Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 19 March 2025 to Question 36240 on Zoos: Animal Breeding, how many civil servants are working on negotiating a UK-EU Sanitary and Phyto-Sanitary agreement.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
On 19 May the UK and EU announced the terms of the Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Agreement that we will now negotiate, in addition to the Government announcing recent deals with India and the USA, and further deals in the pipeline. These deals will make agrifood trade with key markets cheaper and easier, cutting costs and red tape for British producers and retailers, and boosting exports. Defra’s trade staff work flexibly across trade deals according to demand.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 7 April 2025 to Question 36242 on Animals: Import Controls, if he will engage with Shaldon Zoo on changes following the UK-EU deal.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
An SPS Agreement will establish a UK-EU Sanitary and Phytosanitary Zone aimed at reducing trade barriers and facilitating the safe and efficient movement of terrestrial and aquatic zoo animals. Our ambition is to reach an agreement that reduces administrative burden by streamlining SPS checks and certification, while upholding the UK’s commitment to ensure its biosecurity is protected within this future framework.
Defra remains committed to engaging with a wide range of stakeholders, as we seek to secure the best possible outcome.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to provide additional funding to (a) climate and (b) nature recovery programmes.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Phase 1 of the Spending Review concluded in October last year and set Defra's budget for 2025-26. Phase 2 of the Spending Review is underway and will set our Departmental budgets until 2029-29.
Decisions regarding allocation of budgets for future years, including climate and nature recovery programmes, will be taken following the outcome of the SR on 11 June.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress his Department has made on enforcing the mandatory adoption of sustainable drainage schemes (SuDS) through Schedule 3 of the Flood and Water Management Act 2010.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government is strongly committed to requiring standardised SuDS in new developments. These should be to designs that cope with changing climatic conditions as well as delivering wider water infrastructure benefits, reduce run off and help to improve water quality, amenity, and biodiversity. It is also important to ensure appropriate adoption and maintenance arrangements are in place.
We believe that these outcomes can be achieved through either improving the current planning led approach using powers now available or commencing Schedule 3 to the Flood and Water Management Act 2010. A final decision on the way forward will be made in the coming months.
The Government is committed to bring the injustice of ‘fleecehold’ private estates to an end. We will consult this year on the on the best way to achieve this and we will include options to reduce the prevalence of private management of these estates.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 4 March 2025 to Question 33098 on Agriculture: Climate Change, what recent discussions he has had with the (a) Joint Nature Conservation Committee, (b) Committee on Climate Change and (c) Special representative for Nature on improving collaboration.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra continues to work with the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC), the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) and the Special Representative for Nature (SREP) to facilitate closer relationships for the benefit of climate and nature and build an effective engagement framework that will enhance integration.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
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 tackle agricultural pollution in rivers; and if he will take steps to launch a review into this issue.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Cleaning up our rivers, lakes and seas is a priority for the Government. We are working with farmers to reduce agricultural pollution is key to delivering against this priority.
Under the Environment Act 2021, a legally binding target was set to reduce nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment from agriculture entering the water environment by 40% by 2038.
We have completed the rapid review of the Environmental Improvement Plan.
The Government will develop a revised Environmental Improvement plan to protect and restore our natural environment, supported by delivery plans to meet each of our ambitious Environment Act targets. This includes cleaning up our waterways.
We are taking action to tackle agricultural pollution and deliver the Environment Act target through a suite of proportionate and effective regulations, advice and incentives.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
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 his Interim statement on the Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP) rapid review, published on 30 January 2025, what steps he is taking to improve (a) environmental data and (b) indicators of change in the natural environment.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra’s Natural Capital and Ecosystem Assessment Programme (NCEA) is delivering a nationwide survey of England’s land, freshwater assets and coast; mapping the location, extent, and condition of our ecosystems. The outputs of the programme will improve environmental data and metrics, fill in evidence gaps and enable a ‘whole system’ picture of the state of our natural environment, providing a more complete view of nature at both a regional and national level.
Our Outcome Indicator Framework (OIF) presents an authoritative way to measure changes to our environment. It collates a comprehensive suite of measures, including data from the NCEA, which collectively describe environmental change. The OIF is continuously improved, bringing in new data sources or indicators where better data becomes available. For example, the indicator on concentrations of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in the air was updated this year with a new metric that more accurately reflects both the indicator and the target being measured.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what is the timeline for local authorities to incorporate biodiversity targets into their local plans.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Public authorities play an important role in improving nature. The strengthened biodiversity duty came into force in 1 January 2023 and requires public authorities to consider how they can improve biodiversity through the exercise of their existing functions. Public authorities must also regard Local Nature Recovery Strategies, Species Conservation Strategies and Protected Site Strategies in complying with the duty.
All public authorities are required to consider actions they can take to comply with the biodiversity duty before 1 January 2024. After this, public authorities must reconsider their actions within five years of their previous consideration.
All local authorities and local planning authorities must report on the actions they have taken in accordance with the biodiversity duty by 1 January 2026, and then at least every 5 years. Defra does not intend to extend the reporting duty to additional public authorities.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
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 is taking to balance (a) public and (b) private sector responsibilities in achieving net-zero targets.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Both the public and private sector will play a key role in achieving net zero targets.
Private investment will be crucial to delivering net zero, building climate resilience and supporting nature’s recovery.This government is committed to building a robust and stable policy framework so that all parties – from farmers and land managers delivering improvements on the ground, to businesses and investors financing high quality projects – can do so with confidence.
We are working at pace with the private sector to help farmers transition to greener practices, establish a taskforce to plant millions of trees to help remove carbon from the air and move towards a circular economy to reduce our demand for raw materials that destroy the environment. To take this forward, a Taskforce has been established comprising members from industry, academia, and civil society, to lead the development of a Circular Economy Strategy
At the last budget in 2024, the Government secured the largest budget for sustainable food production in our country’s history, with £5 billion committed in the farming budget over a two-year period. The Environmental Land management schemes (ELM) are critical to supporting farming and landowners in their low-carbon practices. There is now a record 50,000 farm businesses in ELM schemes and more than half of all farmed land is now managed under schemes.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to introduce legally binding biodiversity targets beyond those in the Environment Act 2021.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
There are no plans to introduce legally binding biodiversity targets beyond those in the Environment Act 2021.This Government is committed to delivering the 13 legally binding environmental targets set under the Environment Act 2021, which include water, biodiversity, resource efficiency, marine protected areas, and tree and woodland cover.
The Government commissioned a rapid review of the existing Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP23) to ensure the right policies are in place to deliver our targets. A statement of the rapid review’s key findings was published in January 2025. Later in 2025, we will publish a revised EIP, setting out important delivery information for the ambitious Environment Act targets.