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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much his Department has spent on measures to achieve net zero targets in the last five years.

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

While the Department for Net Zero and Energy Security leads across Government on net zero, Defra is responsible for reducing emissions from agriculture, land use (including peat), fluorinated gases and waste (including wastewater), whilst simultaneously increasing England's carbon saving potential through our forestry policies.

In Spending Review 2021 Defra received numerous funding allocations, which as well as providing direct funding for Defra's contribution to net zero they contributed towards wider departmental objectives such as tackling biodiversity loss, ensuring nature recovery and food security and providing opportunities for economic growth. These programmes include the food waste new burden (£295 million), Nature for Climate fund (£750 million) and Future Farming and Countryside Programme which includes the Environmental Land Management Schemes (£2.9 billion). Additionally, across the Spending Review period, funding was allocated to net zero research and development programme (£75 million).

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to review the calculation of child maintenance payments, in the context of the use of gross salaries for assessments; and what assessment she has made of the potential merits of adjusting those calculations to reflect (a) the disposable income of paying parents after deductions and (b) any unusual expenses.

Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

Information about the paying parent's gross income is taken directly from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) for the latest tax year available. This allows calculations to be made quickly and accurately. Any income subject to income tax, including bonuses and overtime received by an employed paying parent, is included within their gross weekly income when calculating a child maintenance liability.

Generally, the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) caseload is governed by broad administrative rules and does not provide bespoke solutions for individual cases. However, there is some scope to take account of specific situations. Variations allow the Child Maintenance Service to look at some circumstances which are not covered by the basic maintenance calculation. Either parent may apply for a variation at any time during the life of their case, provided enough information for an appropriate ground can be identified. If a variation application is successful, the maintenance calculation will be adjusted accordingly.

The department is reviewing the calculation to make sure it is fit for purpose. This has included updating the underlying research and considering how we ensure the calculation reflects current and future societal trends.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what support his Department plans to provide to assist with the environmental clean-up of beaches in Boston and Skegness constituency following the recent North Sea oil tanker collision.

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

Now the overall situation has stabilised, the response has moved from a Major Incident Response into the recovery phase. Both ships remain afloat and normal maritime traffic has resumed. Though the situation is stable, recovery work will continue with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency continuing to coordinate operational partners and maintaining their vigilance of the situation to ensure a safe resolution.

Defra is working with multiple organisations, including the Centre of Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS) and the PREMIAM (Pollution Response in Emergencies: Marine Impact Assessment and Monitoring) has been activated to assess the impact of this incident on water pollution and the marine environment. No chemical pollution from the initial fuel spill has been detected.

Pollution in the form of nurdles and burnt plastic has shown up on beaches in NW Norfolk, Lincolnshire and at sea in The Wash. Vessels have been recovering the nurdles at sea and the ongoing beach clean-up in Lincolnshire is being co-ordinated by the relevant local authority. There has been no sign of any other pollution. The four Local Resilience Forums (LRFs) are working together in a Joint East Coast Recovery Management Group to lead counter-pollution activities.

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 improve livestock (a) registration and (b) inspection, in the context of (i) avian influenza and (ii) the recommendations in Dame Glenys Stacey's report entitled Farm Inspection and Regulation Review, published in December 2018.

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

Since the 1 September 2024 in Scotland and 1 October 2024 in England and Wales registration has been a legal requirement for anyone owning poultry or other captive birds, with the exception of certain psittacines and passerines, even if only kept as pets. This builds on the requirement for keepers to register if they kept 50 or more poultry in Great Britain which had been in force since 2005. New online registration services have been launched to minimise the burden where possible on keepers in complying with these new requirements.

The new registration requirements address repeated recommendations from highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) outbreak lessons identified reviews since at least 2016, as well as the 2018 Dame Glenys Stacey review. The requirements will aid in the prevention and control of notifiable avian disease outbreaks, by facilitating both surveillance activities and communication to bird keepers. In particular, getting biosecurity and outbreak messaging out to hard-to-reach groups including small flock keepers.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the impact of the difference between the rates of the (a) basic state pension and (b) new state pension on pensioners; and whether the Department has considered the potential merits of equalising these rates.

Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Government has made a commitment to the Triple Lock for the entirety of this Parliament which will mean spending on people’s State Pensions is forecast to rise by over £31 billion.

It is not possible to make direct, like for like comparisons between State Pension amounts under the new State Pension and the pre 2016 State Pension systems. While the headline full basic State Pension is £169.50 per week (2024/25 rates), people under the pre 2016 system may also receive Additional State Pension. If instead they had been contracted-out of the Additional State Pension, they will also have a workplace or private pension

It is also the case that not everyone under the new State Pension system will receive the full headline amount of £221.20 per week. Although the systems are different, they both reflect the National Insurance contributions an individual has made. This is reflected in the average amounts that people receive.

Found: _92 Nigel Farage Richard Tice Lee Anderson James McMurdock .

Found: _91 Nigel Farage Richard Tice Lee Anderson James McMurdock .

Found: _91 Nigel Farage Richard Tice Lee Anderson James McMurdock .

Found: _103 Nigel Farage Richard Tice Lee Anderson James McMurdock .

Found: _103 Nigel Farage Richard Tice Lee Anderson James McMurdock ★.