Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment her Department has made of the quality of coastal waters around England.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra assessed the quality of coastal waters around England in 2024, publishing these assessments as part of the UK Marine Strategy Part One Update and good environmental status consultation in June 2025.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
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 the suspension of the Sustainable Farming Incentive on farmers in (a) Fylde constituency and (b) Lancashire.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We do not produce constituency level assessments. We publish regular statistics on Farm Business Income broken down in various ways. The latest data currently available are for 2023/24, 2024/25 data will be published on the 20 November 2025.
Farming evidence packs have been recently updated including key statistics and farm performance. These set out an extensive range of data to provide an overview of agriculture in the UK. We will continue to carry out appropriate and timely assessments of our interventions to inform policy development.
Across England, 50,000 farm businesses are already in agri-environmental schemes.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
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 the closure of the Fruit and Vegetable Scheme on producers in (a) Fylde constituency and (b) Lancashire.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is committed to our horticulture sector and the vital role it plays in strengthening food security by ensuring a reliable and sustainable supply of fresh home-grown produce. The Fruit and Vegetable Scheme Aid Scheme is an EU legacy scheme, and we will not be continuing that model of support in England when it ends on 31 December 2025.
Future funding for the sector will be considered alongside Defra’s work to simplify and rationalise agricultural grant funding, ensuring that grants deliver the most benefit for food security and nature.
The Good Food Cycle, published as part of our food strategy gives the food sector a blueprint for an economically successful and innovative domestic food sector, including horticulture. It will work alongside the Farming Roadmap, the Land Use Framework, the Circular Economy Strategy and the Environmental Improvement Plan to deliver a resilient and healthy food system, that works with nature and supports farmers, growers and food producers.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many instances of water quality breaches have been reported by water suppliers in Lancashire in the last 12 months.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Drinking Water Inspectorate does not compile water quality breach data by county. The figures provided relate to United Utilities' operations across its entire supply area, which serves Lancashire and the wider Northwest region.
In the 12-month period from Q4 2024 to August 2025, there were 107 water quality breaches reported by United Utilities, which is the water supplier serving Lancashire.
This data is reported as of 24 October 2025 and is subject to change as new data is reported. These figures are not yet final, as water companies have one month following a breach to investigate the cause and rectify any issues before completing their compliance reports. Data for September and October 2025 is not yet available.
The Drinking Water Inspectorate does not compile water quality breach data by county. The figures provided relate to United Utilities' operations across its entire supply area, which serves Lancashire and the wider Northwest region.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department plans to increase funding for coastal clean-up and restoration projects.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government has supported schemes to clean up marine litter, such as Fishing For Litter and similar local schemes. Fishing For Litter is a voluntary, unpaid litter bycatch removal scheme by commercial fishermen, run by KIMO, which provides fishing boats with bags to dispose of marine-sourced litter collected during normal fishing operations.
Defra has provided £2.5 million of investment in the Restoring Meadow, Marsh and Reef (ReMeMaRe) initiative since 2024 through the Water Environment Improvement Fund. ReMeMaRe, led by the Environment Agency, aims to restore 15% of saltmarsh, seagrass and native oyster reefs in England by 2043. Defra is also providing £168,000 funding this financial year for the ReMeMaRe Programme Office which is supporting local partners to significantly increase the scale and pace of practical estuarine and coastal habitat restoration in England.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many incidents of untreated sewage discharge into coastal waters in Lancashire were reported in each of the last five years.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Analysis of Event Duration Monitoring summary spill data is publicly available on GOV.UK.
The EA routinely monitors this data to assess compliance with permits, and where non-compliances are identified the EA takes appropriate enforcement action.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
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 ensure funds raised through Extended Producer Responsibility are used by local authorities on advanced recycling infrastructure.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government has implemented robust measures within the packaging Extended Producer Responsibility scheme to ensure that funds raised are directed by local authorities towards recycling infrastructure. I have instructed PackUK to use regulatory powers to recover monies from local authorities in England where these funds have not been spent on packaging waste management services.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
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 protect swans.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In England all wild birds are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, including Swans. This makes it an offence to kill, injure or take wild birds and to take or damage their eggs and nests.
Defra supports the valuable work of the National Wildlife Crime Unit and is a principal funder. The unit helps to prevent and detect wildlife crime (including crimes against swans) by obtaining and disseminating intelligence, undertaking analysis, and directly assisting law enforcers in their investigations.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what formal powers the Commissioner for the Tenant Farming Sector will have to (a) investigate complaints and (b) enforce the Agricultural Landlord and Tenant Code of Practice.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
As a non-statutory role, the Commissioner will promote and encourage good relations between tenants, landlords, and advisors, and provide a neutral and confidential point of contact for anyone who has concerns that the Agricultural Landlord and Tenant Code of Practice for England is not being followed. Where concerns or issues cannot be resolved the Commissioner will signpost sources of further professional advice as appropriate. The Government is committed to keeping the effectiveness of this approach under review.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department will take steps to provide (a) financial support and (b) incentives for (i) developers and (ii) households to install water-saving devices.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government works with Ofwat who offer financial environmental incentives for developers to meet certain water efficiency standards.
On 23 September we launched a consultation to consider tighter water efficiency standards for new homes in the Building Regulations. We are working with Ofwat to ensure that environmental incentives in the future align with the ambition set out in this consultation and are considering how we can support developers as part of the £25 million fund held by Ofwat to fund a Water Efficiency Lab which aims to encourage innovation across the sector and is from November focusing on actionable insights for consumers.
To support households to reduce their water usage we are rolling out mandatory water efficiency label to ensure consumers can make informed decisions on their purchases, this will align with existing incentives for consumers to install water saving devices including free devices from water companies and the incoming £100 million Water Efficiency Campaign from Ofwat.