Asked by: Steve Darling (Liberal Democrat - Torbay)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when his Department plans to publish the outcome of its consultation on the Bathing Water Regulations.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra, jointly with the Welsh Government, ran a consultation on a package of reforms to the Bathing Water Regulations 2013 that was open between November – December 2024.
In March 2025 the Government published its response to this consultation, setting out the intention to implement three Core Reforms and several Technical Amendments to the Bathing Water Regulations 2013.
A Statutory Instrument was then laid before Parliament on 28 October 2025, introducing the three core reforms and technical amendments into law. The majority of the Regulation came into force on the 21 of November 2025. Core Reform 2 will come into force on the 15 of May 2026.
Asked by: Steve Darling (Liberal Democrat - Torbay)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of holding a summit to support the zoos and aquarium industry.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra is responsible for ensuring zoos and aquariums provide the highest levels of welfare for the animals they keep, as well as delivering conservation and education. The Government published new Standards of Modern Zoo Practice for Great Britain on 24 May 2025, which will come into force from May 2027. The new Standards support zoos and aquariums in ensuring animals in their collections are being kept in line with latest in best zoo practice.
Following publication of the new Standards in May, the Animal Welfare Minister - Baroness Hayman of Ullock – held a zoos roundtable on 25 June, to discuss implementation of the new Standards, and what more Defra could do to help support zoos and aquariums adapt to the new Standards.
Asked by: Steve Darling (Liberal Democrat - Torbay)
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 the Torbay Marine Conservation Zone, in the context of climate change.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Torbay Marine Protected Area (MPA) was designated in 2013 to protect a range of features and species including native oysters, seagrass beds, and long – snouted seahorse. These features are protected through a mobile fishing gear permit byelaw that prohibits the use of demersal towed gears across designated features. Owing to the extension of the sea grass beds, an area that had previously been open to seasonal trawling was closed in February 2025. These measures will aid the recovery of sensitive features and allow the MPA to become more resilient to the effects of climate change. All MPAs are also protected from the point of designation by the planning and marine licensing regimes that cover activities such as dredging for aggregates and construction of offshore wind farms.
Asked by: Steve Darling (Liberal Democrat - Torbay)
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 improve water quality.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government has secured a record £104 billion of private sector investment that will fund the rebuilding and repair of broken sewage pipes so we can cut sewage pollution into our waterways. We are also reforming agriculture to drastically reduce run-off into rivers. Together with our radical reform of water regulation and the regulator, this Government has all the building blocks in place to clean up our rivers, lakes and seas for good.
Asked by: Steve Darling (Liberal Democrat - Torbay)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many dogs are exempt under the XL bully exemption scheme.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
As of 17 June 2025, 56,346 XL Bully dogs are registered with a Certificate of Exemption.
Asked by: Steve Darling (Liberal Democrat - Torbay)
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 rehoming banned breeds which have passed behavioural assessments.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
In England and Wales, the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 prohibits the ownership of five types of dog; the Pit Bull terrier, the Dogo Argentino, the Fila Brasileiro, the Japanese Tosa, and the XL Bully. It is a criminal offence to sell, abandon, give away or breed any of these breed types. This is an important measure to protect public safety by reducing the number of these dogs in circulation over time.
Asked by: Steve Darling (Liberal Democrat - Torbay)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much funding has been allocated to animal welfare in the Spending Review 2025.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
This Government was elected on a mandate to introduce the most ambitious plans to improve animal welfare in a generation. The Prime Minister announced that we will be publishing an animal welfare strategy later this year.
The allocations for projects and programmes will be set now following the Spending Review. This will build on the support already available through the Animal Health and Welfare Pathway, which includes access to testing for priority diseases and advice to continually improve the health, welfare and productivity of farmed animals through funded vet visits.
Asked by: Steve Darling (Liberal Democrat - Torbay)
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 effectiveness of the dangerous dogs control scheme in Calgary, Canada.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
The Government has reconvened the Responsible Dog Ownership Taskforce to explore measures to promote responsible dog ownership across all breeds of dog. As part of this work, the taskforce may look at international models of dog control. We look forward to receiving its findings and recommendations in due course.
Asked by: Steve Darling (Liberal Democrat - Torbay)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many full time equivalent civil servants are working on animal welfare policy.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
There are many civil servants across Defra that are responsible for multiple animal welfare policies, working flexibly according to business need. Civil Servants work across animal welfare, transforming farm animal health and welfare, wildlife and rural teams, with some responsibilities sitting across other teams.
Asked by: Steve Darling (Liberal Democrat - Torbay)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many FTE civil servants his Department has allocated to work on developing a single point of search for the microchip database for (a) dogs and (b) cats.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
There are many civil servants across Defra that are responsible for multiple animal welfare policies, working flexibly according to business need. Civil Servants work across animal welfare, transforming farm animal health and welfare, wildlife and rural teams, with some responsibilities sitting across other teams.