Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
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 potential merits of introducing a national social tariff for water bills.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is working with industry to keep support schemes under review to ensure that vulnerable customers are supported. We will look at ways to drive more consistency across the schemes and increase awareness of the support consumers can access.
Water Companies offer a range of support schemes for customers struggling to afford their bills, including: social tariffs, WaterSure, debt support schemes, financial hardship funds, flexible payment plans and payment breaks. The Government expects industry to keep the current support schemes under review to ensure that vulnerable customers across the country are supported.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what guidance her Department has issued to dog owners on changes to public liability insurance through the Dogs Trust Companion Club scheme from 1 July 2026.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra has contacted all registered owners to inform them of the change to insurance, notifying them that no action is required from owners at this stage. Defra has also updated its GOV.UK page.
Defra is working to ensure owners of banned breed dogs are able to remain compliant with the legal requirement to hold third-party public liability insurance beyond 1 July 2026.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much his Department has spent on consultancy fees in each year since 2021.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
Expenditure on consultancy is reported each year in the Annual Report and Accounts.
For 2021-22, this is shown on page 111 at
For 2022-23, this is shown on page 108 at
The 2023-24 figures are being audited and are not yet finalised or published.
The Government is committed to restoring the public finances and delivering value for the taxpayer.
As part of this wider mission, the Government has pledged to reduce wasteful spend on non-essential and expensive consultants in order to save over £1.2 billion by 2026.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent progress his Department has made to meet the commitment to protect 30% of (a) land and (b) seas by 2030.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In July, the Secretary of State confirmed the Government’s intention to launch a rapid review of the Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP). Our review will make sure that the EIP is fit for purpose to deliver on our ambitious targets, including 30by30, and we will communicate updates in the usual way.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
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 tackle levels of poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances in the River Mersey.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Shadow Minister (Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We are working to assess levels of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) occurring in the environment, their sources, and their potential risks to inform policy and regulatory approaches. This includes the Environment Agency’s monitoring of PFAS levels in the River Mersey as part of a national programme of PFAS monitoring. We are committed to protecting human health and the environment.
Following a ban on specific PFAS chemicals more than a decade ago (notably perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS)) we have seen a decline in the level of these chemicals in our rivers.
We have welcomed the Health and Safety Executive’s publication of the PFAS Regulatory Management Options Analysis (RMOA). We have accepted the RMOA’s recommendations, which include work under UK REACH to reduce PFAS emissions by considering restrictions. This will begin by considering a restriction on PFAS in fire-fighting foams.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
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 merits of strengthening the Hunting Act 2004.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
This Government made a manifesto commitment not to change the Hunting Act 2004.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
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 implement Section 8 of the Animal Welfare Act 2006.
Answered by Mark Spencer
Causing an animal fight to take place, or attempting to do so, is an offence under section 8 of the Animal Welfare Act 2006, which would normally be enforced by the Police or the RSPCA. It is also an offence to be present at an animal fight without reasonable excuse or lawful authority.
The Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Act 2021 increases the maximum sentence for such offences from six months to five years imprisonment and/or an unlimited fine. This strengthened penalty sends a clear message that animal cruelty will not be tolerated and will enable our courts to take a firm approach to cases such as animal fighting.
The Online Safety Act 2023 also requires social media firms to remove online content of animal welfare abuse such as animal fights.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
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 implications for his animal welfare policies of the use of snares.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
The management of predators plays an important role in supporting the recovery of some of our most vulnerable species.
An industry-owned code of practice for the use of snares to control foxes in England sets out clear principles for the legal use of snares, using evidence from snare-use research to improve snare deployment and design.
We are looking at how snares are regulated as part of our continued drive to maintain the highest animal welfare standards in the world, and working to ensure the regulated use of the most appropriate trap and cull method which causes the least suffering whilst providing the greatest protection to crops, game birds or endangered species.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions her Department has had with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero on the potential environmental impacts of new offshore oil and gas licences on marine protected areas.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) officials work closely together on achieving the dual aims of Net Zero and protection of the marine environment. The environmental impact of all proposed offshore oil and gas developments are considered by the relevant regulator (Offshore Petroleum Regulator for Environment and Decommissioning and/or North Sea Transition Authority) when considering them for consent.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
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 (a) stop and (b) reverse nature degradation.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
In England, we have now set four legally binding targets for biodiversity. By 2030 we have committed to halt the decline in species abundance and by 2042 we aim to reverse species decline; to reduce the risk of species extinction; and to restore or create more than 500,000 hectares of wildlife-rich habitats. We have set out our plan to deliver on these ambitious targets, along with our other environmental targets, in the revised Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP23) published 31 January 2023. Here we link the different objectives, plans and mechanisms for recovering nature.
We know that to meet our targets we will need large-scale habitat restoration, creation and improved connectivity; to tackle pressures on species including pollution, unsustainable use of resources and climate change; and targeted action to recover specific species. We have also launched a new £25 million Species Survival Fund, supporting the creation and restoration of wildlife-rich habitats.