Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the danger of orbital weapons, both kinetic and others, following the disclosure by the United States of its aggressive space capacity; and what steps they plan to take to prevent a new arms race in space.
Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Government recognises that orbital weapons, both kinetic and non-kinetic, pose a growing threat to critical space-based services vital to the UK and its allies. We are concerned by reports of efforts to deploy nuclear weapons in space, which would be highly destabilising and contrary to international law. The Government supports a behaviour-based, risk-reduction approach to maintain a safe, secure and sustainable space environment. We work closely with international partners to promote responsible conduct, uphold existing legal frameworks and prevent escalation.
Through the UK Space Strategy and Defence Investment Plan, the Government is investing in the resilience and protection of UK; and allied space assets to ensure freedom of action in space; and safeguard long-term sustainability. We remain committed to international cooperation and the development of norms that reduce risk and preserve stability in this increasingly contested domain.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure that there is adequate capacity for the recycling of fridges and freezers and that local authorities are not having to meet costs as a result of inadequate recycling capacity; and what steps they are taking to ensure an improved lifespan for the appliances.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra is working with manufacturers, compliance schemes and local authorities to monitor and manage reduced fridge recycling capacity. The department is clear that producers, via their compliance schemes, remain responsible for clearing local authority sites.
Additional recycling capacity is expected in 2027. In the meantime, temporary storage is permitted under an Environment Agency Regulatory Position Statement.
This Government is also exploring opportunities to increase electrical product lifespan, including the benefits of increased reuse and repair.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the environmental impacts of caffeine as an emerging environmental pollutant on freshwater and saltwater ecosystems.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Caffeine was assessed in Tranche 2 of the Environment Agency's Prioritisation and Early Warning System for chemicals. It remains in the Environment Agency's surface water monitoring programmes to assess whether exposure levels and subsequent risk changes.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the risks arising from mirror life since the Government Chief Scientific Advisor's roundtable in January 2025; how frequently these assessments are reviewed; and which body is responsible for such assessments.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
Government is committed to responsible innovation in engineering biology. Government keeps novel engineering biology capabilities under review including seeking expert advice through the Responsible Innovation Advisory Panel.
UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) is the main funder of public research and innovation. It has not funded research directly intending to develop mirror life.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to improve the recording of cases of iatrogenic, foodborne and other botulism in humans and domestic and wild animals; and what actions they are taking to support improved global data collection of botulism outbreaks.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) records all cases of botulism in humans, including iatrogenic and foodborne botulism. Foodborne, infant, and wound botulism are very rare. Iatrogenic botulism cases only emerged in England in 2025 and have not yet been included in routine reporting.
To support global data collection of botulism, outbreaks of botulism involving United Kingdom residents are published by Eurosurveillance, Europe's journal on infectious disease surveillance, epidemiology, prevention, and control.
Foodborne and infant botulism cases are also published within UKHSA’s annual Gastrointestinal infections and outbreaks in England reports, and wound botulism counts annually in the UKHSA’s Shooting Up: infections among people who inject drugs in the UK reports.
Botulism in animals is not notifiable.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to provide funding or technical assistance through the UK’s international development programmes for post-conflict environmental remediation, toxic clearance, and mine or unexploded ordnance clearance in regions affected by the conflict between US and Iranian forces.
Answered by Baroness Winterton of Doncaster - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK delivers humanitarian mine action primarily through the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office's Global Mine Action Programme (GMAP). GMAP is funded entirely through Official Development Assistance (ODA), and works to clear explosive ordnance in conflict and post-conflict settings to reduce the impact of explosive ordnance on communities. There are no plans at present to conduct humanitarian demining in Iran or its near neighbours, barring those (Afghanistan, Palestine and Syria) where GMAP already operates. ODA can only be spent in specified eligible countries and GMAP must prioritise operations in states with the highest explosive ordnance risk to civilians, where states are unable to conduct clearance without international assistance. This balance has informed the current GMAP portfolio of projects, which we judge to be an effective use of ODA spend.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that the rights to protest and privacy are not infringed by the pilot project to use underground fibre optic cables as sensors at a defence site, announced in their press release of 24 August; and whether they will publish further information on the project, including the company involved.
Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The UK will be trialling a cutting-edge pilot project that tests the transformation of fibre optic cables into a AI-enabled sensor network. The scope of this AI-enabled fibre-optic sensor network pilot programme is bounded to an HMG owned location, which ensures the sensor network will not impinge on protesters privacy or their legal rights to protest. The Department will publish further information about the project and the companies involved in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the need to incorporate standardised microbiome endpoints in the safety assessment of food additives; and what plans they have to ensure that food regulation reflects the cumulative effects of additive ultraprocessed food mixtures upon the public.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The development of standardised end points remains an important consideration across food regulatory regimes and is kept under review with input from the relevant scientific advisory committees. In 2024, the Committee on Toxicity held a workshop entitled Gut reactions: xenobiotics and the microbiome and published its report in June 2025.
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has not started any work to develop regulatory changes specifically relating to ultra-processed foods. The FSA continues to monitor emerging evidence in this area and will take account of relevant developments, including the findings of the UK Research and Innovation public dialogue on ultra-processed foods, published in April 2026.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government, in the light of the Agriculture and the water environment: 2026 report, published by the Environment Agency on 30 June, which identified antimicrobial resistance in materials spread on agricultural land, what plans they have to monitor antimicrobial-resistant bacteria and genes in the agricultural water environment; and whether antimicrobial resistance will be considered in the development of new national standards for agricultural water pollution.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government takes agricultural water pollution seriously. The department are bringing agricultural regulations together into a single, clear and robust set of requirements to help reduce water pollution. The detail of these reforms is still being developed.
Defra recently consulted on the best way to regulate the use of sewage sludge on farms. The consultation sought views on options to make the regulatory framework more agile as new evidence emerges about contaminant risks.
The department continue to develop the evidence base on contaminants in sludge by bringing stakeholders together to identify evidence gaps and shape future research priorities. Defra also are supporting the work of the water industry-funded Chemicals Investigation Programme to explore new treatment technologies to remove contaminants from sludge.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the practicality, benefits and risks of reintroducing the Dalmatian pelican to the UK; and what steps they are taking to support further investigations of this matter.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Natural England is aware there is interest from certain landowners and stakeholders to release Dalmatian pelican in the UK. Natural England attended a study tour of potential areas in autumn 2025 and has advised that more ecological and social science evidence is needed before full feasibility can be established. To support best practice, Defra has published the Code for Reintroductions and other Conservation Translocations in England (see attached). The Code sets clear expectations for projects, including demonstrating a conservation need, assessing feasibility and risks, securing permissions and meeting legal requirements, and ensuring appropriate release, monitoring and advice from Natural England where needed.