Every parliamentary written question tabled by Andrew Snowden this session, with the full answer and department. See how every department answers, or back to the MP page.
Showing 21–40 of 234 · Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of aligning due diligence requirements with the EU Regulation on Deforestation-Free Products.
In line with the Government’s commitments to protect the UK internal market and support export-led growth, we aim to ensure the proposed policy in Great Britain operates alongside the EU Regulation on Deforestation-free products (EUDR), supporting due dil...
Food and Rural Affairs, what funding has been provided to local authorities in England to prevent and tackle fly-tipping in each year since 2020.
The Government is making around £78 billion available to council budgets in England this year as part of the first multi-year funding settlement in over a decade to help fund key responsibilities like fly-tipping.By the end of the multi-year Settlement (2...
Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of guidance issued to local authorities on the seizure and disposal of vehicles used in fly-tipping offences.
This best practice guidance was published on 26 February 2026. No assessment has yet been made of its effectiveness.
Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of regional variations in the investigation and enforcement of fly-tipping offences by local authorities.
National Fly-Tipping statistics for England for 2024/25 were published in February and can be found at: Fly-tipping statistics for England, 2024 to 2025 - GOV.UK The data is published at local authority level, regional and national level.
Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the written answer of 17 June 2026 to question 9454, if she will publish a list of councils that are compliant and those which are not.
Defra does not hold nor intend to publish a list of local authorities that are compliant with their requirements under Simpler Recycling. Local authorities are independent bodies and are accountable to their electorate rather than to Ministers or governme...
Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to improve safety measures at (a) coastal piers and (b) other locations identified as presenting a heightened drowning risk.
Water safety and drowning prevention is a shared responsibility across government and partners, including local authorities, emergency services, regulators and asset owners. As the two largest navigation authorities, both the Canal and River Trust and the...
Food and Rural Affairs, how many local authorities are meeting their responsibility to collect household and food waste separately under Simpler Recycling.
We are encouraged by recent data provided by our partners Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP) to see that most councils in England (excluding those granted transitional arrangements for food waste collections) are either already compliant with S...
Food and Rural Affairs, what transitional arrangements will be available to farmers with expiring Countryside Stewardship Mid-Tier agreements who are unsuccessful in securing an SFI 2026 agreement.
Defra intends to support farmers with soon-to-expire Environmental Land Management revenue agreements to access the full SFI26 offer. The department is developing functionality on the SFI26 application service to allow farmers to apply for land in these a...
Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the budget allocated to the Sustainable Farming Incentive 2026 in meeting demand from farmers seeking to enter the scheme.
Defra is increasing Environmental Land Management schemes budget by around 150%, rising from £800 million in 2023/24 towards £2 billion by 2028/29. The SFI26 offer has been developed with farmers and industry and is backed by a £240 million budget for new...
Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of powers available to local authorities to address accumulations of waste and unsanitary conditions in rented residential properties.
The statutory nuisance regime under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 gives local authorities powers to take act on waste accumulations in premises. The Government believes these powers are sufficient to take action where needed.
Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her polices of trends in levels of tree canopy cover in Lancashire since July 2024.
The Government is committed to increasing England’s tree canopy and woodland cover to at least 16.5% by 2050, supported by an interim target to increase cover by 0.33% by December 2030 from a 2022 baseline of 14.9%. Progress towards this target is monitor...
Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the Government Resilience Framework in reducing food security risks.
Food security is a core national priority. Defra works with industry and across Government to monitor risks that may arise, this includes extensive, regular and ongoing engagement in preparedness for, and response to food supply risks. The previous Govern...
Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the resilience of domestic food production capacity to major geopolitical disruptions.
Food security is a core national priority. UK self-sufficiency has remained broadly stable for several decades. In 2024, the UK was 65% self-sufficient for all food; 77% for food that can be produced here. In most scenarios, strong domestic production and...
Food and Rural Affairs, how many enforcement actions have been taken by the Environment Agency in relation to misclassified waste exports in the last five years.
In the last five years, the Environment Agency (EA) has secured 6 prosecutions, accepted 3 enforcement undertakings and served 1 fixed penalty notice. In addition, 35 warning letters and 169 formal advice and guidance letters have been issued for lower-le...
Food and Rural Affairs, which National Parks, National Landscapes and Broads will be eligible to receive funding under the Wildlife-Rich Habitat Fund; and what criteria will determine eligibility.
All of England’s National Parks, National Landscapes and the Broads are eligible. Funding is allocated through Protected Landscape bodies, with projects reviewed locally against criteria including delivery of wildlife‑rich habitat creation and alignment w...
Food and Rural Affairs, what safeguards will be put in place to ensure that the creation of the third national forest does not adversely affect agricultural land use and food production in the selected region
The winning bidder for the third national forest will work with the National Forest Company to ensure that woodland creation does not adversely affect agricultural land use and food production. Woodland creation will meet the UK Forestry Standard. The new...
Food and Rural Affairs, what criteria will be used to assess bids from eligible organisations seeking to become the delivery partner for the third new national forest.
A competition for the third new national forest was launched on 26 May 2026. The competition will test the financial and environmental merits of potential delivery partners, assess organisational capability and expertise, and ability to deliver a landscap...
Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to ensure companies that have previously committed waste export offences remain subject to enhanced monitoring and compliance checks.
The Environment Agency (EA) ensures that companies with a history of waste export offences remain subject to enhanced monitoring and compliance checks. This is done through an intelligence‑led, risk‑based approach to compliance and enforcement. Previous o...
Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to support farmers affected by recent extreme high temperatures.
The Defra-funded Food, Farming & Natural Environment Climate Service has developed evidence on adaptation options which improve resilience of the agri-food sector, including cost and ease of implementation. Adaptation options include those which could...
Food and Rural Affairs, what timetable has been set for the completion of the review of the Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management Strategy for England.
The Environment Agency (EA) is undertaking a review of its statutory Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management (FCERM) Strategy for England. The EA is engaging with key stakeholders on the review of the FCERM Strategy and will continue to do so over the c...