Written questions by Hayes.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether he is taking steps to encourage public bodies to prioritise the purchase of produce from (a) South Holland and the Deepings constituency and (b) Lincolnshire.

This Government has set a clear ambition for half of all food purchased across the public sector to be locally produced or certified to higher environmental standards within legal constraints. The Government is undertaking work to ensure we can deliver on this ambition, including to improve our understanding of what food the public sector currently buys and where it comes from. The Government has already published a new national procurement policy statement which sets expectations for Government contracts to favour products certified to higher environmental standards. The Government believes that high-quality British producers, including those based in South Holland and the Deepings constituency and Lincolnshire, will be well-placed to meet these standards.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to reduce water bills for (a) households and (b) businesses in South Holland and the Deepings constituency.

Bill payers are understandably concerned that bills have risen. For too long, investment has not kept pace with the challenges of an ageing infrastructure system, a rapidly growing population, and climate change. Over the next four years, water companies will deliver substantial and enduring improvements for customers and the environment through a £104 billion upgrade for the water sector. This investment will accelerate improvements in infrastructure to meet these challenges, secure our water supply, and to meet new environmental requirements. We are working to ensure that both business and household consumers can reduce their bills through decreasing their usage, including by pursuing a Mandatory Water Efficiency Label, smart meter rollout acceleration and a review of water efficiency standards in the Building Regulations. All companies have measures in place for customers struggling to pay for water and wastewater services, and the Government expects industry to keep support schemes under review to ensure customers across the country are supported. It is important that support is targeted at the most vulnerable. We have therefore acted decisively by consulting on reforms to WaterSure, which caps bills for low-income households in England with higher essential water use due to a medical condition or a large family. The Government also doubled compensation payments paid to consumers for service failures through the Guaranteed Standards Scheme.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to help reduce levels of food waste in Lincolnshire.

Defra funds the groundbreaking UK Food and Drink Pact, a voluntary agreement with industry to tackle food waste in the supply chain. We also fund a programme of action delivered by the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) to tackle household food waste and help people buy what they need and use what they buy. Through our Tackling Food Surplus at the Farm Gate fund, we have allocated £13.5 million to food redistribution charities in England to ensure more surplus fresh produce is redistributed to those who need it most. By 31 March 2026, local authorities will be required to collect the core recyclable waste streams from all households in England. This includes introducing weekly food waste collections for all homes, unless a transitional arrangement applies.

Food and Rural Affairs, how many vehicles were seized for fly-tipping offences in Lincolnshire in each of the last five years.

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. Data for the 2024/25 reporting year is still being collected. The Environment Agency works with local authorities and other partners through the Lincolnshire Environmental Crime Partnership (ECP). The ECP has targeted “days of action” to tackle fly-tipping, with various sanctions available – including vehicle seizure – to prevent, disrupt and tackle waste related offences.

Food and Rural Affairs, how much the Animal and Plant Health Agency has spent on translation and interpretation services in each of the last five years.

The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) uses an external company to translate some of its correspondence, GOV.UK pages and communication products into Welsh when required. There is a charge for this translation service. Specific details of this expenditure could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Food and Rural Affairs, how much the Veterinary Medicines Directorate has spent on translation and interpretation services in each of the last five years.

The Veterinary Medicines Directorate’s spending on translation and interpretation service was funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The below table shows the total cost over the past five years. This information is in the public domain. Financial YearTotal VMD CostFunction – All funded by a BMGF project.20/21NilNil21/22£1,913.51Online Translation subscription and workshop interpretation from English to French and vice versa.22/23£19,257.00Online Translation subscription and interpretation service at three regional conferences in Sub-Saharan Africa from English to French and vice versa.23/24£212.54Online Translation subscription24/25£141.19Online Translation subscriptionTotal£21,524.24

Food and Rural Affairs, how much OFWAT has spent on translation and interpretation services in each of the last five years.

Ofwat has spent a total of £74,983 on translation and interpretation services in the last five financial years. This expenditure is for translating key documents into Welsh given Ofwat’s role as the water regulator for England and Wales.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to ensure that food labelling schemes used by UK retailers provide consumers with (a) clear and (b) accurate information on (i) environmental and (ii) animal welfare standards, in the context of the Advertising Standards Authority ruling on Red Tractor.

The Government supports the objective of preventing misleading labelling. The fundamental principle of food labelling rules is that information provided to the consumer must not mislead and must enable consumers to make informed decisions. The rules also specify what particular information must be provided and how it must be presented. The Government cooperates with a number of food assurance schemes, which help provide UK consumers and businesses with information about the food they buy. Whilst assurance schemes operate independently of Government, the Food Standards Agency and the Competition and Markets Authority maintain close contact with these organisations and monitors whether communications and claims made by them are accurate. To further support transparency and prevent misleading claims, the Competition and Markets Authority has issued the Green Claims Code. This guidance is particularly relevant for businesses that make environmental claims or rely on certifications and accreditations.

Food and Rural Affairs, how many (a) single sex and (b) gender neutral bathroom facilities her Department provides in its Whitehall premises.

The Department’s main Whitehall building, 2 Marsham Street, has (a) four single sex bathroom facilities on its five floors, consisting of three cubicles that contain a toilet, and a shared station of three washbasins and hand-drying facilities. 2 Marsham Street has (b) ten gender neutral/accessible bathroom facilities that are individual self-contained lockable toilet rooms with a toilet, washbasin and hand-drying facilities. These are also wheelchair accessible.

Food and Rural Affairs, if she will list the titles of all the events organised by Civil Service networks in his Department since 2017.

The information requested is not held centrally and to obtain it would incur disproportionate costs.

Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the availability of grants for farmers to support (a) sustainable and (b) regenerative agricultural practices in Lincolnshire.

