Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will publish the budget for (a) UK REACH and (b) GB CLP for 2025-26; and identify (i) income from fees, charges and other sources and (ii) expenditure including staff costs in the (A) Health and Safety Executive, (B) Environment Agency, (C) Office for Product Safety and Standards and (D) UK Health Security Agency.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) does not publish separate budgets for the UK REACH and GB CLP regulatory regimes. For the financial year 2025-26, the full cost of the planned activity is around (a) £6.1m on UK REACH, of which approximately £2.5m are staff costs and (b) £1m on GB CLP, of which approximately £0.44m are staff costs.

These costs will be met by income from several sources, including fees and charges paid by industry and allocations from government which vary each year depending on the activity being carried out. For UK REACH, fees from industry for 2025-26 are forecast to be £1.53m.

The information requested on budgets and expenditures in relation to different agencies are not held by this department. You may wish to contact the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs for the Environment Agency, the Department for Business and Trade for Office for Product Safety and Standards, and the Department of Health and Social Care for UK Health Security Agency.

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 plans to take to help tackle the impact of Per- and Polyfluorinated Alkyl Substances in the marine environment.

Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The UK Government is working closely with domestic regulators and key stakeholders to improve wider understanding and approach to managing the risks from PFAS. This includes working with the Environment Agency (EA) to assess levels of PFAS occurring in the environment, their sources, and potential risks to inform future policy and regulatory approaches. My department has asked the Health and Safety Executive to consider a UK REACH Restriction on PFAS in firefighting foams, and a proposal is due to be published soon. Internationally, PFAS were added to the OSPAR List of Chemicals for Priority Action in 2023. This list identifies substances considered to be a threat to the marine environment and the actions that OSPAR Contracting Parties (including the UK) should take to minimise those threats.

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 plans to take to further restrict the use of Per- and Polyfluorinated Alkyl Substances where there are clear alternatives.

Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Following the publication of a Regulatory Management Options Analysis (RMOA) on PFAS in April 2023, my department asked the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) to investigate whether to restrict PFAS in firefighting foams under the UK REACH (Restriction, Evaluation, Authorisation & Restriction of Chemicals) regime. HSE’s restriction dossier is due to be published for consultation in Spring 2025. Alongside this, my department is also considering further measures on PFAS.

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 9 September 2024 to Question 3449 on Per- and Polyfluorinated Alkyl Substances, when he plans to set out his plans for addressing Per- and Polyfluorinated Alkyl Substances; and whether he plans to consider this as part of the review of the Environmental Improvement Plan.

Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The revised Environmental Improvement Plan, which will be introduced in 2025, will set out the Government’s approach to managing PFAS.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether the UK-China Economic and Financial Dialogue will include joint work on global deforestation.

Answered by Kerry McCarthy - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The UK and China have agreed to hold a UK-China Climate Dialogue and a UK-China Environment Dialogue later this year to accelerate action to tackle the global climate and biodiversity crises. The details of the Dialogues will be confirmed in due course. The UK remains committed to working with all international partners to halt and reverse deforestation and forest degradation.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what recent discussions he has had with his Chinese counterparts on UK-China efforts to halt global deforestation.

Answered by Kerry McCarthy - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The UK and China have agreed to hold a UK-China Climate Dialogue and a UK-China Environment Dialogue later this year to accelerate action to tackle the global climate and biodiversity crises. The details of the Dialogues will be confirmed in due course. The UK remains committed to working with all international partners to halt and reverse deforestation and forest degradation.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he plans to support the creation of an additional protocol to the United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime to help tackle wildlife trafficking.

Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The UK remains committed to tackling the illegal wildlife trade and supporting efforts to strengthen legal frameworks, including through the United Nations. The Conference of Parties to the United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime met in Vienna from 14-18 October 2024. The UK played an active role in the Conference, which agreed to convene an expert group on environmental crimes that will identify any gaps in the international legal framework and consider how these can be addressed.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of UK imports of commodities on the financial value of deforested land.

Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

From our modelling we know that the UK consumption of agricultural commodities was associated with 35,600 hectares of deforestation worldwide in 2022 and 12.7 million tonnes of associated carbon emissions. The UK is estimated to have been the 15^th largest driver of deforestation that year. The UK Government places an economic cost of £260 per tonne of carbon emitted, and the value of ecosystem services that forests provide are estimated to range from £9,000-£22,000 per hectare depending on whether they are tropical, which would include the Amazon, or temperate.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of deforestation in the Amazon rainforest on the UK economy.

Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

From our modelling we know that the UK consumption of agricultural commodities was associated with 35,600 hectares of deforestation worldwide in 2022 and 12.7 million tonnes of associated carbon emissions. The UK is estimated to have been the 15^th largest driver of deforestation that year. The UK Government places an economic cost of £260 per tonne of carbon emitted, and the value of ecosystem services that forests provide are estimated to range from £9,000-£22,000 per hectare depending on whether they are tropical, which would include the Amazon, or temperate.

Found: present: Mr Toby Perkins (Chair); Olivia Blake; Julia Buckley; Ellie Chowns; Barry Gardiner; Anna Gelderd

Found: present: Mr Toby Perkins (Chair); Olivia Blake; Julia Buckley; Ellie Chowns; Barry Gardiner; Anna Gelderd

Submit Evidence (by 26 May 2025)

Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) are a large, complex group of about 14,000 synthetic chemicals used in a wide variety of everyday products. For example, PFAS are used to keep food from sticking to packaging or cookware, make clothes and carpets resistant to stains, and create firefighting foam that is more effective.