Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
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 the Minister for Water and Flooding's Oral Statement of 1 July 2026, columns 929-931, what assessment she has made of the financial impact of the reforms to the Flood Re scheme.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
On 1 July 2026 this Government announced reforms to ensure Flood Re remains fair, sustainable and focused on supporting the lower and average-income households who need it most. Financial impact assessments will form part of the process of implementation.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what figure of the SFI 2026 was unspent.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
No funding allocated to new Sustainable Farming Incentive 2026 agreements was left unspent. We increased the funding available for SFI26 Window 2, including an additional £50 million announced by the Prime Minister on 15 August 2026 and a further £20 million before the window opened, bringing the total budget for new agreements to £310 million. The budget was fully allocated. We provided updates on budget allocation during the application window.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what was the total funding allocated to Flood Re.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Flood Re is funded through a mandatory levy on UK household insurers, currently £160 million per financial year, and fixed premiums paid by insurers when policies are ceded to the scheme. Premiums are set according to the council tax band of the property.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what is the breakdown of the Flood Re scheme for each year since inception per county.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
On a national level, Flood Re has benefitted over 742,000 properties since the scheme launched in 2016. The Government does not hold data broken down by county.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress has been made on the applications for (a) Fens Reservoir and (b) Lincolnshire Reservoir; when she expects Development Consent Order applications for each to be submitted; and what assessment she has made of the potential impact of designation as nationally significant infrastructure projects on the speed of the delivery process.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Fens and Lincolnshire reservoirs could collectively provide around 570 million litres of water per day, improving water resilience across eastern England. Fens is progressing towards RAPID Gate 3, with a DCO submission target of 2028. Lincolnshire remains in pre-application. Section 35 designation supports streamlined delivery through the DCO regime.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what her Department has to expand the Quota Application Mechanism from 2027 onwards, and what assessment it has made of the potential benefits of allocating a greater proportion of England's fishing quota through this merit-based approach.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Quota Application Mechanism (QAM) has been trialled since 2024 as a competitive approach to allocating quota against environmental, social and economic criteria. The scheme has been developed each year, including further planned changes for 2027 to strengthen the assessment of environmental benefits and reward innovation and sustainability.
We will continue to assess the effectiveness and future role of QAM beyond 2027, including the potential for a greater proportion of English quota to be allocated through the mechanism. This will take account of the potential for QAM to support improved environmental, social and economic outcomes, alongside the operational needs of the fishing industry and the effective management and utilisation of quota.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of existing measures in incentivising compliance with the landing obligation, and what further measures are planned to ensure compliance.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This is a devolved matter and the information provided therefore relates to England only.
The Government keeps the effectiveness of fisheries management measures under review, including those that support compliance with the landing obligation. Compliance is supported through monitoring, inspection and enforcement activity undertaken by the Marine Management Organisation, alongside measures to encourage more selective fishing practices.
Reducing unwanted catches is a complex challenge and the Government is continuing work on wider discards reform, including measures to improve catch recording and support sustainable fisheries management.