Written questions by Reynolds.

Food and Rural Affairs, what comparative estimate her Department has made of the cost to consumers of (a) the proposed SESRO reservoir and (b) a Severn-to-Thames water transfer pipeline.

Water Resource Management Plans, which are approved by regulators, ensure that the strategic options pursued by water companies provide the best value for customers. Expenditure on infrastructure and customer bills are also controlled by Ofwat to minimise costs to billpayers. Defra are working to minimise bill impacts of any strategic resource option through the Water Delivery Taskforce, which brings together regulators and water companies to find cost-effective solutions.

Food and Rural Affairs, how many responses his Department has received from (a) refrigeration, air conditioning and heat pump industry representatives, (b) small and medium-sized enterprises and (c) trade associations representing environmental technology businesses to the F Gas Regulation consultation.

The Government is currently consulting on proposed reforms to the GB hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) phasedown. The consultation remains open, and the Department is carefully considering all responses received from a wide range of stakeholders, including industry representatives, small and medium-sized enterprises, trade associations and other interested parties.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to monitor and tackle the environmental impact of single-use packaging waste on terrestrial trail ecosystems, including public rights of way.

Local councils are responsible for keeping their public land clear of litter and refuse. We are targeting some of the more commonly littered items to reduce the presence of these in our communities. The sale of single-use vapes was banned from 1 June 2025 and a Deposit Return Scheme for drinks containers will go live in England, Northern Ireland, and Scotland in October 2027. The Deposit Return Scheme will cover plastic and metal drinks containers (like bottles and cans which make up 55% of litter volume), and the goal is to reduce litter and help keep our streets, rivers, and oceans clean. We have a number of restrictions on other unnecessary single use plastic products and we will continue to review the latest evidence on problematic products and/or materials to take a systematic approach, in line with circular economy principles, to reduce the use of unnecessary single-use plastic products and encourage reuse solutions. These measures help reduce litter at the source and reduce pollution on terrestrial trail ecosystems.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment has been made of the adequacy of funding mechanisms under the Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging scheme to enable local authorities and other land managers to address single-use packaging waste on public rights of way and in rural green spaces.

In autumn last year, Defra published the final impact assessment for the packaging Extended Producer Responsibility (pEPR) regulations when they were laid in Parliament. Payments for litter cleanup are outside the scope of the regulations and therefore this assessment did not include analysis of how pEPR funding might address littered packaging on public rights of way or in rural green spaces. More broadly this Government remains committed to tackling litter. Most importantly the deposit return scheme for drinks containers which will be rolled out in October 2027, will have a major impact on littered single use packaging waste. Plastic bottles and cans account for 55% of litter volume and DRS is expected to significantly reduce the number of items littered.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department plans to provide additional resources to the Environment Agency to support works to restore full navigation under Temple Footbridge in Hurley.

The Environment Agency (EA) will continue to invest in its Navigation infrastructure. Once the indicative costs of completing the Temple Footbridge project is known, the amount of additional grant in aid available to the EA for this project will be calculated.

Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate her Department has made of the cost to the public purse of reinstating (a) full public access and (b) navigation at Temple Footbridge in Hurley.

Full navigation access at Temple Footbridge will be reinstated once the central section of the bridge is removed and taken off site for inspection and secure storage. This is now expected to take place in November 2025, at a cost of approximately £450,000. Public pedestrian access will be reinstated once the bridge is either refurbished or replaced. The costs of this will be known once the outline design is completed in March 2026 and the removed central section in fully inspected.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether the Environment Agency has allocated funding for the (a) repair and (b) reopening of Temple Footbridge in Hurley.

The Environment Agency (EA) is investing up to £500k this financial year to progress the initial phases of the Temple Footbridge (Hurley) and Marsh Horsebridge (Henley on Thames) projects. This includes the preparation of outline designs, which are expected to be completed by 31 March 2026, along with any further specialist surveys and visualisations that are needed to assist the future delivery of these projects. The outline designs will be used to calculate the indicative costs of the completed projects, and therefore how much partnership funding will be needed alongside any government grant in aid that will be allocated. The EA has been working with local stakeholders to develop a partnership funding strategy for these projects. This will start to be implemented once the outline designs and completion costs are finalised.

Food and Rural Affairs, if his Department will take steps to help ensure that staffing levels of lock keepers and river infrastructure on the non‑tidal River Thames are sufficient to guarantee public and operator safety.

Ensuring public and operator safety on the non-tidal River Thames is a priority for the Environment Agency (EA). The EA is investing in additional lock and weir resource.

Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his EU counterparts on the reinstatement of UK-issued pet passports for travel to EU member states; and what his planned timeline is for implementation of those passports.

