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, how many seizures of illegal pork imports have been recorded at UK ports and airports in the last 12 months.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra does not record this information. Border Force, supported by port health and local authorities, is responsible for seizing illegal imports of pork at UK ports and airports.
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, how many consignments of pork meat and associated products originating from Spain have been seized at UK borders since 28 November 2025.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The seizure data for detained consignments associated with a specific disease outbreak is recorded locally by Port Health Authorities. Defra does not record this information centrally.
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 biosecurity procedures are in place for (a) detained and (b) uncollected meat consignments at UK border control posts to prevent the transmission of African Swine Fever.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
All consignments of pork and pork products are checked at bio-secure border control posts to ensure that they have been effectively treated to mitigate the risk of African Swine Fever or they originate from a region declared free of the disease. Border Force with the support of Port Health Authorities carry out checks at the border to identify, seize and destroy illegally smuggled meat.
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 she has made of the risk of African Swine Fever entering the UK.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra’s latest assessment for African Swine Fever (ASF) dated 1 December 2025, considers that the risk of the virus entering the UK remains at medium.
We have strict measures in place to mitigate this risk. These include the listing of countries and regions eligible to export pigs and porcine products to Great Britain commercially, prohibitions on importing pigs, fresh pig meat, porcine semen and untreated porcine meat products from areas with ASF, veterinary health certification, and import checks at the border. Personal imports of pork and pork products are not permitted. It is also illegal to feed catering waste to livestock.
Asked by: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour - Poole)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what representations she has received from the Greyhound Board of Great Britain on amending the Welfare of Racing Greyhounds Regulations 2010.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Department has not had any recent discussions with, or representations from, the Greyhound Board of Great Britain about amending the Welfare of Racing Greyhounds Regulations 2010.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
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 help ensure that sufficient funding for flood prevention is distributed evenly.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
As part of the Plan for Change, this Government is investing at least a record £10.5 billion until 2036 – the largest flood programme in history which is projected to benefit more than 890,000 properties.
The Government recently announced major changes to its flood and coastal erosion funding policy, making it quicker and easier to deliver the right flood defences in the right places by simplifying our funding rules.
To secure maximum value for every pound of taxpayer funding, projects will be prioritised by their benefit-to-cost ratios. Contributions from other sources will boost a project’s prioritisation. This approach uses government funding to unlock investment from public, private and charitable sources.
A minimum of 20% of FCERM investment will go to the 20% most deprived communities and a minimum of 40% to the 40% most deprived communities, ensuring deprived communities receive vital investment.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
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 consult stakeholders on the development of the Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances Plan.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The PFAS plan will set out a coordinated response for addressing risks relating to PFAS exposure, extending across government and industry. Engagement with stakeholders to date has been vital in informing policy, and we will use the plan as a platform to engage further with industry, other bodies, and the public on PFAS. In doing so, we hope to develop a collective set of actions and initiatives to address this shared challenge.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has made an estimate of the cost to port operators of surveying mudflats required under (a) environmental assessment and (b) marine licensing processes; and whether she has made an assessment of the (i) consistency and (ii) proportionality of those requirements across England.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Costs for surveying mudflats vary. If surveying is a condition of a marine licence, the Marine Management Organisation charges a fee, to review evidence provided as part of a condition on a marine licence.
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 discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues about the adequacy of government funding for the Environment Agency.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Secretary of State has regular discussions with Cabinet colleagues on a range of issues.
The Department works closely with the Environment Agency (EA) at every level to closely monitor funding to ensure it can carry out its duties effectively and deliver for the public and the environment.
Asked by: Brian Mathew (Liberal Democrat - Melksham and Devizes)
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 monitors the impact of highway runoff on rivers and lakes.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency (EA) has a monitoring regime that sets out to identify pressures on rivers and lakes as well as estuaries and coasts and groundwaters. This involves monitoring (of water quality, chemicals and ecology) to determine reasons for not achieving good ecological or chemical status. This includes understanding the risk posed by the category ‘Urban and transport’, which road runoff is a key component of.
Monitoring undertaken is not designed to specifically monitor the impact of highway runoff on rivers and lakes. The EA is working with National Highways under the Department for Transport, to evolve its monitoring strategy that is to be focused on highways outfalls, where highway runoff enters watercourses.