Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to support the maintenance of highways in Essex.

Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Government takes the condition of our country’s roads very seriously and is committed to maintaining and renewing the local highway network. Essex County Council, as a local highway authority, is responsible for the condition and maintenance of its local road network.

The Government has a manifesto commitment to enable local highway authorities to fix up to a million extra potholes a year. As announced on 20 December 2024, the Government has allocated Essex County Council £45.8 million during 2025/26 to help them carry out their local highway maintenance responsibilities. This is an increase of around 36% over the current financial year and includes a share of the additional £500 million announced in Budget 2024. It is Essex County Council’s responsibility to decide how that funding is used, based on local needs and priorities.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to make Round 1 payments from the Water Restoration Fund.

Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

For too long, water companies have discharged unacceptable levels of sewage into our rivers, lakes and seas. That is why we are placing water companies under special measures through the Water (Special Measures) Bill, including giving environmental regulators powers to impose penalties on the civil standard of proof, in addition to new automatic penalties. The regulators will also be able to recover costs for a much greater range of enforcement activities.

In October 2024, the Secretary of State, in conjunction with the Welsh Government, launched an Independent Commission on the water sector regulatory system. This is a wide-ranging review to fundamentally transform how our water system works and clean up our rivers, lakes and seas for good.

Defra is continuing to work with His Majesty’s Treasury regarding continued reinvestment of the water company fines and penalties on water environment improvement.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the risk of incursion of Foot and Mouth disease to the UK.

Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Following the confirmation of Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) in Germany on the 10 January 2025, Government has taken decisive and rapid action to protect the UK by suspending the commercial import of susceptible animals and untreated products of animal origin from Germany and restricting personal imports of animal products from across the EU.

The risk of incursion of FMD to Great Britain has increased to MEDIUM. The Animal and Plant Health Agency has published on GOV.UK its preliminary outbreak assessment which contains further information on the evidence which supports this risk level.

The UK has been free of FMD without vaccination since 2007 and has robust contingency plans in place to manage the risk of this disease as set out in the Foot and Mouth Disease Control Strategy for Great Britain supported by the Contingency plan for exotic notifiable diseases of animals in England.

The Government will be decisive and take the necessary action to protect our farmers from FMD.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the level of risk of incursion of African Swine Fever to the UK.

Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Whilst we have never had an outbreak of African Swine Fever (ASF) in the UK, it remains a key priority in terms of exotic notifiable disease preparedness. The overall risk of an incursion is currently assessed to be medium, and we continue to prepare for a possible outbreak.

To safeguard the UK’s pork and pig industries, Defra, Devolved Governments, together with the pig industry and veterinary bodies have been working together to raise awareness of the risks of the introduction of ASF to the UK.

Under the new Government, Defra has already announced further safety controls in September 2024, restricting the movement of pork and pork products into Great Britain.

Updated risk assessments are on Gov.UK

African swine fever: how to spot and report the disease - GOV.UK.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of trends in the level of avian influenza.

Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) leads Government action on animal disease control and carry out assessments (published on gov.uk) of disease risks in the UK and globally, to help the Government anticipate future threats to animal health. Both highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) HPAI H5N5 and H5N1 have been detected in both wild and kept birds in Great Britain this winter. Currently, the risk of HPAI H5 in wild birds in Great Britain is assessed as very high (event occurs almost certainly). While the risk of poultry exposure to HPAI H5 in Great Britain is assessed as high where there is suboptimal or poor biosecurity and medium where good biosecurity is consistently applied at all times.

It is too early to predict the outlook for future seasons and risk levels may remain heightened for some time or increase further this winter, associated with the migratory pattern of waterfowl and environmental conditions becoming more favourable for virus survival over winter. Forecasting the future number of HPAI outbreaks is difficult. Uncertainty includes how effective biosecurity is on poultry farms, whether wild bird populations have now been exposed in high enough numbers to reduce the impact, and whether pre-exposure reduces transmission in wild birds.

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 help ensure that the Flood Re Scheme is accessible for people impacted by flooding.

Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Flood Re is a joint Government and industry flood reinsurance scheme established specifically to help UK households at high risk of flooding to access affordable insurance through their insurance provider.

Many household insurers also now offer Build Back Better (BBB). This can provide an additional up to £10,000 as part of a claim to enable installation of property level resilient measures, which can help properties be more resilient to future flooding. We advise that homeowner ask their insurance provider whether this is included in the policy they are considering.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with emergency services providers on the provision of services during (a) storm and (b) flooding incidents.

Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Defra regularly engages with other government departments and operational partners during flooding incidents, and storms with flooding impacts. This includes the Home Office, the Department for Health and Social Care, and National Resilience.

The National Police Coordination Centre and National Fire Chiefs Council are members of the Floods Resilience Taskforce and contribute to discussions on flood resilience, preparedness and response.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of the National Insurance measures in the Autumn Budget 2024 on businesses in (a) Epping Forest and (b) England.

Answered by James Murray - 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 on the exchequer, the economic impacts of the policy, and the impacts on individuals, businesses, civil society organisations, as well as an overview of the equality impacts.

Estimates of the impact on businesses in Epping Forest from changes to Employer NICs announced at Autumn Budget 2024 are not available.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what additional checks have been put in place at UK border ports for animals, animal products and vehicles coming from (a) the area affected by Foot and Mouth disease and (b) Germany.

Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Government has stepped up measures to prevent the spread of Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD), following a case being confirmed in Germany.

The import of cattle, pigs and sheep and their untreated products from Germany to GB have now been banned to protect farmers and their livelihoods.

GB health certificates will no longer be issued for animals susceptible to FMD including all live animals and fresh meat and relevant animal products.

Defra has issued instructions to officials at Border Control Posts in respect of import restrictions put in place following confirmation of foot and mouth disease in Germany.

These are available at APHA Vet Gateway - OVS Notes. All commodities that are impacted are being selected for checks at the border.

We will continue to keep the situation under review working closely with the German authorities.

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 he has taken to help improve flood preparedness.

Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Protecting communities from flooding is a key priority for this Government. To ensure we protect the country from the devastating impacts of flooding, the Government will invest £2.4 billion in 2024/25 and 2025/26 to improve flood resilience, by building, maintaining, and repairing flood defences. The list of projects to receive Government funding will be consented over the coming months in the usual way through Regional Flood and Coastal Committees, with local representation.

The Environment Agency’s recent Flood Action Week encouraged people to prepare by checking their flood risk, signing up for warnings and knowing what to do if a flood happens. The Environment Agency offers a free flood warning service and provides information on alerts, warnings, and river level conditions via ‘check for flooding service’ on gov.uk which has seen over 2.2 million users since Sept 2024.

In addition, the Government’s new Floods Resilience Taskforce sets out a new approach to preparing for flooding by working cross-government and with external stakeholders. The Taskforce first met in September 2024 and discussions included flood preparedness. It plans to meet again in early February 2025.

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Found: _NC16 Victoria Atkins Dr Neil Hudson Robbie Moore Jerome Mayhew Aphra Brandreth Sarah Bool Sir

Found: _NC16 Victoria Atkins Dr Neil Hudson Robbie Moore Jerome Mayhew Aphra Brandreth Sarah Bool Sir