Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
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 protect local biodiversity in (a) South Holland and the Deepings constituency and (b) Lincolnshire.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is undertaking extensive work to protect and enhance biodiversity across Lincolnshire, including South Holland and the Deepings.
Farmers are helping to recover nature through Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier agreements and Higher Level Stewardship agreements across the county and we are supporting Landscape Recovery Projects, including the Greater Frampton, Doddington and Boothby Wildlands schemes, to create joined-up habitats that benefit local wildlife and ecosystems.
Local Planning Authorities are securing Biodiversity Net Gain in the area through development. There are two sites in Lincolnshire (one in South Holland and the Deepings) on the Natural England Biodiversity Net Gain Register, which together have committed 85ha of land to nature recovery. Private sector investment into these sites will create and enhance a mosaic of habitats including species-rich grassland, woodland, scrub and wetland.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
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 adequacy of the condition of the River Welland in Lincolnshire.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency (EA) inspects the River Welland every year to check for any visible problems with its structures and embankments. In 2022, they also surveyed the river to check for silt build-up and see if extra maintenance was needed. While some silt was found, it wasn’t enough to cause concern compared to other narrow parts of the river, such as bridges. The EA also reviewed how they maintain the Cradge Bank, which is part of the river. As a result, they plan to do more maintenance there to improve grass growth as healthy grass helps prevent the bank from failing.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
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 increase the number of apprenticeship starts in his Department.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
We remain committed to supporting the use of apprenticeships across all departments as part of this Government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity. This includes supporting the Government's commitment to 2,000 digital apprenticeships through its TechTrack scheme by 2030 to improve digital skills and drive improvements and efficiency in public services.
Additionally, a new cross-Government Level 3 apprenticeship programme in Business Administration, the Civil Service Career Launch Apprenticeship, will see new apprentices kickstart their careers, across various departments, starting from January 2026.
In addition, Defra has a group apprenticeship strategy with a clear ambition for year-on-year growth in enrolments. There is a focus on areas where apprenticeships can support organisational priorities, career development for existing staff and addressing key skills gaps.
These include:
Following a successful pilot of a Data Protection and Information Governance cohort in 2023, plans for recruitment of a second cohort in early 2026 have begun.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many visits have Ministers in his Department made to farms in Lincolnshire since the announcement of proposed changes to Agricultural Property Relief and Business Property Relief on 30 October 2024.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
Defra ministers regularly visit farms in a range of counties and meet with farmers and the wider industry nearly every week.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
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 had recent discussions with the big four supermarkets on animal welfare standards on pig farms.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
Defra regularly engages with supermarkets about a range of issues, but has not had any recent discussions on pig welfare standards.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
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 (a) South Holland District Council and (b) South Kesteven District Council in reducing fly tipping incidents.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Local authorities have a range of enforcement powers to help them tackle fly-tipping. These include prosecution, which can lead to a significant fine or even imprisonment, and powers to seize vehicles of suspected fly-tippers. They can also issue a fixed penalty notice of up to £1,000 to fly-tippers and £600 to householders who pass their waste to an unlicensed waste carrier, the income from which is kept by councils and must be spent on enforcement or cleaning up fly-tipping.
We encourage councils to make good use of their enforcement powers and we are currently taking steps to develop statutory guidance on fly-tipping enforcement. We have also announced a review of council powers to seize and crush vehicles of suspected fly-tippers, to identify how we could help councils make better use of this tool.
In our manifesto we committed to forcing fly-tippers to clean up the mess that they have created as part of a crackdown on anti-social behaviour. We will provide further details on this commitment in due course.
In the meantime, Defra continues to chair the National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group through which we work with a wide range of stakeholders, such as local authorities and the Environment Agency, to share good practice on preventing fly-tipping. Various practical tools are available from their webpage which is available at: https://www.keepbritaintidy.org/national-fly-tipping-prevention-group#.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
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 biodiversity net gain as part of National Grid's proposals to build pylons in the Fens as part of the Grimsby to Walpole plans.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government's National Policy Statements for energy infrastructure encourage projects to deliver biodiversity net gain. National Grid Electricity Transmission, the developer of Grimsby to Walpole, have committed to deliver at least 10% biodiversity net gain on their construction projects.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
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 had recent discussions with the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government on long term funding solutions for the internal drainage board.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra officials are in regular contact with MHCLG officials regarding internal drainage boards (IDBs) and are working together, along with the IDB sector and local authorities, on a new research project. This project will review IDBs’ funding and costs, including considering whether any changes are needed to the IDB funding model.
The review is expected to start this summer and will last for around a year. Once it has concluded Defra and MHCLG will consider the findings carefully.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate his Department has made of the level of funds invested by Chinese firms in the UK water sector in the next ten years.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government recognises the important role of independent regulation in attracting the investment our water sector needs to deliver for both current and future consumers. We are aware there has been investment into the water sector in the UK by Chinese investors. Under Ofwat’s current processes, Ofwat are notified of acquisitions in line with water company licence conditions.
Ofwat, as the independent economic regulator, protects the interests of consumers by making sure water companies carry out their statutory functions and are financially resilient as well as holding them to account on overall performance and delivery of essential services.
These same standards and licence conditions apply across all water companies, regardless of whether they are owned by foreign or domestic investors.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether OFWAT has offered apprenticeships in each year since 2010.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Civil Service is committed to using apprenticeships to break down barriers to opportunity, support skills development and deliver more effective public services.
OFWAT has made use of apprentices in its workforce since 2014 and recruitment data, where available, has been provided below:
Employed as Degree Apprentices: | ||||
Quantity | Apprenticeship | Start date | End Date | Training provider |
2 | Operations (Technology & Infrastructure) | Dec 2014 | Dec 2015 | South and City College |
1 | Professional economist (integrated degree), Level: 6 | Sep 2024 | Sep 2028 | The University of Kent |
2 | Project manager (integrated degree), Level: 6 | Oct 2024 | Sep 2027 | University of Exeter |
2 | Solicitor, Level: 7 | Mar 2025 | Feb 2027 | DAMAR Ltd |
1 | Professional economist (integrated degree), Level: 6 | Sep 2024 | Sep 2028 | The University of Kent |
Ofwat Employees who joined Apprenticeship Programmes: | ||||
1 | Solicitor, Level: 7 | Sep 2024 | Aug 2027 | DAMAR Ltd |
1 | Assistant accountant, Level: 3 (Standard) | Sep 2019 | Sep 2020 | Solihull College and University Centre |
1 | Professional accounting or taxation technician, Level: 4 (Standard) | Dec 2020 | Mar 2022 | Solihull College and University Centre |
1 | Business Administrator, Level: 3 (Standard) | Jun 2019 | Sep 2020 | QA Ltd |
1 | Coaching professional, Level: 5 | Feb 2022 | Aug 2022 | HTP Apprenticeship College Ltd |
In addition, OFWAT is recruiting for a September 2025 Degree Apprenticeship intake: 2 x Economist, 1 x Chartered Manager, 2 x L7 Solicitor Apprentices