Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of facilities in public disabled toilets to meet the needs of stoma care users.

Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Government oversees policy and legislation with respect to the safe management of waste and litter as well as the protection of drains and sewers. This however does not extend to compelling or explicitly encouraging local authorities with regard to types of waste receptacles or their placement. These decisions are for local authorities to make.

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 community-led models of food (a) production and (b) distribution in rural areas.

Answered by Daniel Zeichner

Food security is national security. The Good Food Cycle, the UK government food strategy for England, published on 15 July, sets out the government's plans to transform the food system. A UK government food strategy for England - GOV.UK.

A resilient and healthy food system requires a whole-of-society approach – one that is centered on people and community and that addresses food insecurity and resilience in both rural and urban areas, so everyone has access to more healthy and sustainable food.

The food strategy will also explore where we can go further, including community led food production and distribution, to create and promote a vibrant food culture at national, regional and local level. We will set out more detail as the work progresses.

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 review the guidance provided to land managers of designated (a) heritage and (b) conservation sites in relation to balancing (i) agricultural use, (ii) environmental protection and (iii) public access rights.

Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

There are a range of heritage and conservation site designations in England affording high levels of protection. Guidance for these designations is continually reviewed to ensure it balances priorities for food production, nature recovery and access to nature.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many inspections Natural England has conducted on Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Cornwall in each of the last five years; and what the average response time is for investigating reported concerns about land management on those sites.

Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Natural England does not carry out ‘inspections’ on SSSIs but undertakes condition assessments on SSSIs. These allow NE to identify changes in the condition of site features and identify any concerns about site management.

The Rural Payments Agency undertakes compliance inspections for agri-environment schemes including those covering SSSIs and will alert Natural England of any issues identified by their inspections.

Investigation response times vary depending on the risk and significance of the negative impact on the SSSI. For example, in a case of damage to a SSSI grassland caused by overgrazing Natural England will contact the land manager immediately and seek a voluntary solution. If a voluntary solution cannot be agreed Natural England will look to serve a stop notice to prevent further damage and allow further investigation.

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 his Department has made of the effectiveness of the enforcement of environmental protections on Sites of Special Scientific Interest in rural coastal areas; and what steps he is taking to help ensure timely investigation of alleged breaches of statutory protections on such sites.

Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Natural England works with Defra to highlight any gaps in the regulatory and enforcement regime for protected sites.

Natural England has a suite of regulatory remedies and enforcement sanctions (including civil and criminal) to address issues on protected sites. The aim is always to seek the prevention or remedy of harm and to ensure future compliance. This means that Natural England often seeks to achieve a voluntary agreement but where that cannot be achieved, or where the harm is very significant, Natural England acts swiftly using its regulatory or enforcement powers to remedy the situation.

The Corry Review of Defra’s regulatory landscape (April 2025) identified challenges in the effectiveness and consistency of environmental enforcement. Defra has committed to a programme of reforms to strengthen compliance and improve outcomes on the ground.

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 plans to amend the (a) Commons Act 2006 and (b) related legislation to (i) introduce a mandatory requirement for formal public consultation on proposals to undertake works on common land, (ii) require the provision of equivalent exchange land when common land is deregistered and (iii) review restrictions in section 16 of the Growth and Infrastructure Act 2013 on the right to register land as a (A) town and (B) village green.

Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Department currently has no plans to amend the Commons Act 2006 or related legislation.

A requirement for formal public consultation on proposals to carry out works on common land is already in place. Under section 38 of the Commons Act 2006, consent is required for any works that would impede access or alter the character of common land. Applicants are expected to consult interested parties—including landowners, commoners, parish and district councils, Natural England, and the Open Spaces Society—and to publish notices both locally and on site. The requirement to provide equivalent exchange land when common land is deregistered is also well established. Section 16 of the Commons Act 2006 requires applicants to offer suitable exchange land where the deregistered area exceeds 200 square metres.

We have no plans to review the restrictions introduced by section 16 of the Growth and Infrastructure Act 2013.

Further information on carrying out works on common land is available here on GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/carrying-out-works-on-common-land.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will take legislative steps to require (a) fold-down shelves and (b) appropriate sanitary disposal bins for stoma bags in all newly (i) installed and (ii) refurbished disabled toilet cubicles.

Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)

All building works need to meet the functional requirements of the Building Regulations 2010, including Part M on accessibility. Approved Document M, which provides guidance to support compliance with the requirements of Part M in common building situations, states that consideration should be given to installing a shelf and a sanitary disposal unit in wheelchair accessible toilets. The Building Regulations apply to new building work or where existing buildings are undergoing a material redesign or refurbishment, and they do not apply retrospectively. Additionally, the Building Regulations do not extend to the management of sanitary bins for buildings in use, which is the responsibility of building owners.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she is taking to reduce the time taken for council tax re-bandings by the Valuations Board.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

The VOA is working as quickly as possible to clear cases, and moving staff to where there is the greatest customer demand. The VOA is focusing on the oldest cases first, and where customers are facing financial hardship.

The VOA is replacing IT systems with modern cloud-based platforms that will deliver significant efficiencies. It is also upskilling its workforce to ensure there is flexibility in managing a wide range of cases and improving its digital services to make it easier for customers to self-serve.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will (a) advocate for improved international protections for salmon through the North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organisation and (b) support local hatcheries to aid salmon population recovery.