As announced at the UK-EU Leaders' Summit on 19 May 2025, the UK and EU have agreed to work towards a common Sanitary and Phytosanitary Area. This will mean taking pets on holiday into the EU will be easier and cheaper. Instead of needing an animal health certificate each time you travel, you will be able to get a multiuse pet passport valid for travel to the EU. With the principles and framework of a deal agreed, the Government will now need to negotiate the detail of an agreement. Our aim is to start the detailed negotiations as soon as possible, and Defra will provide more information on pet passports valid for travel to the EU in due course.

Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of air quality levels in Maidenhead constituency.

Local authorities review and assess air quality in their areas and publish an annual report on their actions to improve local air quality including local monitoring data.The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead have reported continued reductions in concentrations of NO2 and PM10 over recent years and continued compliance with the Air Quality Objectives set by central Government. The council has begun to monitor local concentrations of PM2.5 and are likely to report on this pollutant later this year; Defra’s modelling for PM2.5 shows that background concentrations are also well below the annual mean Air Quality Objective in this council’s area.The most recent national air quality compliance assessment for 2023 presented air quality modelling data and measurements from national air pollution monitoring networks across the UK. The assessment was published in September 2024 on Defra’s UK-AIR website. No exceedances were reported of the limit and target values for NO2, PM10 or PM2.5 in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has considered introducing custodial sentences for people found guilty of illegal hunting under the provisions of the Hunting Act 2004.

This Government was elected on a mandate to introduce the most ambitious plans in a generation to improve animal welfare and that is exactly what we will do. The Hunting Act 2004 makes it an offence to hunt a wild mammal with dogs, except where it is carried out in accordance with the exemptions in the Act, and completely bans hare coursing. Those found guilty under the Act are subject to the full force of the law. The Government has committed to a ban on trail hunting. Work to determine the best approach for doing so is ongoing and further announcements will be made in due course.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has had discussions with the Secretary of State for the Home Department on the inclusion of decapod crustaceans in the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 in the context of their recognised sentience under the Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act 2022.

The Government is committed to an evidence-based approach to improve welfare standards for decapod crustaceans and cephalopod molluscs, and Defra has commissioned research and will seek expert opinion to inform any future policy decisions. The Secretary of State has regular discussions with Cabinet colleagues on a range of issues, and Cabinet discussions are considered confidential.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help prevent persistent flooding in (a) Cookham and (b) Hurley.

Environment Agency (EA) teams are working with colleagues from Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead Council to improve knowledge and understanding of the flooding that has occurred during the last two years of higher-than-average rainfall. The EA is engaging with residents and community groups around Cookham, as well as elsewhere in the borough, to improve the services it provides. EA teams have also been providing advice and guidance about flood resilience, as well as promoting the recently closed Flood Recovery Grants. A study was completed during 2018-19 to look at possible options to mitigate flooding in Hurley. Unfortunately, at the time this study was completed it did not find an option that was financially viable. Inspections of EA flood defences led to temporary works during December 2024, to reinstate a bank collapse on the Maidenhead, Windsor and Eton Flood Alleviation Scheme (MWEFAS) near Taplow. This repair enabled MWEFAS to remain operational this winter, ensuring 3000 properties still benefit from the defences which include flood gates, walls and embankments in the Cookham area. EA teams are now designing the permanent repairs to take place as soon as possible.

Food and Rural Affairs, when his Department will publish the consultation on fluorinated gas regulation.

The GB F-gas review is ongoing, and we are in the process of developing proposals for amending the F-gas legislation in Great Britain. We intend to go out to consultation on proposals for reform in due course. Defra officials have ongoing and valued engagement with sector stakeholders as part of the review process and have gathered incredibly useful input.

Food and Rural Affairs, if he will meet with manufacturers from the (a) heating, (b) refrigeration and (c) air conditioning industries to discuss the inclusion of mandatory training for flammable refrigerants in the Government’s consultation on fluorinated gas regulation.

The GB F-gas review is ongoing, and we are in the process of developing proposals for amending the F-gas legislation in Great Britain. We intend to go out to consultation on proposals for reform in due course. Defra officials have ongoing and valued engagement with sector stakeholders as part of the review process and have gathered incredibly useful input. Private office handles all meeting requests. Please contact them directly to request a meeting.

What steps he is taking to improve the water quality of rivers.

After 14 years of Conservative failure, we share the public’s fury at the levels of sewage being released into our rivers, lakes and seas.That is why this Government has introduced legislation to put the water companies under special measures to end their disgraceful behaviour. But this is not all we are doing.We will outline further legislation to fundamentally transform how the water industry is run and speed up the delivery of upgrades to our sewage infrastructure to clean up our waterways for good.