Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
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 consignments of (a) beef, (b) salmon, (c) dairy products, (d) apples and (e) cheese were subject to SPS sampling requirements since 2024.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra does not hold that information. This because rates of sampling will vary according to the type of commodity, the country of export or origin of the goods, the disease status in that country or place of origin, and any treatments or processing that may have been applied to the products.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
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 merits of requiring water companies to improve operational preparedness for treatment works failures during winter 2025-26 in (a) Surrey and (b) Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Water companies have a statutory duty to provide a supply of wholesome water under the Water Industry Act 1991 and associated water quality regulations. Additionally, the Security and Emergency Measures Direction 2022 (SEMD) requires companies to ensure continuation of their water distribution functions during an emergency.
Water companies are also Category Two Responders under the Civil Contingencies Act (2004) and have duties to plan for emergencies. Water companies also engage with their Local Resilience Forums in understanding risk, planning and exercising.
This Government has been clear there is no excuse for poor performance, and that water companies must take seriously their role in meeting the public and regulators’ expectations. The Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI) regulates water company performance against SEMD requirements. The DWI has a range of tools to hold companies to account, including serving companies with enforcement orders.
The Independent Water Commission made several recommendations on increasing resilience across the water sector and on strengthening the enforcement powers available to the regulator for SEMD. The Government is preparing to respond to these recommendations and our White Paper will set out more detail on our approach.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions her Department has had with water companies on contingency planning for (a) prolonged water loss or (b) low pressure during winter in (i) Surrey and (ii) Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Security and Emergency Measures Direction 2022 (SEMD) requires water companies to ensure continuation of their water distribution functions during an emergency. Companies are required under the SEMD framework to plan for a wide range of disruptive scenarios, including continuous monitoring of risks such as severe winter weather. In addition to SEMD requirements, companies are also incentivised under Ofwat’s performance targets regime to minimise supply interruptions and resulting customer impacts. The Drinking Water Inspectorate regulates water company performance on SEMD performance. Water companies are also Category Two Responders under the Civil Contingencies Act (2004) and have duties to plan for emergencies.
Defra maintains regular strategic engagement with water companies on resilience planning – including South East Water and Thames Water – throughout the winter. This includes preparedness in advance of forecast periods of severe weather. Water companies also engage with their Local Resilience Forums in understanding risk, planning and exercising.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
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 risk of large-scale water outages during periods of cold weather in (a) Surrey and (b) Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Security and Emergency Measures Direction 2022 (SEMD) requires water companies to ensure continuation of their water distribution functions during an emergency. Companies are required under the SEMD framework to plan for a wide range of disruptive scenarios, including continuous monitoring of risks such as severe winter weather. In addition to SEMD requirements, companies are also incentivised under Ofwat’s performance targets regime to minimise supply interruptions and resulting customer impacts. The Drinking Water Inspectorate regulates water company performance on SEMD performance. Water companies are also Category Two Responders under the Civil Contingencies Act (2004) and have duties to plan for emergencies.
Defra maintains regular strategic engagement with water companies on resilience planning – including South East Water and Thames Water – throughout the winter. This includes preparedness in advance of forecast periods of severe weather. Water companies also engage with their Local Resilience Forums in understanding risk, planning and exercising.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
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 the resilience of household water supplies during winter 2025-26 in (a) Surrey and (b) Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Security and Emergency Measures Direction 2022 (SEMD) requires water companies to ensure continuation of their water distribution functions during an emergency. Companies are required under the SEMD framework to plan for a wide range of disruptive scenarios, including continuous monitoring of risks such as severe winter weather. In addition to SEMD requirements, companies are also incentivised under Ofwat’s performance targets regime to minimise supply interruptions and resulting customer impacts. The Drinking Water Inspectorate regulates water company performance on SEMD performance. Water companies are also Category Two Responders under the Civil Contingencies Act (2004) and have duties to plan for emergencies.
Defra maintains regular strategic engagement with water companies on resilience planning – including South East Water and Thames Water – throughout the winter. This includes preparedness in advance of forecast periods of severe weather. Water companies also engage with their Local Resilience Forums in understanding risk, planning and exercising.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many SPS-related (a) documentary checks, (b) identity checks and (c) physical inspections are carried out on UK agri-food consignments entering the EU each day.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra does not hold the data for controls undertaken by European Union Border Control Posts. Such information is held by EU Central Competent Authorities.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
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 effectiveness of regulatory measures to prevent repeated water supply failures during winter in (a) Surrey and (b) Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Water companies have a statutory duty to provide a supply of wholesome water under the Water Industry Act 1991 and associated water quality regulations. Additionally, the Security and Emergency Measures Direction 2022 (SEMD) requires companies to ensure continuation of their water distribution functions during an emergency.
Water companies are also Category Two Responders under the Civil Contingencies Act (2004) and have duties to plan for emergencies. Water companies also engage with their Local Resilience Forums in understanding risk, planning and exercising.
This Government has been clear there is no excuse for poor performance, and that water companies must take seriously their role in meeting the public and regulators’ expectations. The Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI) regulates water company performance against SEMD requirements. The DWI has a range of tools to hold companies to account, including serving companies with enforcement orders.
The Independent Water Commission made several recommendations on increasing resilience across the water sector and on strengthening the enforcement powers available to the regulator for SEMD. The Government is preparing to respond to these recommendations and our White Paper will set out more detail on our approach.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
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 help reduce levels of food waste in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra funds the groundbreaking UK Food and Drink Pact, a voluntary agreement with industry to tackle food waste in supply chains. We also fund a programme of action delivered by The Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), to tackle household food waste and help people buy what they need and use what they buy. Through the farm surplus fund, we have allocated £13.5 million and are working with farmers and charities in England to ensure more surplus fresh produce is redistributed to those who need it most.
Surrey Heath Borough Council has received over £35,000 to help transition to weekly food waste collections. As confirmed in the outcomes of the Spending Review 2025, ongoing resource funding for food waste services from 1 April 2026 will be included in the Local Government settlement.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
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 tackle littering in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Local councils are responsible for tackling litter in their area. The role of central Government is to enable and support local action. In the Pride in Place Strategy this Government has committed to bringing forward statutory enforcement guidance on both littering and fly-tipping, modernising the code of practice that outlines the cleaning standards expected of local authorities, and refreshing best practice guidance on the powers available to local authorities to force land and building owners to clean up their premises.
We are also targeting some of the more commonly littered items to reduce the presence of these on our streets. The sale of single-use vapes was banned from 1 June 2025 and a Deposit Return Scheme will go live in England, Northern Ireland, and Scotland in October 2027. Plastic drinks bottles and metal drinks containers make up 55% of litter volume. The Deposit Return Scheme will cover plastic and metal drinks containers (like bottles and cans), and the goal is to reduce litter and help keep our streets, rivers, and oceans clean.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of trends in phosphate levels in river water-courses in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Act sets targets to reduce phosphate entering rivers from sewage treatment. In Surrey Heath, the phosphorous permit at Camberley STW will be reduced to 0.25 mg/l as part of a Water Industry National Environment Programme (WINEP) improvement scheme.
The Environment agency is actively working with water companies to review nitrate levels in the river Thames and influence the safeguard zone action plans.