Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 8 September 2025 to Question 72871, on Water Charges, what cost-benefit analysis her Department carried out when choosing not to introduce a national social tariff for water bills in the policy paper entitled A new vision for water: white paper published on 20 January 2026.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is working with industry to keep support schemes under review to ensure that vulnerable customers are supported. We are working with water companies to ensure vulnerable customers across the country receive support. This includes improving the guidance for companies to design the best social tariffs for their customers.
We expect all water companies to put appropriate support in place for customers struggling to pay their bills and to proactively engage with their customers to ensure they know what support schemes are available and how to use them. Over the next five years, water companies will have more than doubled the number of customers that will receive help with their bills through social tariffs from 4% in 2025 to 9% in 2030. We expect companies to hold themselves accountable for their commitment to end water poverty by 2030 and will work with the sector to ensure appropriate measures are taken to this end.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the proposed trophy hunting ban will include all species of zebra; and when her Department plans to publish what species its proposed ban will cover.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra is continuing to engage with relevant stakeholders to help determine the most appropriate scope for a ban on the import of hunting trophies from species of conservation concern. Timeframes for introducing legislation and details of its scope will be provided once the Parliamentary timetable for future sessions is determined.
Species of conservation concern are listed primarily on Appendices I and II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) based on the level of threat that international trade poses to their conservation status.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
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 she has had with her US counterpart on the proposed UK ban of trophy hunting imports.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Baroness Hayman met with a United States Government representative in July 2025 to discuss the UK Government’s proposed ban on imports of hunting trophies.
The Government committed to a ban on the import of hunting trophies in its manifesto and will deliver on this.
The department engages constructively with a range of stakeholders, including other Governments, to understand different perspectives and ensure that we can implement a robust ban.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to coordinate data collection across (a) police forces and (b) other public bodies to monitor dog attacks on postal workers, and if she will hold discussions with Cabinet colleagues on a cross-government approach to protect postal workers from such attacks.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra is working with the police, local authorities and animal welfare groups to help prevent dog attacks. As part of this work, the Government reconvened the Responsible Dog Ownership taskforce to explore measures to promote responsible dog ownership across all breeds of dog. The taskforce is considering improvements in data collection and reporting. We look forward to receiving its findings and recommendations in due course.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment has her department made of exisiting legislation to restrict illegal trade of birds of prey.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
All wild birds of prey and their eggs are protected under UK legislation, including the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. Offences can result in up to a six-month custodial sentence and/or an unlimited fine. Restrictions on the commercial use or trade of birds of prey are also in place under the UK Wildlife Trade Regulations (UK WTRs). Options for improving protections for birds of prey under the UK WTRs are being considered following a recent government consultation.
Crimes involving birds of prey are a national wildlife crime priority. To support enforcement of legislation and help prevent and detect wildlife crime more broadly, Defra provided £494,000 to the National Wildlife Crime Unit in 2025/26.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress her Department has made on introducing measures to end the use of peat in horticulture.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government plans to legislate for a ban on the sale of peat and peat containing products when parliamentary time allows. This commitment is embedded within our Carbon Budget planning and, most recently, reflected in the latest iteration of the Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP).
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of trends in the level of dog attacks on postal workers.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra does not hold data on the number of dog attacks on postal workers. This information may be collected by the NHS, individual police forces and local authorities.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, in addition to banning trophy hunting imports, what further plans she has to prevent British firms from selling hunting holidays.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is committed to banning the import of hunting trophies from species of conservation concern, which is the most effective approach the Government can take on this matter. The department continues to engage with relevant stakeholders to ensure that we can implement a robust ban. Timeframes for introducing legislation will be provided once the Parliamentary timetable for future sessions is determined.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of compelling online trade directories to require tradespeople to verify and display waste carrier licences.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We recently announced plans to tighten up the regulation of those who transport and manage waste services, moving them from a light-touch registration system into environmental permitting. This will give the Environment Agency a greater range of powers and more resources to be able to take action against those operating illegally.
We will announce our further plans in due course.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when she plans to bring into force the legislative provisions of the Animals (Low-Welfare Activities Abroad) Act 2023.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We continue 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.