Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department provides guidance or best practice to local authorities on integrating animal protection measures into local transport and infrastructure planning.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
When determining any planning application, it is the responsibility of the local planning authority to ensure that protected species are fully considered and that ecological surveys have been carried out where appropriate. Natural England has issued Standing Advice to assist both local planning authorities and developers in deciding whether there is a reasonable likelihood of protected species being present on a proposed development site. It provides detailed advice on those protected species most often affected by development to enable an assessment to be made of the suitability of a protected species survey and, where appropriate, a mitigation strategy to protect the species affected by the development.
To help integrate nature into new development, the government has also amended the National Planning Policy Framework. This encourages the incorporation of features, such as swift bricks and hedgehog highways, to protect threatened species through local plans and decisions on planning applications.
Asked by: Andy MacNae (Labour - Rossendale and Darwen)
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 instruct Natural England to develop proposals for new Special Protection Areas for vulnerable bird species.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In May 2025, the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) released the Third Special Protection Areas (SPAs) Review (Phase 2), assessing the UK’s SPA network and its protection of bird species. The report offers guidance from JNCC and the UK’s four statutory conservation bodies, which administrations must consider. Ministers and agencies, including Natural England (NE), are reviewing it. A key focus is to ensure that existing sites are in favourable condition, but the Government may also, if necessary, direct NE to implement the report’s recommendations, including designating new SPAs.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to consolidate wildlife legislation into a single statute that would provide equal protections to different forms of wildlife.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra recognises the view of many stakeholders that the complexity and disparate nature of wildlife legislation is a factor in the challenges experienced in successfully prosecuting wildlife offences. The overriding recommendation of the 2015 Law Commission report into wildlife legislation was that wildlife laws in this country need to be consolidated. While we have no immediate plans, we support the Commission’s call for consolidation. We will pursue opportunities to streamline legislation as soon as parliamentary time allows, to achieve more consistency and clarity.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what (a) tree-planting and (b) woodland creation projects have been undertaken through the Nature for Climate Fund Programme in Huntingdon constituency since the establishment of that programme.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Forestry Commission publishes statistics on new planting of woodland, and trees outside woodland, in England. These can be found in the Forestry Commission Key Performance Indicators. These statistics are reported annually for each financial year in hectares, with interim updates where data are available at mid-year. This government has not set specific targets for individual constituencies and the reporting statistics the hon. Member has requested are not currently available. The statistics show recorded new planting from the Nature for Climate Fund Programme and other grant schemes from administrative records with estimates for new planting without grant aid.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
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 5 June 2025 to Question 52410 on Sewers, if she will set out the current (a) legal and (b) regulatory framework governing the (i) adoption, (ii) maintenance and (iii) enforcement of sustainable drainage schemes.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) requires all development to utilise Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) where they could have drainage impacts. These systems should be appropriate to the nature and scale of the proposed development. See paragraphs 181 and 182 of the NPPF.
The current legal and regulatory framework associated with SuDS adoption, maintenance and enforcement is via conditions attached to planning permissions. We intend to consult on National Planning Policy related to decision making later this year, including policies on flood risk and SuDS. The government also recognises the importance of long-term maintenance of SuDS.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
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 5 June 2025 to Question 52410 on Sewers, if she will set out the current obligations for housing developers are in respect of the installation of sustainable drainage schemes.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) requires all development to utilise Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) where they could have drainage impacts. These systems should be appropriate to the nature and scale of the proposed development. See paragraphs 181 and 182 of the NPPF.
The current legal and regulatory framework associated with SuDS adoption, maintenance and enforcement is via conditions attached to planning permissions. We intend to consult on National Planning Policy related to decision making later this year, including policies on flood risk and SuDS. The government also recognises the importance of long-term maintenance of SuDS.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
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 adequacy of the (a) workforce capacity and (b) resources available to deliver large-scale community tree planting programmes.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In 2024, Defra published independent research by the ICF - UK Forestry Workforce & Skills Research - KT0201. It showed that the forestry workforce had grown steadily over the past decade, with around 24,000 people employed in the core forestry sector as of 2023 and that continued investment in forestry apprenticeships and workforce development tools were required.
