Asked by: Alex Barros-Curtis (Labour - Cardiff West)
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 increase ranger numbers in landscapes at high‑risk to wildfires.
Answered by Jenny Riddell-Carpenter - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
It is crucial that we learn lessons from the 2026 wildfires and we are taking a number of steps to prepare for future wildfire seasons by strengthening coordination across Government, working closely with fire and rescue services, land managers and local authorities, and improving our understanding of wildfire risk. Our focus is on building resilience, through better prevention, preparedness, response and recovery. We recognise that rangers play an important role in managing wildfire risk, working closely with Fire and Rescue Services where needed, and ensuring staff are appropriately trained to support safe and appropriate action.
Asked by: Alex Barros-Curtis (Labour - Cardiff West)
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 provide an update on recent progress on the reintroduction of keystone species like beavers.
Answered by Jenny Riddell-Carpenter - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra supports the reintroduction of keystone species where benefits to the environment, people and the economy are clear. Three licensed beaver wild release projects have been approved in England, with two further applications underway. Defra has approved £1m of funding for golden eagle reintroduction work and supported white-tailed eagle releases.
Asked by: Alex Barros-Curtis (Labour - Cardiff West)
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 scale up peatland restoration, woodland expansion and wetland recovery.
Answered by Jenny Riddell-Carpenter - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government is investing over £1 billion in tree planting and support to the forestry sector over this parliament, as well as £85 million between 2026 and 2030 to improve and restore our peatlands, including extending the Nature for Climate Peatland Grant Scheme until March 2027.
The Environment Agency's Restoring Meadow, Marsh and Reef (ReMeMaRe) initiative is working to restore at least 15% of saltmarsh, seagrass and native oyster reef habitats along the English coast by 2043.
Asked by: Alex Barros-Curtis (Labour - Cardiff West)
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 reform the EPR before the publication of the Year 2 fees issued; and revisit and lower the fees for glass by at least 75%.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government is alive to the concerns of the glass industry and Ministers are working across Government to identify appropriate solutions to address pressures facing the sector.
Asked by: Alex Barros-Curtis (Labour - Cardiff West)
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 embed wildfire resilience into land‑use, water and nature recovery policy.
Answered by Jenny Riddell-Carpenter - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra is delivering the change to land use needed to increase our resilience to the impacts of climate change. This includes restoring the peatlands, wetlands and woodlands that store carbon and reduce wildfire risk to farmland, homes, infrastructure and nature. Following the 2026 wildfires we are considering options to improve wildfire resilience.
Asked by: Alex Barros-Curtis (Labour - Cardiff West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans she has to increase reservoir infrastructure to mitigate potential extreme summer weather.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is pushing ahead with reforms to the water sector under our Plan for Change, which includes £104 billion of private investment, including £8 billion dedicated to improved drought planning, long-term water resource management and the delivery of 9 new reservoirs alongside major infrastructure upgrades to reduce leakage and improve water security.
Asked by: Alex Barros-Curtis (Labour - Cardiff West)
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 improve air quality; and what steps she is taking with devolved administrations on this issue.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We are taking forward the measures set out in the Environmental Improvement Plan to further improve the quality of the air we breathe and reduce the impacts of air pollution on human health and the environment. This includes delivering actions to reduce emissions from transport, domestic burning, agriculture and industry, alongside implementing the Environment Act PM2.5 targets.
Air quality policy is a devolved matter, but air pollution does not respect administrative boundaries. The UK Government therefore works closely with the devolved governments through the Common Framework to coordinate action, share evidence and support delivery of measures that reduce harmful emissions and concentrations of air pollutants across the United Kingdom.
Asked by: Alex Barros-Curtis (Labour - Cardiff West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps is she taking to help ensure farmers are prepared for more frequent periods of extreme heat.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
As set out in the Farming Roadmap, the Government is backing farmers with the largest nature-friendly budget in history to support farmers and land managers to help restore nature and boost farm productivity, which in turn protects food security and builds resilience to extreme heat and other consequences of climate change.
As of December 2025, an equivalent to 69% of the utilised agricultural area of England was covered by Defra agri-environment schemes. The Government has since launched the SFI to help more farmers access these schemes.
Last month the Government announced an extra £50 million for Sustainable Farming Incentive 2026 Window 2, taking the total budget for SFI26 to £290 million and helping more farmers access support.
Asked by: Alex Barros-Curtis (Labour - Cardiff West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps are being taken to ensure (a) the resilience of food supply chains and (b) access to high-quality British food during heatwaves.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK has a resilient food supply chain and is equipped to deal with situations with the potential to cause disruption. Defra is closely monitoring the impacts of prolonged dry weather on food security and regularly engages with industry representatives, including the NFU, to monitor any potential impacts to arable crops and commodities.
Farmers across England will receive new support to help manage the impact of prolonged dry weather, including a £65m funding boost, as the Government steps up its response to the ongoing drought.
Asked by: Alex Barros-Curtis (Labour - Cardiff West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what her planned timeline is for the publication of the results of the public consultation on introducing a statutory licensing regime for animal rescue centres and sanctuaries.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government committed in the Animal Welfare Strategy to consult on licensing domestic rescue and rehoming organisations and is working to bring this forward. The consultation will be published in due course and will seek views from all those with an interest in this important sector.