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 expects the Stage 3 Marine Protected Areas consultation response to be published before the end of 2026.
The Marine Management Organisation has been carefully considering the very large number of responses received to the consultation, and decisions will be made in due course. Our Environmental Improvement Plan, published last December, commits us to putting all MPA fisheries byelaws in place by the end of 2026.