Asked by: Mims Davies (Conservative - East Grinstead and Uckfield)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the Government is working with local authorities to improve access to nature in deprived communities in Sussex.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government has committed, as part of the Environmental Improvement Plan 2025, to work with 100 local authorities and developers to embed Natural England’s Green Infrastructure Framework. The framework provides guidance and practical tools to help local planning authorities and developers design high quality green spaces in urban areas.
This Government has also announced that we will bring forward an Access to Nature Green Paper to consult on proposals to improve and expand public access to the outdoors.
The Green Paper will set out a range of policy options and invite views from stakeholders, including local authorities, and the public.
This consultation will play an important role in shaping the development of future policy in this area. Further updates and a timeline for publication will be provided in due course.
Asked by: Mims Davies (Conservative - East Grinstead and Uckfield)
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 role of protected landscapes in delivering nature recovery and improving public wellbeing.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In recognition of their huge potential for nature, climate, people and place, Defra have established ambitious targets for National Parks and National Landscapes as set out in the Protected Landscapes Targets and Outcomes Framework. Protected Landscapes also have a major role in delivering the 30by30 commitment, given the scale of land they manage and their leadership in nature recovery.
Defra have published the first report of progress against these targets in the Protected Landscape Targets and Outcomes Framework progress report - GOV.UK. This sets out the progress made in 2023 to 2025, and how Protected Landscapes are delivering against the nature recovery and access to nature elements of the EIP.
Asked by: Mims Davies (Conservative - East Grinstead and Uckfield)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent steps her Department has taken to halt and reverse species decline in Sussex.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We are committed to delivering our statutory biodiversity targets. To achieve these targets, we are taking large-scale action to create, restore, manage and protect habitats, reduce pressures on biodiversity, and support species recovery, in order meet our legally binding biodiversity targets. This includes £60 million over three years for the Species Recovery Programme, the largest government investment of its kind, and a further £30 million for species recovery on the national forest estate. Environmental Land Management schemes also provide substantial support for habitat creation, management, and targeted species action.
Defra Group has supported West Sussex and East Sussex County Councils to prepare their Local Nature Recovery Strategies with publication expected shortly. It will set nature recovery priorities and map specific proposals for habitat creation and improvement that will support many species.
Asked by: Bradley Thomas (Conservative - Bromsgrove)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking with the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government to support Wildlife Crime Officers and National Wildlife Crime Units to charge developers that contravene the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In England, a range of legislation provides strong protections for wildlife species and their habitats. Key frameworks such as the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (WCA) and the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017 make it an offence to deliberately harm, disturb or otherwise interfere with protected species, except where permitted under licence.
In practice, this means development and land management activities must account for protected species at an early stage and either avoid impacts or, where necessary, secure appropriate mitigation and licensing. These frameworks are designed not to prevent activity outright, but to ensure that impacts on wildlife are minimised and that long-term recovery and sustainability are supported.
If a developer is investigated and found to have committed an offence under the WCA then they can get up to a six-month prison sentence and/or an unlimited fine. Wildlife crime is unacceptable. Defra is a principal funder of the National Wildlife Crime Unit which helps prevent and detect wildlife crime and directly assists law enforcers in their investigations. Defra is providing £530,000 to the Unit in 2026/27.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
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 adequacy of the Fair Dealing Obligations (Pig) Regulations 2025.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Fair Dealing Obligations (Pigs) Regulations (FDOP) are the result of extensive consultation with farmers, producer groups and the wider industry. They have applied to any new contracts since August 2025 and will come into force fully (for all contracts) from August 2026.
FDOP includes a statutory requirement for post-implementation review, which will be carried out at the appropriate time, to assess the effectiveness and adequacy of the regulations. In the interim, the Agricultural Supply Chain Adjudicator (ASCA) continues to engage with the pig sector and wider industry stakeholders to support implementation and monitor how the regulations are operating in practice.
Asked by: Sarah Dyke (Liberal Democrat - Glastonbury and Somerton)
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 expand circumstances in which private veterinary surgeons are permitted to use more sensitive bovine tuberculosis testing technologies in commercial settings.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Statutory tuberculin skin testing (SICCT) and interferon-gamma blood testing (IFNy) of cattle herds will remain the foundation of bovine tuberculosis (TB) control and will continue to be required. The recently published co-designed bovine TB Control Strategy for England also proposes facilitating greater access to privately-funded ancillary bovine TB testing alongside this, to support earlier detection of infected cattle and disease management.
Government will now consider the recommendations in the new bovine TB strategy, including on testing.
Asked by: Robin Swann (Ulster Unionist Party - South Antrim)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate she has been made of the levels of screw worm infection in the UK cattle herd.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
New World Screwworm, Cochliomyia hominivorax, a parasitic blowfly, is classified as a notifiable pathogen under the Specified Animal Pathogens Order (SAPO) in the United Kingdom. The fly is not established in the UK and there have been no recorded cases of screwworm infection in the UK cattle herd.
In the event of a suspected or confirmed case, the Secretary of State would either be notified via the Animal and Plant Health Agency or by the Health and Safety Executive who are the SAPO licensing authority.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
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 prevent victims of waste crime having to bear the cost of any required clean-up in (a) Newcastle-under-Lyme constituency and (b) Staffordshire.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Landowners are responsible for preventing and clearing illegally dumped waste on their land. While landowner responsibility protects against perverse incentives, we recognise that innocent landowners can and often do face unaffordable remediation costs. That is why, as part of our Waste Crime Action Plan, we are exploring barriers to a more accessible insurance market, alongside practical guidance and preventative measures to help landowners reduce the risks that they face. Wherever possible, Government seeks to recover costs from perpetrators; we have recouped over £1.5 million since 2024.
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
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 improve access to inland waters for responsible recreational users.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government recognises the importance of providing access to the outdoors for people’s health and wellbeing and encourages safe and responsible access to the countryside through the Countryside Code and support for nationwide water safety campaigns.
Public access onto around 3,400 miles of our regulated inland waterways, including several of the larger rivers, is available through the licensing regimes of the navigation authorities that own or manage them.
As set out in the Environmental Improvement Plan 2025, Defra committed to consulting on measures to ensure that everyone has access to nature close to home and to strengthen the public’s legal rights to access through an Access to Nature Green Paper to be published during this Parliament. This includes exploring the feasibility of increasing access onto unregulated waterways, and Defra is committed to working with stakeholders as this develops.
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 assessment her Department has made of the (a) prevailing market conditions and (b) trends in the level of input costs for the fishing industry.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra is actively monitoring prevailing market conditions by assessing factors such as demand for seafood, price movements across key species, and wider supply chain dynamics, including the effects of seasonality and market access on fishers’ returns.
In parallel, Defra is closely monitoring input costs, in particular changes in diesel prices, and the impact these are having on the operational viability of the UK fishing fleet. Defra is working with other Government departments and industry stakeholders to gather evidence on cost pressures and how these vary across different fleet segments and regions.
Our assessment draws on economic data and analysis from Seafish and the Marine Management Organisation (MMO), and considers the interaction between market conditions and input costs, including the extent to which rising costs can be absorbed or passed on through the market.
Defra will continue to work closely with stakeholders to understand how these pressures are evolving and to consider what, if any, measures may be appropriate to support the sector.