Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

All steel, aluminium and PET plastic drinks containers across the UK are exempt from pEPR disposal fees but remain subject to reporting and recycling (PRN) obligations until Deposit Return Schemes (DRS’s) enter into operation. Should DRS’s not enter into operation by the 1 January 2028 this exemption will cease.

Glass drinks containers across the UK are subject to pEPR data reporting and both disposal fees and recycling obligations.

The River Itchen is already designated as a Special Area of Conservation and many of our chalk streams benefit from some form of designation.

Chalk streams can be considered when setting the outcomes for a future system of environmental assessment.

This Government is committed to securing better environmental outcomes alongside securing the development we need and is considering how best to reform environmental assessment processes with this objective in mind. This includes whether to take forward the powers in the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act to introduce Environmental Outcomes Reports

Lastly, the National Planning Policy Framework recognises the role that well-designed SuDS schemes have in managing surface water while the National Framework for Water Resources sets out expectations for water efficiency including reducing leakage and long-term water usage.

Ofwat has received 359 customer contacts since 1 March 2025 regarding the increase in water and sewerage rates. 25 of these have received a substantive response. An additional 453 contacts have been received since 21 March 2025 which are being reviewed to determine if they relate to increases in water and sewerage rates.

Due to the current large amount of customer queries there has been significant delays in providing substantive responses to them. Customers are very important to Ofwat, and Ofwat recognises the need to improve its response rate, that is why it continues to work to improve its capacity and processing time and will process outstanding queries as quickly as possible.

Customers are of the utmost importance to this government. The Independent Water Commission, launched by UK and Welsh governments in October 2024, aims to build consensus for a resilient and innovative water sector that ultimately serves both customers and the environment. The Commission will report to the UK and Welsh governments by the end of June 2025.

As is the case with any new policy, we are collecting information and evidence about the implementation of mandatory biodiversity net gain, including for small sites. The Government is committed to working closely with the sector to make Biodiversity Net Gain work effectively and implement solutions to unlock new homes without weakening environmental protections.

Much of England's culturally rich landscapes and the literary heritage they represent are found in our National Parks, The Broads and National Landscapes. These Protected Landscapes are already specifically designated and managed to conserve and enhance their natural beauty and important cultural associations, including relevant literature and the sites which inspired it, as key components of the natural beauty of the area.

Protected Landscapes are extensively protected as set out in the National Planning Policy Framework which gives ‘great weight’ to the landscape and scenic beauty of Protected Landscapes. In addition local authorities are able to formally identify areas of local landscape value in local plans and the historic literary importance of a place can already be taken into account in development decisions.

The Government recognises the importance of England’s peatlands, and in our manifesto, we committed to expanding nature-rich habitats such as peatlands. This will contribute to ensuring nature’s recovery, one of Defra’s five priorities.

We have ambitions to restore hundreds of thousands of hectares of peatlands across the country, and we are working to ensure that we have the most effective mechanisms in place to go further than we have before. Peatland restoration is currently funded via the Nature for Climate Peatland Grant Scheme, and going forwards will be primarily funded through Environmental Land Management schemes, such as the Landscape Recovery and Countryside Stewardship schemes.

Private finance will also be vital if we are to meet our peatland restoration ambitions. To support peatland restoration, the Government is implementing a range of policies that will mobilise private investment. These include working with the IUCN to attract investment through the Peatland Code.

The UK’s packaging Extended Producer Responsibility (pEPR) policy has been in development since 2019. This is underpinned by extensive consultation and engagement with industry stakeholders, including the glass manufacturing sector, to provide businesses with a clear indication of the scheme’s design and implementation.

Consultations were held in 2019 and 2021, concluding with a final consultation on reforms to the Packaging Recovery Note (PRN) system in 2022. In 2023, the four nations of the UK jointly consulted on the operability of the draft Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging and Packaging Waste) Regulations 2024. Feedback from stakeholders during this process directly informed a number of amendments made prior to final regulations.

