Written questions by Mierlo.

Food and Rural Affairs, when her department will confirm plans for the Environment Agency to hold a separate, stand alone bridges construction and maintenance budget to run alongside budgets for Locks & Weirs.

Environment Agency owned bridges along the non-tidal Thames are part of the overall Navigation infrastructure. Construction and maintenance allocations for the Environment Agency’s Navigation assets has already been set for the current Spending Review period. This includes Locks, Weirs, Bridges and their associated assets. The Environment Agency is also developing a partnership funding mechanism to accelerate specific bridge refurbishment projects. This will increase the overall amount of bridge construction and maintenance that the Environment Agency can deliver and help towards creating a sustainable Navigation service.

Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to her Department's White Paper entitled A New Vision for Water, published on 20 January 2026, what assessments he has made of the potential impact of the proposed joined‑up local planning measures on the prevention of surface‑to‑foul water misconnections in new housing developments.

In the White Paper Defra has committed to delivering an enhanced, better joined up regional water planning function. This will enable a more holistic, coordinated approach to water environment and supply planning which supports delivery of national strategic objectives such as the economic growth mission, housing building targets and nature recovery, whilst enabling regional and local priorities to be realised. Defra is engaging a range of stakeholders to understand what works well, and where there are challenges with water sector planning, within the current river basin planning system. This engagement is helping us test emerging thinking, identifying opportunities to strengthen planning and delivery and ensure policy development is informed by practical experience as well as evidence and analysis. Property owners are legally responsible for resolving misconnected pipework on their property; public misconnections are the responsibility of water companies. Should misconnections not be resolved, the responsible party can be prosecuted; in some cases, local authorities and water companies can access private property to fix misconnections and then recover their costs from the owner.

Food and Rural Affairs, what her proposed timeline is to enact Schedule 3 of the Flood and Water Management Act 2010.

The Government is strongly committed to improving the implementation of Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS). In December 2024 we made changes to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) to support increased delivery of SuDS. The NPPF now requires all development to use SuDS where they could have drainage impacts. We are in the process of consulting on a revised version of the NPPF, with new policies on local plans and national decision making, including flood risk and SuDS.

Food and Rural Affairs, what her planned timetable is for the (a) white paper and (b) new government bill on water reform.

The White Paper will be published early this year. These reforms will underpin a new water reform bill to be introduced during this Parliament, setting the foundation for long-term change.

Food and Rural Affairs, if he will bring forward the implementation timing of policy proposals to strengthen controls on waste-carrier registration; and what steps is his department currently taking to prevent unregulated operators entering the waste sector and engaging in illegal dumping.

Work has begun to draft the necessary legislative amendments for reform of the carriers, brokers, dealers regime and these will be progressed as soon as parliamentary time allows. Our planned reforms to the waste carriers, brokers and dealers regime and the waste permit exemptions regime will make it harder for rogue operators to find work in the sector and easier for regulators to take action against criminals. Our planned digital waste tracking reforms will make it harder than ever to mis-identify waste or dispose of it inappropriately. In addition, the Environment Agency’s total budget for 2025 to 2026 has increased and includes £15.6m for waste crime enforcement.  This is a more than 50% increase from 2024/25. Overall, the EA has been able to increase its frontline criminal enforcement resource in the Joint Unit for Waste Crime and area environmental crime teams across England by 43 full-time staff.

Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the illegal waste dumped in Kidlington, Oxfordshire, whether the Government plans to increase enforcement funding.

We have increased the Environment Agency’s (EA’s) budget for waste crime enforcement by over 50% this year to £15.6 million. The EA-hosted Joint Unit for Waste Crime has nearly doubled in size thanks to our extra funding. The Unit brings together the EA, HMRC, National Crime Agency, the Police and waste regulators from across the UK to share intelligence and tasking to disrupt and prevent serious organised waste crime. Overall, the EA has been able to increase its frontline criminal enforcement resource in the Joint Unit for Waste Crime and area environmental crime teams by 43 full-time staff. This will be targeted at activities identified as waste crime priorities using enforcement activity data and criminal intelligence. These include tackling organised crime groups, increasing enforcement activity around specific areas of concern such as landfill sites, closing down illegal waste sites more quickly, using intelligence more effectively, and delivering successful major criminal investigations.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of biodiversity net gain on the UK's progress in meeting its legally-binding biodiversity targets.

Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) plays a vital role in protecting nature and the Government expects it to make an important contribution to meeting legally binding environmental targets. We have heard from developers, local authorities, and ecologists that BNG needs to work better for some of the smallest developments. Recently announced reforms will make the process simpler for small developers while maintaining nature recovery at scale. A full response to the BNG consultations is expected in the new year.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of exempting all small sites from biodiversity net gain on the UK's progress in meeting its legally-binding biodiversity targets.

Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) plays a vital role in protecting nature and the Government expects it to make an important contribution to meeting legally binding environmental targets. We have heard from developers, local authorities, and ecologists that BNG needs to work better for some of the smallest developments. Recently announced reforms will make the process simpler for small developers while maintaining nature recovery at scale. A full response to the BNG consultations is expected in the new year.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the feasibility test introduced under the Bathing Water (Amendment) (England and Wales) Regulations 2025 on the designation of sites.

This Government’s reforms introduce a feasibility assessment that will consider these factors ahead of formal designation. This will focus resources on sites where water quality can feasibly be improved to ‘sufficient’ standard and allow the public to make informed decisions before using sites. This feasibility assessment is being designed by an external research organisation in partnership with Defra and the Welsh Government. Two workshops took place in November 2025 to capture stakeholder views. This reform will come into force on 15 May 2026, and we will update public guidance before then, ahead of future applications being submitted.

Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 20 November 2025 to Question 90952 on Bathing Water (Amendment) (England and Wales) Regulations 2025, if she can outline the (a) local and (b) national stakeholders who she will engage with during the initial scoping work and set out a timeline for the initial scoping work .

Defra recognise that there have been changes in how and where people use bathing waters since the Bathing Water Regulations were introduced in 2013. That is why we are taking forward a programme of reforms to introduce the first overhaul of the rules governing the designation and monitoring of Bathing Waters since they were introduced. Reforms to the Bathing Water Regulations 2013 are part of a wider government effort to secure better outcomes for customers, investors and the environment, and restore trust and accountability through root and branch reform. Further detail on the Government’s plans for water reform will be set out through a White Paper and a new water reform bill, marking the most fundamental reset to our water system in a generation.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of deforestation regulations under the Environment Act 2021 on smallholder farmers; and what steps the Government is taking to ensure that those farmers are not disproportionately excluded from UK supply chains, including through the (a) provision of support, (b) training and (c) more equitable terms by UK companies and the Government.

The Government recognises the need to prevent UK consumption of forest-risk commodities from driving deforestation while minimising impacts on low-income smallholder farmers in the Global South. We acknowledge their vital role in producing essential commodities and safeguarding forests. Through programmes such as the Official Development Assistance-funded Investment in Forests and Sustainable Land Use and the Forest, Agriculture and Commodity Trade Dialogue, we support sustainable practices, new business models, and international collaboration to reduce exclusion risks. We remain committed to working with partners globally to build climate-resilient, nature-positive communities and will set out our approach to addressing forest-risk commodities in due course.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment has she made of the potential impact of Farming in Protected Landscapes funded projects on children; and whether she will bring forward policy proposals to fund these projects beyond 2026.

Since its launch in 2021, the Farming in Protected Landscapes (FiPL) programme has provided funding for nearly 11,000 farmers and land managers to work in partnership with National Parks and National Landscape bodies to deliver projects that benefit the countryside for climate, nature, people and place. The FiPL programme has engaged over 2,000 schools and delivered more than 8,000 school educational visits helping children to get involved and learn about nature. The FiPL programme is due to end March 2026, and decisions on the future of the programme will be made as part of departmental business planning.

Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of clause 9 (c)(5) of the Bathing Water (Amendment) (England and Wales) Regulations 2025 on public information on water quality.

Regulation 9 of the Bathing Water (Amendment) (England and Wales) Regulations 2025 amends Regulation 15A of the Bathing Water Regulations 2013 and requires the appropriate Minister to prepare and publish a report on the bathing season or seasons for that year. It broadly makes the same provision for publication of annual reports as under the previous Regulation 15A but with consequential changes to reflect that there will be a discretion to set different bathing seasons under amendments made by Regulation 5 of the 2025 Regulations. There is no change in the frequency of reports (annual) nor in the content of the reports required.

