Asked by: Phil Brickell (Labour - Bolton West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what her planned timetable is for the abolition of Ofwat.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government will publish a White Paper and introduce a new water reform bill, early this parliament, bringing forward root and branch reform to secure better outcomes for customers, investors and the environment, and restore trust and accountability. As part of this reform the Government has committed to create a single powerful regulator responsible for the entire water sector. Ofwat will be abolished, and the new regulator will take responsibility of water functions across Ofwat, Environment Agency, Natural England and Drinking Water Inspectorate.
Asked by: Lauren Sullivan (Labour - Gravesham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she plans to (a) amend legislation and (b) increase local authority enforcement powers relating to fly-tipping.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government has committed to forcing fly-tippers to clean up the mess that they have created. This will build on the sanctions already available for fly-tipping which include fixed penalty notices of up to £1000, seizing of vehicles and prosecution through the courts which can lead to a significant fine, a community sentence or even imprisonment. We will provide an update on this commitment in due course.
We encourage councils to make good use of their enforcement powers, and we are currently seeking powers through the Crime and Policing Bill to provide statutory guidance on fly-tipping enforcement. We have also announced a review of local authority powers to seize and crush vehicles of suspected fly-tippers, to identify how we could help councils make better use of this tool.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
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 potential implications for her policies of the Public First report entitled From risk to resilience - the case for flood-resilient communities, economy and growth, published in March 2025.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government is investing at least a record £10.5 billion until 2036 – the largest flood programme in history which is projected to benefit nearly 900,000 properties. This demonstrates the Government’s commitment to long-term funding as recommended by the Public First report.
Also, in line with the report’s recommendations, the Government is exploring setting a long-term multi-decade target for flood risk management and has announced a new flood funding policy that will make it quicker and easier to deliver the right flood defences in the right places by simplifying our funding rules.
The new funding policy will optimise funding between building new flood projects and maintaining existing defences and will ensure that deprived communities continue to receive vital investment. We will use Government funding to unlock investment from public, private and charitable sources, making every £1 of Government investment go further. We will also invest at least £300 million in natural flood management over ten years – the highest figure to date for the floods programme.
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, whether her Department will take steps to provide (a) financial support and (b) incentives for (i) developers and (ii) households to install water-saving devices.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government works with Ofwat who offer financial environmental incentives for developers to meet certain water efficiency standards.
On 23 September we launched a consultation to consider tighter water efficiency standards for new homes in the Building Regulations. We are working with Ofwat to ensure that environmental incentives in the future align with the ambition set out in this consultation and are considering how we can support developers as part of the £25 million fund held by Ofwat to fund a Water Efficiency Lab which aims to encourage innovation across the sector and is from November focusing on actionable insights for consumers.
To support households to reduce their water usage we are rolling out mandatory water efficiency label to ensure consumers can make informed decisions on their purchases, this will align with existing incentives for consumers to install water saving devices including free devices from water companies and the incoming £100 million Water Efficiency Campaign from Ofwat.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether any flood defence infrastructure projects in Huntingdon constituency would be eligible for upgrades through the Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management Programme.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government is investing more than £10.5 billion by the end of 2036 to protect the country against the threat of flooding and coastal erosion.
Projects from the Huntingdon constituency and all constituencies across the country will be able to benefit from this funding and apply to upgrade their defences under new spending rules, announced 14 October. The reforms will make it quicker and easier to deliver the right flood defences in the right places by simplifying our funding rules. This will increase investor confidence, close funding gaps, and reduce administrative burdens on local communities.
Around 10 projects in Huntington have already benefitted from funding this financial year, including £1.035 million for Alconbury Flood Alleviation Scheme, £694k for St Ives Sluice Moderation Project and £275k for Flood Storage Options for Great Ouse Catchment.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
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 5 June 2025 to Question 52410 on Sewers, when she plans to commence Schedule 3 of the Flood and Water Management Act 2010.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government is strongly committed to requiring standardised SuDS in new developments.
We believe that these outcomes can be achieved through either improving the current planning led approach using powers now available or commencing Schedule 3 to the Flood and Water Management Act 2010.
Asked by: Phil Brickell (Labour - Bolton West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when she plans to bring forward a Water Reform Bill.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government will publish a White Paper and introduce a new water reform bill, early this parliament, bringing forward root and branch reform to secure better outcomes for customers, investors and the environment, and restore trust and accountability. As part of this reform the Government has committed to create a single powerful regulator responsible for the entire water sector. Ofwat will be abolished, and the new regulator will take responsibility of water functions across Ofwat, Environment Agency, Natural England and Drinking Water Inspectorate.
Asked by: Phil Brickell (Labour - Bolton West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when she plans to publish a water reform white paper.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government will publish a White Paper and introduce a new water reform bill, early this parliament, bringing forward root and branch reform to secure better outcomes for customers, investors and the environment, and restore trust and accountability. As part of this reform the Government has committed to create a single powerful regulator responsible for the entire water sector. Ofwat will be abolished, and the new regulator will take responsibility of water functions across Ofwat, Environment Agency, Natural England and Drinking Water Inspectorate.
Asked by: Chris Hinchliff (Independent - North East Hertfordshire)
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 it her policy to increase nature-rich spaces by rivers to (a) reduce agricultural pollution and (b) protect and (c) enhance chalk streams.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Fixing the systemic issues in the water system is essential to addressing the multiple pressures facing chalk streams and restoring them to better ecological health. This Government has announced an ambitious programme of reforms to clean up our rivers, lakes, and seas for good: we will ensure that chalk streams benefit from this era of reform.
Our Environmental Land Management schemes funding will increase by 150% to £2 billion by 2028/2029, providing incentives for farmers and land managers to farm more sustainably – six of our Landscape Recovery projects are being developed in chalk stream catchments.
Additionally, we have committed to a rapid review of the Environmental Improvement Plan which will set out how Defra will deliver our legally binding targets. The Government will develop a new, statutory plan to protect and restore our natural environment with delivery plans to meet each of our ambitious Environment Act targets.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of proposed water efficiency standards on new home construction costs.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We are consulting on tighter water efficiency standards for new homes in Building Regulations. Within this we have assessed the policy’s impact on home construction and will be considering developer responses to enable a smooth transition. Our assessment considered the policy at a national level and not specifically its impact on Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes. Industry research found the cost of water efficiency is low for developers in comparison with the cost of development blockages caused by subsequent water scarcity. The cost of retrofitting water efficient devices is around £40-100 and can be offset by the incentives offered to developers by water companies.
The proposed measures will unlock stalled developments in areas of water scarcity and could unlock 1,000 homes for every 5,250 built, while saving households over £100 a year on bills.
The Government response to the consultation will outline how we propose to monitor and evaluate the final policy.