Asked by: Maya Ellis (Labour - Ribble Valley)
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 allocate adequate resources to support households at risk of flooding in Ribble Valley constituency.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency, Lead Local Flood Authorities and other stakeholders continue to work in partnership with local communities to deliver innovative and alternative flood risk management practices. This includes Natural Flood Management measures, demonstrated most notably in Ribchester with an £80,000 investment. Advice and support are given to flood action groups, and the Environment Agency continue to issue flood warnings to residents. Collectively, all these measures serve to reduce the risk of flooding for households within the Ribble Valley.
Asked by: Maya Ellis (Labour - Ribble Valley)
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 (a) Ribble Valley constituency and (b) Lancashire.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In 2025/26 the Ribble Catchment around Edisford Bridge was identified as a priority area for farm inspections due to a new bathing water designation. Since April this year 13 farms in the area of the new bathing water and Bashall Brook have been inspected and advice and guidance provided where non-compliance relating to the Farming Rules for Water and SSAFO Regulations (Storing silage, slurry and agricultural fuel oil - GOV.UK ) has been identified.
In the wider Ribble Catchment in Lancashire, the Environment Agency has inspected 27 farms since April this year. Where advice and guidance has been given and not followed, the Environment Agency will consider enforcement in line with its Enforcement and Sanctions Policy.
Asked by: Maya Ellis (Labour - Ribble Valley)
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 increase local authority capacity to recycle plastics.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra officials have engaged extensively with local authorities and representative bodies such as the Local Government Association and the Local Authority Recycling Advisory Committee on the introduction of the Simpler Recycling reforms to both workplaces and households. Through Simpler Recycling, every household and workplace across England will be able to recycle the same materials in the following core waste streams: metal, glass, plastic, paper and card, food waste, and garden waste (for households only). This includes some items which are not currently widely collected for recycling, such as cartons. From 31 March 2027, this will also include kerbside plastic film collections.
Alongside Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging and a Deposit Return Scheme, these reforms should guarantee a consistent supply of recyclable materials. This should provide certainty, increasing investor confidence and unlocking investment in waste infrastructure.
We are working with the waste management sector to explore opportunities for infrastructure development and how we support them to create these conditions. We recently published a Recycling Infrastructure Capacity Analysis in partnership with WRAP, setting out the size of the investment opportunity. Those looking to invest in waste management infrastructure are encouraged to engage with the National Wealth Fund.