Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has had recent discussions with Southern Water on (a) the significant pollution incident on the south coast of England in October 2025 and (b) the steps it is taking to ensure that its infrastructure is functioning correctly.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Secretary of State and I are in close contact with the Environment Agency, which is now conducting an active investigation into the incident. Southern Water will be subject to a PACE interview; a formal, legally regulated interview under the Police and Criminal Evidence (PACE) Act 1984. The Environment Agency has also conducted detailed inspections of the Eastbourne wastewater treatment works and is overseeing the improvement works being carried out by Southern Water.
I have written to Water Companies to further emphasise the need for the sector to ensure that these sorts of incidents do not occur, to reiterate how unacceptable the pollution incident at Camber Sands is, and to stress the positive action Water Companies must take to ensure their infrastructure is functioning correctly.
Water companies should take all necessary precautions to ensure all equipment is properly constructed and maintained to prevent the unauthorised or accidental escape of bio-beads from wastewater treatment works into the environment. The Government is looking into developing new standards for infrastructure resilience which, coupled with robust water company planning through Drainage and Wastewater Management Plans and the new statutory Pollution Incident Reduction Plans, will drive investment to improve wastewater assets and reduce pollution into our environment.
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans her Department has to (a) contain, (b) clean up and (c) remediate radioactivity in the (i) air and (ii) sea as a result of (A) potential incidents and (B) accidents involving vessels transporting radioactive cargos through the English Channel.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra is the lead Government department for remediating releases of radiological and nuclear materials in England.
Containment of the source may be possible but would depend on a wide range of factors.
If radioactive contamination from the air or sea was transferred to the built environment, for example deposited on a building, or was deposited on land, for example beaches, then Defra would consider recovery options. This would involve a risk-based approach using existing contingency plans to consider environmental risks.
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans her Department has to (a) recover and (b) salvage any consignment of radioactive material in the event of the sinking of a vessel carrying radioactive cargo.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra are the lead government department in England for the recovery from malicious and civil radiological and nuclear incidents. The preparations and response to these incidents is led by the Home Office and the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero respectively.
If a civil vessel carrying a cargo of radioactive or nuclear material sunk in waters controlled by the UK, Defra would consider recovery options. This would involve a risk-based approach using existing contingency plans to consider environmental risks and salvage practicalities. This would include the Flag State of the vessel and owner of the material, who each have legal responsibilities.
If the sunken vessel was owned by the UK military or an ally, recovery and salvage operations would be led by the Ministry of Defence.
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of increasing the powers of local authorities to (a) monitor and (b) take steps to help tackle (i) air pollution and (ii) health issues caused by heather burning for grouse shooting during the burning season.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Local authorities are responsible for monitoring and assessing air quality within their areas and have powers to act when exceedances of air quality objectives are identified.
As a result of the recent amendments to the Heather and Grass etc. Burning (England) Regulations 2021, any burning on peat deeper than 30cm in Less Favoured Areas is prohibited except under licence. The promotion of alternative land management methods, in place of unnecessary burning will reduce the harmful smoke emissions that impact our communities.
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
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 17 February 2025 to Question 29795 on Moorland and Peatlands: Controlled Burning, whether she expects the new Heather and Grass Management Code to be implemented before the start of the heather burning season on 1 October 2025.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Heather and Grass Management Code was published on 30th September 2025. The link can be found here: Heather and Grass Management Code - GOV.UK
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many people in the UK have signed up to receive air pollution alerts from UK-AIR; and what mechanisms he is using to monitor the effectiveness of the air quality alert system at (a) reaching the intended audience and (b) meeting its other goals.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
450 people are currently signed up to receive air pollution alerts from UK Air. Metrics to monitor the effectiveness of the new system are being considered as part of the design process.
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
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 include PM2.5 in the UK Air quality alerts.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
PM2.5 is one of the pollutants already included in the Daily Air Quality Index (DAQI). The department is currently in the process of making improvements to our air quality alert system to more closely align to the DAQI
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
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 adequacy of the (a) powers and (b) funding available to local authorities to enforce smoke control areas.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra continues to support local authorities who have declared or are exploring declaring smoke control areas.
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
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 26 March 2025 to Question 39813 on Air Pollution, whether the discussions his Department is having with the Met Office on areas for improvement includes the Air Quality Information Systems Review recommendation to review, update and expand the existing alert systems.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The department is engaging with the Met Office to deliver improvements to the pollution forecasts and alerts service.
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
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 ensure that people who do not (a) sign up to receive alerts and (b) actively check the UK-AIR website are alerted to high air pollution events.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The department has begun work to develop, test and launch a new air quality alert system which will make it easier for the public to sign up to receive alerts when high levels of pollution are expected.