Throughout this period, Defra officials engaged closely with industry experts, including the glass industry. This collaboration has helped to ensure that the modelling of local authority costs used within the scheme reflects the practical realities of waste management operations.

We have made a full assessment of the expected business impacts of the policy, including on the glass sector. This is detailed in the official impact assessment for the Producer Responsibility Obligations (packaging and Packaging Waste) Regulations 2024, which remains publicly available: The Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging and Packaging Waste) Regulations 2024.

The Government remains committed to ongoing engagement with manufacturers and other stakeholders to support the successful and fair implementation of the scheme.

This Government has not made an assessment of the potential impact of a national campaign against littering.

I have been proud to support and endorse campaigns like the Great British Spring Clean. It is encouraging to see that there are a growing number of public-spirited individuals and community groups tackling litter all over the country. We will continue to use our influence to encourage as many people and business as possible to take part in such events.

We are targeting some of the most commonly littered items to reduce the presence of these on our streets. The sale of single-use vapes will be banned from 1 June 2025 and a Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) will go live in England, Northern Ireland, and Scotland in October 2027. The DRS will introduce a redeemable deposit on single-use in-scope drinks containers which can be redeemed when the empty container is returned. As these drinks containers make up an estimated 60% of all litter, we anticipate a visible reduction in litter upon its introduction.

The Aarhus Convention sets out obligations on Parties to guarantee certain procedural rights for the public relating to access to environmental information, participation in environmental decision-making, and access to justice in environmental matters. The United Kingdom Government remains committed to the effective implementation of its international obligations under the Aarhus Convention, and we consulted on one aspect of this, the cost caps regime last year.

Major infrastructure projects are vital in this Government’s mission to deliver growth across the country, and we want to see them built quicker. Earlier this year we announced part of our response to Lord Banner’s report which set out our reforms to speed up the planning process while making sure people still have the opportunity to bring challenges in court.

Forestry England have not undertaken a detailed assessment of the potential suitable locations of renewable energy projects across the Public Forest Estate since July 2024. Forestry England will commence detailed assessments following Royal Assent of the Bill, with an aim to integrate proposals into the natural landscape with no net loss of woodland area.

We recognise the burden that clearing fly-tipped waste places on landowners. We want to reduce incidents in the first place so that fewer landowners are affected.

Local authorities have a range of enforcement powers to tackle fly-tipping and we want to see these at the centre of their efforts to tackle the problem. These include issuing fixed penalty notices of up to £1000 and prosecution. Upon conviction, compensation for the landowner’s clearance costs can be secured. We are seeking powers in the Crime and Policing Bill to provide statutory enforcement guidance to help councils make full and proper use of their powers.

We have also committed to forcing fly-tippers and vandals to clean up the mess that they have created and will provide further details on this in due course.

We continue to work with stakeholders, such as the National Farmers Union and local authorities, through the National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group to share good practice, including how to prevent fly-tipping on private land. Various practical tools, including case studies and ‘how to’ guides on key issues such as setting up effective local partnerships, are available from their webpage at: https://www.keepbritaintidy.org/national-fly-tipping-prevention-group.

We recognise the burden that clearing fly-tipped waste places on landowners. We want to reduce incidents in the first place so that fewer landowners are affected.

Local authorities have a range of enforcement powers to tackle fly-tipping and we want to see these at the centre of their efforts to tackle the problem. These include issuing fixed penalty notices of up to £1000 and prosecution. Upon conviction, compensation for the landowner’s clearance costs can be secured. We are seeking powers in the Crime and Policing Bill to provide statutory enforcement guidance to help councils make full and proper use of their powers.

We have also committed to forcing fly-tippers and vandals to clean up the mess that they have created and will provide further details on this in due course.

We continue to work with stakeholders, such as the National Farmers Union and local authorities, through the National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group to share good practice, including how to prevent fly-tipping on private land. Various practical tools, including case studies and ‘how to’ guides on key issues such as setting up effective local partnerships, are available from their webpage at: https://www.keepbritaintidy.org/national-fly-tipping-prevention-group.