Food and Rural Affairs, what her planned timetable is for the (a) development and (b) completion of the 25-year farming roadmap.

The Farming Roadmap will be published next year and will set the course of farming in England for the next 25 years. It will respond to the Farming Profitability Review (which will be published this December, ahead of Christmas) and will set out the Government’s long-term vision for agriculture and provide farmers with the certainty they need to plan for the future.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps is she taking to ensure there is adequate funding and checks at border security for veterinary and meat imports to protect the farming industry against importing issues like foot and mouth disease or African Swine Fever.

Border checks undertaken by competent authorities are an important element of the system designed to manage biosecurity risks. The SPS controls at the border on EU goods implemented under the Border Target Operating Model provide assurance that the underlying systems of controls are working as intended. This includes import conditions, certification signed by veterinarian authorities in exporting countries, risk assessments, border checks, and other intelligence led controls. Defra is working with the Home Office and Border Force and has provided significant funding for Dover Port Health Authority (DPHA) to ensure operations around detecting illegal meat imports are as effective as possible. Defra has committed £3.1m for DPHA to work in partnership with Border Force in seizing meat smuggled via the Port of Dover in 2025/26, additional to over £9m of funding provided to date. Defra is considering the recommendations in the EFRA Committee’s report on meat smuggling. For Defra’s full response to the EFRA committee report, please see here. Defra publishes assessments of the risk of animal diseases entering Great Britain through trade in animal products here.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of using closed mineral extraction sites to aid flood alleviation, rather than infilling with waste.

The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) requires that planning authorities should provide for restoration and aftercare of mineral sites at the earliest opportunity to be carried out to high environmental standards. This should include, through provision of a landscape strategy, restoration conditions and aftercare schemes as appropriate. Responsibility for the restoration and aftercare of mineral sites, including financial responsibility, lies with the mineral site operator and, in the case of default, with the landowner. A revised NPPF was published in December 2024. The government will consider whether further changes are necessary to manage flood risk when we consult on planning reform, including national policy related to decision making.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether the department has plans to implement in-ovo sexing technology.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 20 October 2025 to the hon. Member for Warrington South, PQ UIN 80064.

Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 11 November 2025 to Question 88109 on Bathing Water Regulations 2013, what her planned timetable is for that policy development and research.

DEFRA is engaged in a programme of work to ensure the Bathing Water (Amendment) (England and Wales) Regulations 2025 can be implemented effectively, including feasibility studies to support Core Reform 2 and a pre-implementation research project on Core Reform 3. In addition, the Department is exploring how any evidence to support the delivery of wider reforms, including expanding the definition of bathers to include other water users and introducing multiple monitoring points at sites, might be developed. The timeline for detailed policy development and research will depend on the outcome of initial scoping work. DEFRA will engage with local and national stakeholders as this work progresses.

Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 1 July 2025 to Question 63264 on Reforms to Bathing Water Regulations 2013 and with reference to the Written Statement Reform of 28 October 2025 on The Bathing Water Regulations 2013, what her planned timetable is for the implementation of the wider reforms.

In November and December 2024, the Government, jointly with Welsh Government, consulted on Reforms to The Bathing Water Regulations 2013, in the first shake-up to the Bathing Water Regulations since they were introduced. On 28 October 2025 the Department laid before Parliament a statutory instrument which incorporated the three core reforms and several technical amendments consulted on. The consultation also sought views on two wider possible reforms. We have begun policy development and research, including immersion studies to determine how best to implement these reforms in future and take into account any potential environmental, societal and access impacts. We will share information regarding timetables for potential implementation of these wider reforms following the conclusion of the studies and after further policy development.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of developer-led wastewater misconnections on sewage treatment works capacity; and what plans she has to strengthen enforcement powers for (a) water companies and (b) local authorities on developer wastewater misconnections.

Most modern homes will have sewerage systems that separate wastewater from surface water, and discharge each into separate drains. Property owners are legally responsible for resolving misconnected pipework on their property; public misconnections are the responsibility of water companies.