Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what his planned timeline is for decisions on the future of Darwin Plus funding.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In November 2024, Minister Doughty and Minister McCarthy met with the elected leaders and representatives of the Overseas Territories at the UK Overseas Territories Joint Ministerial Council. The UK Government confirmed that it would continue to work in partnership with the Territories to support the protection of their unique environments and to help address biodiversity loss and noted their strong support for the continuation of Darwin Plus.
As set out in our previous answers to UIN 61101 and UIN 63667, Defra will be finalising plans to fund new Darwin Plus projects with applicants this summer. Whilst decisions have yet to be made on the totality of future funding available to Darwin Plus following the department’s multi-year funding commitment from HM Treasury, the department will engage closely with stakeholders to ensure transparency and support continuity wherever possible.
The department will provide updates in the usual way as soon as they are available.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to maintain funding for the Darwin Plus programme.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In November 2024, Minister Doughty and Minister McCarthy met with the elected leaders and representatives of the Overseas Territories at the UK Overseas Territories Joint Ministerial Council. The UK Government confirmed that it would continue to work in partnership with the Territories to support the protection of their unique environments and to help address biodiversity loss and noted their strong support for the continuation of Darwin Plus.
As set out in our previous answers to UIN 61101 and UIN 63667, Defra will be finalising plans to fund new Darwin Plus projects with applicants this summer. Whilst decisions have yet to be made on the totality of future funding available to Darwin Plus following the department’s multi-year funding commitment from HM Treasury, the department will engage closely with stakeholders to ensure transparency and support continuity wherever possible.
The department will provide updates in the usual way as soon as they are available.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has considered reforming the Licensing of Activities Involving Animals Regulations 2018 to introduce a tiered system that distinguishes between (a) low and (b) high volume breeders.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
The Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018 require anyone in the business of breeding and selling dogs and/or who breeds three or more litters in a twelve-month period to hold a valid licence.
Defra has completed a post-implementation review of the Regulations which can be found here. The Government is considering the findings and will be outlining more detail on next steps in due course.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has considered developing a national mentoring scheme pairing experienced dog breeders with first-time breeders to help promote (a) high welfare and (b) informed practices.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
The Government’s Code of Practice for the Welfare of Dogs provides advice to owners thinking of breeding from their dogs and a list of sources of further information they can access. The Code can be found here: Code of practice for the welfare of dogs - GOV.UK.
Owners considering breeding from their dogs can also access sector best practice such as the Canine and Feline Sector Group’s Code of Practice for Dog Breeding or advice published by the Royal Kennel Club.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he has taken to work with local authorities to reduce instances of fly-tipping.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra chairs the National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group (NFTPG), through which we work with a wide range of interested parties, including local authorities, to share good practice with regards to preventing fly-tipping. The NFTPG has developed various practical tools including guides on how councils and others can present robust cases to court, set up and run effective local partnerships to tackle fly-tipping and raise awareness of the household and business waste duty of care. These are available at: https://nftpg.com/
The Government encourages councils to make good use of their enforcement powers, and we are seeking powers in the Crime and Policing Bill to provide statutory fly-tipping enforcement guidance to support councils to consistently, appropriately and effectively exercise these existing powers. We have also announced a review of council powers to seize and crush the vehicles of suspected fly-tippers, to identify how we could help councils make better use of this tool.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
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 support banana-producing countries affected by the UK’s pesticide regulations; and whether his Department will help such countries identify sustainable alternatives to Mancozeb.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The decision to withdraw the use of the fungicide mancozeb in Great Britain does not immediately affect banana-producing countries.
The UK Government recognises the importance that bilateral trade between the UK and banana-producing countries plays, in boosting growth and ensuring regional stability. The UK is open to discussing the concerns of our trade partners.
The UK also supports international efforts to reduce the use of the most hazardous pesticides and promote the use of sustainable alternatives, through mechanisms such as the Global Framework on Chemicals (GFC). The GFC is a multistakeholder framework which, amongst other things, encourages the transition to safer alternatives and sustainable approaches.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to help prevent the sale of illegal glue traps.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Glue Traps (Offences) Act 2022 bans glue trap use in England in all but the most exceptional, licensable circumstances. It came into force in 2024. Nothing in the law prevents sale of glue traps in England. However, only pest controllers with a licence can legally use them for rodent control.
Widespread media coverage in 2022 and 2024 alerted businesses to the change in legislation in England and on-going stakeholder engagement has helped ensure pest controllers acting for businesses are cognisant of the situation. The British Independent Retailers Association has also published advice for retailers to prevent glue traps from being sold for illegal use and we know of market-leading suppliers and retailers having withdrawn them from sale.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
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 9 June 2025 to Question 54689 on Dangerous Dogs: Social Rented Housing, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of being denied permission to take up residency by housing providers on people with legally exempted XL Bully dogs.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
Defra undertook an impact assessment when developing legislation to ban XL Bully dogs. This assessment recognised that some housing providers would not allow owners to keep XL bullies. It is for the housing provider to decide their own policies on whether they permit tenants to keep exempted banned breed types.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has provided funding for research into the (a) development and (b) trial of multi-site fungicide alternatives to mancozeb that are viable for tropical fruit exporters in Latin America.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra has not provided funding for research into the development and trial of multi-site fungicide alternatives to mancozeb that are viable for tropical fruit exporters in Latin America.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment has been made of the potential impact of banning mancozeb by the end of 2025 on the (a) socio-economy and (b) security of the UK's trading partners.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Pesticide Active substance approvals are only granted following careful scientific assessment of risks to people, animals and the environment. We do not consider economic benefits of use. Mancozeb no longer meets GB approval criteria as regards to endocrine disrupting properties, non-dietary risks to human health and exposure risk to operators.
Food treated with mancozeb can continue to be placed on the GB market provided it meets our Maximum Residue Levels (MRLs).