We recognise the burden that clearing fly-tipped waste places on landowners. We want to reduce incidents in the first place so that fewer landowners are affected.

Local authorities have a range of enforcement powers to tackle fly-tipping and we want to see these at the centre of their efforts to tackle the problem. These include issuing fixed penalty notices of up to £1000 and prosecution. Upon conviction, compensation for the landowner’s clearance costs can be secured. We are seeking powers in the Crime and Policing Bill to provide statutory enforcement guidance to help councils make full and proper use of their powers.

We have also committed to forcing fly-tippers and vandals to clean up the mess that they have created and will provide further details on this in due course.

We continue to work with stakeholders, such as the National Farmers Union and local authorities, through the National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group to share good practice, including how to prevent fly-tipping on private land. Various practical tools, including case studies and ‘how to’ guides on key issues such as setting up effective local partnerships, are available from their webpage at: https://www.keepbritaintidy.org/national-fly-tipping-prevention-group.

This is a devolved matter and the information provided therefore relates to England only. Defra is committed to protecting our nature-rich habitats, including peat bogs, and is looking at next steps regarding measures to ban horticultural peat. The Department will continue to work alongside the horticultural sector to accelerate progress on the peat free transition.

Members of the Food Strategy Advisory Board were selected through identifying senior leaders who represent important elements within the food system and reflect the diversity of the sector.

Since Autumn 2024, the Government has been working with stakeholders, including representatives of the hospitality sector, to consider potential amendments to the definition of household packaging. We are continuing to engage with sectors on a way forward and we are planning next steps as a priority.

Since Autumn 2024, the Government has been working with stakeholders, including representatives of the hospitality sector, to consider potential amendments to the definition of household packaging. We are planning next steps as a priority and will share more information soon.

While DESNZ leads across Government on net zero, Defra is responsible for reducing emissions from agriculture, land use (including peat), F-gases and waste (including wastewater), whilst simultaneously increasing England's carbon saving potential through our forestry policies.

Defra already takes a holistic approach to tackling carbon emissions, aligning emissions reduction with nature recovery and economic growth.

Without nature’s recovery we can’t achieve our ambitions to drive down emissions, and that is why we are charting a new course to save nature, achieve net zero and grow our economy.

We are working at pace to help farmers transition to greener practices, establish a taskforce to plant millions of trees to help remove carbon from the air and move towards a circular economy to reduce our demand for raw materials that destroy the environment.

Defra is the lead department for domestic adaptation to climate change, and as such it is responsible for coordinating requirements set out in the UK Climate Change Act 2008. Defra is the owning department for about half of the 61 risks and opportunities identified in the third Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA3) and works closely with the eleven other departments which own the remaining risks.

We are in the process of delivering the third National Adaptation Programme which was published in 2023 and covers how Government will meet the challenges posed by climate change to key sectors including infrastructure, natural environment, health, communities the built environment, business and industry.

We are committed to strengthening the nation’s resilience including by taking steps which:

• Improves governance and monitoring processes
• Translates evidence into action, and
• Assess and strengthen the framework of objectives.

The department is also exploring how to set out stronger objectives to drive action to increase our preparedness for the impacts of climate change up to and beyond the next National Adaptation Programme in 2028.

A range of representatives from the food sector and NGOs were invited to sit on the Food Strategy Advisory Board. We kept it deliberately small, whilst reflecting the scope of the food supply chain.

The Board represents the first step in a wider stakeholder engagement strategy which will continue to ensure and demonstrate the joined-up and systems-wide approach for the food strategy. There is huge expertise, energy and commitment to work towards better food system outcomes, and all stakeholders need to be part of the solution. There will be multiple routes to share ideas as part of the co-design process in 2025 – we say more on this soon.

