Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many miles of canal have been closed for navigation due to water shortages in 2025.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The country’s largest navigation authority, the Canal and River Trust, reports that the prolonged period of dry weather this spring and summer has led to a number of restrictions and closures across its 2,000-mile inland waterway network. As well as low water levels generally, restrictions on navigation due to water shortages can also include closing locks to preserve the water in the canal sections between them. While this results in through navigation being closed, it may still be possible to navigate between turning points within the sections of canal between closed locks.
As of 31 August 2025, the Trust reports that there were 32 low water closures on 29 waterways impacting an estimated 403 miles, or 1/5th of the network. Since April 2025 the Trust has had 76 low water closures, 53 over 48 hours’ duration and 23 under 48 hours.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential implications for its policies of the introduction of bans on enriched cages for laying hens in European countries.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
The Government is committed to upholding our high animal welfare standards as part of wider trade policy.
We remain firmly committed to maintaining and improving animal welfare and want to work closely with the farming sector to deliver high standards. The use of cages for laying hens is an issue which we are currently considering very carefully.
This Government was elected on a mandate to introduce the most ambitious plans to improve animal welfare in a generation. The Prime Minister announced that we will be publishing an animal welfare strategy later this year.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
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 his Department has had with animal welfare organisations on the potential merits of phasing out the use of enriched cages for laying hens.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
We remain firmly committed to maintaining and improving animal welfare and want to work closely with the farming sector to deliver high standards. The use of cages and other close confinement systems for farmed animals is an issue which we are currently considering very carefully.
The Department has initiated a series of meetings with key stakeholders, including animal welfare organisations, as part of the development of an animal welfare strategy to be published later this year.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to introduce species-specific requirements for the slaughter of farmed fish.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
Since publication of the Animal Welfare Committee’s updated Opinion on the welfare of farmed fish at the time of killing a GB-wide joint government-industry working group on farmed trout has been examining the issues raised in the report. This co-design work has made good progress on exploring potential options for more detailed welfare at killing requirements. We are now exploring all the potential next steps, including options for creating detailed guidance and new legislation. The Scottish Government is also working closely with the salmon industry on more detailed welfare at killing requirements.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has had discussions with the Secretary of State for Transport on tackling non-exhaust emissions from road transport as a source of particulate pollution.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is committed to meeting legal targets for air quality, including the PM2.5 targets recently set under the Environment Act 2021. My officials have regular discussions across Government about the policies needed to ensure we meet these targets, including officials in the Department for Transport on action to reduce non-exhaust emissions from road transport.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to help tackle the sources of littering in (a) Bedfordshire and (b) England.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Littering is a crime that blights communities and the environment. Local councils are usually best placed to respond to littering and related problems, in a way tailored to the community in which they occur. They have a range of enforcement tools at their disposal including fixed penalty notices of up to £500 and prosecution action which can lead to a criminal record and a fine of up to £2500. We are considering how we can further support local councils.
In the meantime, we are 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 on 1 June and a Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) will go live in England, Northern Ireland, and Scotland in October 2027. The DRS will introduce a redeemable deposit on single-use in-scope drinks containers which can be redeemed when the empty container is returned. Litter composition data indicates that 55% of litter by volume is made up of containers in-scope of DRS. The DRS will therefore significantly reduce this form of litter.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what his Department’s policy is on the transportation of live lobsters through (a) postal and (b) courier services within the UK.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
Animal welfare legislation protects all animals from being transported in a way likely to cause injury or suffering. Lobsters and other live decapod crustaceans are protected from injury or unnecessary suffering during transportation by a general duty of care provision in Article 4 of The Welfare of Animals (Transport) (England) Order 2006 (WATEO) and equivalent national legislation in Wales. WATEO requires that animals are transported in receptacles or means of transport under conditions (in particular with regard to space, ventilation, temperature and security) and with such supply of liquid and oxygen, as are appropriate for the species concerned.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of (a) recent trends in the level of drought and (b) the potential impact of drought on his Department's tree‑planting plans.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We continue to monitor and adapt to the impact that drought conditions can have on trees, particularly for young trees which are most susceptible. The Government has introduced extraordinary measures to support trees that have suffered because of drought conditions and works closely with tree planting delivery partners to respond to conditions across England. The Nature for Climate Fund has also invested £1 million into research to understand how trees are responding to extreme weather events, including drought, assessing species robustness and resilience. More broadly, the Water Companies’ Drought Code of Practice includes an exemption during hosepipe bans to allow for the continued watering of trees planted in the last three years.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has made an estimate of the number of live lobsters being (a) posted and (b) couriered in 2024.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
Defra does not hold data for live lobsters being posted and couriered in 2024.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of appointing an expert in animal welfare to the Food Strategy Advisory Board.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
Members of the Food Strategy Advisory Board were selected as senior leaders who have a broad range of experience across the food system and reflect the diversity of the sector. Membership has been finalised. We are not looking to expand it at this time.
The Board represents just one aspect of our engagement with stakeholders across the food supply system. The food strategy will articulate the outcomes required to deliver food system change.