Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
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 plans to bring forward legislative proposals to set a target for the reduction of the use of single-use plastic.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra does not currently have plans to bring forward legislative proposals to set a target for the reduction of the use of single-use plastic.
This Government is committed to moving to a circular economy and will publish a Circular Economy Growth Plan that sets out how government will deliver a more circular and more prosperous economy.
Defra will continue to review the latest evidence on problematic products and/or materials to take a systematic approach, in line with circular economy principles, to reduce the use of unnecessary single-use plastic products and encourage reuse solutions.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many farms have experienced TB outbreaks in the last 12 months.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In the 12 months to September 2025, the number of new TB herd incidents was as follows:
England | 2,307 |
Wales | 595 |
Scotland | 29 |
New herd incidents are the number of herds which were previously Officially TB Free but either had cattle that reacted to an official TB test or had a tuberculous animal disclosed by routine meat inspection at slaughter, during the period shown.
In Northern Ireland, the number of new reactor herds in the 12 months to September 2025 was as follows:
Northern Ireland | 2,281 |
In Northern Ireland, new reactor herds refer to the number of herds during the period shown that were previously Officially TB Free but have had cattle that tested positive to the tuberculin skin test.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to help encourage the use of local food supply chains.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The food strategy recognises the key role that regional and local food systems can play in supporting delivery of the growth, health, sustainability, and food security / resilience outcomes. Defra wants to create an environment that champions UK food cultures and celebrates British food.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to improve flood defences.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
As part of the Government’s Plan for Change, we are investing £4.2 billion over three years (2026/27 to 2028/29) to construct new flood and coastal erosion schemes and maintain and repair existing defences across England. In our first year in Government, 151 flood defence schemes have been delivered, better protecting over 24,000 homes and businesses.
This Government will invest at least £10.5 billion into our flood defences between April 2024 and March 2036 benefitting nearly 900,000 properties across England.
The Environment Agency’s National Flood Risk Assessment data now includes climate change scenarios, providing the best evidence to inform long-term risk assessment and the development of flood mitigation strategies.
To halt the decline of our flood assets following years of under investment, over 2024/25 and 2025/26 £108 million has been reprioritised into asset maintenance, ensuring an additional 14,500 properties will have their expected level of protection maintained or restored.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
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 potential impact of extended producer responsibility on small businesses in local communities.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
pEPR in the UK has some of the most generous support measures for small businesses across any packaging scheme globally. These are exemptions from disposal fee and recycling (PRN) obligations for producers with an annual turnover below £2 million and packaging tonnage below 50 tonnes; and an exemption from data collection and reporting obligations for small businesses with turnover below £1 million and packaging tonnage below 25 tonnes. These exemptions apply to approximately 70% of businesses supplying packaging in the UK.
We have made a full assessment of the impacts that implementing packaging extended producer responsibility will have. This includes assessment of the impacts on small businesses, which can be found in Section 8 of the impact assessment.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent steps her Department has taken to address extreme flooding.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Over the last year, this Government has made significant progress by committing record investment in flood and coastal erosion defences; introducing the most significant change in flood and coastal erosion funding policy for nearly fifteen years; and building partnerships to improve flood preparedness and resilience.
As part of the Government’s Plan for Change, we are investing £4.2 billion over three years (2026/27 to 2028/29) to construct new flood and coastal erosion schemes and maintain and repair existing defences across England. In our first year in Government, 151 flood defence schemes have been delivered, better protecting over 24,000 homes and businesses.
This Government will invest at least £10.5 billion into our flood defences between April 2024 and March 2036 benefitting nearly 900,000 properties across England.
The Environment Agency’s National Flood Risk Assessment data now includes climate change scenarios, providing the best evidence to inform long-term risk assessment and the development of flood mitigation strategies.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had with ger counterparts in Northern Ireland in relation to the second outbreak of blue tongue in Portaferry.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra works closely with the Devolved Governments with the aim of providing, where possible, a consistent and coordinated response across the UK.
Following the first confirmed bluetongue cases in Northern Ireland, Defra is working with the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) to review policy regarding movement of bluetongue susceptible animals between Northern Ireland and Great Britain. This has included a case conference, and a CVO stocktake attended by the chief veterinary officers and policy leads from Defra, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many confirmed cases of blue tongue there has been in the last 24 months.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The first cases of bluetongue virus serotype 3 (BTV-3) of the current outbreak (2025/2026 vector season) were confirmed on the 11 July 2025. As of 5 December 2025, there have been 238 cases of bluetongue in GB since July 2025, with 223 cases in England and 15 cases in Wales.
Prior to this, Defra confirmed 160 BTV-3 cases in England and 2 in Wales between 26 August 2024 and 31 May 2025. One case of bluetongue virus serotype 12 (BTV-12) was confirmed in England on 7 February 2025.
Between November 2023 and March 2024 Defra confirmed 126 BTV-3 cases in England.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many confirmed cases of avian flu has there been in the last 12 months.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Between 5 December 2024 and 4 December 2025, there were 143 confirmed cases of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza in poultry or other captive birds in the UK.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps are being taken to help support the maritime sector.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra, including arms length bodies such as the Marine Management Organisation, supports maritime industries through a range of policy and operational activities. This includes the marine licensing system, work to support growth in offshore wind, our Marine Spatial Prioritisation programme and other marine, fisheries and environmental policies. In doing this we work closely with other Government Departments including Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, Department for Transport, Department for Business and Trade.