Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to improve planning and permitting processes for strategic water-resource schemes approved within Water Resource Management Plans, particularly to enable abstraction reductions from chalk streams.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is working towards improving soil health across England by measuring and monitoring the national condition of soil. Establishing a baseline is essential for evaluating change and identifying improvements or declines in soil health.
National soil monitoring began in October 2023 under the England Ecosystem Survey (EES), part of the Natural Capital and Ecosystem Assessment programme. This five-year survey will provide a baseline of soil health in England, with Analysis Ready Data from earlier years published in December 2025: https://publications.naturalengland.org.uk/publication/5610689568440320.
This data will feed into a Soil Health Indicator being developed by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee. A national soil health baseline will be published by 2030.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when she plans to respond to the consultation on changes to the Water Efficiency Standard in the Building Regulations 2010, Part G; and whether she plans to implement new water-use standards for new homes in water-stressed areas.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra is working with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to explore whether Building Regulations could be amended to tighten water efficiency standards and enable consumers to use less water and save on their water and energy bills. Policy options on amendments to the Building Regulations have been tested with the public through a consultation that was published on 23 September 2025, this included proposed amendments to water efficiency standards in water stressed areas. This consultation closed on 16 December 2025.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she plans to introduce a Mandatory Water Efficiency Label under the Environment Act 2021.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra is committed to introducing a Mandatory Water Efficiency Label scheme under the Environment Act 2021. This label could a save total of 23 billion litres of water over 10 years and save £57 million on water bills and £71 million on energy bills over the same timeframe.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government on giving Water Resource Management Plans and Drainage and Wastewater Management Plans formal weight in local plan-making and major planning decisions.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Government is currently consulting a new National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) that includes clearer, ‘rules based’ policies for decision-making and plan-making, designed to make planning policy easier to use and underpin the delivery of faster and simpler local plans. The consultation includes a new chapter on securing clean energy and water, and a proposed plan-making policy requiring that engagement on development plans should take into account relevant infrastructure plans, including Water Resources Management Plans and Drainage and Wastewater Management Plans.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
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 implications for her policies of trends in the number of household insurance policies ceded to the Flood Re scheme; and what safeguards are in place to ensure that properties with no material flood risk are not ceded to Flood Re.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Flood Re monitors exposure trends closely, including the volume and characteristics of policies ceded to the scheme. Officials routinely meet Flood Re to discuss these topics. Minister Hardy also engaged industry leaders at an insurance roundtable last year as part of ongoing dialogue with the sector.
The Scheme’s designed to ensure policies are ceded appropriately. Flood Re undertakes audit and compliance checks on participating insurers, and insurers remain responsible for accurate risk assessment when ceding policies. Flood Re premiums for ceded policies are regulated under Part 4 of the Flood Reinsurance (Scheme Funding and Administration) Regulations 2015. Flood Re set these inward premiums at a level that aims to ensure only properties at higher flood risk, or with flooding history, are ceded to the scheme.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans she has to (a) consult (i) frontline enforcement bodies and (ii) animal welfare organisations on measures to strengthen enforcement of the Hunting Act 2004 and (b) bring forward legislative proposals to increase the maximum penalties for illegal hunting by the end of this Parliament.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We have no plans to consult on enforcement of the Hunting Act 2004. The enforcement of the Hunting Act is an operational matter for the police. This is in line with their duties to keep the peace, protect communities and prevent the commission of offences, working within the provisions of the legal framework set by Parliament.
However, this Government is committed to enacting a ban on trail hunting in line with our manifesto commitment. Work to determine the best approach for doing so is ongoing and we will consult on how to deliver a ban in the new year. Stakeholder engagement will form an important element of the consultation process, and we will ensure everyone can give their views and present their evidence.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when her Department plans to introduce activity regulations under the Animal (Low Welfare Activities Abroad) Act 2023; and what her Department's timetable is for the full implementation of that Act.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
I refer the hon. Member to the reply previously given to the hon. Member for South Cambridgeshire, Pippa Heylings on 23 September 2025 PQ UIN 73101.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many and what proportion of properties ceded to the Flood Re scheme since 2023 are not classified as at risk of flooding under Environment Agency flood maps; and what steps she is taking to help ensure that Flood Re is only applied to properties at risk of flooding according to Environment Agency flood mapping.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Flood Re scheme is funded by the insurance industry via a compulsory levy which currently stands at £160 million per annum. Insurers chose which properties at flood risk to cede to the scheme. Premiums are set by Flood Re that aims to ensure only policies for properties at higher flood risk are ceded.
Insurers use a range of information when assessing the potential flood risk of a property. This usually includes both previous claims history and future risk of flooding which they will often use Environment Agency (EA) data as well as other more detailed commercially available maps to help them assess the risk. There is no requirement for individual insurance companies to use EA data in setting premiums and/or excesses in household insurance policies that include cover against flooding.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to support hedgehog conservation initiatives in Harpenden and Berkhamsted constituency.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
48 responsible authorities were appointed by Defra to prepare Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS) for their area. Under Hertfordshire County Council’s draft LNRS, the hedgehog is designated as a ‘Flagship Species’ which is set to benefit from identified local actions to recover their habitat, thereby aiding their conservation.
Nationally, Natural England is supporting the National Hedgehog Conservation Strategy and the National Hedgehog Monitoring Programme. The information gathered from these projects will produce insights into the factors causing hedgehog population decline, leading to the implementation of practical conservation measures to address this challenge.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of excess sewage sludge on river pollution in (a) Harpenden and Berkhamsted constituency and (b) Hertfordshire.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Sewage sludge is a by-product of the wastewater treatment process which can be spread on fields as a fertiliser.
Sludge (Use in Agriculture) Regulations 1989 (SUiAR) supported by the Sewage Sludge Code of Practice provide environmental and health protections from sludge spreading.
The Government is continuing to work with the Environment Agency to assess the regulatory framework for spreading sludge. We recognise that effective and proportionate regulations are an essential tool to improve the water environment.