Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
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 reservoir levels at Grafham Water on available water resources.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency (EA) has confirmed with Anglian Water that Grafham Water reservoir is 76% full as of the 19th of August, lower than preferred for this time of year. Rainfall in July saw previous high consumer demand return to more normal levels. Anglian Water are best placed to comment on their ability to service their customers but have assured the EA that they are following their Drought Plan actions, including sharing water efficiency messages and preparing for potential restrictions (for example, Temporary Use Bans) if required. The EA is working with Anglian Water to consider options for refilling the reservoir over the winter months. Due to low river water levels within some of the river systems in East Anglia, some private abstractors are currently unable to abstract water, as set out within their individual licenses. However, Grafham Water operates to supply only Anglian Water consumers and is not subject to the same license restrictions.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many (a) phones, (b) laptops and (c) other electronic devices have been lost by their Department since 5 July 2024.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
The following table includes the number of lost department-issued devices by the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs since 5 July 2024.
Breakdown of department-issued equipment type | Number of lost items |
Mobile phones | 51 |
Laptops | 8 |
Ipads | 5 |
Please see below further information relating to lost/stolen devices. To note these figures are provided by Calander year. Also to note, Defra only started separating out Lost/stolen out in 2023.
Period | Phone-Lost | Phone-Stolen | Laptop-Lost | Laptop-Stolen | iPad/Tablet-Lost | iPad/Tablet-Stolen | Total-Lost | Total-Stolen |
2025-30th April | 29 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 36 | 7 |
2024 | 58 | 10 | 34 | 14 | 7 | 4 | 99 | 28 |
2023 | 96 | 6 | 54 | 10 | 5 | 1 | 155 | 17 |
2022 | 106 | N/A | 37 | N/A | 5 | N/A | 148 | N/A |
We are continuing to take steps to reduce the number of instances of lost devices including reviewing our current processes and policies to ensure that devices are handled securely, recorded accurately and returned promptly when no longer required, whilst providing users with the right tools for their job.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
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 4 July to Question 63361 on Floods: Huntingdon, if will she publish the (a) hydraulic modelling and (b) real-world data from flood events relating to the St Ives Staunch Sluice.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Information on the Environment Agency’s work on the St Ives Staunch Sluice structure is publicised online here: St Ives and Brownshill Staunch Sluices Information Page - Environment Agency - Citizen Space
This page and Frequently Asked Questions included within it, contains this information and guidance on how to request the detailed hydraulic modelling report for anyone who wishes to review it. The local Environment Agency team have been providing this information as and when requested by any interested party.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
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 4 July 2025 to Question 63361 on Floods: Huntingdon, what the condition is of the St Ives Staunch Sluice.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency will continue to provide updates via their website which is here: St Ives and Brownshill Staunch Sluices Information Page - Environment Agency - Citizen Space.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
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 4 July 2025 to Question 63361 on Floods: Huntingdon; what works the Environment Agency will undertake on the St Ives Staunch Sluice in the next two years.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
A project is currently underway to ensure that the Environment Agency (EA) is able to maintain river levels for navigation. There is £2 million available for this work across two financial years 2025/26 and 2026/27. The full scope of the works has yet to be determined but the EA will continue to provide updates via their website, here: St Ives and Brownshill Staunch Sluices Information Page - Environment Agency - Citizen Space.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
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 Number 10 press release entitled UK to deliver on 5% NATO pledge as Government drives greater security for working people, published on 23 June 2025, if he will list his Department's (a) projects and (b) programmes by directorate that will contribute to the resilience and security element of national security spending for each year between 2025-26 and 2034-35 inclusive; and if he will list the amount of spending for each item (a) in real terms (b) as a proportion of concurrent forecast GDP.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
We will set out detailed plans for meeting this new target at the appropriate time. The government will continue to report to NATO on delivery against the headline investment pledge and the split in line with NATO’s reporting schedule.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment has he made of the potential impact of the reclassification of the St Ives Staunch as a navigation, rather than a flooding, asset on the risk of flooding from the River Great Ouse in Huntingdon constituency.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency (EA) have assessed a range of data and evidence linked to the St Ives Staunch Sluice. This has included hydraulic modelling and real-world data from flood events. The evidence shows that the asset provides very limited flood risk benefit but is important for maintaining water levels for navigation. The change in the primary purpose of the asset reflects this information.
The EA will carry out works to the asset to support Navigation in the area, within the next two years. They have also committed to providing regular updates to keep the community informed.
The reclassification has no impact on the amount of flood risk funding that the asset is eligible for, and the community can be reassured that the current condition of the asset does not have a significant impact on the risk of property flooding.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
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 3 January 2025 to Question 53292 on Farms: Domestic Visits, if he will list (a) the 14 farms he has visited, (b) the size of each farm in acres, (c) the type of farming, (d) the constituency each farm is in and (e) the date each visit took place.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
We respect the privacy of those hosting visits to farms and so are unable to share this information.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
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 3 June 2025 to Question 53718 on Trade Agreements: USA, whether the sugar beet farming industry will be impacted by the UK-US trade deal on ethanol.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
The landmark economic deal with the United States announced on 8 May protects jobs in the automotive, steel, aluminium, pharmaceutical and aerospace sectors - sectors that employ over 320,000 people across the UK. For the first time ever, this deal will also open up exclusive access for UK beef farmers to the US market.
Other than beef and ethanol, no access has been offered to US farmers into the UK market. The Government is engaging closely with the bioethanol industry to find a way forward. The Secretary of State of Department of Business and Trade has met with the affected companies and officials from his department continue to work with the industry.
Sugar beet used in biofuel production is predominantly derived from sugar beet betaine residue, a waste by-product of processing. UK-sourced bioethanol from beet represents a very small proportion of the total ethanol supplied to the UK. Department for Transport data indicates that 1,406 million litres equivalent of ethanol were supplied to the UK in 2022/23, of which 49 million litres was produced from UK beet - a very small share (less 4% of the total).
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
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 notice entitled Government to crack down on waste incinerators with stricter standards for new builds, published on 30 December 2024, what are the strict new local and environmental conditions that new waste incinerators will be required to meet.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Residual Waste Infrastructure Capacity Note and an accompanying statement, set out that the Government will only back new Energy from Waste projects which:
We are considering how to reflect in the new set of national policies for development management to be developed. The Government has consulted on revisions to the National Policy Statements that support decisions on major energy infrastructure to reflect these conditions. The consultation ran from 24 April 2025 to 29 May 2025.