Answered by Daniel Zeichner

The UK is a committed member of the North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organisation (NASCO), which seeks to reverse the decline of wild Atlantic salmon and recover populations to healthy and resilient levels across their range. The UK hosted NASCO’s 2025 annual meeting in Cardiff, earlier this year, at which parties agreed to develop ambitious new salmon action plans to contribute to the recovery of salmon populations. In the first half of 2026 NASCO will host negotiations to develop a new regulatory measure for the West Greenland land fishery, which the UK will participate in. In 2024 NASCO published new guidelines for stocking Atlantic salmon. In England, all stocking activity is regulated by the Environment Agency, who take a case-by-case approach, with reference to the NASCO guidelines.

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 decline in Atlantic salmon populations in (a) the River Lynher and (b) other rivers in the South West (i) in general and (ii) by commercial mackerel fishing vessels inadvertently catching salmon smolts.

Answered by Daniel Zeichner

The Environment Agency (EA) manages salmon fisheries in England. They use a combination of local and national Byelaws and Net Limitation Orders to prevent commercial salmon fishing and to minimise recreational pressures on salmon. For the South West, this includes protections on 13 principal salmon rivers; the Hampshire Avon, Frome, Exe, Teign, Dart, Tavy, Tamar, Lynher, Fowey, Camel, Taw, Torridge, and Lyn and on 20 recovering salmon rivers; the Allen, Avill, Blakeney Brook, Bristol Avon, Brit, Doniford, Fal, Harbourne, Heddon, Lerryn, Looe, Meon, Otter, Par, Parrett, Porth, Seaton, Sid, Valency and Washford. In 2023, anglers reported releasing 95% of salmon caught, across England and Wales. Additionally, the EA works collaboratively with many local organisations to implement other environmental improvement actions that benefit salmon within the River Lynher and neighbouring catchments. Defra is working with the North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organisation (NASCO) to better understand the risk of salmon bycatch in commercial pelagic fisheries, including mackerel fisheries.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of (a) Tamar Grow Local Community Interest Company and (b) similar organisations on (i) improving local food security, (ii) supporting small-scale farmers and (iii) reducing environmental impact in South East Cornwall constituency.

Answered by Daniel Zeichner

We are currently exploring a new farming and countryside local advice and collaboration offer. This aims to support farmers and land managers to work together to improve business resilience and deliver environmental outcomes. We are looking at a variety of potential delivery partners and with existing farming collaboration groups to understand what works best.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what support his Department plans to provide to local authorities and material recovery facilities to ensure sorting and recycling infrastructure can be upgraded so it is consistent.

Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Defra is working with WRAP (Waste and Resources Action Programme) and waste industry representatives to support Material Recovery Facility (MRF) readiness for the Simpler Recycling requirements.

Simpler Recycling requires the following recyclable waste streams from all households and workplaces in England: glass, metal, plastic, paper and card, food waste (and garden waste from households only). These measures will increase the quantity of dry recyclable material collected for sorting at MRFs and is a requirement from 31 March 2025 from workplaces, 31 March 2026 from households and 31 March 2027 from micro-firms (with less than 10 FTEs).

We have engaged with MRF operators and local authorities through WRAP’s MRF Forum to identify challenges with MRF capacity, investment, upgrade timelines, and to work with the sector to identify interventions to support MRFs as they prepare for Simpler Recycling. WRAP is developing interventions to support Local Authorities setting up new MRF contracts or procurement of other resources associated with implementation of Simpler Recycling requirements. An assessment is being undertaken of the potential future composition of dry mixed recyclable waste streams and the associated financial implications resulting from this.

The MRF operators who are engaged with us are aware of their obligations and are working hard to upgrade their facilities to ensure they can separate the target materials as required by Simpler Recycling.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what guidance he plans to issue on sufficient sorting requirements for material recovery facilities to follow.

Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Defra does not plan to issue specific guidance on sorting requirements for Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs).

Simpler Recycling requires the following recyclable waste streams from all households and workplaces in England: glass, metal, plastic, paper and card, food waste (and garden waste from households only). These measures will increase the quantity of dry recyclable material collected for sorting at MRFS and will apply from 31^st March 2025 from workplaces, 31^st March 2026 from households and 31^st March 2027 from micro-firms (with less than 10 FTEs.

Defra is working with WRAP (Waste and Resources Action Programme) and waste industry representatives to support Material Recovery Facility (MRF) readiness for the Simpler Recycling requirements.

We have engaged with MRF operators and local authorities through WRAP’s MRF Forum to identify challenges with MRF capacity, investment, upgrade timelines, and to work with the sector to identify interventions to support MRFs as they prepare for Simpler Recycling. WRAP is developing interventions to support Local Authorities setting up new MRF contracts or procurement of other resources associated with implementation of Simpler Recycling requirements. An assessment is being undertaken of the potential future composition of dry mixed recyclable waste streams and the associated financial implications resulting from this.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she plans to require public e-bike hire schemes to include third-party insurance for (a) injury to people and (b) damage to property as part of the hire fee; and if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of such a requirement on (i) public safety and (ii) liability for scheme users.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Government is empowering local leaders to licence shared cycle schemes through measures in the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill. These licences will contain some minimum standard conditions set by the Secretary of State to ensure a baseline of safety and operability across the country. This could include specific insurance requirements for operators. We will consult publicly on the nature of these conditions before licensing is implemented to ensure we get it right.

Submit Evidence (by 10 Oct 2025)

The House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) has launched an open call for potential topics of inquiry in the areas of climate change, the environment and nature.