Asked by: Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they define industrial poultry production as farming.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Large intensive poultry farms are part of the agricultural sector. Poultry farms with capacity above 40,000 poultry places require an environmental permit under the Environmental Permitting Regulations, and emissions limits are set and enforced to protect the environment and human health.
Asked by: Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government, in light of the poultry sector growth plan as part of the farming roadmap 2050, published on 24 June, whether they have undertaken an environmental impact assessment of further growth of the poultry sector.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Poultry Sector Growth Plan is being developed by industry, supported by Government, to identify opportunities for the sector to improve its productivity and profitability sustainably. This plan will comply with key government policies such as the Animal Welfare Strategy, Farming Roadmap and Environment Improvement Plan 2025.
Asked by: Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to introduce catchment level limits on poultry units in catchments where the rivers have been assessed as suffering from nutrient pollution.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government is committed to tackling nutrient pollution and improving the health of our rivers. Its focus is on driving efficient use of nutrients and addressing the root causes of losses into the environment. This includes through reforming agricultural regulations to drive good nutrient management on farms.
Asked by: Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to improve collection, monitoring and reporting of data on illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing import controls by port health authorities.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra is legislating to update UK illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing import documentation requirements that apply to wild-caught seafood entering the UK. These new requirements will make additional data available to port health authorities to strengthen traceability and verify that imported seafood is caught in line with UK IUU controls and international best practice. This Government is also considering a new IUU Imports Service for the submission and management of IUU import documentation as wider Sanitary and Phytosanitary arrangements change.
Asked by: Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether there are countries that the UK has identified, or is currently considering identifying, as non-cooperative in fighting illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing under the powers granted by the EU Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated fishing regulation.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK has identified Cambodia, Comoros and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines as non-cooperative in fighting illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing. Defra have not identified, nor are we considering, additional countries to add to this list.
Asked by: Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what input members of the House of Lords will have into the proposed select committee on scrutiny of Defence Nuclear Enterprise expenditure and programmes.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Captain of the King's Bodyguard of the Yeomen of the Guard (HM Household) (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The Government recognises the complementary way in which both Houses contribute to the scrutiny function of Parliament as a whole, and appreciates that, once established, the proposed committee may wish to consider specialist advice from outside the House of Commons on certain topics. The Government is proposing that the committee should have the ability to appoint specialist advisers. These appointments would be at the discretion of the committee, but could be selected from the House of Lords.
Asked by: Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with (1) port and harbour authorities, (2) devolved administrations, and (3) producers, on ensuring there are free disposal facilities for end-of-life fishing equipment waste in every UK port and harbour.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) has been assessed, including through a study commissioned by Defra and the devolved governments, available here, which indicated EPR could be a complex and costly intervention.
Defra officials have previously engaged industry stakeholders and work closely with devolved governments, with discussions covering end-of-life fishing gear management in ports and harbours, as well as wider marine litter issues in line with the Joint Fisheries Statement.
The UK is committed to working with international partners to agree a new global treaty to end plastic pollution, including provisions addressing fishing and aquaculture gear across its full lifecycle.
Asked by: Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer (Liberal Democrat - 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 merits of introducing an extended producer responsibility scheme for fishing equipment.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) has been assessed, including through a study commissioned by Defra and the devolved governments, available here, which indicated EPR could be a complex and costly intervention.
Defra officials have previously engaged industry stakeholders and work closely with devolved governments, with discussions covering end-of-life fishing gear management in ports and harbours, as well as wider marine litter issues in line with the Joint Fisheries Statement.
The UK is committed to working with international partners to agree a new global treaty to end plastic pollution, including provisions addressing fishing and aquaculture gear across its full lifecycle.
Asked by: Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government which Ministers will attend the forthcoming Review Conference on Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament; and what their priorities will be.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington
On priorities for the Conference, I refer the Noble Baroness to the answer provided by Minister of State for Defence in the House of Lords, Lord Coaker, on 10 December 2025, Official Report, vol. 851, cols. 235-238. We will confirm details of representation at the conference in the usual way in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the situation of environmental and land defenders in Colombia, following the Ombudsman's Office of Columbia's early warning alert issued in December 2025 regarding the security situation for leaders in la Guajira and Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington
The Government remains concerned about threats and attacks against human rights defenders in Colombia. We note the December 2025 early warning alert for La Guajira and Sierra Nevada and urge Colombian institutions to act swiftly. UK officials consistently raise threats against human rights defenders with Colombian counterparts and at the UN Security Council. We support at risk defenders through UK-funded protection mechanisms and human rights programming, including on early warning systems with the Colombian Ombudsman office. We continue pressing all authorities to respond to early warnings and strengthen security guarantees for threatened communities.