Asked by: Anna Gelderd (Labour - South East Cornwall)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that households in high flood risk areas are proactively informed about the Flood Re scheme; and what responsibilities insurers, local authorities, and the Environment Agency have to ensure that eligible residents are aware of this Government-backed support to help reduce insurance premiums.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Flood Re scheme is a joint Government and industry reinsurance scheme that helps households at high risk of flooding access affordable home insurance through the open market. It is insurance companies who engage with Flood Re, rather than households. The Flood Re scheme is designed to operate in the background, enabling households to purchase insurance from insurance companies in the usual way, without having to engage with Flood Re.
Flood Re leads national communications activity, provides public guidance and operates an online eligibility tool to help households and advisers understand access to affordable flood insurance. The Environment Agency and local authorities also support awareness by signposting high‑risk households to relevant guidance and community engagement on flood risk and emergency planning.
In 2024-25, Flood Re supported over 346,000 household policies, with more than 650,000 properties benefitting since the scheme’s launch. As of December 2024, the average home insurance premium following a flood claim was around £1,100, compared with approximately £4,400 prior to Flood Re.
Asked by: Anna Gelderd (Labour - South East Cornwall)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of Class MA permitted development rights on local planning policies and the retention of commercial premises in rural and coastal areas.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Where it is felt that it is necessary to protect the local amenity or wellbeing of an area, the local planning authority can consult the local community on removing a permitted development right by making an Article 4 direction.
Between 16 December 2025 and 10 March 2026, the government consulted on a new National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). The consultation on the revised Framework, which can be found on gov.uk here, included proposals for a more flexible policy in relation to the use of Article 4 directions.
We are currently analysing the feedback received and will publish our response in due course.
Asked by: Anna Gelderd (Labour - South East Cornwall)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of Class MA permitted development rights on the retention of commercial premises in rural and coastal areas.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Where it is felt that it is necessary to protect the local amenity or wellbeing of an area, the local planning authority can consult the local community on removing a permitted development right by making an Article 4 direction.
Between 16 December 2025 and 10 March 2026, the government consulted on a new National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). The consultation on the revised Framework, which can be found on gov.uk here, included proposals for a more flexible policy in relation to the use of Article 4 directions.
We are currently analysing the feedback received and will publish our response in due course.
Asked by: Anna Gelderd (Labour - South East Cornwall)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions she has had with the Governor of the Bank of England on the potential impact of climate and nature-related risks on (a) the economy and (b) financial stability; and what steps her Department is taking to coordinate with the Bank of England in response to those risks.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
HM Treasury has a comprehensive framework for assessing and managing risks to the economic outlook and to financial stability. This includes systematic monitoring through internal risk monitors, risk governance forums, and collaboration with other government departments such as the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs and the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero in relation to the impacts of climate change and nature related risks.
The Chancellor’s latest remit and recommendations letter to the Financial Policy Committee (FPC) asks the Committee to consider how climate-related risks could affect financial stability over the near and long term, and to continue to assess the materiality of nature-related risks to its primary objective. The remits for the FPC and Prudential Regulation Committee also make clear that they should support the Government’s approach to accelerate the transition to a climate-resilient, nature-positive and net zero economy.
HMT and the Bank of England meet regularly to discuss the financial stability outlook.
Asked by: Anna Gelderd (Labour - South East Cornwall)
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 monitor compliance with the Water Resale Order 2006 in relation to residential park home sites.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Ofwat’s guidance on water resale by third parties, such as park home site owners, sets out the maximum price a reseller can charge and the various methods they can use to calculate those charges.
If a park home site owner breaches any of the requirements under the Water Resale Order, a resident can contact the Government-funded Leasehold Advisory Service for free independent advice about their rights.
Asked by: Anna Gelderd (Labour - South East Cornwall)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his department is taking to require Food Business Operators to provide written information on allergens for non-pre-packed food at the point of ordering, in line with the Food Standards Agency guidance of 5 March 2025.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) published best practice guidance on 5 March 2025 to help food businesses provide written allergen information at the point of ordering. This includes information on menus, printed materials or digital platforms, supported where appropriate by a verbal conversation. The guidance is intended to support clearer, more consistent communication of allergen information to consumers.
At present, this guidance is non‑statutory, and no mandatory requirement for written allergen information has been introduced. The FSA is however, monitoring how the guidance is being adopted by food businesses and providing the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs with regular updates.
A robust evaluation has begun this year which will assess uptake and effectiveness. This evidence will help determine whether further measures, including legislation to require written allergen information at the point of ordering, are needed once the guidance has had time to embed.
Asked by: Anna Gelderd (Labour - South East Cornwall)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of (a) trends in the levels of respiratory disease and (b) the number of emergency hospital admissions for respiratory conditions in South East Cornwall, compared with national averages.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Data is available for emergency Finished Admission Episodes (FAEs) where there was a primary diagnosis of 'respiratory conditions’. The following table shows the number of FAEs where there was a primary diagnosis of 'respiratory conditions’ for South East Cornwall and England, for activity in English National Health Service hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector, for 2024/25 and provisionally for 2025/26:
Westminster Parliamentary Constituency of Residence | 2024/25 (August 2024 to March 2025) | 2025/26 (April 2025 to November 2025) |
South East Cornwall | 725 | 530 |
England | 608,449 | 423,588 |
Source: Hospital Episode Statistics, NHS England.
Available data on trends in respiratory conditions can be found on the Department’s fingertips dataset. Data is not available by parliamentary constituency. Data is available at regional, county, unitary authority, and integrated care board level. Information for Cornwall can be found at the following link:
Asked by: Anna Gelderd (Labour - South East Cornwall)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his department’s timeline is for deciding on the second wave of Modern Service Frameworks; and whether respiratory conditions will be considered.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon. Member for North East Hertfordshire on 20 February 2026 to Question 112322.
Asked by: Anna Gelderd (Labour - South East Cornwall)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she will assess the potential merits of establishing a Marine Environmental Enhancement Fund for England, drawing on the model of the Scottish Marine Environmental Enhancement Fund.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra continues to keep different approaches to supporting marine nature recovery under review, including relevant models used elsewhere in the UK.
Asked by: Anna Gelderd (Labour - South East Cornwall)
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 achieve the Environmental Improvement Plan 2025 commitment to increase seagrass cover by 15% by 2043.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The revised Environmental Improvement Plan includes prioritised actions to deliver our goals and the ambitious Environment Act targets. Achieving our environmental ambitions requires collective action from individuals, communities, and organisations across all sectors.
The Environment Agency with partners is working to restore 15% of saltmarsh, seagrass and native oyster reef in England by 2043 through the Restoring Meadow, Marsh and Reef (ReMeMaRe) programme. Defra have boosted the capacity of ReMeMaRe by funding a programme office, which is supporting a pipeline of practical restoration projects for those habitats.
70% of seagrass habitats are within UK marine protected areas. Our Environment Act MPA target sets ambitious targets for all MPA features, including seagrass, to be in favourable or recovering condition by 2042.
Defra also established the cross-administration UK Blue Carbon Evidence Partnership to identify priority evidence needs for these important habitats. The Partnership is formed of Defra, the devolved governments and DESNZ.