Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has met with representatives from Red Tractor to discuss the effectiveness of the Red Tractor assurance scheme regarding animal welfare standards.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Red Tractor assurance scheme is independent from Government. We have not met with representatives of Red Tractor to discuss the effectiveness of the Red Tractor scheme standards.
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
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 is taking to support local authorities in their efforts to identify and remove traces of toxic lead in soil.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Lead is a naturally occurring element in soils due to the weathering of rocks and minerals, and elevated concentrations can result from historical industrial activity. The Government recognises the importance of managing land contamination to protect human health and the environment. Under Part 2A of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, local authorities have a statutory duty to inspect their areas to identify contaminated land.
Defra supports local authorities in fulfilling their duties through the Contaminated Land Statutory Guidance, which sets out the legal framework for risk assessment and decision-making under Part 2A. In addition, the Land Contamination Risk Management (LCRM) framework, recently updated by the Environment Agency, provides technical guidance on assessing, managing and remediating land contamination in line with current best practice.
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the sources of PFAS pollution in UK rivers.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency (EA) has been co-ordinating a programme of work to better understand the presence of PFAS in the environment and develop a risk-based approach to manage identified risks.
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
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 public health risks associated with PFAS contamination in drinking water; and if he will publish a list of affected catchment areas in England and Wales.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Since August 2024, the Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI) guidance has set a guideline limit of 100 nanograms for the sum of 48 named PFAS. The limit was agreed with the UK Health Security Agency to be a robust level with an appropriate margin to ensure our drinking water is not a danger to human health. There is no evidence of PFAS above 100 nanograms in drinking water supplies. The DWI continues to monitor publications and advice provided by the World Health Organization and the UK’s Committee on Toxicity in relation to PFAS and will continue to act accordingly based on the scientific evidence as it emerges.
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress he has made on the implementation of the Border Target Operating model for thoroughbred horses.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
Regarding the Sanitary and Phytosanitary agreement, as announced at the UK-EU Leaders Summit on 19 May 2025, the UK and EU have agreed to work towards a common Sanitary and Phytosanitary Zone to reduce delays and paperwork at the border. The movement of live animals is within scope of the agreement and will be considered as part of this. Our aim is to start the detailed negotiations as soon as possible, as we want to see businesses benefit from removing barriers to trade.
Regarding the Border Target Operating Model (BTOM), we have been clear that compliance with the existing BTOM controls must continue until further notice, because the UK’s biosecurity and public health must continue to be protected. Where areas of the BTOM are yet to be delivered, we are in the process of reviewing our plans in response to the UK-EU Summit Common Understanding. We are aiming to share more detail on our approach soon.
Please note that there are no plans to remove the border checks that currently apply to equines entering the UK from the Rest of the World. These checks remain a vital part of our commitment to safeguarding animal health and maintaining biosecurity.
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to remove physical checks for thoroughbred horses at the border.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
Regarding the Sanitary and Phytosanitary agreement, as announced at the UK-EU Leaders Summit on 19 May 2025, the UK and EU have agreed to work towards a common Sanitary and Phytosanitary Zone to reduce delays and paperwork at the border. The movement of live animals is within scope of the agreement and will be considered as part of this. Our aim is to start the detailed negotiations as soon as possible, as we want to see businesses benefit from removing barriers to trade.
Regarding the Border Target Operating Model (BTOM), we have been clear that compliance with the existing BTOM controls must continue until further notice, because the UK’s biosecurity and public health must continue to be protected. Where areas of the BTOM are yet to be delivered, we are in the process of reviewing our plans in response to the UK-EU Summit Common Understanding. We are aiming to share more detail on our approach soon.
Please note that there are no plans to remove the border checks that currently apply to equines entering the UK from the Rest of the World. These checks remain a vital part of our commitment to safeguarding animal health and maintaining biosecurity.
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to introduce legally binding targets for the reduction of untreated sewage discharges into chalk streams.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Our Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction Plan targets improvements at 75% of high-priority sites, including chalk streams. This ensures that they are prioritised for improvement from the £11 billion investment to upgrade nearly 3,000 storm overflows across the country.
The Plan, alongside the Water (Special Measures) Act, strengthens enforcement by giving regulators greater powers to hold polluters accountable. This marks the biggest boost in enforcement in a decade, helping protect these iconic British habitats for future generations.
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what support is available to local environmental groups undertaking citizen science river testing.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency (EA) recognises the value of citizen science data, and the additional insight it can provide to complement its monitoring and assessment work.
With Spending Review funding, the EA is collaborating with citizen science groups in observing and measuring the environment. The data that is captured complements the EA’s own monitoring efforts and further increases understanding of water quality.
This collaboration is already creating strong relationships with citizen science groups, and improving data integration. The recently published Technical Advisory Framework guides best practice in citizen science monitoring which can be found on the Environment Agency Water Hub. To get involved with citizen science including river testing it encourages all interested communities to contact their local catchment partnership - details on how to do this can be found in the Technical Advisory Framework.
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to support local authorities in improving surface water drainage to prevent overloading of combined sewer systems.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is strongly committed to improving the implementation of Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) and ensuring adoption and maintenance arrangements.
New national standards make clear that SuDS should be designed to cope with changing climatic conditions as well as delivering wider water infrastructure benefits in the form of flood prevention and storm overflow reduction, offering reuse opportunities, reducing run off, and helping to improve water quality, amenity, and biodiversity. The standards are a material consideration in deciding planning applications in accordance with paragraphs 181 and 182 of the National Planning Policy Framework.
The Environment Agency has a strategic overview role for all sources of flooding, including surface water; playing an active role in supporting and enabling local authorities to plan and adapt to current and future surface water flood risk.
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
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 an assessment of the potential merits of nationalising Thames Water.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government has no plans to nationalise Thames Water or any other water company.
It would cost billions of pounds and take years to unpick the current ownership model, slowing down our reforms and only worsening sewage pollution.
However, this Government stands ready to intervene to ensure the continued provision of vital public services – through the use of a Special Administration Regime (SAR) – should this be required.
A SAR is not a form of renationalisation.