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 financial assistance the Government plans to make available to businesses required to make operational or regulatory changes as a result of a future UK-EU Sanitary and Phytosanitary Agreement.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is working to support businesses to prepare for future changes to sanitary and phytosanitary arrangements with the European Union. Negotiations are ongoing. An agreement will make agrifood trade with our biggest market easier, cutting costs and reducing red tape for British businesses, while enabling quicker, smoother trade. The Government is committed to transparent engagement with industry and will review what information can be appropriately shared with stakeholders throughout this transition.
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 Written Ministerial Statement of 31 May 2026 on Preparing for a future Sanitary and Phytosanitary Agreement with the European Union: Business readiness information, what assessment her Department has made of the proportion of affected businesses that are currently prepared for the implementation of the proposed arrangements.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government invited views from businesses and stakeholders on the UK-EU Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Agreement through a Call for Information, to understand awareness of the agreement and how it may affect them. The Government is analysing responses and will publish the full findings in summer 2026.
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 estimate her Department has made of the total cost to businesses of complying with any new certification, labelling, IT system, and regulatory requirements arising from a future UK-EU Sanitary and Phytosanitary Agreement.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The precise impacts of the agreement will depend on the outcome of the negotiations. As technical negotiations progress, this Government expects to follow normal processes for any necessary legislative changes and assess impacts accordingly. Defra officials have been listening to businesses to understand how the agreement will affect them and will work with them to ensure a smooth transition.
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, how many businesses in each sector are included within the Government's estimate that up to 500,000 businesses may be affected by a future UK-EU Sanitary and Phytosanitary Agreement.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Sanitary and Phytosanitary Agreement agreement affects in some way:
These figures are based on data from the Food Statistics Pocketbook (2024) and official census and labour market statistics.
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 estimate her Department has made of the number of small and medium-sized enterprises that may need to make changes to production processes, certification, labelling, IT systems or compliance arrangements as a result of a future UK-EU Sanitary and Phytosanitary Agreement.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The precise impacts of the agreement will depend on the outcome of the negotiations. As technical negotiations progress, this Government expects to follow normal processes for any necessary legislative changes and assess impacts accordingly. This Government has been listening to businesses to understand how the agreement will affect them and will work with them to ensure a smooth transition.
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 she has made of the potential merits of the Environment Agency requiring National Highways to apply for permits to operate outfalls into the River Lune.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency (EA) is able to use its enforcement policy and sanctions on those that pollute the environment. As the EA needs to prioritise its resource on tackling sources with the greatest environmental risk it is taking a collaborative approach in working with National Highways to mitigate the impact from their highest risk outfalls.
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, whether the Environment Agency allows National Highways to discharge untreated toxic run-off into the River Lune.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The EA works closely with the National Highways Agency to minimise the environmental risk from surface water outfalls from public highways.
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, for what reasons the Environment Agency is not measuring pollution, including polyaromatic hydrocarbons, from motorway outfalls into the River Lune at Tebay.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
If the Environment Agency is notified of pollution in watercourses such as the river Lune, then this is dealt with as a pollution incident and investigated and /or attended on a risk basis. Regarding the Lune at Tebay, the Environment Agency is already actively considering how additional monitoring could support their investigations.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much revenue has been raised from Landfill Tax in each of the last five years.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Landfill Tax receipts for the latest five financial years (2020-21 to 2024-25) are published here: HMRC tax receipts and National Insurance contributions for the UK
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has for the NHS to do cardiac testing on young people.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises how worrying heart health can be for the families of young people. The National Health Service already offers cardiac tests for young people who present with symptoms that could indicate a cardiac issue. Testing young people who have no symptoms in order to look for potential cardiac problems would, however, be classed as a screening programme.
In considering whether any screening programme should be introduced, the Government is guided by the independent scientific advice of the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC). The UK NSC makes its recommendations based on internationally recognised criteria and a rigorous evidence review and consultation process. Where the committee is confident that offering screening provides more good than harm, they recommend a screening programme.
The UK NSC last reviewed screening for the conditions associated with sudden cardiac death in people under the age of 39 years old in 2019. The conclusion of that review was that population screening should not be offered, as research showed that current tests are not accurate enough to use on young people with no symptoms.
The UK NSC is due to open a public consultation to seek comments from members of the public and stakeholders on screening for the conditions associated with sudden cardiac death this spring, and we would encourage those with an interest to contribute.