Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what consideration her Department has given to the availability of refrigerant as part of the review of responses to the F gas Regulation in Great Britain: Reform of the HFC phasedown consultation.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra and DESNZ worked together closely on the proposal set out in the HFC phasedown consultation and continue to do so. This is why the proposal reflects plans for the rollout of heat pumps. Responses to the consultation are still being considered. The consultation asked respondents questions about the assumptions underpinning the proposal and potential impacts of the proposal which could include availability of refrigerants.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has had discussions with the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero on the consultation on F gas Regulation in Great Britain: Reform of the HFC phasedown.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra and DESNZ worked together closely on the proposal set out in the HFC phasedown consultation and continue to do so. This is why the proposal reflects plans for the rollout of heat pumps. Responses to the consultation are still being considered. The consultation asked respondents questions about the assumptions underpinning the proposal and potential impacts of the proposal which could include availability of refrigerants.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
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 intends to take steps to support the uptake of industrial hemp farming, in the context of challenges around licensing and investment in the sector.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra recognises the valuable addition industrial hemp can provide to farmers when planning their crop rotation. The responsibility for the regulation of industrial hemp and licencing for cannabis cultivation in the UK lies with the Home Office.
After further consultation with the industry the Home Office, with support of Defra, has introduced reforms to licensing that make it easier for farmers to cultivate industrial hemp. From January 2025, the rules on ‘site sensitivity’ were removed. Also, the duration of licences granted from January 2026 has been extended from three years to six years, with no additional fees.
The Government has also announced its intention to raise the permitted tetrahyrdocannabinol (THC) levels in industrial hemp varieties to 0.3%, with plans in place to amend the relevant legislation needed to bring this into force.
Combined, these reforms will enable an expansion of the UK’s hemp growing area, with better alignment of licences with the farming calendar and crop rotation planning, more flexibility in where it can be grown and an increase in the number of varieties growers can use.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many licences for winter burns of vegetation in England have been granted by Defra in the last year; and if she will make an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of the Scottish Government’s Strategic Action Plan on Wildfires, published on 5 March 2026, in the context of the use of winter burns.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
No Heather and Grass Burning Licences have yet been granted in the 2025-2026 burning season. Whilst a number of the applications we have received have been determined, others are still being processed.
Both Heather and Grass Burning, and wildfire are devolved matters.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
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 place in the Library Defra-held correspondence and assessments supporting the evidential basis that NEER155 underwent rigorous peer review.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The redactions made to Natural England’s response to EIR2026/00223, were applied because the material contained third-party personal data, which is exempt from disclosure under the Environmental Information Regulations. In addition, some material was outside the scope of the requestor’s EIR enquiry and was removed on that basis.
The Department does not consider it necessary to place the requested documents in the Library.
The NEER155 evidence review was carried out by Natural England, the Government’s statutory adviser on nature. As the statutory adviser responsible for the review, the tasks associated with carrying out that review including the peer review element were matters for Natural England. NEER155 built on Natural England’s 2013 review (NEER004) by incorporating 102 new studies on the effects of burning on peatlands. The external peer reviewers for NEER155 were leading peatland experts at major universities and other expert institutions.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, for what reason two pages were redacted in Natural England’s response to EIR2026/00223 on its report on managed burning.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The redactions made to Natural England’s response to EIR2026/00223, were applied because the material contained third-party personal data, which is exempt from disclosure under the Environmental Information Regulations. In addition, some material was outside the scope of the requestor’s EIR enquiry and was removed on that basis.
The Department does not consider it necessary to place the requested documents in the Library.
The NEER155 evidence review was carried out by Natural England, the Government’s statutory adviser on nature. As the statutory adviser responsible for the review, the tasks associated with carrying out that review including the peer review element were matters for Natural England. NEER155 built on Natural England’s 2013 review (NEER004) by incorporating 102 new studies on the effects of burning on peatlands. The external peer reviewers for NEER155 were leading peatland experts at major universities and other expert institutions.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
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 peer review for the Natural England Evidence Review with reference NEER155.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The redactions made to Natural England’s response to EIR2026/00223, were applied because the material contained third-party personal data, which is exempt from disclosure under the Environmental Information Regulations. In addition, some material was outside the scope of the requestor’s EIR enquiry and was removed on that basis.
The Department does not consider it necessary to place the requested documents in the Library.
The NEER155 evidence review was carried out by Natural England, the Government’s statutory adviser on nature. As the statutory adviser responsible for the review, the tasks associated with carrying out that review including the peer review element were matters for Natural England. NEER155 built on Natural England’s 2013 review (NEER004) by incorporating 102 new studies on the effects of burning on peatlands. The external peer reviewers for NEER155 were leading peatland experts at major universities and other expert institutions.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
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 meet with manufacturers from the heating, refrigeration and air conditioning industries to discuss mandatory training on flammable refrigerants as part of the GB F Gas consultation process.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 10 February 2026 to the honourable Member for Bridlington and The Wolds in PQ UIN 111494.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the necessary safety measures required for the transition to alternative refrigerants with flammability or toxicity characteristics.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
I refer the honourable Member to the answer given on 10 February to the honourable Member for Newbury, PQs 111542 and 111543.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
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 meet with manufacturers from the heating, refrigeration and air conditioning industries to discuss mandatory training regarding flammable refrigerants as part of the GB F Gas consultation process.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra officials meet regularly with representatives of the heating, refrigeration and air conditioning industries, including to discuss the topic of training regarding flammable refrigerants. They have gathered incredibly useful input through such engagement. They would be open to further meetings on this topic.