Asked by: Sarah Hall (Labour (Co-op) - Warrington South)
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 plans to reform the (a) Packaging Recovery Note (PRN) and (b) Packaging Waste Export Recycling Note (PERN) system to (i) address market imbalances that disadvantage UK recyclers, (ii) reduce the price disparity between PRNs and PERNs, (iii) strengthen oversight of overseas export destinations and (iv) support domestic recycling infrastructure.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Yes, we have been working closely with relevant stakeholders to identify and prioritise options to reform the PRN system, including levelling the playing field between UK reprocessors and exporters, and increasing transparency in the system. We plan to consult on these shortly.
Asked by: Suella Braverman (Conservative - Fareham and Waterlooville)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what support is available to farmers facing financial hardship due to (a) extreme weather events and (b) market volatility.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
For farm businesses to stay viable in an increasingly uncertain world, they must be able to profit from other activities.
The Government is offering a New Deal for Farmers to help address this. We have allocated a record £11.8bn to sustainable farming and food production over this parliament, protected farmers in trade deals and unlocked new markets for British produce, and extended the Season Worker Visa Scheme for 5 years. We have started to make the supply chain fairer, and we want our farmers to be primed to bid for a fair share of the £5 billion pounds a year spent on public-sector food and catering contracts.
Asked by: Roz Savage (Liberal Democrat - South Cotswolds)
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 ensure that farmers continue to receive support for managing their land to prevent flooding beyond 2025; and whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of there being no replacement funding available in 2026 on flood risk and soil health .
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government is increasing its funding for flood protection. We are investing £4.2 billion over three years in flood defences across the country – an average of £1.4 billion each year and a 5% increase compared to the current spending review period. This money will fund construction of new flood schemes and maintain and repair existing defences.
Asked by: Roz Savage (Liberal Democrat - South Cotswolds)
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 plans to introduce a successor scheme to support on-farm natural flood management and drainage maintenance from 2026 onwards.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government is increasing its funding for flood protection. We are investing £4.2 billion over three years in flood defences across the country – an average of £1.4 billion each year and a 5% increase compared to the current spending review period. This money will fund construction of new flood schemes and maintain and repair existing defences.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
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 an estimate of the proportion of food served in his Department that is British.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government, in line with manifesto commitments, is considering all lawful means of achieving its ambition that half of all food purchased across the public sector should be locally produced or certified to higher environmental standards. In order to understand where we are starting from, we are currently assessing what food the public sector buys and where it comes from. In due course, this will tell us the proportion of food served by public sector organisations, including Defra, that is British.
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 much funding the Environment Agency received in each of the last five years.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The EA’s total budget for 2025/26 is £2,274 million. This is an increase of £188 million compared with its £2,086 million budget in 2024/25.
Year | Total budget |
2025/26 | £2,274m |
2024/25 | £2,086m |
2023/24 | £1,961m |
2022/23 | £1,704m |
2021/22 | £1,627m |
Asked by: Andrew George (Liberal Democrat - St Ives)
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 imported pork produced using farrowing crates on the competitiveness of UK farmers that do not use farrowing crates.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government supports both a competitive farming sector and the need to maintain high animal welfare standards in the UK.
No such assessment has been undertaken. No data is held on the production method of imported pork.
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 recent meetings she has had with (a) animal welfare groups and (b) (i) veterinary and (ii) training organisations on the use of electric shock collars on pet dogs.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
DEFRA regularly engage with a wide range of stakeholders on animal welfare issues.
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 steps she is taking to encourage (a) dog breeders to undertake health testing before breeding puppies and (b) responsible dog acquisition.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Under The Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018, licensed breeders are prohibited from breeding dogs if it can be reasonably expected that on the basis of their genotype, phenotype or health, this would lead to welfare problems for the mother or the puppies.
Under the statutory guidance, the licenced dog breeder must make sure that the purchaser is informed of the age, sex and veterinary record of the dog being sold, and that a puppy may only be shown to a prospective purchaser if it is together with its biological mother. In addition, Defra supports the sector’s Puppy Contract for responsible puppy breeding and buying.
As outlined in our manifesto, the Government will bring an end to puppy farming. We are considering the most effective way to deliver this commitment and will be setting out next steps in due course.
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, if she will take steps to reduce the number of animal crates used for (a) pigs and (b) chickens in Devon.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 29 April 2025 to the hon. Member for Mid Dorset and North Poole, PQ UIN 47556.