Asked by: Dan Norris (Independent - North East Somerset and Hanham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many reports of incidents of flooding have been made in North East Somerset and Hanham constituency in the last five years.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency (EA) have records of 43 reports of flooding in the North East Somerset and Hanham Constituency over the last 5 years. However, property flooding is often underreported for many reasons, and this number only includes incidents of flooding that have been reported to the EA.
Asked by: Dan Norris (Independent - North East Somerset and Hanham)
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 help mitigate flood risks in North East Somerset and Hanham constituency.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
As a category 1 responder under the Civil Contingencies Act the Environment Agency has supported Bath and North East Somerset Council at various events to develop resilient communities in North East Somerset and Hanham.
As a responding agency, the Environment Agency (EA) has been involved with protecting residents from various weather events such as Storm Bert in 2024. This included operation of ea assets, warning and informing residents and coordinating responses and recovery with their professional partners.
The ea is working to create a River Avon vision with partners for the Netham to Twerton Corridor to support the Government’s sustainable growth agenda and enable the restoration of nature and resilient communities faced with flooding and climate change.
The EA has a successful programme of Property Flood Resilience (PFR) for isolated properties at risk of flooding. In North East Somerset and Hanham installation of PFR at properties in Swinford, Hanham and Chew Magna has been completed.
In addition, the EA has an ongoing project to understand flood risk in the Siston and Warmley catchment. As part of their asset management role, they have just completed urgent tunnel lining repairs to the Siston flood relief tunnel.
Asked by: Dan Norris (Independent - North East Somerset and Hanham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Health and Safety Executive report entitled, Agency Opinion on the Annex 15 Dossier on the Proposal for a Restriction, published in December 2024, when his Department will publish its response.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra has received HSE’s final opinion on a proposed UK REACH Restriction on lead in ammunition and we are assessing their proposals. Given the need to work through the detail of HSE’s proposal a decision is expected in the summer due course. This decision will be taken with the consent of the Devolved Governments of Scotland and Wales.
Asked by: Dan Norris (Independent - North East Somerset and Hanham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to respond to the Health and Safety Executive's report entitled Agency Opinion on the Annex 15 Dossier on the Proposal for a Restriction: Lead in Ammunition, published on 13 December 2024.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra has received the Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE) final opinion on a proposed UK REACH Restriction on lead in ammunition and we are assessing their proposals. Given the need to work through the detail of HSE’s proposal a decision is expected in due course.
Asked by: Dan Norris (Independent - North East Somerset and Hanham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress he has made on tackling water pollution in North East Somerset and Hanham constituency.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency (EA) inspected over 50% of the Wessex Water assets in this Constituency between April 2024 and March 2025. Inspections are prioritised according to environmental sensitivity, such as sites that impact bathing waters, conservation designations or where data shows high spill rates. The EA will more than double its water company inspections this year.
Asked by: Dan Norris (Independent - North East Somerset and Hanham)
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 on helping tackle cases of adverse events in dogs which have been administered Librela.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Librela Solution for Injection for Dogs is an authorised injectable veterinary medicinal product containing the active substance bedinvetmab. It is indicated for the alleviation of pain associated with osteoarthritis in dogs.
We continue to actively monitor the reported adverse events in dogs that have been administered Librela.
Asked by: Dan Norris (Independent - North East Somerset and Hanham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many trees he expects to be planted in the Western Forest by the end of (a) 2025, (b) 2030, (c) 2035 and (d) 2040.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Western Forest has been selected as the first new national Forest in 30 years. The Western Forest is working with the National Forest Company to implement their plans. It is aiming to plant 20 million trees across the West of England by 2050. The forests target for end 2025 is 50 hectares of tree cover and contributing to 2,500 hectares by 2030. As planting density varies dependent on the type of woodland created or site-specific factors, we cannot accurately predict the number of trees to be planted by specific milestones.
Asked by: Dan Norris (Independent - North East Somerset and Hanham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what his plans to tackle wildlife crime are in North East Somerset and Hanham constituency.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 protects all wild birds and some wild animals in England and Wales. There are strict penalties in place for anyone who commits an offence under this and other wildlife legislation. Where any wildlife is harmed illegally the full force of the law should apply to proven perpetrators of the crime.
Defra supports the valuable work of the National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU). Defra is providing £424,000 for the NWCU in 2025-2026. The NWCU helps prevent and detect wildlife crime by obtaining and disseminating intelligence, undertaking analysis which highlights local or national threats and assisting law enforcers with investigations. The NWCU has also provided training to police officers across the UK, including three officers in Avon and Somerset Police. This training reflects the National Police Chiefs' Council wildlife crime strategy and provides comprehensive training in UK wildlife crime priorities and emerging trends. Additionally, the NWCU has supported Avon and Somerset with ten wildlife crime cases since January 2024.
Asked by: Dan Norris (Independent - North East Somerset and Hanham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what his planned timeline is for launching a consultation on the phasing out of the use of cages for farm animals.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
I refer the Hon. Member to the reply previously given to the hon. Member for Mid Dorset and North Poole, Vikki Slade, on 29 April 2025, PQ 47556.
Asked by: Dan Norris (Independent - North East Somerset and Hanham)
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 plans to take with the farming sector to ensure high standards of welfare for farmed animals kept in cages and other close confinement systems.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government was elected on a mandate to introduce the most ambitious plans to improve animal welfare in a generation. The Department is engaging with key stakeholders as part of the development of our overarching approach to animal welfare. We will be outlining more details on this in due course.
The Laying Hen Housing for Health and Welfare Grant was recently offered to commercial laying hen and pullet keepers in England. It supports these farmers to improve the health, welfare, and productivity of their flocks through access to £22.6 million in grants towards the cost of upgrading their housing. Applications closed on 18 September 2024, and all applicants have been contacted to notify them of next steps.
The use of cages and other close confinement systems for farmed animals is an issue which we are currently considering very carefully.