Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Department is taking to help tackle water scarcity.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government recognises the importance of having enough water through the Environment Improvement Plan – ‘Goal 3: Water - We will ensure English waters are clean, resilient and plentiful.’ Within this plan, there are stretching targets to reduce demand for water.
The Government is playing its part by introducing a new mandatory water efficiency label and reviewing building standards to help people use a little less water.
In addition, water companies are required to publish water resources management plans (WRMP) that set out how the companies will provide secure public water supplies for a 25-year period. The recently published 2024 WRMPs set out how water supplies would be maintained over the coming years through demand management, leakage reduction and enhancing supplies from river and groundwater sources in the time period before new strategic sources of water, such as large reservoirs, come online.
The Environment Agency (EA) published the National Framework for Water Resources in June 2025, which sets out the current and future pressures on water resources and the main actions needed across government, regulators, regional groups, water companies and all sectors of use to address the challenge of water scarcity. This includes the need for joined-up planning between different water-using sectors to identify collaborative solutions for water resources.
The EA is carrying this work forward, with a programme of resilience workstreams across sectors, including for public water supply, agriculture, energy, and data centres.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the difference is in legal duties and obligations between limit values under the Air Quality Standards Regulations and air quality targets for PM2.5 concentrations set in the Environmental Improvement Plan 2025.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Air Quality Standards Regulations (AQSR) 2010 establish legally binding standards across the UK, for numerous air pollutants, including PM2.5. The AQSR limit value for PM2.5 concentrations is 20 micrograms per cubic meter in England and responsibility for meeting the target lies with the Secretary of State.
Targets established through the Environment Act 2021 (The Environmental Targets (Fine Particulate Matter) (England) Regulations 2023) set legally binding targets of annual mean concentration of 10 micrograms per cubic meter or lower by 2040, and a 35% reduction in population exposure by 2040 (compared to 2018 levels). These apply to England only and responsibility for meeting the targets lies with the Secretary of State. The Environmental Improvement Plan also sets out non-legally binding interim targets.
Some AQSR standards are mirrored in the Local Air Quality Management framework. This is not the case for the Environment Act 2021 targets, although local authorities are required through the Air Quality Strategy to contribute to targets being met.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
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 25 November 2025 to Question 91935, what she is seeking to achieve from revisions to the Gothenburg Protocol including Annex IX.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland continues to engage with other Parties to the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe’s Convention on Long‑Range Transboundary Air Pollution on the ongoing revision of the 2012 amended Gothenburg Protocol, including obligations regarding ammonia emissions. The United Kingdom is committed to supporting effective action on transboundary air pollution across the region, while ensuring the Protocol is fit for the future and can be ratified and implemented by more Parties to the Convention.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether Commitment 19 in the Environmental Improvement Plan 2025 should refer to emissions of oxides of nitrogen rather than nitrogen dioxide.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Commitment 19 of the Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP25) relates to The National Emission Ceilings Regulations 2018 national reduction commitments for 2030 and should correctly be referenced as oxides of nitrogen.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
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 25 November 2025 to Question 91935 on Air Pollution: International Cooperation, whether she is seeking to agree (a) reductions or (b) increases for each of the national emission reduction commitments (ceilings) listed in Annex IX of the Gothenburg Protocol.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland continues to engage with other Parties to the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe’s Convention on Long‑Range Transboundary Air Pollution on the ongoing revision of the 2012 amended Gothenburg Protocol, including obligations regarding ammonia emissions. The United Kingdom is committed to supporting effective action on transboundary air pollution across the region, while ensuring the Protocol is fit for the future and can be ratified and implemented by more Parties to the Convention.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
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 effectiveness of the Clean Air Act 1956, the Clean Air Act 1968 and the Clean Air Act 1993.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Clean Air Act is kept under continuous review to ensure it remains fit for purpose. A number of amendments have been made since its introduction in 1956. The most recent changes were introduced under the Environment Act 2021, which included the strengthening of existing enforcement powers for local authorities in smoke control areas and the introduction of new legally binding targets for fine particulate matter.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the largest environmental risks are to public health in the UK.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
There are a number of environmental risks to public health in the UK, including air pollution, noise pollution, climate change and extreme weather, emerging chemical and biological risks and water quality.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department provides guidance on whether premises are permitted to emit visible smoke in England.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We provide guidance for local authorities on enforcement of SCAs - Smoke control area enforcement by local authorities in England and to the public to help them understand the requirements within SCAs – Smoke control areas: the rules.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, How many people in each of the following regions are expected to be exposed to concentrations of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) exceeding each of (a) 5 micrograms per cubic metre (ug/m3), (b) 6 ug/m3 and (c) 7 ug/m3 or more in 2030: (a) East Midlands, (b) East of England, (c) Greater London, (d) North East, (e) North West, (f) South East, (g) South West, (h) West Midlands, (i) Yorkshire and the Humber and (j) England.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra does not publish air quality data in the form requested.
The recently published Environmental Improvement Plan set out a target to reduce average exposure to PM2.5 in England by 30% by 2030 compared to the 2018 value. The emphasis of this approach is to continue reducing exposure across the whole of England.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
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 effectiveness of the Domestic Solid Fuel Regulations 2020.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In November 2025, we published the Post Implementation Review of the Air Quality (Domestic Solid Fuels Standards) (England) Regulations 2020, which assesses the effectiveness of the Regulations.
Data suggest that the Regulations have led to consumers moving from more polluting fuels to less polluting fuels. The review concluded that this has led to a reduction in emissions of PM2.5 and SO2 with environmental and public health benefits.