Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what enforcement mechanisms will be used to ensure compliance with the Animals (Low Welfare Activities Abroad) Act 2023 once the Activity Regulations are in force.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Animals (Low Welfare Activities Abroad) Act 2023 provides a framework for the introduction of future bans on the advertising and offering for sale, in England and Northern Ireland, of low-welfare animal activities abroad.
The Act grants enforcement powers to Trading Standards in England and the Department for the Economy for Northern Ireland to monitor compliance of future regulations.
It is important that any regulations are effective and work in practice, and as set out in the animal welfare strategy published in December 2025, we are continuing to engage with stakeholders including the tourism industry and animal welfare groups to explore both legislative and non-legislative options to stop the advertising of low-welfare animal activities abroad and will be setting out next steps in due course.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what engagement her Department has had with animal protection organisations on the development of activity regulations under the Animals (Low Welfare Activities Abroad) Act 2023, including the extent to which those organisations’ recommendations have informed policy development.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Animals (Low Welfare Activities Abroad) Act 2023 provides a framework for the introduction of future bans on the advertising and offering for sale, in England and Northern Ireland, of low-welfare animal activities abroad.
The Act grants enforcement powers to Trading Standards in England and the Department for the Economy for Northern Ireland to monitor compliance of future regulations.
It is important that any regulations are effective and work in practice, and as set out in the animal welfare strategy published in December 2025, we are continuing to engage with stakeholders including the tourism industry and animal welfare groups to explore both legislative and non-legislative options to stop the advertising of low-welfare animal activities abroad and will be setting out next steps in due course.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether overseas tourism activities involving animals are currently being considered for inclusion within the Activity Regulations under the Animals (Low Welfare Activities Abroad) Act 2023.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Animals (Low Welfare Activities Abroad) Act 2023 provides a framework for the introduction of future bans on the advertising and offering for sale, in England and Northern Ireland, of low-welfare animal activities abroad.
The Act grants enforcement powers to Trading Standards in England and the Department for the Economy for Northern Ireland to monitor compliance of future regulations.
It is important that any regulations are effective and work in practice, and as set out in the animal welfare strategy published in December 2025, we are continuing to engage with stakeholders including the tourism industry and animal welfare groups to explore both legislative and non-legislative options to stop the advertising of low-welfare animal activities abroad and will be setting out next steps in due course.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
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 the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport on the regulation of travel companies advertising overseas animal tourism activities that involve low welfare standards.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Secretary of State has regular discussions with the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport on a range of issues.
As set out in the animal welfare strategy, published in December 2025, we are continuing to engage with stakeholders to explore both legislative and non-legislative options to stop the advertising of low-welfare animal activities abroad.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
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 her Department’s press release entitled UK leads global efforts to help communities save the ocean and beat poverty, published on 26 January 2026, what proportion of projects funded under the second round of the Ocean Community Empowerment and Nature Grants Programme are led by (a) women and (b) women’s organisations.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
All applications to the OCEAN Grants Programme are assessed against publicly available Gender Equality, Disability and Social Inclusion (GEDSI) assessment criteria. This assessment is conducted by an external Expert Committee and a GEDSI specialist to ensure applications demonstrate how they will mainstream GEDSI through the project lifecycle. Progress is routinely monitored.
In Round Two, 100% of projects were identified as mainstreaming GEDSI and designed to explicitly benefit women and girls. Approximately 30% of projects are led by a woman Project Leader, and one project is led by a women’s-rights, women-led organisation in Bangladesh.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
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 her Department’s press release entitled UK leads global efforts to help communities save the ocean and beat poverty, published on 26 January 2026, if she will list the criteria that assess whether projects under the Ocean Community Empowerment and Nature Grants Programme benefit women and girls.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
All applications to the OCEAN Grants Programme are assessed against publicly available Gender Equality, Disability and Social Inclusion (GEDSI) assessment criteria. This assessment is conducted by an external Expert Committee and a GEDSI specialist to ensure applications demonstrate how they will mainstream GEDSI through the project lifecycle. Progress is routinely monitored.
In Round Two, 100% of projects were identified as mainstreaming GEDSI and designed to explicitly benefit women and girls. Approximately 30% of projects are led by a woman Project Leader, and one project is led by a women’s-rights, women-led organisation in Bangladesh.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
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 her Department’s press release entitled UK leads global efforts to help communities save the ocean and beat poverty, published on 26 January 2026, what steps her Department is taking to monitor the delivery of proposed environmental benefits from the Ocean Community Empowerment and Nature Grants Programme.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
All recipients of OCEAN Grants are required to agree outcomes and to monitor and report on progress including of proposed environmental benefits, throughout the grant lifecycle. During the application phase, proposed outcomes and the indicators used to measure progress are agreed and assessed by an external Expert Committee.
An independent evaluation of the programme is planned and will provide further evidence on progress towards agreed outcomes and overall impact.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
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 her Department’s press release entitled UK leads global efforts to help communities save the ocean and beat poverty, published on 26 January 2026, what outcome measures her Department will use to assess the impact of projects funded under the Ocean Community Empowerment and Nature Grants Programme.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
All recipients of OCEAN Grants are required to agree outcomes and to monitor and report on progress including of proposed environmental benefits, throughout the grant lifecycle. During the application phase, proposed outcomes and the indicators used to measure progress are agreed and assessed by an external Expert Committee.
An independent evaluation of the programme is planned and will provide further evidence on progress towards agreed outcomes and overall impact.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
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 her Department’s press release entitled UK leads global efforts to help communities save the ocean and beat poverty, published on 26 January 2026, if she will set out how her Department evaluates whether Ocean Community Empowerment and Nature Grants Programme-funded projects are inclusive of (a) marginalised and (b) indigenous communities.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The OCEAN Grants Programme has been designed to ensure that Gender equality, disability and social inclusion (GEDSI) is at its heart. OCEAN's approach goes beyond gender equality alone to include disability and wider social inclusion, explicitly covering marginalised groups and Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLCs). All applications are assessed for social inclusivity by an external Expert Committee and GEDSI specialist and must ensure equitable access, active participation, and appropriate roles in decision-making, with safeguards to prevent intentional or unintentional harm.
Projects are monitored and evaluated during delivery to track progress and embed learning. In Round Two, 54% of successful projects explicitly target IPLCs and/or other ethnic or religious minority groups and 100% of successful projects are expected to work with marginalised communities.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
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 her Department’s press release entitled UK leads global efforts to help communities save the ocean and beat poverty, published on 26 January 2026, what proportion of OCEAN grant funding is provided as direct financial support to community organisations.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Through Round One and Two, approximately 20% (£4,905,878) of OCEAN Grants Programme funding is expected to be provided in direct financial support to local NGOs, Civil Society Organisations and other in-country non-profit organisations working closely with communities.