Written questions by Snowden.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of trends in the the numbers of hen harriers over the last 5 years.

The number of breeding hen harriers is assessed annually by Natural England in partnership with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB). Summaries of these figures are published as blogs via Natural England’s .gov blog page. Assessments of the number of breeding hen harriers from the last four years can be seen below: Nesting attempts per upland area of England Area2022202320242025Bowland18111115North Pennines71142Northumberland9171518Peak District5002Yorkshire Dales and Nidderdale101542Total49543439 In 2025, a peer-reviewed paper was published assessing the population trends in hen harriers in the UK and Isle of Man between 2016 and 2023. This included data and co-authorship from Natural England’s hen harrier programme: https://doi.org/10.1080/00063657.2024.2446373.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of trends in the level of water bills in Fylde constituency since July 2024.

It is important that customers get value for money from their water bills and that support is available for those who need it. I meet water companies frequently to discuss a range of issues, including customer bills. As the independent economic regulator, it is Ofwat’s responsibility to scrutinise water company business plans and ensure the prices water companies charge their customers are fair and proportionate. It does this through its Price Review, every five years. Ofwat published the results of the 2024 Price Review in December 2024, this sets out company expenditure and customer bills for the next five years, up to 2030. These price controls came into effect on 01 April 2025. Price Review 2024 will deliver substantial improvements for customers and the environment through a £104 billion upgrade for the water sector - the highest level of investment in the water sector since privatisation. The average annual bill rise over the next 5 years will be £31 (or 36%). This will vary across households depending on their circumstances. Information on bills for each water company is available on Ofwat’s website. All water companies have measures in place for customers who struggle to pay for their water and wastewater services, such as WaterSure, social tariffs, payment breaks and holidays, and debt management support. Moreover, Government expects industry to keep the current support schemes under review to ensure that vulnerable customers are supported. The Government has committed to reforming the WaterSure support scheme which supports low-income households with high essential water use due to having a medical condition or three or more children living at home and has consulted on extending the list of qualifying benefits to include non-means tested disability benefits. This proposal is designed to provide better support for low-income households where a medical condition leads to high essential water use. The proposed reforms would also increase support for existing households and update the regulations to reflect best practice adopted across the water sector. The department will publish the response to the consultation in the coming months. Bill increases are necessary to make up for years of under-investment and make sure water companies can deliver a good service to customers and protect the environment. The Government is also bringing forward root and branch reform to secure better outcomes for billpayers and restore trust and accountability. This includes the creation of a powerful new consolidated regulator, which will work to ensure water company bills are fair and affordable for customers. These reforms are detailed in the Government’s Water White Paper.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the Canal and River Trust’s grant settlement for maintaining the safety and integrity of inland waterways in England.

Canal maintenance, and ensuring funding for it, is the responsibility of navigation authorities. The Government provides the largest navigation authority, the Canal and River Trust, with an annual grant of £52.6 million to support the Trust’s network maintenance programme. This represented 22% of the Trust’s total income of £232 million last year. Following a comprehensive review of its funding in 2022, the Government agreed a further 10-year grant for the Trust from 2027 of £401 million. The new grant reflects the importance of inland waterways and provides a stable funding stream, gradually tapering each year, to support CRT as it delivers its long-standing objective of reducing reliance on public funding through developing alternative funding sources.

Food and Rural Affairs, what guidance her Department issues dog walkers in periods of extreme cold.

Anyone who walks dogs is required to comply with the Animal Welfare Act 2006 which requires individuals in control of animals to protect them from unnecessary suffering, and to provide for their welfare needs. Welfare groups such as the RSCPA and Dogs Trust publish advice on their websites for dog walkers on how to keep dogs healthy and active during periods of cold weather.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has considered the potential merits of introducing mandatory labelling of meat products to indicate the method of slaughter.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 17 December 2025 to PQ UIN 99375.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that consumers are provided with sufficient information to make informed choices regarding the method of slaughter used in producing meat sold in UK supermarkets.

The Government expects industry to provide consumers with information on which to make an informed choice about their food. Any information provided on the method of slaughter must be accurate and not misleading to the consumer.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of water infrastructure.

A record £104 billion of investment is planned for the water sector in the next investment cycle. This will provide the water supply and wastewater capacity to secure future water supplies, including nine new reservoirs and several large-scale water transfer schemes.

Food and Rural Affairs, what the total reservoir storage capacity in England (a) is in 2025 and (b) was in (i) 2020 and (ii) 2015.

The total capacity of reservoirs for all purposes in England, as per the public register of large raised reservoirs of over 25,000m3, which is managed by the Environment Agency.

Food and Rural Affairs, what plans she has to reform water sector regulation to help tackle (a) water pollution, (b) water scarcity and (c) long-term infrastructure resilience.

The Government will respond to the recommendations in full via a White Paper, published later this year. The White Paper will outline the Government’s vision for the future of the water sector, marking the most fundamental reset to our water system in a generation. Following this there will be a new water reform bill, which we will introduce during this Parliament, bringing forward root and branch reform to secure better outcomes for customers, and the environment.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of the recommendations of the Cunliffe Review of the water regulatory system.

The Government will respond to the recommendations in full via a White Paper, published later this year. The White Paper will outline the Government’s vision for the future of the water sector, marking the most fundamental reset to our water system in a generation. Following this there will be a new water reform bill, which we will introduce during this Parliament, bringing forward root and branch reform to secure better outcomes for customers, and the environment.

Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to her Department's press notice entitled Government steps in to build first major reservoirs in 30 years, published on 29 May 2025. what progress she has made on building (a) nine new reservoirs and (b) upgrading water infrastructure to reduce leakage.

