibility study of the capacity the UK has to grow trees domestically rather than rely on imported plant material.
Answered by Jenny Riddell-Carpenter - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Trees Action Plan (TAP) is currently being developed. The TAP will set out actions to increase access to, and improving the resilience of England's trees, woodlands and forests. We remain committed to publishing the TAP by the end of 2026 as set out in the Environmental Improvement Plan 2025.
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 the forthcoming England Trees Action Plan will include targets, actions and funding to reduce differences in (a) access to the benefits of trees and (b) urban canopy cover.
Answered by Jenny Riddell-Carpenter - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Trees Action Plan (TAP) is currently being developed. The TAP will set out actions to increase access to, and improving the resilience of England's trees, woodlands and forests. We remain committed to publishing the TAP by the end of 2026 as set out in the Environmental Improvement Plan 2025.
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 trends in the levels of risk to England’s trees and woodlands from drought and wildfire; and whether the forthcoming England Trees Action Plan will set out measures and funding to reduce this risk.
Answered by Jenny Riddell-Carpenter - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This year the Climate Change Committee published its fourth Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA4), this sets out the risks to trees and woodlands from climate change including wildfire and drought. Defra will set out action to respond to these risks in the forthcoming Trees Action Plan and the fourth National Adaptation Programme.
Asked by: Adrian Ramsay (Green Party - Waveney Valley)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether she has selected a preferred pathway for the Strategic Spatial Energy Plan following receipt of the National Energy System Operator’s Pathway Options Report on 28 August 2026.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Secretary of State has not yet selected a preferred pathway for the Strategic Spatial Energy Plan (SSEP). Given the level of detail, we are carefully considering its findings alongside undertaking our own analysis. The Secretary of State will then select a pathway to form the basis of a draft SSEP which NESO will consult on publicly early next year. The final SSEP is due to be published in late 2027.
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, pursuant to the Answer of 20 October 2026 to Question 35224 on Fisheries: Import Controls, whether her department intends for the new digital IUU Imports Service to be interoperable with the EU's CATCH IT system for catch certificates.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The IUU Imports Service is being developed to meet the UK's statutory seafood import control requirements. The UK does not have access to the EU's CATCH system for import controls, and the service is therefore being designed to meet UK legal and operational requirements independently. Any future interoperability arrangements may be considered as part of ongoing service design.
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 proportion of funding allocated to the Sustainable Farming Incentive in each of the last three financial years has been spent on farming actions that contribute to (a) flood mitigation and (b) drought resilience.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government increased the budget available for new Sustainable Farming Incentive 2026 agreements to £310 million, including an additional £50 million announced by the Prime Minister on 15 August 2026 to support farmers following the impacts of drought. SFI is open to a wide range of farming types and includes actions to improve soil health and increase soil organic matter, helping to retain water, improve infiltration and increase resilience to both drought and flooding. SFI actions are delivered through multi-year agreements, helping to support farm resilience to weather-related pressures. Information on the proportion of SFI funding attributable to specific outcomes such as flood mitigation or drought resilience is not held in the format requested.
Asked by: Adrian Ramsay (Green Party - Waveney Valley)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, what training is underway to upskill regulators in the evaluation of alternative methods to animal testing for life sciences.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer provided on 24 June 2026 in response to Question 10421.
Asked by: Adrian Ramsay (Green Party - Waveney Valley)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, with reference to the Replacing Animals in Science strategy, what training initiatives are underway for a) early career scientists and b) science students to ensure they have the skills and expertise in methods that do not use animals.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Replacing Animals in Science strategy commits to strengthening skills and capability in non-animal methods among early career researchers. The National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs) is leading delivery of this commitment and remains on track to do so by the end of 2026. Delivery includes improving access to training and expertise in alternative methods, and running a successful summer school open to PhD students from several funders. Further updates will be provided as part of reporting on implementation of the strategy.
Asked by: Adrian Ramsay (Green Party - Waveney Valley)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, with reference to the Replacing Animals in Science strategy, what progress he has made on establishing the Alternative Methods Expert Committee, how membership of this committee is being decided and how animal advocacy organisations will be represented on the committee.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Replacing Animals in Science strategy commits to establishing an Alternative Methods Expert Committee (AMEC) in 2026. The Government has commissioned the Animals in Science Committee (ASC) to provide advice on the committee’s scope, governance and membership. The ASC recommendations published on 30 July 2026 are informing AMECs establishment. Membership will be determined to ensure the committee can provide expert, science-led advice across relevant disciplines in line with ASC recommendations.