Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Reform UK - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of removing the protected status of seagulls.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government has no plans to change the legal protections for gull species. The Joint Nature Conservation Committee Seabird Census (2015-2021) and the 2024 Birds of Conservation Concern report indicate substantial population declines due to, for example, avian influenza and prey availability. This includes gull species such as herring and lesser black-backed gulls.
All wild birds in England, including gulls, are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. In exceptional cases Natural England can issue licences for the management of protected species, including gulls, for certain purposes such as protecting public health and safety or for conservation.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Reform UK - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many staff in their Department work outside of the UK; where those staff work; and what the cost is of salaries for those staff.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Information on civil servants employed by Defra working overseas and the median salary for overseas posts are available at the following link: https://civil-service-statistics.jdac.service.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/data_browser_2024/index.html
Information on the precise location of staff working overseas is not published.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Reform UK - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of banning all foreign supertrawlers from UK waters.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
If foreign vessels were prohibited from fishing in UK waters without clear evidence of their negative impacts, we could expect reciprocal action to be taken against UK vessels.
For actions relating to the EU, the Trade and Cooperation Agreement sets out very clearly that measures should not be discriminatory.
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We are, however, taking a broader approach to improving the sustainability of our fisheries through our Marine Protected Area management policy and the introduction of Fisheries Management Plans.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Reform UK - Great Yarmouth)
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 paragraph 3.82 of Autumn Budget 2024, HC 295, published on 30 October 2024, if he will provide funding for flood defences in Hemsby.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
To ensure we protect the country from the devastating impacts of flooding, we will invest £2.4 billion over the next two years to improve flood resilience, by maintaining, repairing and building flood defences. The list of projects to receive government funding in 2025/26 will be consented over the coming months in the usual way through Regional Flood and Coastal Committees, with local representation. We are committed to supporting coastal communities and ensuring flood and coastal erosion risk management is fit for the challenges we face now and in the future. Defra will consult in the new year on a new simpler and more flexible approach to floods investment that maximises value for the taxpayer and supports nature-based solutions. This will include a review of the floods funding formula.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Reform UK - Great Yarmouth)
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 has taken to prepare for the expiration of the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement provisions on fishing on 30 June 2026.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement provides reciprocal access for UK and EU vessels during the fisheries adjustment period. The adjustment period ends in June 2026 after which access becomes a matter for annual negotiation as is typical between coastal states.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Reform UK - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the (a) UK's initial demand for total allowable catch and (b) agreed outcome was for quotas for each species in its negotiations with the EU on fish quotas in each year since 2021.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Due to the nature of the negotiations, it is not appropriate to publicly disclose negotiating documents detailing the UK’s opening positions.
The Written Records detailing the outcome of the UK’s annual fisheries negotiations with the EU are published on GOV.UK.
Furthermore, Defra has published reports on the ‘economic outcome of negotiations for UK fishing opportunities’ on GOV.UK since 2021. These include annexes with the UK quota for each stock.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Reform UK - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing legislation to require that all fish caught in (a) UK territorial waters and (b) the UK exclusive economic zone are (i) landed and (ii) processed in the UK.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is not considering the introduction of legislation that would require all fish caught within UK waters to be landed and processed in the UK. British fishing boats currently have the flexibility to land their fish into ports and markets which offer the best facilities and prices. They must also meet the economic link licence condition which ensures their activities provide a genuine economic benefit to the UK. It is not this Government’s intention to limit vessel owners from making these business decisions in their best interest.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Reform UK - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing (a) provenance and (b) tax tests to prevent vessels with foreign owners from flying a UK flag of convenience when commercial fishing in UK waters.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is not considering the introduction of provenance and tax tests on owners of British fishing boats. These vessels are already required to provide genuine economic benefits to the UK through the economic link licence conditions.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Reform UK - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of (a) limiting and (b) banning commercial trading of fishing licence quotas.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is not planning any assessment on commercial trading of fishing licence quotas. Quota trading helps our fishing industry by allowing quota to flow to those who most need it. This helps maximise uptake and mitigate choke risks. It also provides important flexibilities for British businesses. For example, it allows fishermen to sell quotas when adverse weather, vessel failure or other problems mean quotas would otherwise go unused.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Reform UK - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the average (a) waiting time for people calling and (b) time people spent on hold for his Department was in each of the last five years.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The average waiting time for people calling the Defra General Helpline in each of the last five years is set out below:
Reporting Year | Average Wait Time (minutes, seconds) |
2024 / 2025 | 01:11 |
2023 / 2024 | 01:23 |
2022 / 2023 | 00:50 |
2021 / 2022 | 00:58 |
2020 / 2021 | 00:32 |
2019 / 2020 | 00:20 |
Please note, a reporting year runs 1 April to 31 March. Therefore, the data provided for 2024/2025 covers 1 April 2024 to 4 November 2025.
Defra does not hold data on the time people spent on hold to the Defra General Helpline after getting through to a call-handler in each of the last five years. Whilst Defra’s call logging system records the length of the call from the second the call is answered by the call-handler to the second the customer hangs up, any periods on hold during that time, for instance whilst the call-handler searches for an answer to a question asked or whilst the call-handler transfers the person to another contact, are not measured.