Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
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 trends in the the numbers of hen harriers over the last 5 years.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The number of breeding hen harriers is assessed annually by Natural England in partnership with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB). Summaries of these figures are published as blogs via Natural England’s .gov blog page.
Assessments of the number of breeding hen harriers from the last four years can be seen below:
Nesting attempts per upland area of England
Area | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
Bowland | 18 | 11 | 11 | 15 |
North Pennines | 7 | 11 | 4 | 2 |
Northumberland | 9 | 17 | 15 | 18 |
Peak District | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
Yorkshire Dales and Nidderdale | 10 | 15 | 4 | 2 |
Total | 49 | 54 | 34 | 39 |
In 2025, a peer-reviewed paper was published assessing the population trends in hen harriers in the UK and Isle of Man between 2016 and 2023. This included data and co-authorship from Natural England’s hen harrier programme: https://doi.org/10.1080/00063657.2024.2446373.
Report Feb. 05 2026
Committee: Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee (Department: Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)Asked by: Iqbal Mohamed (Independent - Dewsbury and Batley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to raise public awareness of the impact of methane-reducing feed additives used in livestock farming.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We have a system. Methane-reducing food products, including seaweed, oils and synthetic products such as Bovaer, are a key tool in reducing emissions from agriculture by up to one third. Bovaer is approved for use in 70 countries, including those in the EU, Switzerland, the US, Canada and Australia. We are building the market for safe, effective options and helping farmers to adopt them. Such products are approved by the Food Standards Agency, and that advice has not been changed. Bovaer has been reviewed by 100 peer-reviewed scientific studies.
Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
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 18 December 2025 to Question 98739 on Biodiversity and Pollution: Sutton Park, how many meetings have taken place between Natural England and Birmingham City Council on the decline in the condition of the park’s woodland and heathland habitats since 1 January 2024.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Natural England has had 12 face to face meetings since 1 January 2024 with Birmingham City Council, with ongoing dialogue in between meetings. Natural England would be happy to meet with the Rt Hon Member and discuss.
Asked by: Lord Teverson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans, if any, they have to change the classification of spot-on pet treatments containing fipronil and imidacloprid from the current general sales (AVM-GS) to the prescription only (POM-V) classification.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Spot‑on flea and tick treatments containing fipronil and imidacloprid remain important for protecting animal and human health. Many of these products are currently classified as AVM‑GSL, meaning they may be supplied without professional advice. The Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) recognises increasing concerns about the environmental presence of these substances, which have been detected in some UK watercourses at levels above toxicity thresholds for aquatic invertebrates.
The VMD is carrying out a regulatory review of the AVM‑GSL status of products containing fipronil and imidacloprid. Further details on this review will be made available early this year. The review will assess whether requiring professional advice at the point of sale, such as through a minimum NFA‑VPS classification, could support more responsible use and disposal.
The regulatory review will consider all legal distribution channels with any future decisions being transparent, evidence‑based and to maintain animal welfare and access to treatment.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Epping Forest)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to help tackle the crime of fly tipping in Epping Forest.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Local councils are responsible for tackling fly-tipping in their area and have a range of enforcement powers to help them do so. These include fixed penalty notices of up to £1000 and prosecution action. The Government is taking steps to develop statutory fly-tipping enforcement guidance to support councils to effectively exercise their existing powers. We are also reviewing council powers to seize and crush vehicles of fly-tippers, to identify how we could better help them use this tool.
Defra chairs the National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group through which we work with a wide range of stakeholders to share good practice on preventing fly-tipping.
In our manifesto we committed to forcing fly-tippers to clean up the mess that they have created. We will provide further details on this commitment in due course.
The Environment Agency regulates large scale fly-tips that meet the criteria of being over 20 tonnes, consist of hazardous material, or are linked to organised crime. Within the Epping Forest constituency, there are not currently any reports of large-scale fly-tips that meet these criteria. It is worth noting that there are two illegal waste sites where active clearing is currently taking place under the guidance of the Environment Agency.