The Circular Economy Taskforce was convened to help the government develop a Circular Economy Strategy for England, including a series of roadmaps detailing the interventions that the government and others will make on a sector-by-sector basis. The outputs will aim to support economic growth, deliver green jobs, promote efficient and productive use of resources, minimise negative environmental impacts and accelerate to Net Zero.

As outlined in the Secretary of State’s recent speech, transitioning to a Circular Economy is our chance to improve lives up and down the country, to grow our economy, and to protect our environment for generations to come. To support this transition, the Circular Economy Taskforce will start with five sectors: agrifood, built environment, chemicals and plastics; textiles and transport.

The Taskforce has already begun extensive engagement with industry leaders, trade associations, and other key stakeholders to ensure that the Strategy reflects the needs and insights of all involved.

The Government has worked closely with industry, including the brewing and hospitality sectors, throughout development of Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging (pEPR). This is a major reform that will be iterated over several years to incentivise packaging producers to reduce their material footprint and use more sustainable packaging.

We are considering further improvements to the scheme, including how to treat businesses which run closed loop recycling systems for packaging that is commonly collected by Local Authorities, and my officials are reviewing options to bring forward an offset for closed loop recycling systems at the earliest opportunity.

The Waste Electronics and Electrical Equipment regulations make producers responsible for the electrical products they place on the market when they become waste. Data is collected on the tonnage of electrical products every producer sells within the UK and the tonnage of waste that they recycle appropriately to ensure they are meeting the requirements of the regulations. Defra is also updating the WEEE Regs to create a separate reporting category for vapes, so vape manufacturers pick up their fair share of recycling costs.

We have convened a Circular Economy Taskforce to help us develop a Circular Economy Strategy for England. The Strategy will be supported by a series of roadmaps detailing the interventions that the government will make on a sector-by-sector basis, supporting government’s Missions to kickstart economic growth and make Britain a clean energy superpower. We are considering the evidence for sector-specific interventions right across the economy, including in electronic waste, as we develop our Strategy.

Local authorities already have powers to stop, search and seize vehicles of suspected fly-tippers. We will consider the benefits of allowing penalty points to be added to the driving licence of people convicted of fly-tipping in due course.

Where fly-tippers are prosecuted, upon conviction a cost order can already be made by the court so that a landowner’s costs can be recovered from the perpetrator. Local councils can also issue fixed penalty notices of up to £1000 to those who fly-tip, the income from which they must spend on clean up or enforcement. We are seeking powers in the Crime and Policing Bill to issue statutory enforcement guidance to help councils make full and proper use of their powers.

We have also committed to forcing fly-tippers and vandals to clean up the mess that they have created as part of a crackdown on anti-social behaviour. We will provide further details on this commitment in due course.

The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) understands the importance of cashflow for farmers and rural businesses and has in recent years made more payments for the schemes they administer, earlier in the payment window. The agency has also taken steps to improve the flow of payments. This includes making Delinked payments from August in 2024, compared to historically Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) payments from December, earlier partial payments on Countryside Stewardship, and moving to a quarterly payments structure for the Sustainable Farming Incentive. Schemes will continue to be administered with payment frequency in mind.

At designated bathing water sites in their area, local authorities have a statutory duty to display information on a static sign about water quality and pollution sources, and to display advisory notices during pollution incidents. The information on the signage required by the Bathing Water Regulations 2013, consists of: the current classification symbol, with the “advice against bathing” symbol if the bathing water quality classification is Poor; a general description of the bathing water, based on the Environment Agency profile; and the address of a website where more detailed information can be found.

If the bathing water is subject to short-term pollution, the notice includes this information, and the number of pollution risk forecasts made during the preceding bathing season.

Other signage regarding safety and pollution is a matter for the relevant local authority.

No formal assessment has been made of the impact of growth in the reuse and repair sector on opportunities for green skilled jobs.

Defra recognises that repair and reuse are fundamental tenets of any circular economy, and a successful circular transition will deliver increased supply chain resilience, economic productivity, and economic growth. Furthermore, capitalising on the opportunity to effect a circular transition will attract investment into new product manufacturing and processing infrastructure; create new highly skilled green jobs in circular product design and development; and help our economy retain more of the critical resources on which it depends. We will consider the evidence for appropriate action right across the economy as we develop the Circular Economy Strategy for England.

