Asked by: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of the closure of the Sustainable Farming Incentive scheme on Natural England's caseload for investigations of potential breaches to the Environmental Impact Assessment (Agriculture) (England) (No.2) Regulations 2006.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
No formal assessment was deemed necessary in relation to the potential impact of the closure of the 2024 Sustainable Farming Incentive offer to new applications on the incidence of EIA (Agriculture) Regulations breaches.
Asked by: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many cases Natural England is investigating for potential breaches of the Environmental Impact Assessment (Agriculture) (England) (No.2) Regulations 2006 on semi-natural grassland for (a) 2025, (b) 2024 and (c) 2023.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Figures by financial year can be found in Natural England’s published enforcement reports here. The 2023/24 report is due to be published soon, and work is underway on the 2024/25 report.
Asked by: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when she plans to publish the River Wye Diffuse Water Pollution Plan.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Diffuse Water Pollution Plans are not published by Defra. The River Wye Diffuse Water Pollution Plan is being prepared by the Environment Agency (EA). The EA will be sharing it with the partners and stakeholders who are working together to achieve improvements of water quality in the Wye Catchment. This plan is part of a broader programme of work to manage nutrient levels and improve water quality in the Wye catchment.
Asked by: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she plans to reform processes for the (a) monitoring and (b) management of (i) ponds, (ii) headwater streams and (iii) other small waters.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency (EA) has in recent years expanded monitoring of headwater streams through its new Small Streams Network, and an increased number of smaller lakes with the Lake Surveillance Network, part of the Natural Capital Ecosystem Assessment Programme. The evidence from this new monitoring will be subject to ongoing data analysis.
The EA also undertake occasional operational and investigative monitoring in very small streams in response to pollution, or where they are of particular importance locally.
Additionally, the Government will respond to the recommendations published in the final report of the Independent Water Commission through a White Paper and a new water reform bill, bringing forward root and branch reform to secure better outcomes for customers, investors and the environment and restore trust and accountability. Together with the building blocks the Government has already put in place, this will mark the most fundamental reset to our water system in a generation.
Asked by: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, for what reason the publication of a joint intelligence committee report into the destabilising impact of the climate and nature crises on national security has been delayed.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra routinely conducts and updates assessments on a range of threats. HMG publishes assessments in the National Risk Register and Chronic Risks Analysis, including on biodiversity loss and its interactions with ecosystems, on GOV.UK
Asked by: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)
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 April 2025 to Question 33250, what progress her Department has made on joint cross-border research on the River Wye.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Cleaning up the River Wye remains a government priority.
Officials in Defra and the Welsh Government continue to collaborate to roll out the £1 million cross-border River Wye research announced earlier this year. Local stakeholders including local farmers, environmental groups, and citizen scientists, will play a crucial role in gathering evidence and shaping the research. Officials will shortly update stakeholders on next steps and will attend the local Nutrient Management Board in Herefordshire. A research workshop will also shortly take place, where stakeholders can continue to shape research plans and help us gather actionable evidence to tackle pollution in this iconic catchment.
Asked by: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of raising the minimum juice content for cider to 50%.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government has not assessed an increase to the minimum juice content for cider. Engagement with the sector has suggested that an increase to 50% is not supported by the industry and is not what consumers in the UK would expect from their cider products.
Asked by: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)
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 include the live exports ban, as set out in the Animal Welfare (Livestock Exports) Act 2024, in the list of exceptions to dynamic alignment that the Government will seek during negotiations on the EU UK Sanitary and Phytosanitary Agreement.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government has been clear about the importance of being able to set high animal welfare standards. While I am unable to comment in detail on negotiations regarding the Agreement, we expect them to start in the Autumn.
Asked by: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)
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 include traditional orchards in the list of irreplaceable habitats for biodiversity net gain.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government has stated its intention to review the definition of irreplaceable habitats in due course, to ensure it remains robust and supports decision making.
Asked by: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)
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 his Department's press release entitled Hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses to benefit from largest flood defence investment programme in history, updated on 2 July 2025, on what evidential basis the £7.9 billion commitment over 10 years represents (a) a record level of investment and (b) the largest flood defence investment programme in history; and whether this level of funding represents an increase in funding on an annual basis.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Delivering on the Government’s Plan for Change, we’re investing a record £2.65 billion over two years (2024/25 and 2025/26) to improve flood resilience by maintaining, repairing and building flood defences. We’re committing a further £4.2 billion over three years from April 2026, an increase of 5% compared to current investment levels, as announced at Spending Review 2025. These investments compare to an annual average of £1.09 billion spent under the previous government between 2021/22 and 2023/24.
On 16 June we announced a £7.9 billion capital commitment into flood defences for the next 10 years, to March 2036. This commitment represents a record level of capital investment and is the largest flood defence investment programme in history, both in terms of its total amount and the 10-year duration of the commitment.