Asked by: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)
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 Government News Story published on 19 June 2025 entitled Government to invest over £100m in water company fines to local environmental projects, if she will publish a timeline for the allocation of unallocated fines levied against water companies since October 2023 into projects to clean up the water environment.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
On 20 January 2026, Government announced alongside the White Paper that the next tranche of £29 million in water company fines will support further local water improvement projects through catchment partnerships, the Water Environment Improvement Fund (WEIF) and Water and Abandoned Metal Mines (WAMM) Programme.
Catchment partnerships are currently submitting funding applications for approved projects within the WEIF programme, and successful projects will be announced in due course, whilst details of WAMM schemes are available at: Water and Abandoned Metal Mines Programme.
This constitutes all fines received between October 2023 and October 2025, excluding any enforcement undertakings agreed by regulators. Government will confirm how any future income from fines and penalties will be spent in due course, after the balance has been paid.
Asked by: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what proportion of the fines levied against water companies since October 2023 a) has been b) is going to be reinvested into river restoration projects; and if she will put mechanisms in place to publicly track i) where and ii) how much fine monies are spent on river restoration.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
On 20 January 2026, Government announced alongside the White Paper that the next tranche of £29 million in water company fines will support further local water improvement projects through catchment partnerships, the Water Environment Improvement Fund (WEIF) and Water and Abandoned Metal Mines (WAMM) Programme.
Catchment partnerships are currently submitting funding applications for approved projects within the WEIF programme, and successful projects will be announced in due course, whilst details of WAMM schemes are available at: Water and Abandoned Metal Mines Programme.
This constitutes all fines received between October 2023 and October 2025, excluding any enforcement undertakings agreed by regulators. Government will confirm how any future income from fines and penalties will be spent in due course, after the balance has been paid.
Asked by: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that the business rates system is supportive of SMEs; what assessment she has made of the potential merits of reducing VAT rates for smaller and medium sized businesses; whether she is planning to take steps to support SMEs in rural areas; and whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of devolving decision making over business rates to local authorities.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government has extended Small Business Rates Relief to support small businesses to grow and expand, by giving them an additional two years of Small Business Rates Relief when they open a second premises. SMEs in rural areas may also be eligible for Rural Rates Relief if they meet certain conditions.
At £90,000, the UK has a higher VAT registration threshold than any EU country and the joint highest in the OECD. This means the majority of UK businesses are not in the VAT system at all. Exceptions to the standard rate have always been limited and balanced against affordability considerations.
Local Authorities are responsible for the administration of business rates, including billing, enforcement and decisions with regards the awarding of business rates reliefs, in line with legislation and guidance issued by the Government. Under the Business Rates Retention system, local authorities retain a share of rates collected locally to fund local services. The remaining share of rates is paid to central government as central share and is used by central government in its entirety to fund the local government sector.
Asked by: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when she plans to respond to the letter of 2 March 2006 from the hon. Member for North Herefordshire.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
A response to the letter of 2 March 2026 from the hon. Member for North Herefordshire was issued on 3 June 2026.
Asked by: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what diplomatic steps she is taking with international partners to engage conflict parties in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo to improve humanitarian access to areas affected by the Ebola outbreak.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Further to my statement to the House on 21 May (HCWS60), the Minister of State for International Development visited Kinshasa on 29 May to see first-hand how agencies on the ground are responding to the Ebola outbreak, with the support of the UK and other international partners, and to discuss that response with the Director General of the World Health Organization. We will provide further updates to Parliament in due course, as this fast-moving and deeply concerning situation continues to unfold.
Asked by: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of the creation of a UN coordinator role to lead regional responses to the Ebola outbreak in central Africa.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Further to my statement to the House on 21 May (HCWS60), the Minister of State for International Development visited Kinshasa on 29 May to see first-hand how agencies on the ground are responding to the Ebola outbreak, with the support of the UK and other international partners, and to discuss that response with the Director General of the World Health Organization. We will provide further updates to Parliament in due course, as this fast-moving and deeply concerning situation continues to unfold.
Asked by: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that healthcare workers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo are safeguarded from the Ebola outbreak.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Further to my statement to the House on 21 May (HCWS60), the Minister of State for International Development visited Kinshasa on 29 May to see first-hand how agencies on the ground are responding to the Ebola outbreak, with the support of the UK and other international partners, and to discuss that response with the Director General of the World Health Organization. We will provide further updates to Parliament in due course, as this fast-moving and deeply concerning situation continues to unfold.
Asked by: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what diplomatic steps her Department is taking to ensure safe and unrestricted humanitarian access in areas of the Democratic Republic of the Congo affected by the Ebola outbreak.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Further to my statement to the House on 21 May (HCWS60), the Minister of State for International Development visited Kinshasa on 29 May to see first-hand how agencies on the ground are responding to the Ebola outbreak, with the support of the UK and other international partners, and to discuss that response with the Director General of the World Health Organization. We will provide further updates to Parliament in due course, as this fast-moving and deeply concerning situation continues to unfold.
Asked by: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to prepare humanitarian support for countries bordering the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the event of the Ebola outbreak spreading.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Further to my statement to the House on 21 May (HCWS60), the Minister of State for International Development visited Kinshasa on 29 May to see first-hand how agencies on the ground are responding to the Ebola outbreak, with the support of the UK and other international partners, and to discuss that response with the Director General of the World Health Organization. We will provide further updates to Parliament in due course, as this fast-moving and deeply concerning situation continues to unfold.
Asked by: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)
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 meet the target of designating 50 new sites of special scientific interest each year.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Designation of new Sites of Special Scientific interest (SSSIs) is Natural England’s duty. Natural England has a rolling programme to keep under review places that may merit and benefit designation as SSSIs.
Natural England is adapting its protected sites work programme, focusing on prioritising actions to deliver the Environment Act interim target for SSSIs and aligning its work with the objectives of the Environmental Improvement Plan 2025.
Natural England’s Designations Strategy in 2012 set an expectation “that there will be c.50 cases per year with approx. 10% being major notifications and the bulk being small sites or amendments.”
The expectation expressed in 2012 was not adopted as a target by Natural England or by the Government.