Under the Bathing Water Regulations 2013, local authorities with a designated bathing water must actively disseminate and promptly make available to the public, in the near vicinity of the bathing water, a warning whenever short-term pollution is predicted or present.

The vaccination of poultry and captive birds, excluding those in licensed zoos in England, against avian influenza is not currently permitted. While vaccination is not a viable option at present, Defra continues to explore the potential for use of vaccination as a preventative measure for avian influenza through the work of the cross-Government and industry avian influenza vaccination task force. The task force published an interim statement on 7 March 2025 (copy attached), and will publish a more detailed report in summer 2025.

As part of this work, Defra and the Veterinary Medicines Directorate will continue to monitor the development and availability of vaccines for their utility in preventing and responding to avian influenza outbreaks as they are put forward for market authorisation by vaccine manufacturers.

Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging obligates brands and packaging producers to pay the costs of managing household packaging waste. Therefore, no assessment has been made of the merits of exempting all businesses in the hospitality sector.

This is because a wide range of hospitality businesses operate take away business models, where food, and primarily non-alcoholic drinks, are taken away by consumers and disposed of off premises. There is also packaging used in the hospitality sector which can be evidenced as not ending up in household bins. Under the current regulations producers can exempt this packaging from being classed as household packaging.

Since autumn 2024, the Government has been working with stakeholders to make an assessment of whether amendments to the regulations or the guidance can be made to further help producers in exempting packaging.

Defra launched the Western Forest on 21 March 2025 and is considering its approach to the creation of further national forests.

In January 2025 the 95 transactions to Calders by the Environment Agency relate to its corporate contract for the provision of external meeting rooms and conference facilities. The dates in January relate to payment date and the provision of meeting rooms in these cases covered dates in October, November and December 2024.

The Cabinet Office has recently announced measures to cut down on this kind of expenditure. This is to correct the lack of respect for public money by the previous government, which allowed this type of spend to be entirely unchecked and unmonitored, including for the time that he was a minister in that department.

The policy detail can be found here: Government-branded merchandise and away days banned - GOV.UK

The Government’s commitment to our horticulture sector and its vital role in strengthening food security by ensuring a reliable and sustainable supply of home-grown fresh produce remains steadfast.

Underlining this commitment to our growers is our farming roadmap which will set out a 25-year vision and blueprint to make our farming and food production more sustainable and profitable.

Furthermore, we have now confirmed a 5-year extension to the Seasonal Worker visa route which will provide the sector the certainty they need to plan-ahead, having the labour needed to bring their high-quality homegrown produce to market.

We are also continuing support for crop Genetic Improvement Networks (GINs) investing in R&D for breeding to improve crop varieties supporting crop resilience and efficiency.

Defra works with the Greyhound Board of Great Britain (GBGB) to ensure greyhound racing is a safe as possible. Each year since 2018 GBGB has published data for the deaths of greyhounds from GBGB affiliated tracks and trainers. This data is published online at https://www.gbgb.org.uk/welfare-care/injury-and-retirement-data/

Defra monitors the figures published by GBGB for any identifiable trends.

The Government has no plans to publish county level statistics.

The Forestry Commission provides guidance on the common constraints and designations that might be relevant to tree planning – this is available at Forestry project checks: constraints - GOV.UK.

Current legislation already provides protection for farmed fish kept for the production of meat or other products whilst on farm and during transport. The Animal Welfare Act 2006 makes it an offence to cause unnecessary suffering to any protected animal, including fish, or to fail to provide for the welfare needs of a protected animal, for which that person is responsible. Legislation on the protection of animals at the time of killing also requires that farmed fish are spared avoidable pain, distress or suffering during their killing and related operations.

