Asked by: Andrew Cooper (Labour - Mid Cheshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what consideration she has given to amending the Extended Producer Responsibility base fees to introduce a sub-category for fibre-based composites containing between 5% and 15% non-fibre content.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Under pEPR, a fibre-based composite material is paper or card which has a plastic content, usually in the form of laminated layers which cannot be separated by hand, of more than 5%. This category distinguishes packaging with layers of plastic from paper and card packaging, supporting clearer producer reporting and fee calculations. The 5% plastic layer threshold was introduced to improve clarity, support alignment with reporting in Northern Ireland, and encourage continued progress towards reducing non-fibre content in the paper and card waste stream. PackUK reviews all categories and sub-categories on an annual basis, against the environmental outcomes of the scheme.
Asked by: Andrew Cooper (Labour - Mid Cheshire)
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 levels of Packaging Recovery Notes fraud in the waste export sector.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
To tackle fraud in the Packaging Waste Recycling Note market we have introduced new requirements on exporters as part of the accreditation process.
The regulators are responsible for ensuring that exporters of UK packaging waste are compliant with the Regulations. In 2025, the Environment Agency (EA) assessed the compliance of 130 accredited operators leading to an increase in suspensions and cancellations.
The EA’s Investigations and Disruption team has expanded significantly in the last year. This additional resource has been deployed to strengthen reactive fraud investigations and proactive upstream disruption activity aimed at preventing serious and organised environmental crime.
The team works closely with HM Revenue and Customs, police forces, and regional organised crime units to focuses on high value fraud, money laundering, and individuals who facilitate or enable this form of criminality.
Asked by: Andrew Cooper (Labour - Mid Cheshire)
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 agricultural machinery accidents on the rural economy; and if she will consider including AI-driven safety equipment within the scope of future Farming Equipment and Technology Fund grants.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government recognises the importance of reducing agricultural machinery accidents, no specific assessment has been made on its impact on the rural economy. As announced, FETF 2026 is intended to be the final round of the Farming Equipment and Technology Fund. The Government wishes to build on what has worked well across all its grant schemes with the aim of bringing the strongest elements together from 2027. As part of this work, it will look at the specific types of equipment and technology that could be included, including consideration of the role of AI-driven safety equipment.
Asked by: Andrew Cooper (Labour - Mid Cheshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to encourage the adoption of (a) advanced safety technology and (b) Human Form Recognition systems on agricultural machinery to reduce the number of serious injuries and fatalities involving (i) farm workers and (ii) members of the public.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Through the Farming Innovation Programme, the Government is providing £50 million as part the Accelerating Development of Practices and Technologies (ADOPT) fund to support on farm trials and adoption of the latest agricultural equipment. This can support farmer-led, smaller-scale innovation grants to trial and test new equipment and methods such as new advanced safety technologies aimed at reducing on-farm accidents.
Asked by: Andrew Cooper (Labour - Mid Cheshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the extent of the duties of the Canal and River Trust to maintain the River Weaver Navigation for navigation purposes in terms of (a) draught and (b) the furthest distance upstream required to meet the duty.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
It is the responsibility of organisations with statutory duties, including the Canal and River Trust, to ensure compliance with them. Maintaining the River Weaver for navigation is an operational matter for the Trust, and it’s important the Government respects the Trust’s operational independence.
Asked by: Andrew Cooper (Labour - Mid Cheshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what fiscal steps her Department is taking to support the 30by30 target.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK Government is committed to protecting 30% of land and sea in the UK by 2030 (30by30). Delivering 30by30 on land in England means ensuring that our most important and wildlife-rich habitats are benefiting from effective, long-term conservation and management. We will publish our 30by30 Action Plan in due course, showing the concrete and targeted action we will take to make progress on 30by30 on land in England.
Similarly at sea we are focusing on ensuring England’s 181 Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), covering 40% of English waters, are effectively managed.
The Government has committed to the largest investment into nature in history, with over £7 billion directed into nature’s recovery over the parliament until 2028/29. This investment will make a significant contribution to the Environment Act targets and 30by30, including improving the quality of water, air, and spaces for wildlife so biodiversity can thrive.
Asked by: Andrew Cooper (Labour - Mid Cheshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans his Department has to provide financial support for the delivery of long-term sustainable drainage systems.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The revised National Planning Policy Framework we published on 12 December 2024 amended an existing paragraph regarding incorporating sustainable drainage systems in new development to make clear that developments of all sizes are expected to make use of sustainable drainage techniques where the development could have drainage impacts.
National Planning Guidance is clear that local authorities should be satisfied that all Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SuDS) have clear maintenance and adoption arrangements in place for the lifetime of a development; however, the cost of delivery of SuDS would be covered by the developer.
Asked by: Andrew Cooper (Labour - Mid Cheshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of enacting Schedule 3 of the Flood and Water Management Act 2010 on the (a) uptake and (b) effectiveness of sustainable drainage systems on new developments.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is strongly committed to improving the implementation of Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) and we are looking at what additional steps might be taken to support this.
We have made some immediate changes to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) to support increased delivery of SuDS. The NPPF now requires all development to utilise SuDS where they could have drainage impacts. These systems should be appropriate to the nature and scale of the proposed development. See paragraphs 181 and 182 of the NPPF.
Asked by: Andrew Cooper (Labour - Mid Cheshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to provide (a) financial and (b) other support to local authorities to help improve surface water drainage.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We are investing £4.2 billion over three years, from 2026/27 to 2028/29, to construct new flood schemes, including surface water schemes, and maintain and repair existing defences across the country. This builds on the £2.65 billion that we are investing in 2024/25 and 2025/26. The full list of over 700 schemes to benefit from fresh funding this year was announced on 31 March 2025 and can be found here.
The Government launched a consultation on 3 June on proposals to reform the way we fund flood and coastal defences. We will make it simpler for all risk management authorities to calculate their funding. The proposals would see the first £3 million of all projects fully funded. This would speed up delivery of vital schemes and ensure money was distributed more effectively across the country – including for surface water management schemes. The consultation has now closed, and we will publish our response in due course.
The Government is strongly committed to improving the implementation of Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS), looking at what additional steps might be taken to support this. We have made some immediate changes to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) to support increased delivery of SuDS where they could have drainage impacts and require all development to utilise SuDS where they could have drainage impacts. In June this year, the Government introduced new national standards.
Asked by: Andrew Cooper (Labour - Mid Cheshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to consult young people in the development of (a) environmental policy and (b) climate-related decision-making.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government recognises that young people are at the heart of environmental and climate-related decision making and actively considers their views and needs.
This year, Defra collaborated with the Department for Education, Policy Lab and environmental NGOs to invite young people and representative groups to participate in an online ‘Collective Intelligence’ debate to inform our review of the government’s Environmental Improvement Plan.
Defra also works closely with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, who will publish a net zero Public Participation Strategy later this year which will set out how we will empower individuals and communities to take action, whilst ensuring that policies are designed in a way that is responsive to people’s needs, including young people.
As the lead Government department for climate adaptation, we are currently developing our approach to the next National Adaptation Programme. This includes how we will engage with wider society, including with young people, about building resilience to the climate change impacts we are already experiencing.
At the international level. Defra financed the participation of two UK members of the Global Youth Biodiversity Network at COP16 in Cali Colombia in October 2024. At COP29 in 2024, we were the first national government to endorse the Universal Youth Clause in Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).