Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
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 uncertainty about future rounds of the Landscape Recovery tier of Environmental Land Management schemes on farmers’ willingness to engage in long-term nature recovery projects.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government reconfirmed its commitment to Environmental Land Management (ELM) schemes in the Autumn 2024 Spending Review. More than £2.7 billion a year will be invested in sustainable farming and nature recovery from 2026/27 to 2028/29.
Defra wants Landscape Recovery to work for collaborative groups of farmers delivering ambitious nature recovery at the landscape scale. The Department is pleased the projects currently in the scheme involve over 1,000 land managers, many of which are farmers. As the first projects are entering the implementation phase, farmers are benefitting directly from engaging in long-term nature recovery projects.
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what her planned timetable is for publication of the rapid review of the Environmental Improvement Plan.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government concluded a rapid review of the existing Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP23) and published a statement of the rapid review’s key findings on 30 January 2025. It is our intention to publish a revised EIP in due course, which will be our long-term plan for improving the natural environment and people’s enjoyment of it.
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
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 ensure that the Environmental Land Management Landscape Recovery tier continues beyond the current funding round to deliver nature recovery at landscape scale.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government reconfirmed its commitment to Environmental Land Management (ELM) schemes in the Autumn 2024 Spending Review. More than £2.7 billion a year will be invested in sustainable farming and nature recovery from 2026/27 to 2028/29.
Landscape Recovery projects that were awarded funding in rounds 1 and 2 are continuing, with the first projects moving into the delivery phase earlier this year. Landscape Recovery is integral to the delivery of Defra’s statutory environmental targets.
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
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 ensure that the Environmental Land Management Scheme Landscape Recovery tier continues beyond the current round.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government reconfirmed its commitment to Environmental Land Management (ELM) schemes in the Autumn 2024 Spending Review. More than £2.7 billion a year will be invested in sustainable farming and nature recovery from 2026/27 to 2028/29.
Landscape Recovery projects that were awarded funding in rounds 1 and 2 are continuing, with the first projects moving into the delivery phase earlier this year. Landscape Recovery is integral to the delivery of Defra’s statutory environmental targets.
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to publish data on the number of animals bred for use in laboratories that were not used in scientific procedures in 2024.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Home Office is reviewing the collection and publication of additional statistics on animals that were bred but not used in scientific procedures.
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of importing cynomolgus monkeys born in (a) Africa and (b) Asia for use in scientific procedures on the welfare of those animals.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Home Office is committed to maintaining the highest standards of animal welfare regarding the use of non-human primates in scientific procedures. The use of cynomolgus monkeys in the United Kingdom is strictly regulated under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 (ASPA).
The Home Office commissioned a comprehensive assessment from the expert Animals in Science Committee on the welfare implications associated with the use of non-human primates bred and imported for use in scientific procedures. You can find the report here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nonhuman-primates-bred-for-use-in-scientific-purposes.
Following recommendations from the Committee, the Home Office has introduced a time-limited transitional period relating to the sourcing of non-human primates. During this period, the use of first-generation cynomolgus macaques will only be permitted where there is a scientific need, where there is an inability to reasonably source self-sustaining animals, where there is a robust plan to transition to a sustainable supply, and where their use will prevent culling, thereby reducing harm. You can read the Government’s response to the report here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/non-human-primates-bred-for-use-in-scientific-purposes-response-from-lord-hanson.
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help ensure that young people with care-experience have equal access to support services promoting wellbeing, opportunity and inclusion.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The Ministerial Board on Care Leavers, chaired by the Secretary of State for Education, works to identify how each department can respond to the unique challenges that care leavers face across all aspects of their lives – opening up, for example, a world of employment opportunities by adding care leavers to social value requirements for government procurement.
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many water bodies are classified as failing to meet good ecological status for which the latest data is available; and what steps she is taking to help improve the quality of water in water bodies.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The last full classification update was produced in 2019 when 3893 water bodies of a total of 4651 were failing to meet good ecological status in 2019.
The Independent Water Commission, tasked by the Government to produce recommendations to transform how our water system works, delivered its final report 21 July 2025. This included recommendations intended to restore our rivers, lakes and seas to good health for future generations.
The Government will respond to the recommendations in full via a White Paper and will introduce a new water reform bill, bringing forward root and branch reform to secure better outcomes for customers, investors and the environment.
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
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 ensure that water companies are penalised for (a) repeated illegal sewage discharges and (b) other repeated breaches of environmental regulations.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We will not let companies get away with illegal activity and where breaches are found, the Environment Agency will not hesitate to hold companies to account.
The Water (Special Measures) Act provides the most significant increase in enforcement powers to the regulators in a decade, giving regulators the teeth they need to take tougher action against water companies. These include new powers to enable the Environment Agency to recover costs associated with their enforcement of the water industry.
A consultation has been launched to expand and strengthen the current range of financial penalties available to the Environment Agency in a bid to clamp down on more offences. Water companies who commit environmental offences could face quicker penalties of up to £500,000, under changes being considered by the government.
The Environment Agency has also increased water company inspections to 10,000 per year from April 2025 as part of the Government’s wider focus to hold companies accountable and improve our water environment.
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the increase in employer National Insurance contributions on SMEs in Stratford-on-Avon constituency.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
A Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) was published alongside the introduction of the Bill containing the changes to employer NICs. The TIIN sets out the impact of the policy, including on businesses. The Government decided to protect the smallest businesses from the changes to employer NICs by increasing the Employment Allowance from £5,000 to £10,500. This means that this year, 865,000 employers will pay no NICs at all, and more than half of all employers will either gain or will see no change.