The Animal Welfare Committee’s updated Opinion on the welfare of farmed fish at the time of killing was finalised in 2023. A copy is attached to this answer. As a result of this a GB-wide joint government and industry working group on farmed trout has been examining the issues raised in the report to explore potential options for more detailed welfare at killing requirements. This co-design work is making good progress. The Scottish Government is also working closely with the salmon industry regarding more detailed welfare at killing requirements. We are awaiting the completion of this group’s work and we will then explore all the potential next steps, including options for creating detailed guidance and new legislation.

This is a devolved matter, and the information provided therefore relates to England only.

There are no specific requirements for plant biostimulants in domestic fertiliser legislation. Fertilisers are a devolved matter, and we will continue to work with the devolved governments through the Fertilisers Common Framework on fertiliser regulation.

Defra has funded a review of the evidence for the safe and effective use of plant biostimulants and methods for verifying the efficacy of plant biostimulants. This review is due to conclude November 2026. However, due to the wide variety of compounds used in biostimulants and innovation in the sector, further research and support from industry may be needed.

As part of our mission-driven Government, we are now considering how we can achieve our ambitious, measurable and long-term goals for all our farming sectors, which includes fertilisers as a key input.

Defra’s Natural Capital and Ecosystem Assessment programme remains on track (subject to spending reviews) to complete its 5-year baseline soil sample within Financial Year 2027/28.

Local councils have a range of enforcement powers to tackle issues such as fly-tipping and littering. These include fixed penalty notices, prosecution and vehicle seizure. We are seeking powers to issue statutory fly-tipping enforcement guidance to help councils make full and proper use of their fly-tipping powers.

Councils are also responsible for keeping public land clear of litter. We are targeting some of the most commonly littered items to reduce the presence of these on our streets. The sale of single-use vapes will be banned from 1 June 2025 and a Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) will go live in England, Northern Ireland, and Scotland in October 2027. The DRS will introduce a redeemable deposit on single-use in-scope drinks containers.

Defra continues to chair the National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group through which we work with a wide range of stakeholders, such as local authorities, to share good practice on preventing fly-tipping. Various practical tools are available from their webpage at: National Fly-tipping Prevention Group | Keep Britain Tidy.

National design guidance supports local authorities to bring forward well-designed new development, including attractive, inclusive, and safe public spaces.

The amount of expenditure recorded for translation services in the 2023/24 financial year, which runs from 1 April to 31 March, is £1,699.13.

The Government is aware of the disruption caused by the bin strikes and the associated public health risks to the residents of Birmingham. While Birmingham City Council continues to lead the response, cross-Government mechanisms have been activated to ensure a coordinated response, with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government in the lead and Defra supporting.

The expenditure detailed relates to a Christmas meal hospitality event held to recognise the contributions of volunteers at Fenn’s, Whixall, and Bettisfield Mosses National Nature Reserve. The total cost of £1,462.50 was processed for payment in January 2025, and it was attended by 65 volunteers invited to a celebratory event to thank them for their volunteering over the previous year. This is a total spend of approximately £22 per attendant.

This National Nature Reserve has the most volunteers (over 100 registered volunteers) for any Natural England National Nature Reserve in the West Midlands . The volunteers contribute to many aspects of the running of the National Nature Reserve. These include:

• Outreach / Engagement /Education - Leading guided walks, Giving talks, assisting with School/College groups, helping with public events, and ensuring that those with disabilities can still enjoy nature
• Assisting with practical works including habitat management, maintenance & access works
• Research / surveys / monitoring – carrying out & assisting with research projects, carrying out surveys / monitoring (inc. species & hydrology)

The volunteers in 2024/25 contributed over 6,000 hours to the National Nature Reserve.

The Cabinet Office has recently announced measures to cut down on this kind of expenditure. This is to correct the lack of respect for public money by the previous government, which allowed this type of spend to be entirely unchecked and unmonitored, including for the time that he was a minister in that department.

The policy detail can be found here:

Government-branded merchandise and away days banned - GOV.UK