Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
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 plans to take to align with EU REACH regulatory protections from chemical flame retardants.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The revised Environmental Improvement Plan, published 1 December 2025, includes a commitment to reform UK REACH, to enable protections that address chemical pollution to be applied more quickly, efficiently and in a way that is more aligned with our closest trading partners, especially the EU, by December 2028.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what cross-government work her Department is undertaking to mitigate the risk of food shortages, supply chain disruption and food price inflation arising from global ecosystem collapse.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK has a resilient food supply chain and is equipped to deal with situations with the potential to cause disruption. Food security is built on supply from diverse sources, strong domestic production as well as imports through stable trade routes. Whilst the UK has a high degree of food security, the UK Food Security Report 2024 shows that food security cannot be taken for granted. Climate and geopolitical volatility have weakened aspects of food supply stability since 2021, although food availability or the quantity of food available to the UK has been maintained thanks to continued resilience in food production and the global trading system. Defra works with industry and across Government to monitor risks that may arise. This includes extensive, regular and ongoing engagement in preparedness for, and response to, issues with the potential to cause disruption.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate her department has made of the cost to local authorities of separating and incinerating waste upholstered domestic seating due to the presence of chemical flame retardants.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), to which the UK is party, requires that waste containing POPs above certain thresholds be destroyed, rather than landfilled. Research by the Environment Agency (EA) in 2021 revealed that waste upholstered domestic seating contains POP flame retardant chemicals above the legal thresholds. Local authorities are responsible for managing this waste in accordance with legal requirements, and they would hold information on their costs of doing so.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what representations she has received from businesses on clarity on forest risk commodities regulation.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We recognise the urgency of taking action to ensure that UK consumption of forest risk commodities is not driving deforestation. We also recognise that this sense of urgency and need for clarity is shared by business.
This Government believes it is at its best when it works in partnership with business, civil society, trade unions, and communities.
We will set out our approach to address deforestation in the UK’s supply chains in due course and engage with stakeholders on this approach.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what legislative steps she is taking to introduce regulations under section 116 and Schedule 17 of the Environment Act 2021 on forest risk commodities in commercial activity.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK recognises the urgency of taking action to ensure that UK consumption of forest risk commodities is not driving deforestation.
The Government is carefully considering the best regulatory approach to address deforestation in UK supply chains; we will set out this approach in due course. We need to balance a range of factors, including the broader policy landscape and relevant international frameworks.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
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 increase production of domestic fruit, vegetables, pulses and legumes to strengthen the UK’s food security, in light of the findings of the National Security Assessment on Global Ecosystems report.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is committed to the horticulture sector and its role in providing fresh home‑grown produce that helps to feed the nation.
In December 2025, the Secretary of State announced the Farming & Food Partnership Board in response to the independent Farming Profitability Review led by Baroness Minette Batters. The Board will bring together farming, food, retail, finance and Government to take a strategic farm‑to‑fork approach to improving farming profitability and strengthening UK food production. It will oversee sector plans aimed at boosting productivity, reducing costs and opening new markets in ways that support health and environmental goals, with the first plan focused on the horticulture sector.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
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 the safety and availability of public access to waterways for recreation and wellbeing.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government recognises the importance of providing access to the outdoors for people’s health and wellbeing and is working to ensure that this access is safe and appropriate. As part of this, Defra has committed in its new Environmental Improvement Plan to create 9 new National River Walks, one in every region of England. The Mersey Valley Way will be the first of those nine new walks.
Public access onto around 3,400 miles of our regulated inland waterways, including several of the larger rivers, is available through the licensing regimes of the navigation authorities that own or manage them. Defra is considering its approach to improving access onto unregulated inland waterways and is committed to working with stakeholders as this develops. The Environment Agency has published advice on how to stay safe while visiting waterways.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when she expects further policy measures to be introduced to prevent biodegradable waste from entering landfill.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Reducing the amount of biodegradable waste being sent to landfill has a key part to play in tackling climate change. In February 2025, Defra published a summary of responses to the call for evidence on the near elimination of biodegradable municipal waste to landfill from 2028. We are developing options.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will ensure that organic farming is appropriately supported within the relaunched Sustainable Farming Incentive scheme, in the context of increasing trade balance for organic produce and levels of domestic organic production.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We recognise the importance of organic farming. The new SFI offer will continue to support sustainable farming by strengthening the environmental foundations of farm profitability. Healthy soil, clean water and thriving pollinators are essential to our long‑term food security.
Farmers and food businesses will also have a stronger voice through the new Farming and Food Partnership Board, which will focus on removing barriers to investment, improving supply chains and supporting homegrown British produce.
We have worked with Stakeholders to develop more detail on the new SFI offer, which will be announced at the NFU Conference in February, ahead of publishing full scheme details before the first application window opens in June.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how her Department is working with other departments to coordinate delivery of the Government’s methane reduction commitments.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We are working closely with other departments to coordinate delivery of the Government’s methane reduction commitments. Alongside the Carbon Budget Growth Delivery Plan, we published our Methane Action Plan detailing historic progress on methane abatement and key abating policies, building on the £63 billion announced at the 2025 Spending Review for clean energy, climate and nature.
Through these plans, we are working closely with DESNZ and are exploring ways to reduce livestock emissions including through methane suppressing feed products (MSFPs). Reducing methane emissions in the waste sector is also a key focus. As we move away from the Renewables Obligation (RO) scheme, we will work with DESNZ to increase methane capture from landfill gas sites and are exploring a long-term methane capture scheme with a suitable transition plan.