Asked by: Charlotte Cane (Liberal Democrat - Ely and East Cambridgeshire)
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 assessment of the potential implications for her policies on flooding of Aviva's report entitled Building Future Communities, published on 14 October 2025.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
I recently met with Aviva's CEO of UK General Insurance at the second Insurance Roundtable on 13 October and welcome ongoing engagement to improve support to policyholders.
This Government has committed record investment in flood and coastal erosion defences and introduced the most significant change in flood and coastal erosion funding policy for nearly fifteen years. Through our new floods funding policy, we will invest at least £300 million in natural flood management over ten years – the highest figure to date for the floods programme.
The Government is committed to building the homes the country needs while maintaining the highest levels of flood protection. We intend to consult on planning policy later this year, including policies on flood risk and SuDS.
As flooding policy is a devolved matter, the information provided relates to England only.
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 recent assessment her Department has made of trends in the level of (a) private investment and (b) Government funding for (i) storm overflows, (ii) wastewater treatment and (iii) other water infrastructure.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Ofwat’s final determinations for Price Review 2024 set company expenditure for 2025–2030. This will deliver substantial and enduring improvements for customers and the environment through a £104 billion upgrade for the water sector. The £104 billion funding package is the highest level of investment in the water sector since privatisation and is set to be the second largest private sector investment programme in this parliament.
Water companies are investing over £11 billion in PR24, a record amount, to improve nearly 3,000 storm overflows across England and Wales over the next five years. Furthermore, £4.795 billion will be spent over the same period to reduce phosphorus pollution from treated wastewater. This represents an increase when compared to the 2022-2023 equivalent prices for Price Review 19, where overall spending was £61bn, storm overflow investment was £3.6 billion, and wastewater treatment improvements were £3.1 billion.
Asked by: Charlie Maynard (Liberal Democrat - Witney)
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 has assessed Thames Water’s current financial position against the statutory criteria for applying to the High Court for a special administration order.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The law states that Special Administration can only be initiated if the company becomes insolvent or they are in such serious breach of their principal statutory duties or an enforcement order that it is inappropriate for the company to retain its licence.
For a company to be considered insolvent means that it is either unable to or is likely to be unable to pay its debts. Thames Water has ongoing liquidity. We stand ready for all eventualities – including being ready to apply for a Special Administration Regime if necessary.
Asked by: Charlie Maynard (Liberal Democrat - Witney)
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 ensure that (a) public, (b) environmental and (c) customer interests are prioritised in the special administration regime for utility providers.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The purposes of a Special Administration Regime are set out in legislation. In the event of a SAR, it is for the special administrator to manage the affairs of the company so that the company continues to carry out its statutory duties pending rescue (via e.g. debt restructuring) or transfer (via a sale) to new owners. The Government will always act in the national interest.
Asked by: Kevin Bonavia (Labour - Stevenage)
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 protect chalk streams.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In June 2025 the Environment Agency updated its National Framework for water resources, setting out the importance of chalk streams and how we will include their needs in all water resources planning and decision making.
The Government is prioritising chalk streams in our Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction Plan by classifying them as high priority sites.
The Government will set out in due course our plans to reform the entire water sector, ensuring that iconic British habitats, including chalk streams, alongside all our rivers, lakes, and seas, are preserved for future generations.
Asked by: Charlie Maynard (Liberal Democrat - Witney)
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 Ofwat on Thames Water’s compliance with its (a) environmental and (b) financial obligations under its (i) Infrastructure provider project, (ii) water supply and (iii) sewerage licence.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Secretary of State meets regularly with stakeholders including Ofwat to discuss a range of issues.
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, whether she has made a recent assessment of the effectiveness of the enforcement of the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra is continuing to engage closely with the Police, local authorities, and rescue and rehoming organisations to monitor the impacts of the XL Bully dog ban.
We are also working with the police, local authorities and animal welfare groups to explore measures to reduce dog attacks and promote responsible dog ownership across all breeds of dog. We have reconvened the Responsible Dog Ownership taskforce and look forward to receiving their findings and recommendations in due course.
Asked by: John Whitby (Labour - Derbyshire Dales)
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 (a) all plastic bottles sold in the UK are fully recyclable and (b) 100 per cent of such bottles are recycled by 2030.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) is coming to England, Northern Ireland, and Scotland in October 2027 and will focus on increasing recycling and reducing littering.
A new organisation called UK Deposit Management Organisation Ltd (UK DMO) will run the scheme. It’s a not-for-profit group, led by businesses. They were officially appointed in May 2025 (England & NI) and June 2025 (Scotland).
Once the DRS is introduced, the Deposit Management Organisation will be required to reach a return rate of 90% in year 3 of the scheme.
International DRSs have seen recycling rates increase to over 95%.
Asked by: Adrian Ramsay (Green Party - Waveney Valley)
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 the certification bodies for (a) organic and (b) conventional non-GMO seeds providers can prevent unlabelled precision-bred seeds and plant reproductive materials marketed in England from entering their supply chains.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra is working with the organic sector to prepare for the medium and longer term by discussing non-legislative options for supply chain coexistence. This includes facilitating discussions between experts to establish which measures, currently used by the industry, could be used by farmers to enable coexistence between precision bred and non-precision bred crop production. This is in line with approaches taken internationally.
To implement the Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Act 2023, a new Precision Bred Plant Variety List for England is proposed. Any precision bred agricultural or vegetable plant varieties need to be accepted onto the new variety list before being marketed. Users, including those in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, will be able to access information about precision bred plant varieties in the Plant Varieties and Seeds Gazette.
Defra are continuing to engage regularly with the Devolved Governments to discuss potential impacts.
Asked by: Adrian Ramsay (Green Party - Waveney Valley)
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 help ensure that the Devolved administrations can prevent unlabelled precision-bred seeds and plant reproductive materials marketed in England from entering their supply chains.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra is working with the organic sector to prepare for the medium and longer term by discussing non-legislative options for supply chain coexistence. This includes facilitating discussions between experts to establish which measures, currently used by the industry, could be used by farmers to enable coexistence between precision bred and non-precision bred crop production. This is in line with approaches taken internationally.
To implement the Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Act 2023, a new Precision Bred Plant Variety List for England is proposed. Any precision bred agricultural or vegetable plant varieties need to be accepted onto the new variety list before being marketed. Users, including those in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, will be able to access information about precision bred plant varieties in the Plant Varieties and Seeds Gazette.
Defra are continuing to engage regularly with the Devolved Governments to discuss potential impacts.