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 her Department’s press release entitled UK leads global efforts to help communities save the ocean and beat poverty, published on 26 January 2026, what assessment she has made of the long-term financial sustainability of recycling projects funded under the Ocean Community Empowerment and Nature Grants Programme.

The Ocean Community Empowerment and Nature Grants Programme assesses long‑term financial sustainability as part of its highly competitive two‑stage application process. Applicants must set out their methodology, the evidence base for their approach, how the project will be sustained over the long term, including financially, and a clear pathway to delivering outcomes. Applications are assessed at both stages by a panel of experts against published criteria, including financial sustainability and only applicants assessed as having high long‑term financial sustainability are successful.