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 discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on ensuring that households in England affected by flooding following Storm Austen and Storm Boelo receive follow-up support, including mental health support.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra works closely with all departments to support communities affected by flooding, including the Department for Health and Social Care and the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government, which leads cross-Government flood recovery work.
Asked by: Adrian Ramsay (Green Party - Waveney Valley)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on t the continuation of Healthy Child Services delivered by local authorities.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Secretary of State engages regularly with ministerial colleagues on a range of matters. In line with the practice of successive administrations, details of internal discussions are not normally disclosed.
The Healthy Child Programme – referred to as Healthy Child Services in Norfolk – is a universal, community-based public health service supporting all families with preventative care provided by health visitors and school nurses. Healthy Child Programme services are commissioned by all local authorities in England through the ring-fenced Public Health Grant issued by DHSC.
DHSC is working continuously to improve 0-19 services. In February 2026, DHSC published its refreshed Healthy Child Programme guidance, which sets out a clear vision for more joined-up service delivery, encouraging collaboration between all partners involved in child health with the aim of promoting consistency and raising standards across England. The Government has also committed to strengthening health visiting to ensure high-quality service for every family.
Asked by: Adrian Ramsay (Green Party - Waveney Valley)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether public bodies will continue to be able to take account of environmental outcomes when evaluating bids for food procurement contracts under the revised Social Value Model.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The government remains committed to its ambition of 50% local or higher environmental product standards.
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 has taken to prioritise tree planting in communities that have the least tree cover.
Answered by Jenny Riddell-Carpenter - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government provides a range of support for community tree planting in England. This includes the Defra funded England Community Forests which plants trees in and around urban areas, with over 1800 hectares planted in 2025/26. On 30 September the Government announced a new £53 million Community Trees Fund which will further support community tree planting in England.
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, whether the England Trees Action Plan will include a feasibility study of the capacity the UK has to grow trees domestically rather than rely on imported plant material.
Answered by Jenny Riddell-Carpenter - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Trees Action Plan (TAP) is currently being developed. The TAP will set out actions to increase access to, and improving the resilience of England's trees, woodlands and forests. We remain committed to publishing the TAP by the end of 2026 as set out in the Environmental Improvement Plan 2025.
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, whether the forthcoming England Trees Action Plan will include targets, actions and funding to reduce differences in (a) access to the benefits of trees and (b) urban canopy cover.
Answered by Jenny Riddell-Carpenter - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Trees Action Plan (TAP) is currently being developed. The TAP will set out actions to increase access to, and improving the resilience of England's trees, woodlands and forests. We remain committed to publishing the TAP by the end of 2026 as set out in the Environmental Improvement Plan 2025.
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 assessment her Department has made of trends in the levels of risk to England’s trees and woodlands from drought and wildfire; and whether the forthcoming England Trees Action Plan will set out measures and funding to reduce this risk.
Answered by Jenny Riddell-Carpenter - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This year the Climate Change Committee published its fourth Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA4), this sets out the risks to trees and woodlands from climate change including wildfire and drought. Defra will set out action to respond to these risks in the forthcoming Trees Action Plan and the fourth National Adaptation Programme.
Asked by: Adrian Ramsay (Green Party - Waveney Valley)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether she has selected a preferred pathway for the Strategic Spatial Energy Plan following receipt of the National Energy System Operator’s Pathway Options Report on 28 August 2026.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Secretary of State has not yet selected a preferred pathway for the Strategic Spatial Energy Plan (SSEP). Given the level of detail, we are carefully considering its findings alongside undertaking our own analysis. The Secretary of State will then select a pathway to form the basis of a draft SSEP which NESO will consult on publicly early next year. The final SSEP is due to be published in late 2027.
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, pursuant to the Answer of 20 October 2026 to Question 35224 on Fisheries: Import Controls, whether her department intends for the new digital IUU Imports Service to be interoperable with the EU's CATCH IT system for catch certificates.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The IUU Imports Service is being developed to meet the UK's statutory seafood import control requirements. The UK does not have access to the EU's CATCH system for import controls, and the service is therefore being designed to meet UK legal and operational requirements independently. Any future interoperability arrangements may be considered as part of ongoing service design.
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 proportion of funding allocated to the Sustainable Farming Incentive in each of the last three financial years has been spent on farming actions that contribute to (a) flood mitigation and (b) drought resilience.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government increased the budget available for new Sustainable Farming Incentive 2026 agreements to £310 million, including an additional £50 million announced by the Prime Minister on 15 August 2026 to support farmers following the impacts of drought. SFI is open to a wide range of farming types and includes actions to improve soil health and increase soil organic matter, helping to retain water, improve infiltration and increase resilience to both drought and flooding. SFI actions are delivered through multi-year agreements, helping to support farm resilience to weather-related pressures. Information on the proportion of SFI funding attributable to specific outcomes such as flood mitigation or drought resilience is not held in the format requested.