Asked by: Clive Jones (Liberal Democrat - Wokingham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment protocols are in place to evaluate the cumulative impact of new hydroelectric installations on water flow, flood risk, and ecological balance.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Any building or structure in the floodplain must ensure that it is resilient to flooding and that it does not increase flood risk for anybody else in the floodplain. Hydroelectric power is governed by a strict regulatory framework managed primarily by the Environment Agency (EA) that ensures that hydroelectric installations are safe and that they do not increase flood risk. The core requirements for any new hydropower installation are:
The EA uses flood modelling to understand the risk of flooding at a local and a national level. Its flood models use a range of information to help make them as reliable as possible, including information about the different types of land use and structures which could influence the way water flows.
In line with Government planning policy, the EA provides advice on planning submissions for new hydroelectric installations, considering impacts on water flow, flood risk and ecological balance. This ensures that planning proposals do not result in unacceptable flood risk or environmental harm.
Asked by: Clive Jones (Liberal Democrat - Wokingham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what comparative assessment her Department has made of the long-term costs of post-flood clean-up operations with the potential savings from investing in proactive flood prevention measures, such as enhanced maintenance, equipment procurement, and staffing for flood control infrastructure.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency is delivering the Government’s flood and coastal risk management (FCRM) Investment Programme.
For every £1 spent in the Investment Programme improving protection from flooding and coastal erosion, around £8 of property damages is avoided.
Post flood clean-up costs are considered as part of the wider economic appraisal of flood investment projects.
A new 3-year £4.2 billion FCRM Investment Programme will start in April 2026, where new projects will align with the strategic objectives set out within the Government’s new funding rules announced in October 2025.
The new investment programme will also reduce deterioration and target repairs to flood defence assets, benefitting an additional 14,500 properties in England.
The Environment Agency updated its National Flood Risk Assessment in 2025. This provides the best available evidence to inform the development of flood mitigation strategies.
Asked by: Clive Jones (Liberal Democrat - Wokingham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with (a) Cabinet colleagues, (b) the Food Standards Agency and (c) other stakeholders on the potential impact of reducing UK tariffs on US meat and seafood products.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
The Secretary of State has regular discussions with Cabinet colleagues on a range of issues. The department engages regularly with the Food Standards Agency and other stakeholders on a range of topics, including trade.
Nobody wants a trade war, and our focus for now is on keeping calm and continuing to negotiate a wider economic deal with the United States. The UK will only do a deal that is in the national interest of the UK and its businesses.
To enable the UK to have every option open to us in the future, the Business and Trade Secretary has launched a request for input on the implications for British businesses of possible retaliatory action.
Asked by: Clive Jones (Liberal Democrat - Wokingham)
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 implications for his policies of the French Government's decision to ban products containing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government has recently completed a rapid review of the Environment Improvement Plan (EIP) 2023 and will introduce a revised EIP in 2025. The revised EIP will include the Government's approach to managing chemicals, including the risks posed by PFAS. Other work is continuing across the Government to help us assess levels of PFAS occurring in the environment, their sources and potential risks to inform future measures. This includes the initiation of a UK REACH dossier investigating whether to restrict the use of PFAS in firefighting foams. We also monitor measures being taken in other jurisdictions such as France to inform possible approaches in the UK.
Asked by: Clive Jones (Liberal Democrat - Wokingham)
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 it his policy to amend the Persistent Organic Pollutants (Amendment) Regulations to allow, by derogation, the placing on the market of UV-328 present in articles and the use of such articles in land-based motor vehicles until 26 February 2030.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra officials are in the process of engaging with the automotive industry in relation the Persistent Organic Pollutants (Amendment) Regulation 2024, including the use of UV-328 by the automotive industry and the issue of derogations. Details of any further steps will be published in due course.
Asked by: Clive Jones (Liberal Democrat - Wokingham)
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 publish an impact assessment of the Persistent Organic Pollutants (Amendment) Regulations on the automotive industry.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra officials are in the process of engaging with the automotive industry in relation to the impacts of the Persistent Organic Pollutants (Amendment) Regulation 2024. Details of any further steps will be published in due course.
Asked by: Clive Jones (Liberal Democrat - Wokingham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to respond to the letter from the hon. Member for Wokingham to the Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury on funding for surplus food redistribution, dated 30 October 2024.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
A reply to the hon. Member has been prepared and will be issued very shortly.
Asked by: Clive Jones (Liberal Democrat - Wokingham)
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 19 November 2024 to Question 11480 on Import Controls: Fees and Charges, when he plans to make available further information on the (a) charge and (b) operating costs at Sevington.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
The Government plans to publish this information in Spring 2025.
Asked by: Clive Jones (Liberal Democrat - Wokingham)
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 publish the (a) number, (b) value and (c) repayment rate of invoices issued at Government-run border control point for charges incurred since 30 April 2024.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
Further information on the charge and the operating costs at Sevington will be made available in due course.
Asked by: Clive Jones (Liberal Democrat - Wokingham)
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 leaving the European (a) Union, (b) Customs Union and (c) Single Market on food prices.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
This Government cares deeply about the cost of living and food security; therefore, it closely monitors factors impacting food prices. Defra modelling shows that consumer food prices are driven by farmgate prices, import prices, exchange rates, labour costs in food manufacturing and non-labour costs in food manufacturing.
We are working to reset our relationship with our European friends to strengthen ties and tackle barriers to boost UK-EU trade. We will seek to negotiate a veterinary/SPS agreement to boost trade and deliver benefits to businesses and consumers in the UK and the EU. We have been clear that we are ambitious to improve our trading relationship but we are not rejoining the single market or customs union, and we will not return to freedom of movement.