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 adequacy of the existing evidence base on gamebird rearing, release and shooting in England.
Answered by Jenny Riddell-Carpenter - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
As set out in the Land Use Framework and the Animal Welfare Strategy for England, this Government committed to strengthening the evidence base on gamebird rearing, release and shooting in England.
Defra’s Gamebird rapid evidence review was published in 2020 and is available here. Further research into these findings was published in 2025 and available here. A Call for Evidence, launched on 4 September will gather any further information and evidence on the potential environmental impacts of gamebird release, including native biodiversity and to improve our understanding of both the positive and negative impacts associated with these activities.
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 impact of releasing reared gamebirds on native biodiversity.
Answered by Jenny Riddell-Carpenter - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
As set out in the Land Use Framework and the Animal Welfare Strategy for England, this Government committed to strengthening the evidence base on gamebird rearing, release and shooting in England.
Defra’s Gamebird rapid evidence review was published in 2020 and is available here. Further research into these findings was published in 2025 and available here. A Call for Evidence, launched on 4 September will gather any further information and evidence on the potential environmental impacts of gamebird release, including native biodiversity and to improve our understanding of both the positive and negative impacts associated with these activities.
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 reduce the risk of wildfires in the North West.
Answered by Jenny Riddell-Carpenter - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra funding schemes are supporting landscape-scale action to help land managers adapt to increasing wildfire risk. This includes practical measures to reduce fire spread and severity, improve access and preparedness for firefighting, and strengthen resilience while also supporting nature and climate objectives.
The Government remains committed to rewetting peatlands and wetlands as one of the best ways to protect some of our most valuable landscapes from fire. Changing the way agricultural land is used and managed is an important part of wildfire resilience and can also deliver wider benefits for biodiversity, carbon storage and water regulation. The Nature for Climate Peatland Grant Scheme provides funding to restore peatlands. A number of projects have been funded in the North West, these include projects with the Yorkshire Peat Partnership in Cumbria and the National Trust in Lancashire.
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, if she will provide an estimate of the number of hours spent (a) responding to and (b) preparing for Westminster Hall Debates by (i) government ministers, (ii) civil servants and (iii) special advisers in her Department for each parliamentary session for which the information is available.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
No such estimate has been made, and to do so would incur a disproportionate cost.
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 he has made of the potential impact of increased access to CPTPP markets on UK food and drink exports.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
CPTPP membership gives UK food and drink exporters access to a trading bloc with a combined GDP of around £13 trillion. Over 99% of UK exports to CPTPP members will be eligible for tariff-free trade. For example, the UK dairy sector will benefit from lower tariffs in Canada, Chile, Japan and Mexico, while whisky and chocolate exporters will benefit from reduced tariffs in Malaysia and Mexico. As a living agreement, CPTPP's continued expansion could create further opportunities for UK exporters.
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 waste sites in (i) England and (ii) Lancashire are currently categorised by the Environment Agency as high risk.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
As of 1 September 2026, there are 267 illegal waste sites classified as high risk in England.
As of 1 September 2026, there are 17 illegal waste sites classified as high risk in Lancashire.
These figures are subject to change as new sites are identified and existing sites are stopped.
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, if her Department will carry out an investigation into the prevalence of polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) pollution in the water supply in Lancashire.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI) regulates the quality of public water supplies in England, including Lancashire, and requires water companies to test for a wide range of substances, including PFAS, to ensure supplies remain safe.
Following a public enquiry regarding reported PFAS contamination near Thornton-Cleveleys, DWI's records confirm that United Utilities does not draw water for public supply from abstraction points in the affected area.
DWI continues to monitor water quality across Lancashire and will investigate should new evidence of contamination affecting a public water supply emerge.
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 environmental permits were (a) suspended, (b) revoked and (c) remain under consideration for revocation following Operation Unite.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
At the close of Op UNITE ( 22 July 2026) the recorded position was:
8 Suspended
3 Revoked
6 under consideration for revocation
An updated position will require more time to gather accurately.
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 adequacy of reservoir capacity to provide water to households in Lancashire.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government keeps water resource resilience under review through water company Water Resources Management Planning processes and Environment Agency (EA) monitoring.
In Lancashire, water supplies are mainly provided by United Utilities. Most United Utilities customers are served by their Strategic Resource Zone, around 90% of which relies on more than 140 reservoirs. Supplies are supplemented by groundwater from the Fylde aquifer, the Rivers Lune and Wyre, and water transferred from Cumbrian reservoirs.
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 the Government plans to introduce alternative arrangements to enable people who are unable to access deposit return centres to reclaim deposits paid on drinks containers.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Exchange for Change have been working closely with DRS scheme operators overseas to understand how to make the scheme as accessible as possible. Their website and contact details can be found here.