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, with reference to his oral contribution in response to the hon. Member for Newton Abbot during the Oral Statement of 21 January 2026 on Water White Paper, Official Report column 347, if he will hold discussions with the hon. Member for Newton Abbot on the risk of water shortages in the South West this summer.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
I would be happy to meet the hon. Member to discuss this matter.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
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 impact of the Gifford farm development on flooding via Parsons Drove drain in Huntingdon constituency.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency (EA) was consulted on the emerging Local Plan, which sets out potential locations for development in Huntingdonshire, and responded regarding the proposed Gifford’s Park site.
In the EA’s response, it advised:
Until the above detailed work is provided by the developer, it is not possible to comment on whether this site may impact flooding specifically via Parson’s Drove Drain.
Asked by: Samantha Niblett (Labour - South Derbyshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she plans to review Farm Business Tenancy to enable longer leases, succession of tenancy and increases in security of tenure for tenant farmers.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The department recognises the benefits of longer leases and the importance of security of tenure for tenant farmers. Under the Agricultural Tenancies Act 1995, landlords and tenants may agree tenancy terms of any length. To encourage more landlords and tenants to enter into longer-term agreements the joint Defra and industry Farm Tenancy Forum is developing guidance and best practice. All parties to a Farm Business Tenancy are encouraged to employ the Agricultural Landlord and Tenant Code of Practice, which sets out expected standards for constructive tenancy negotiations, including succession.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
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 of the International Journal of Wildland Fire's article entitled Assessing soil heating beneath prescribed burns, published on 15 January 2026.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The date and title of the citation provided does not correspond to any article published by the International Journal of Wildland Fire, but research on this topic is reviewed and taken into account in our policy development.
Asked by: Andrew Griffith (Conservative - Arundel and South Downs)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when she plans to respond to correspondence of (a) 19 November 2025, (b) 15 December 2025 and (c) 6 January 2026 from the hon. Member for Arundel and South Downs.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
A reply is being prepared and will be issued to the hon. Member as soon as possible.
Asked by: Gareth Davies (Conservative - Grantham and Bourne)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what mechanisms are in place to ensure that water companies deliver the improvements promised through the £104 billion of private investment referred to in ‘A new vision for water’, published January 2026.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Ofwat, the independent economic regulator, monitors and reports on water company spending and financing through its annual performance report and its monitoring and financial resilience report. These documents are publicly available.
Ofwat’s five-yearly ‘price review’ sets the price, investment and service package for water companies in England and Wales. Ofwat’s Price Review 2024 (PR24) final determination by water company can be found here: Final determinations in the 2024 price review - Ofwat. This publication sets out the investment programme by water company, and therefore by region.
The Government has set out its new vision for water through a White Paper published on 20 January 2026. The White Paper sets out once in a generation reforms that will transform the water system for good, with a renewed focus on securing a fair deal for customers, investors, and the environment, to rebuild trust and secure a water system that works for everyone.
Asked by: Gareth Davies (Conservative - Grantham and Bourne)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of the proportion of the £104 billion of private investment referred to in ‘A new vision for water’, published January 2026, that will be spent across each region of England and Wales.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Ofwat, the independent economic regulator, monitors and reports on water company spending and financing through its annual performance report and its monitoring and financial resilience report. These documents are publicly available.
Ofwat’s five-yearly ‘price review’ sets the price, investment and service package for water companies in England and Wales. Ofwat’s Price Review 2024 (PR24) final determination by water company can be found here: Final determinations in the 2024 price review - Ofwat. This publication sets out the investment programme by water company, and therefore by region.
The Government has set out its new vision for water through a White Paper published on 20 January 2026. The White Paper sets out once in a generation reforms that will transform the water system for good, with a renewed focus on securing a fair deal for customers, investors, and the environment, to rebuild trust and secure a water system that works for everyone.
Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 18 December 2025 to Question 98739 on Biodiversity and Pollution: Sutton Park, whether additional monitoring is in place to ensure that the recommendations from Natural England and the Forestry Commission are being implemented.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Natural England is in regular dialogue with Birmingham City Council, Severn Trent Water and other partners to review progress with the implementation of its recommendations relating to the condition of Sutton Park SSSI. This is in addition to its condition assessment programme, which monitors the status of the site’s habitat features.
Natural England officials would be happy to offer a meeting with the Rt Hon. Member for Sutton Coldfield to discuss Sutton Park SSSI, its management, and the pressures affecting its condition in more detail, should that be helpful.
The approved woodland management plan for Sutton Park includes the requirement for the author of the plan to review progress against site objectives after five years, including objectives to support the recovery and resilience of the woodlands. In addition, the Forestry Commission operate a risk-based inspection regime of approved management plans, which considers the scale and environmental sensitivity of woodland sites. Under this approach, sites such as Sutton Park are more likely to be selected for inspection.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
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 consistency of household waste collection services across the West Midlands.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Under Simpler Recycling, Section 45A of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (amended by the Environment Act 2021) will require all local authorities in England to make arrangements for a core set of materials to be collected for recycling from households from 31 March 2026. This includes introducing weekly food waste collections for all homes, unless a transitional arrangement applies (a transitional arrangement is where a local authority has agreed a later implementation date set in regulations).
There will be additional requirements for plastic film to be collected as part of the plastic waste stream by 31 March 2027. Defra is working with local authorities to support readiness for these new obligations. To assist with this, we launched a Change Network to amplify existing information and guidance with endorsement from local authorities who are actively implementing or have recently implemented, the changes required.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
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 support councils to improve recycling rates.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Simpler Recycling reforms will ensure that across England, people will be able to recycle the same materials, whether at home, work or school.
Every household and workplace (businesses and relevant non-domestic premises like schools and hospitals) across England will be able to recycle the same materials in the following core waste streams: metal, glass, plastic (including cartons), paper and card, food waste, and garden waste (for households only).
These reforms will make recycling easier and ensure there is a comprehensive, consistent service across England. This will reduce confusion with recycling to improve recycling rates and, with the other collection and packaging reforms, will support the use of more recycled material in the products we buy, and the growth of the UK recycling industry.
By shifting the financial burden of the end-of-life costs from taxpayers to producers, Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging will secure local authority funding (approximately £1.4 billion annually in the UK and approximately £1.1 billion annually in England) for the improved management of discarded packaging materials, driving in turn improvements in the quality and quantity of recycled packaging materials, as well as investment in domestic reprocessing facilities.