Written questions by Norris.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she plans to take following the consultation on tail docking and castration in lambs.

Awaiting answer.

Food and Rural Affairs, when her Department last commissioned research on the ecological effects of gamebird shooting.

Defra’s Gamebird Research Programme has recently published the findings of a number of research projects relating to the ecological impacts of gamebird shooting and associated activity. Whilst some research projects are ongoing, Natural England is plannin...

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of released gamebirds on populations of native invertebrates, reptiles and ground-nesting birds.

Defra’s Gamebird rapid evidence review was published in 2020 and is available here. Further research into these findings was published in 2025 and again this year, available here and here respectively. Defra has also funded research into the impacts of ga...

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of using raised laying cages for breeding pheasants and partridges on the welfare of those birds.

The Government remains firmly committed to maintaining and improving animal welfare and is aware of the strong public feeling on keeping gamebirds in cages. As stated in the Animal Welfare Strategy, the Government will improve its understanding of the wel...

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps were taken to protect the newly establishing trees in the Western Forest during May’s heatwave.

The Western Forest has used a range of measures to mitigate unseasonal weather. This includes early-season planting, using mulch mats, and planting resilient cell-grown saplings that are matched to local conditions. Defra and the National Forest Company a...

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to reduce fly tipping in North East Somerset and Hanham.

Local councils are responsible for tackling fly-tipping in their area and have a range of enforcement powers to help them do so. These include fixed penalty notices of up to £1000 and prosecution action. To support councils to make better use of their pow...

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of factory farming on ammonia pollution.

Defra does not have an assessment of “factory farms”. However, a breakdown of UK ammonia emissions by livestock sector can be found in Table 1 of this published document; 2509190841_UK_Agriculture_Ammonia_Emission_Report_1990-2023_26062025_Final.pdf.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to help increase accountability in the water sector in the West of England.

For too long, water companies paid out billions in dividends while pumping sewage into our rivers. This Government is ending that. The Water White Paper creates a single regulator, prevention-focused enforcement, and tougher laws: banning bonuses for failure and ensuring water works for customers, not just shareholders. To truly turn around the water sector we need the right people in to do the job. We want the sector to be attractive to high quality senior leaders, acting in the public interest, who can lead change from the top. To achieve this, the Government committed in the White Paper to consider taking forward a new regime for senior accountability. This would be carefully designed to ensure senior leaders are directly accountable for the service customers receive, whilst still allowing water companies to appoint capable leadership

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to help tackle waste crime in North East Somerset and Hanham constituency.

The Government published its new Waste Crime Action Plan on 20 March which is the toughest ever crackdown on illegal waste. We will tighten regulation to close the loopholes criminals exploit, enable tougher enforcement to disrupt and punish them, and direct action to clean up the damage they leave behind. The Government is committed to tackling waste crime in North East Somerset and Hanham. We are strengthening the Environment Agency’s enforcement powers and funding, and supporting joint working with Bath and North East Somerset Council and the local police services. Across the constituency, the Environment Agency is using intelligence led inspections and investigations to identify illegal waste activity, take enforcement action, and disrupt organised waste crime, protecting local communities and the environment, and ensuring waste is managed responsibly locally.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to support new bathing sites in the West of England.

To designate a site as a bathing water, an application must be submitted to Defra. Applications for new bathing sites are driven by the public and put forward for consultation if certain criteria are met, which can be found online at gov.uk. We are currently consulting on proposals to designate 13 new bathing waters in England ahead of the 2026 bathing season. No applications were received from the West of England this year.

Food and Rural Affairs, what data her Department holds on survival rates for new trees planted in the Western forest.

The Western Forest was launched on 21 March 2025 and is in its first tree-planting season. This runs between October and April. Monitoring will commence after this period. Consistent with Defra’s tree planting grants it will provide annual payments for up to 15 years after planting to support essential maintenance and tree survival. As part of the Trees programme, we will be commissioning research to improve our understanding of the success of survival rates, and the factors influencing successful woodland establishment for newly planted trees.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to prevent British-owned companies from selling holidays that promote trophy hunting.

The Government is committed to banning the import of hunting trophies from species of conservation concern, which is the most effective approach the Government can take on this matter. The department continues to engage with relevant stakeholders to ensure that we can implement a robust ban. Timeframes for introducing legislation will be provided once the Parliamentary timetable for future sessions is determined.