The Forestry-Sector-Skills-Plan-2025.pdf, published in early 2025, identifies specific actions such as the Level 6 Professional Foresters apprenticeship to address the gap in skills in the sector. Defra and Forestry Commission are now working with key stakeholders to deliver the specific actions it sets out.
Sapling availability has also been addressed through this project. Forestry Commission publish the Tree Supply Report and Tree Nursery Directories annually to bring visibility to the market. Defra and Forestry Commission work closely with the nurseries to assess trends in the market. In the 24/25 planting season, 161 million saplings were produced which is around 1 million more than the previous year. The Nature for Climate Fund funded grants this year of up to: £2 million capital investment in tree production through the Tree Production Capital Grant; £1.5 million supporting innovation in tree production through the Tree Production Innovation Fund and £0.6 million supporting tree seed sourcing through the Seed Sourcing Grant.
Asked by: Suella Braverman (Conservative - Fareham and Waterlooville)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether her Department plans to review the (a) scope and (b) application of Agricultural Property Relief in the context of the requirements of modern farming.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Ministers from several Government departments have met with various representative organisations to discuss the reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief. These discussions have involved the National Farmers’ Union, the Tenant Farmers’ Association, the Country Land and Business Association, the Central Association of Agricultural Valuers, the Ulster Farmers’ Union, NFU Cymru, NFU Scotland and the Farmers’ Union of Wales.
The Government believes its reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief from 6 April 2026 get the balance right between supporting farms and businesses, and fixing the public finances. The reforms reduce the inheritance tax advantages available to owners of agricultural and business assets, but still mean those assets will be taxed at a much lower effective rate than most other assets. Despite a tough fiscal context, the Government will maintain very significant levels of relief from inheritance tax beyond what is available to others and compared to the position before 1992. Where inheritance tax is due, those liable for a charge can pay any liability on the relevant assets over 10 annual instalments, interest-free.
The Government has set out that the reforms are expected to result in up to 520 estates across the UK claiming agricultural property relief, including those also claiming business property relief, paying more inheritance tax in 2026-27. Almost three-quarters of estates claiming agricultural property relief, including those that also claim for business property relief, will not pay any more tax as a result of the changes in 2026-27, based on the latest available data.
The recent report by the independent Centre for the Analysis of Taxation (CenTax) supports the Government’s analysis of these reforms, including the number of estates affected in 2026-27, and concludes that half of these estates will see an increase in their effective inheritance tax rate of less than 5 percentage points, and almost 90 per cent of these estates could pay their entire inheritance tax bill out of non-farm assets.
The Government published a tax information and impact note on 21 July 2025 and this is available at www.gov.uk/government/publications/reforms-to-agricultural-property-relief-and-business-property-relief/agricultural-property-relief-and-business-property-relief-reforms.
The Government will invest more than £2.7 billion a year in sustainable farming and nature recovery from 2026-27 until 2028-29. This includes the largest financial investment into nature-friendly farming ever.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of wildlife legislation for (a) enforcing and (b) prosecuting wildlife crime.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra has no current plans to review wildlife legislation for (a) enforcing or (b) prosecuting wildlife crime while recognising there are obvious challenges for enforcement of such activity and successfully bringing prosecutions. For example, the crimes often occur in remote areas of our countryside where there may not be a witness. Wildlife crime, though, is unacceptable and significant sanctions are already available for judges to hand down to those convicted. Anyone who commits an offence under existing wildlife legislation can face up to a six-month custodial sentence and/or an unlimited fine.
In terms of prosecutions, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) provides legal guidance on wildlife crime which is available to all its prosecutors to assist them in dealing with these cases. Defra also supports the valuable work of the National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU). It is a principal funder of the Unit which helps prevent and detect wildlife crime by obtaining and disseminating intelligence, undertaking analysis, and directly assisting law enforcers in their investigations. The NWCU provides training to police officers across the UK. This reflects the National Police Chiefs' Council wildlife crime strategy and provides comprehensive training in UK wildlife crime priorities and emerging trends.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
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 2 September 2025 to Question 69569 on Grasslands: Conservation, when she plans to start the review of irreplaceable habitats.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government intends to review the definition of irreplaceable habitats in due course, to ensure it remains robust.