Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
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 22 October 2025 to Question 82811 on Water Supply: Standards, whether she has assessed the adequacy of issuing non-mandatory guidance for private water supply risk assessments.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI) publishes and maintains a suite of risk assessment tools on its website. Risk assessments must meet the requirements of European standard EN 15975-2 entitled "Security of Drinking Water Supply - Guidelines for Risk and Crisis Management – Risk Management" which provides further guidance and if local authorities have any questions on performing risk assessments, they can contact the DWI who provide technical and scientific advice.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
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 22 October 2025 to Question 82808 on Water Supply: Newton Abbot, what assessment her Department has made of the capacity of Teignbridge District Council to meet its statutory duties for private water supplies, in light of the number of registered supplies and the associated workload for risk assessments and sampling.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Local authorities can recover costs incurred from their work on private water supplies from the relevant person for the supply. Defra expects all local authorities to undertake their statutory duties.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
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 22 October 2025 to Question 82809 on Water Companies: Risk Assessment, what steps she is taking to help ensure compliance by local authorities with statutory reporting duties on private water supply risk assessments; and if she will provide an update on progress made in responding to the recommendations of the 2024 research project: Impact and future of the regulatory model and legislative framework surrounding private water supplies in England and Wales.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Reporting duties return rates by local authorities will be raised by officials in the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government through their regular liaison meetings with the Local Government Association.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what investigations her Department has made into alternative to the culling of healthy flocks of caged birds in areas of wider avian flu outbreak.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Culling is the most effective means of controlling and stamping out an avian influenza outbreak together with movement restrictions, high standards of biosecurity, separation of poultry from wild birds and surveillance.
Preventative vaccination for avian influenza may be an option for the future but will not be viable for the 2025/2026 risk season. Defra has established a cross government and industry taskforce to explore future vaccination options. The taskforce published its initial report on 24 July. The report recommends a series of actions, including a vaccination trial in turkeys, before a final recommendation can be made.
Currently, vaccination of poultry and captive birds against avian influenza, excluding those in licensed zoos in England, is not permitted. Defra continue to invest in avian influenza research, and we continue to monitor vaccine usage both in Europe and globally, as well as the effectiveness of other disease control measures taken.
Any future decisions on disease control measures, including the use of vaccination, will be based upon the latest scientific, ornithological, and veterinary advice.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate her Department has made of the potential impact of the UK-EU Sanitary and Phytosanitary Agreement on the number of cross-border transfers of livestock since 2020.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We have agreed to work towards a common Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Area which will slash costs and remove red tape. The removal of the need for Export Health Certification would save trading businesses up to £200 per consignment each time goods are sent.
Later we will start the detailed negotiations on the SPS agreement, as well as the other commitments from our summit in May.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will take steps to reduce the number of animal crates used for (a) pigs and (b) chickens in Devon.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 29 April 2025 to the hon. Member for Mid Dorset and North Poole, PQ UIN 47556.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
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 4 October 2024 to Question 6887 on Plastics: Pollution, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the plastic waste export regime in promoting domestic recycling.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra is reviewing the role of plastic waste exports as part of the Government’s wider efforts to improve management of this waste. Our focus is on ensuring a level playing field for domestic recyclers whilst realising our environmental objectives, and any future action will aim to help drive investment in UK reprocessing infrastructure and promote domestic recycling.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
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 3 November 2025 to Question 86440 on Deposit Return Schemes, if she will take steps to ensure the deposit return scheme allows (a) bottles and (b) other deposit items (i) purchased in the UK to be returned in other European countries and (ii) vice versa.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Thank you for your interest in the Deposit Return Scheme (DRS). The objectives of DRS include boosting recycling levels, reducing littering, and offering greater opportunities to collect higher quality, uncontaminated materials in greater quantities.
In practical terms, DRS regulations allow UK Deposit Management Organisation (Ltd), who has been appointed to operate the scheme in England, Northern Ireland and Scotland, to work jointly and in cooperation with other scheme administrators, including those operating an overseas scheme.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent progress she has made towards the introduction of the Deposit Return Scheme in 2027.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Deposit Return Scheme for drinks containers will launch in October 2027 across England, Northern Ireland and Scotland. Earlier this year, the UK Deposit Management Organisation Ltd were appointed to operate the schemes in England, Northern Ireland and Scotland, and they are continuing to progress at pace with delivery of the scheme.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the recent appointments to the Food Strategy Advisory Board on (a) farmers and (b) animal welfare in Devon.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Members of the Food Strategy Advisory Board are senior leaders, appointed for their individual experience and leadership to ensure a broad range of expertise and perspectives across the food system. They do not represent their business interests, specific sectors or geographic areas. The Board’s role is to provide independent advice to support the development of the food strategy. As such, the impact of appointments is considered in terms of the collective insight they bring to national food policy, rather than on specific stakeholder groups or regions.