The Government has allocated a record £11.8 billion to sustainable farming and food production across the country, including Lincolnshire, over this Parliament. All our Environmental Land Management schemes will continue, and we will continue to evolve and improve them in an orderly way. We have committed nearly £250 million in funding up to 2030 to improve productivity, trial new technologies and drive innovation in the agricultural sector.

Food and Rural Affairs, if she will take steps to reverse the decline of the swift population in England.

The decline in swifts is likely due to the lack of insect food for chicks, poor weather, and lack of nesting spaces. However, to better understand and develop solutions to address the causes of decline, we have funded projects through Natural England's Species Recovery Programme. Additionally, The National Planning Policy Framework explicitly promotes features which support priority and/or threatened species such as swifts. As part of our work to develop a set of national policies for decision making, we intend to consult on changes which require swift bricks to be incorporated into new buildings unless there are compelling reasons which preclude their use, or which would make them ineffective. As an interim step ahead of the consultation we have published updated Planning Practice Guidance setting out how swift bricks are expected to be used in new development, and signposting to further guidance including the British Industry Standard, Part 2 of the National Model Design Code, the Future Homes Hub Homes for Nature Guidance, and the RSPB’s Guide to Nestboxes.

Food and Rural Affairs, if she will publish the National Fire Chief's Council consultation response to her Department’s policy on (a) wildfires and (b) risks to firefighters.

The National Fire Chiefs Council’s response to Defra’s consultation on heather and grass burning in England is already in the public domain. This can be found on their website here: 250523-Heather-and-Grass-Burning-in-England-Consultation-Response-FINAL.pdf

Food and Rural Affairs, what measures her Department has in place to run critical services in the event of a major internet outage.

The Government has a robust set of policies in place to ensure there are well-defined and tested incident management processes in place, and to ensure continuity of essential functions in the event of system or service failure. In line with these policies, these arrangements are regularly tested to maintain organisational resilience and ensure readiness to manage significant disruptions effectively. Defra undergoes Cyber Assessment Framework assessments annually and uses the results of these assessments and lessons learned from exercises/testing to help minimise the likelihood, impact, or time and cost of recovery of critical services. The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology will publish the Government Cyber Action Plan this Winter, which will set out a clear approach for the Government and the Wider Public Sector to manage cyber security and resilience incidents.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to help tackle the sources of littering in (a) Lincolnshire and (b) other rural areas.

Local councils are responsible for keeping public land clear of litter and refuse and are best placed to respond to littering problems, in a way that is tailored to the community in which they occur. They have a range of enforcement tools at their disposal, including fixed penalty notices of up to £500 and prosecution action which can lead to a criminal record and a fine of up to £2500. The Pride in Place Strategy sets out how Government will support local action by bringing forward statutory enforcement guidance on both littering and fly-tipping, modernising the code of practice that outlines the cleaning standards expected of local authorities, and refreshing best practice guidance on the powers available to local authorities to force land and building owners to clean up their premises. The Countryside Code makes clear visitors’ responsibilities in protecting the environment when accessing the outdoors. It includes the important headline message “Take your litter home – leave no trace of your visit”. The team at Natural England continue to work with partners to help amplify the messaging, including Keep Britain Tidy and National Highways.

Food and Rural Affairs, how many agricultural business have received Sustainable Farming Incentive grants in (a) South Holland and the Deepings constituency and (b) Lincolnshire in (i) 2024 and (ii) 2025.

As of the 1st of January 2025, there were 32,200 Sustainable Farming Incentive agreements in England. This was made up of 25,300 agreements in the Sustainable Farming Incentive 23 and 6,900 agreements in the Sustainable Farming Incentive Expanded Offer. This includes agreements for agricultural businesses in South Holland and the Deepings constituency and (b) Lincolnshire.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to ensure that the proposed deposit return scheme has adequate collection zones in Lincolnshire.

The regulations set rules requiring all supermarkets, grocery stores, convenience stores and newsagents that sell drinks that are in the scheme to host a return point, unless they qualify for an exemption. A new organisation called UK Deposit Management Organisation Ltd (UK DMO) has been appointed to run the scheme. It’s a not-for-profit group, led by businesses. UK DMO is responsible for ensuring there is a comprehensive network of return points so that consumers are easily able to return their containers, including in rural areas. The DMO will undertake regular reviews of the return point network to consider the number, location and accessibility of return points.

Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment her Department has made of the resilience of long-term water supply in Lincolnshire.

The Environment Agency (EA) continually assesses the resilience of water supply across England, including Lincolnshire, to balance the needs of public supply, agriculture, and the environment. The National Framework for Water (2025) identified key actions for the EA to take forward to develop this resilience. These include creating a user-friendly, digital service for abstractors to ensure sustainable water use, coordinating drought management, and shaping long-term multi-sector water resource plans. It also invests in water transfer schemes, such as the Trent-Witham-Ancholme transfer, which play a vital role in securing future supply. In Lincolnshire, the EA is a key partner in the Strategic Pipeline Alliance, which is constructing hundreds of kilometres of interconnecting pipelines to support climate resilience. Additionally, the EA is working with Anglian Water on the proposed Lincolnshire Reservoir near Sleaford. Once operational, it will supply up to 166 million litres of water daily, securing resources for the region's future.

Food and Rural Affairs, how many incidents of animal welfare abuse have been recorded in Lincolnshire in each of the last five years.

Defra does not collect figures for animal welfare abuse incidents by local authority area.

Food and Rural Affairs, how many incidents involving dangerous dogs have been reported in Lincolnshire in each of the last 10 years.

Defra does not hold this data. This information may be collected by the NHS, individual police forces or local authorities.