Asked by: Aphra Brandreth (Conservative - Chester South and Eddisbury)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what options were considered by his Department for the use of water company fines before the decision to direct them towards water projects was taken.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Following the Spending Review, the Government has confirmed water company fines will be allocated to local environmental projects and programmes to clean up our rivers, lakes and seas.
Over £100 million in fines has been levied against water companies since October 2023, which will be reinvested into local environment projects and programmes to address pollution and improve water quality.
More information on this announcement can be found on GOV.UK. A further announcement on the details on the projects and programmes that this funding will go towards will be set out in due course.
Water company fines that accumulated between April 2022 and October 2023 will be invested through the Water Restoration Fund. Up to £11 million of funding was made available on a competitive basis to support a range of water restoration projects to improve the water environment. Successful applicants have been notified, and an official announcement will follow in due course.
Asked by: Aphra Brandreth (Conservative - Chester South and Eddisbury)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how long discussions have been taking place within government on the allocation of water company fines towards water restoration and infrastructure projects.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Following the Spending Review, the Government has confirmed water company fines will be allocated to local environmental projects and programmes to clean up our rivers, lakes and seas.
Over £100 million in fines has been levied against water companies since October 2023, which will be reinvested into local environment projects and programmes to address pollution and improve water quality.
More information on this announcement can be found on GOV.UK. A further announcement on the details on the projects and programmes that this funding will go towards will be set out in due course.
Water company fines that accumulated between April 2022 and October 2023 will be invested through the Water Restoration Fund. Up to £11 million of funding was made available on a competitive basis to support a range of water restoration projects to improve the water environment. Successful applicants have been notified, and an official announcement will follow in due course.
Asked by: Aphra Brandreth (Conservative - Chester South and Eddisbury)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which rivers have been identified by his Department as priority sites for improvement using funds raised through fines on water companies.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Following the Spending Review, the Government has confirmed water company fines will be allocated to local environmental projects and programmes to clean up our rivers, lakes and seas.
Over £100 million in fines has been levied against water companies since October 2023, which will be reinvested into local environment projects and programmes to address pollution and improve water quality.
More information on this announcement can be found on GOV.UK. A further announcement on the details on the projects and programmes that this funding will go towards will be set out in due course.
Water company fines that accumulated between April 2022 and October 2023 will be invested through the Water Restoration Fund. Up to £11 million of funding was made available on a competitive basis to support a range of water restoration projects to improve the water environment. Successful applicants have been notified, and an official announcement will follow in due course.
Asked by: Aphra Brandreth (Conservative - Chester South and Eddisbury)
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 press release entitled Government to invest over £100m in water company fines to local environmental projects, published on 19 June 2025, when he decided to use fines for water restoration projects.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Following the Spending Review, the Government has confirmed water company fines will be allocated to local environmental projects and programmes to clean up our rivers, lakes and seas.
Over £100 million in fines has been levied against water companies since October 2023, which will be reinvested into local environment projects and programmes to address pollution and improve water quality.
More information on this announcement can be found on GOV.UK. A further announcement on the details on the projects and programmes that this funding will go towards will be set out in due course.
Water company fines that accumulated between April 2022 and October 2023 will be invested through the Water Restoration Fund. Up to £11 million of funding was made available on a competitive basis to support a range of water restoration projects to improve the water environment. Successful applicants have been notified, and an official announcement will follow in due course.
Asked by: Aphra Brandreth (Conservative - Chester South and Eddisbury)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much and what proportion of funding through the Water Restoration Fund will be used to support water (a) quality and (b) infrastructure projects.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Following the Spending Review, the Government has confirmed water company fines will be allocated to local environmental projects and programmes to clean up our rivers, lakes and seas.
Over £100 million in fines has been levied against water companies since October 2023, which will be reinvested into local environment projects and programmes to address pollution and improve water quality.
More information on this announcement can be found on GOV.UK. A further announcement on the details on the projects and programmes that this funding will go towards will be set out in due course.
Water company fines that accumulated between April 2022 and October 2023 will be invested through the Water Restoration Fund. Up to £11 million of funding was made available on a competitive basis to support a range of water restoration projects to improve the water environment. Successful applicants have been notified, and an official announcement will follow in due course.
Asked by: Aphra Brandreth (Conservative - Chester South and Eddisbury)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether any fines levied on water companies are being used to support water quality improvements at Lake Windermere.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Following the Spending Review, the Government has confirmed water company fines will be allocated to local environmental projects and programmes to clean up our rivers, lakes and seas.
Over £100 million in fines has been levied against water companies since October 2023, which will be reinvested into local environment projects and programmes to address pollution and improve water quality.
More information on this announcement can be found on GOV.UK. A further announcement on the details on the projects and programmes that this funding will go towards will be set out in due course.
Water company fines that accumulated between April 2022 and October 2023 will be invested through the Water Restoration Fund. Up to £11 million of funding was made available on a competitive basis to support a range of water restoration projects to improve the water environment. Successful applicants have been notified, and an official announcement will follow in due course.
Asked by: Aphra Brandreth (Conservative - Chester South and Eddisbury)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many agricultural shows (a) he and (b) his ministerial team have attended since 4 July 2024.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
Ministers are attending a range of agriculture shows across the UK. Most recently, Ministers have attended the Royal Cornwall Show and the Royal Highland Show.
Asked by: Aphra Brandreth (Conservative - Chester South and Eddisbury)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of the Welsh Government’s decision to ban the movement of livestock from England into Wales; and what discussions he has had with his counterpart in Wales on the (a) scientific basis and (b) implications of that policy for farmers in England.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
I refer the honourable member to the answers given on X June 2025 to PQs 61013 and 61014 regarding the potential impact of bluetongue regulations in North Shropshire.
Disease control is a devolved matter, and it is for the devolved administrations to assess their disease risks and impacts in relation to their national herds, alongside the impacts of controls, and respond accordingly.
Asked by: Aphra Brandreth (Conservative - Chester South and Eddisbury)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of the closure of the Sustainable Farming Incentive scheme on food security.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
This Government is proud to have secured the largest budget for sustainable food production in our country’s history, with £5 billion being spent to support farmers over a 2-year period.
Food security requires a long-term picture of resilience to shocks. Over 37,000 businesses are already being supported through the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) with their live agreements, with more in other schemes.
We will provide further details about the reformed SFI in summer 2025 which will support farmers, deliver for nature and target public funds fairly and effectively towards our priorities for food, farming and nature.
Asked by: Aphra Brandreth (Conservative - Chester South and Eddisbury)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many applications for the Sustainable Farming Incentive were outstanding as of 12 March 2025; and what steps his Department is taking to process applications submitted before the scheme was closed.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
As of the 24 March, of the applications that had been submitted for the expanded Sustainable Farming Incentive offer 14,191 had received an agreement offers and 3,700 had not yet received an agreement offer.