The Price Review 2024 will deliver substantial, lasting, improvements through a £104bn upgrade for the water sector. The highest level of investment in the water sector since privatisation, this investment will be crucial to deliver the improvements required. The Government’s Water Delivery Taskforce is working across Government, the Regulators’ Alliance for Progressing Infrastructure Development (RAPID) and water industry stakeholders to deliver planned water infrastructure that is essential to growth. Water companies are aiming to deliver approximately 10.4 million smart meters over 2025-30. The rollout will enable water companies to reduce leakage, helping them meet their commitment to deliver a 50% reduction in leakage from 2017-2018 levels by 2050 and reduce overall water consumption.

Food and Rural Affairs, how many vehicles were (a) seized and (b) crushed for fly-tipping offences in (i) Fylde, (ii) Lancashire, and (iii) England in the last 12 months.

Local authorities in England are required to report fly-tipping enforcement actions, including vehicles seized, to Defra, which are published annually here. This data is not available at a constituency level and does not include information on what happened to the vehicle after it was seized. Data for the 2024/25 reporting year is still being collected. In the last 12 months no vehicles have been seized in relation to waste crime offences by the Environment Agency within Fylde or Lancashire. The last vehicle seizure in Lancashire was October 2024.

Food and Rural Affairs, when she plans to provide an answer to Question 87476 on Pets: Shops.

A response was published to Question 87476 on Tuesday 18 November here: PQ 87476.

Food and Rural Affairs, how many and what proportion of local authorities currently use digital waste tracking services.

The Digital Waste Tracking Service goes live from April 2026 for waste receivers, with requirements to digitally track waste received becoming mandatory in October 2026. Waste operators currently use multiple systems – some paper based and others digital - to collect certain elements of waste tracking data. By introducing digital waste tracking, data will be collected centrally in near real time, making it much more difficult for rogue operators to compete in the industry and commit waste crime. As part of our user research, it has been shown that the large majority of local authority waste disposal and waste collection authorities use third party contractors to manage waste in their areas, even if they are the holder of the environmental permit. As such it is difficult to quantify the number of local authorities that currently run their services in-house. From April 2027, subject to funding, Digital Waste Tracking will onboard other waste operators including carriers which will provide an end to end view of how waste moves through the system.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of prolonged dry weather on wildlife and natural habitats in (a) Fylde and (b) Lancashire.

Following the prolonged dry weather incident of 2025 the Environment Agency (EA) responded to numerous dry weather-related environmental incidents. These included incidents in: a) FyldeThe Fisheries Operations Team carried out a fish rescue at a pond near Larkholme in May, following reports of fish mortalities. b) wider LancashireThe EA attended multiple reports of fish in distress / mortalities, algal blooms and low water levels in the Leeds Liverpool canal. Fish rescues were carried out (where necessary) along with advice and guidance to fishery owners. Following the driest February to April since 1929, most drought reported incidents were confined to April and May. Intermittent rainfall from May onwards helped reduce environmental impacts, with the EA responding to just one dry weather incident in July in Lancashire.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the potential risk to the health of birds from avian influenza (H5N1) in Fylde constituency.

The risk of HPAI H5 in wild birds in Great Britain has recently escalated from high to very high (event occurs almost certainly). The risk of poultry exposure to HPAI H5 in Great Britain is assessed as very high (event occurs almost certainly) where there is suboptimal or poor biosecurity and Medium (event occurs regularly) where stringent biosecurity is consistently applied at all times. All exotic disease control and prevention measures are kept under regular review as part of the Government’s work to monitor and manage the risks of exotic disease.Risk levels are being kept under regular review. Avian Influenza Prevention Zone (AIPZ) mandating enhanced biosecurity and, for keepers of over 50 birds, housing is in force across the whole of England, including the Flyde constituency - to mitigate the risk of further outbreaks of the disease.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to encourage (a) dog breeders to undertake health testing before breeding puppies and (b) responsible dog acquisition.

Under The Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018, licensed breeders are prohibited from breeding dogs if it can be reasonably expected that on the basis of their genotype, phenotype or health, this would lead to welfare problems for the mother or the puppies. Under the statutory guidance, the licenced dog breeder must make sure that the purchaser is informed of the age, sex and veterinary record of the dog being sold, and that a puppy may only be shown to a prospective purchaser if it is together with its biological mother. In addition, Defra supports the sector’s Puppy Contract for responsible puppy breeding and buying. As outlined in our manifesto, the Government will bring an end to puppy farming. We are considering the most effective way to deliver this commitment and will be setting out next steps in due course.

Food and Rural Affairs, what recent meetings she has had with (a) animal welfare groups and (b) (i) veterinary and (ii) training organisations on the use of electric shock collars on pet dogs.

DEFRA regularly engage with a wide range of stakeholders on animal welfare issues.

Food and Rural Affairs, what guidance his Department has provided to local authorities on the investigation of injuries sustained by companion animals during commercial grooming appointments.

The Department has not provided any guidance to local authorities on the investigation of injuries sustained by companion animals during commercial grooming appointments. Under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 anyone in control of animals must protect them from suffering and provide for their welfare needs. These requirements apply to anyone operating a dog grooming business. Under the Act, local authorities have powers to investigate allegations of cruelty, poor welfare, or neglect of animals.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that grooming services offered by pet retail chains are subject to adequate (a) welfare standards and (b) inspection regimes.

Under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 (the 2006 Act) anyone who has control of animals must protect them from suffering and provide for their welfare needs. These requirements apply to anyone operating a dog grooming business. Failing to comply with the 2006 Act is punishable by imprisonment, an unlimited fine or both. The Canine and Feline Sector Group (CFSG), comprised of leading national animal welfare charities, veterinary and trade associations and other expert organisations has recently published a code of practice to assist for dog and cat groomers which can be found here.