Asked by: Perran Moon (Labour - Camborne and Redruth)
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 tackle the illegal importation of puppies and kittens.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
As outlined in our manifesto, the Government is committed to ending puppy smuggling. That is why we are supporting the Animal Welfare (Import of Dogs, Cats and Ferrets) Bill.
The Bill successfully completed its Second Reading in the House of Lords on 5 September 2025. We are fully supportive of this Bill and would like to see it pass through the House of Lords as soon as Parliamentary time allows.
Asked by: Perran Moon (Labour - Camborne and Redruth)
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 implementing a ban on the use, sale, and possession of snare traps in England; and whether she has a planned timeline for legislative action.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government will introduce the most ambitious programme for animal welfare in a generation. As outlined in our manifesto, we will bring an end to the use of snare traps in England. We are considering the most effective way to deliver this commitment and will be setting out next steps in due course.
Asked by: Perran Moon (Labour - Camborne and Redruth)
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 make an assessment of the potential merits of adding seals to Schedule 5 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The GB Statutory Nature Conservation Bodies (GBCBs) acting through the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) have carried out the latest quinquennial review of species afforded legal protection under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (WCA). JNCC submitted the resultant advice to the previous government.
We continue to consider the evidence for making legislative change to protect our endangered species. This includes consideration of the proposals submitted by the JNCC in their advice to amend the lists of species afforded protection by the WCA, to include the grey and harbour seal.
Asked by: Perran Moon (Labour - Camborne and Redruth)
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 plans to take to maximise critical mineral recovery from (a) Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment and (b) lithium-ion batteries.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government is committed to transitioning to a circular economy. We have convened a Circular Economy Taskforce, comprising experts from industry, academia, and civil society, to help develop a Circular Economy Strategy for England. To support this transition, the Circular Economy Taskforce will start with six priority sectors including electronics and transport, which includes electric vehicle batteries. Interventions, including on critical minerals, will be considered as part of the roadmaps for these sectors. We are also considering regulatory levers to increase battery collection rates and encourage best practise in end-of-life management.
The UK’s Critical Minerals Strategy will set the long-term ambition of secure supply of critical minerals UK and harnessing our competitive advantage in midstream processing and recycling. It will also outline how the ambition will be achieved through optimising domestic production and through strategic international collaboration.
Asked by: Perran Moon (Labour - Camborne and Redruth)
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 potential merits of adopting EU Battery Regulation 2023/1542 as part of the Circular Economy Strategy.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government is committed to transitioning to a circular economy. The Circular Economy Strategy will be supported by a series of roadmaps detailing the interventions that the government will make on a sector-by-sector basis, supporting government’s Missions to kickstart economic growth and make Britain a clean energy superpower. We are considering the evidence for sector-specific interventions right across the economy, including for batteries, as we develop our Strategy, including considering international best practices and regulations in other jurisdictions, including the EU.
Asked by: Perran Moon (Labour - Camborne and Redruth)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the use of pesticides by (a) local authorities and (b) other public bodies on the environment in public spaces.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government recognises the importance of managing public spaces sustainably and its first priority is to ensure that pesticides do not harm human or animal health or pose unacceptable risks to the environment.
A pesticide may only be placed on the market following a thorough risk assessment that concludes all safety standards are met. All professional pesticide users must minimise the use of pesticides along roads and in areas used by the public, receive training and register with Defra.
They are encouraged to follow the principles of Integrated Pest Management, which aims to reduce reliance on chemical pesticides by making use of lower risk alternatives and promoting natural processes. The UK Pesticides National Action Plan sets out how the Government will continue to promote the sustainable use of pesticides.
It is for each Local Authority to decide the best way of delivering effective and cost-effective weed control without harming people or the environment. I recently held a roundtable with local authorities, the Local Government Association and the Pesticide Action Network to share best practice on reducing pesticide use. I am keen to see best practices shared more widely, helping to support effective, innovative and sustainable pesticide use across our public spaces.
I am keen to see best practices shared more widely, helping to support effective, innovative and sustainable pesticide use across our public spaces.
Asked by: Perran Moon (Labour - Camborne and Redruth)
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 potential impact of banning snares on animal welfare.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government will introduce the most ambitious programme for animal welfare in a generation. As outlined in our manifesto, we will bring an end to the use of snare traps in England. We are considering the most effective way to deliver this commitment and will be setting out next steps in due course.
Asked by: Perran Moon (Labour - Camborne and Redruth)
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 including a farm education option in the Sustainable Farming Incentive.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
Educational access features as part of the wider Environmental Land Management (ELM) schemes and we are developing it further as a new 3-year capital item; we expect this to be available later in 2025. It will be a stand-alone capital item, though applicants must have an agri-environment or woodland agreement with management actions for this capital item. In countryside stewardship, currently eligible visitor groups are school age children and care farming groups only, but in the new educational access capital item, more diverse groups of people will be able to visit and benefit from an educational experience on farms and woodland across England.
As part of the development of the new educational access capital item, funding levels were considered, and agreement holders will receive £363 per visit, up to a maximum of 25 visits per agreement year.
Asked by: Perran Moon (Labour - Camborne and Redruth)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he would make it his policy to create exemptions for Extender Producer Responsibility depending on (a) a producer’s sustainability and (b) B-Corp status.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
There are no exemptions planned for producers with B-Corp status. While private ESG schemes like B-Corp certification can play an important role in driving sustainability, they are complementary to, rather than a replacement for regulatory measures like pEPR.
Asked by: Perran Moon (Labour - Camborne and Redruth)
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 help improve data in the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment system.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Waste Electronics and Electrical Equipment regulations make producers responsible for the electrical products they place on the market when they become waste. Data is collected on the tonnage of electrical products every producer sells within the UK and the tonnage of waste that they recycle appropriately to ensure they are meeting the requirements of the regulations. Defra is also updating the WEEE Regs to create a separate reporting category for vapes, so vape manufacturers pick up their fair share of recycling costs.
We have convened a Circular Economy Taskforce to help us develop a Circular Economy Strategy for England. The Strategy will be supported by a series of roadmaps detailing the interventions that the government will make on a sector-by-sector basis, supporting government’s Missions to kickstart economic growth and make Britain a clean energy superpower. We are considering the evidence for sector-specific interventions right across the economy, including in electronic waste, as we develop our Strategy.