Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions his Department has had with stakeholders from the fishing industry.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
The Fisheries Minister and officials regularly engage with stakeholders across the UK fishing industry through established forums and working groups, including producer organisations, trade associations, and Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authorities. The Department also works closely with the devolved governments and Arms’ Length Bodies to ensure a joined-up approach to fisheries management.
Most recently, the Secretary of State and the Fisheries Minister visited Newlyn at the end of July to meet representatives of the Cornish fishing sector, and the Fisheries Minister visited Northern Ireland on 20 and 21 August, which included discussions with fishermen, processors and industry leaders in Portavogie, Ardglass and Kilkeel.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
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 help tackle dog on dog attacks.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
Defra is working with the police, local authorities and animal welfare groups to encourage responsible dog ownership, to ensure dog control issues are addressed before they escalate and to make sure the full force of the law is applied. As part of this work, we have reconvened the Responsible Dog Ownership taskforce to explore measures to promote responsible dog ownership across all breeds of dog. The taskforce is considering four themes: education, training for both dogs and their owners, enforcement, and improving data on dog attacks. We look forward to receiving the findings and recommendations from the taskforce in due course.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
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 enforce the ban on glue traps.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Glue Traps (Offences) Act 2022 bans glue trap use in England in all but the most exceptional, licensable circumstances. It came into force in 2024. Nothing in the law prevents sale of glue traps in England. However, only pest controllers with a licence can legally use them for rodent control.
The police enforce against illegal use of glue traps. All wildlife crime police officers in England are able to access the National Wildlife Crime Unit’s (NWCU) DISC Hub which provides updates regarding national wildlife crime issues. Comprehensive briefing on glue traps legislation has been available on this Hub since the Act came into force. If a police officer needs to urgently know the legislation, they have the correct pathway to the information they need and should take the appropriate enforcement action. Natural England meanwhile is the licensing authority for the use of glue traps for rodent control. Its officers will enforce against breaches of licensed use and Natural England is suitably resourced to fulfil this function.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans his Department has to introduce a public awareness campaign on the impact of domestic pesticide usage on wildlife.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
All authorised plant protection products have statutory conditions of use that must be followed by all users, and strict, science-based regulation is supplemented with policies to encourage safe and minimal use. In March this year, the government published the UK Pesticides National Action Plan (NAP) 2025, which sets out the actions that all four UK governments will take to reduce the potential harm from pesticide use.
Through events such as Bees Needs Week, the government highlights what the public can do to help pollinators – including thinking carefully about whether to use pesticides.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much their Department has spent on translating documents into languages other than (a) English and (b) other native UK languages in each year since 2023; and what these languages were.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
The amount of expenditure recorded for translation services in the 2023/24 financial year, which runs from 1 April to 31 March, is £1,699.13. For the 2024/25 financial year, the provisional expenditure is £2,703.84.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
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 help ensure the adequacy of access to green spaces (a) in Ashfield constituency and (b) nationwide.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra does not hold information on the specific steps taken in Ashfield constituency on the adequacy of access to green spaces. However, we have committed that everyone should live within a 15-minute walk of a green or blue space and are working to reduce other barriers which prevent people from accessing green and blue spaces, such as physical challenges, lack of confidence and lack of information.
Progress towards meeting the commitment is being made through work already happening across Government to both increase available natural space and make it more accessible, such as the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government's Green Flag Awards; Natural England’s Green Infrastructure Framework and Defra's Access for All and Farming in Protected Landscapes programmes.
As of May 2025, we have published two new official statistics in development on walkability within England to the nearest green or blue space. We are in the process of developing next steps which will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
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 increasing the amount that a person can be fined for having a dangerous dog.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
Under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991, there are already strict penalties in place. The owner of any dog that is dangerously out of control may be put in prison for up to 14 years, banned from ever owning a dog and receive an unlimited fine. We have no plans to increase these penalties.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many incidents regarding dangerous dogs have been reported in (a) Ashfield constituency, (b) Nottinghamshire and (c) England in each of the last 5 years.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
This information is collected by the NHS, individual police forces or local authorities.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
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 with Cabinet colleagues to help encourage the building of wildlife-friendly neighbourhoods.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra is working closely with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to deliver planning reforms and unlock the housing this country urgently needs while improving outcomes for nature. We already expect local planning authorities to plan for development incorporating green infrastructure.
Biodiversity net gain ensures development has a measurably positive impact on biodiversity, compared to what was there before development, and became mandatory (under the Environment Act 2021) in England for most major developments and small sites in early 2024. This means protecting existing habitats and ensuring that lost or degraded habitats are compensated for by enhancing or creating habitats with a greater overall value to wildlife and people, and with rules incentivising delivery on development sites.
The revised National Planning Policy Framework we published in December also expects planning policies and decisions to minimise impacts on and provide gains for biodiversity, including through incorporating features that support priority or threatened species such as swifts, bats and hedgehogs.
As part of our work to develop a set of national policies for decision making, the Government has committed to consulting on changes which require swift bricks to be incorporated into new buildings unless there are compelling reasons which preclude their use, or which would make them ineffective. As an interim step ahead of the consultation the government have published updated Planning Practice Guidance setting out how swift bricks are expected to be used in new development.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
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 protect hedgehog populations.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Government-led action is focused on addressing the main known drivers of hedgehog decline including habitat loss and fragmentation due to removal of field margins, hedgerows and scrub; the use of herbicides and insecticide; and road traffic.
The Environment Act 2021 introduced several policies, such as Biodiversity Net Gain, Local Nature Recovery Strategies, and a strengthened biodiversity duty on public authorities, which will work together to support the creation and restoration of habitats which will support a range of species including hedgehogs and their prey species.
Natural England is co-funding the National Hedgehog Monitoring Programme. The information gathered will produce insights into the factors causing hedgehog population decline, leading to the implementation of future practical conservation measures to address this challenge.