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 her Department has made of UK-grown chickens in comparison with those farmed in other countries, particularly with regards to 1) animal welfare, 2) animal lifespan and premature mortality, and 3) food quality implications for humans on consumption.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
As set out in the Animal Welfare Strategy, the government is considering how we can support voluntary efforts to move away from the use of fast-growing meat chicken breeds. The Department has not made such assessments of comparison between UK-grown chickens and chickens reared abroad.
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 her Department has made of differences in animal welfare and meat quality between UK-grown chickens and imported chicken meat sold in the UK.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
As set out in the Animal Welfare Strategy, the government is considering how we can support voluntary efforts to move away from the use of fast-growing meat chicken breeds. The Department has not made such assessments of comparison between UK-grown chickens and chickens reared abroad.
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 further legislative actions her Department is considering to mandate or ban the use of specific breeds of chicken in UK farming.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
There are currently no plans to mandate or ban the use of specific breeds of chicken. As set out in the Animal Welfare Strategy, the government is considering how it can support voluntary efforts to move away from the use of fast-growing meat chicken breeds.
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 her department has made of the scale of the use of fast-growing chicken breeds in the UK, both in terms of UK farming and UK retail sales.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Current estimates are that around 95% of meat chickens in the UK are fast growing breeds. The Department has not assessed the scale of the use of fast-growing chicken breeds in the UK in terms of UK retail sales.
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 - Minister of State (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 - Secretary of State 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
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.