Asked by: James MacCleary (Liberal Democrat - Lewes)
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 changes to the Sustainable Farming Incentive on (a) (i) hedgerow and (ii) soil restoration, (b) pollinating wildflowers and (c) tree planting.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
Defra is working closely with farmers and industry stakeholders to design a future Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) offer that fairly and responsibly directs funding. Further details about the reformed SFI offer will be announced in summer 2025.
Asked by: James MacCleary (Liberal Democrat - Lewes)
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 help support the long-term financial security of farmers, in the context of changes made to the Sustainable Farming Incentive.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
We have allocated a record £11.8 billion to sustainable farming and food production over this parliament. We are investing more than £2.7 billion a year in farming and nature recovery, the largest budget for sustainable food production in our country’s history to put healthy, nutritious food on our tables. We are working closely with farmers and industry stakeholders to design a future SFI offer that fairly and responsibly directs funding. Further details about the reformed SFI offer will be announced in summer 2025.
That is only part of our commitment to farmers.
We have also protected farmers in trade deals and provided a five-year extension to the Seasonal Worker route, giving farms certainty to grow their businesses.
We have appointed former NFU president Minette Batters to recommend new reforms to boost farmers’ profits.
Asked by: James MacCleary (Liberal Democrat - Lewes)
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 encourage farmers to ensure that (a) rivers, (b) streams and (c) lakes are protected from pollution.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We are taking action to address agricultural pollution and support farm businesses. We are, as a priority, working with farmers and environmental groups to improve farm pollution regulations to ensure they are simple and effective. We are also doubling funding for Environment Agency farm inspections to work with farmers to raise standards and have issued amended Statutory Guidance on the Farming Rules for Water to set clearer expectations on enforcing the rules. We continue to invest in our farmers through Environmental Land Management schemes.
Asked by: James MacCleary (Liberal Democrat - Lewes)
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 ensure (a) the timely availability of pollution data, (b) that water companies are held to account for sewage discharges and (c) that improvements to storm overflow infrastructure are prioritised.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
For too long, water companies have discharged unacceptable levels of sewage into our rivers, lakes and seas.
We are putting water companies under special measures through our landmark Water (Special Measures) Act. The Act has introduced new powers to ban the payment of bonuses for polluting water bosses and bring criminal charges against law breakers and made it mandatory for water companies to publish plans to reduce pollution incidents.
The Act is also introducing independent monitoring of every sewerage outlet, with water companies required to publish real-time data for all emergency overflows. Discharges will have to be reported within an hour of the initial spill. This will match the pre-existing duty for storm overflows and will meet the Government commitment to ensure monitoring of every outlet.
Asked by: James MacCleary (Liberal Democrat - Lewes)
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 adequacy of the remedies available to people who are experiencing noise disturbances.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Local authorities are responsible for investigating noise disturbances brought to their attention under Section 79 of the Environmental Protection Act, 1990. If they agree that a statutory nuisance is happening, has happened or will happen in the future, councils must serve an abatement notice.
Asked by: James MacCleary (Liberal Democrat - Lewes)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he expects the sanitary and phytosanitary agreement referred to in the joint UK-EU statement of 19 May 2025 to come into effect.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
As announced at the UK-EU Leaders' Summit on May 19, 2025, the UK and EU have agreed to work towards a common Sanitary and Phytosanitary Area. Our aim is to start talks straight away and we want to remove barriers as soon as possible.
Asked by: James MacCleary (Liberal Democrat - Lewes)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if his Department will review the regulatory framework applied to small, local abattoirs to ensure that (a) food safety is maintained, (b) animal welfare standards are supported and (c) local food supply chains are supported.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
Defra continues to recognise the vital contribution a thriving abattoir network plays in supporting local livestock producers and maintaining a resilient food supply chain.
The Government encourages the highest standards of meat hygiene and animal welfare at slaughter.
Legislation sets out strict requirements for meat hygiene and to protect the welfare of animals when slaughtered and Official Veterinarians of the Food Standards Agency are present in all approved slaughterhouses during slaughter operations to monitor and enforce these requirements.
We remain committed to working with abattoirs of all sizes across the UK’s meat processing sector, in tackling the challenges and opportunities they face.
Asked by: James MacCleary (Liberal Democrat - Lewes)
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 the retention and replacement of small abattoirs in Sussex.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
Defra recognises the vital contribution a thriving abattoir network plays in supporting local livestock producers and maintaining a resilient and competitive food supply chain.
Defra works closely with the smaller abattoir sector including through its Small Abattoirs Working Group and Small Abattoirs Task and Finish Group. In doing so, we seek to identify and promote opportunities available to the sector and to collaborate with them on addressing any challenges and concerns it may be facing.
While the Department recognises the disruption and challenges that the closure of smaller abattoirs can have on the farming community, the retention and replacement of individual abattoirs is ultimately a matter for the owners of these businesses.
Asked by: James MacCleary (Liberal Democrat - Lewes)
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 Rural England Prosperity Fund has been reduced for the year 2025-2026.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
Defra announced on 4 March that it would be providing an additional £33 million for the Rural England Prosperity Fund in financial year 2025-26. This announcement continues funding beyond the lifetime of the original scheme providing new money for new projects in rural areas.
The Autumn Statement on 30 October confirmed Defra’s budgets for 2024-25 and 2025-26. Funding allocations for individual programmes have been determined through the departments business planning exercise. Future funding decisions remain subject to the Government spending review.
Asked by: James MacCleary (Liberal Democrat - Lewes)
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 plans to take steps to reduce the amount of per- and polyflouroalkyl substances (PFAS) in drinking water.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Drinking Water Inspectorate’s (DWI) current guideline limit on individual types of PFAS of 100 nanograms per litre for treated drinking water was set in 2021 based on an assessment of existing scientific knowledge. These limits were agreed with the UK Health Security Agency to be robust levels with an appropriate margin to ensure our drinking water is not a danger to human health. Work now continues across Government to assess levels of PFAS to safeguard current high drinking water quality and ensure our regulations remain fit for purpose.
More widely, as we look to improve and maintain our water quality standards, this Government has been clear that vital infrastructure investment is ringfenced and can only be spent on upgrades benefiting customers and the environment. When money for investment is not spent, companies must refund customers, with money never allowed to be diverted for bonuses, dividends or salary increases.
The Water (Special Measures) Bill will also deliver on the Government’s manifesto commitment to put water companies under special measures to clean up our water. Through the Bill, we will drive meaningful improvements in the performance and culture of the water industry.