Food and Rural Affairs, what recent progress her Department has made on phasing out the use of farrowing crates in pig production.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 2 April 2025 to the hon. Member for Birmingham Northfield, PQ UIN 41698.

Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate her Department has made of how many farms in Somerset and Gloucestershire use farrowing crates in pig production.

No such estimate has been made for Somerset and Gloucestershire, but 50% of the national sow breeding herd give birth freely on outdoor units, with no option for confinement. Of the 50% of breeding sows kept indoors, approximately 42% are confined in farrowing crates from around five days before they are due to give birth, until the piglets are weaned at approximately 28 days of age.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of industrial livestock farming in the UK on (a) climate change, (b) deforestation of the Amazon and (c) national food security.

The Government promotes efficient, competitive farming, but does not seek to favour large, or small-scale farming operations, which each have a role to play in promoting sustainable UK agriculture and supporting our national food security. We need a resilient and healthy food system that works with nature and supports British farmers and food producers. As part of the Government’s international and domestic commitments, Defra produces an annual inventory of UK agricultural greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, including those from the rearing of livestock. We are committed to addressing how UK consumption of forest risk commodities drives deforestation in key ecosystems like the Amazon rainforest. This work includes consideration of the role of imported commodities such as soy and palm oil that are used in feed for UK livestock farming.

Food and Rural Affairs, what progress his Department has made on improving flood defences.

This Government is investing at least £10.5 billion until 2036 – the largest flood programme in history – a record investment that’s projected to better protect nearly 900,000 properties. We are already making a difference. We delivered 151 schemes in our first year in government and we redirected £108 million into urgent flood and coastal defence maintenance to halt the decline of flood asset condition following years of under-investment. Following consultation in October, the government announced major changes to its flood and coastal erosion funding policy. The new funding policy will optimise funding between building new flood projects and maintaining existing defences and will ensure that deprived communities continue to receive vital investment. We will use government funding to unlock investment from public, private and charitable sources, making every £1 of Government investment go further. The government also set up its Floods Resilience Taskforce, providing oversight of national and local flood resilience, and improve preparedness ahead of the autumn and winter flood season.

Food and Rural Affairs, what progress his Department has made in developing an evidence base to consider whether decapods should have greater protection.

Defra has commissioned research to address a knowledge gap about how live decapods move from sea to plate. This is due to finish in 2026. In addition, a project on the welfare of decapod crustaceans across the supply chain is included in the Animal Welfare Committee’s current work plan.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the progress made by her Department on improving biodiversity.

We are committed to improving biodiversity by delivering on our four legally binding targets for species abundance, species extinction and habitat creation and restoration. These targets are driving significant action for nature recovery, alongside statutory targets on tree canopy and woodland cover, water and air quality, marine protected areas, and resource efficiency. We are investing in protected sites and landscape-scale action through delivery of a Nature Recovery Network and our 30by30 commitment and taking action to increase the adoption of nature-friendly farming. Through our Landscape Recovery scheme, we have supported 56 projects to work alongside farmers, landowners and environmental organisations to develop strategies for long-term nature recovery. These projects will restore over 600 km of rivers, restore more than 35,000 hectares of peatland, sustainably manage more than 20,000 hectares of woodland, and benefit more than 160 protected sites. We have also commissioned an evaluation framework which will strengthen our understanding of progress towards meeting our biodiversity targets.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to improve administrative processes for (a) plant and (b) food imports to the UK.

As announced at the UK-EU Leaders Summit on 19 May, the UK and EU have agreed to work towards a common Sanitary and Phytosanitary Area which will slash costs and remove red tape. Removing the need for Export Health Certification will save trading businesses up to £200 per consignment every time goods are sent, meaning a single lorry carrying a mixed load of animal products could see reduced costs by thousands of pounds. We are expecting to start negotiations once the EU has confirmed their mandate. In the meantime, plant health import requirements and the requirements for products of animal origin are kept under continuous review.

Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to publish statutory fly-tipping enforcement guidance for local authorities.

The Government is seeking powers in the Crime and Policing Bill to provide statutory fly-tipping enforcement guidance. Following Royal Assent, we will carry out a consultation with relevant stakeholders including local authorities. Once the consultation has concluded and responses taken into account, we will look to publish the guidance as soon as is practical.