Written questions by Hollinrake.

Food and Rural Affairs, what his policy is on the future of the chalk stream recovery pack programme.

Cleaning up our waters, including iconic sites such as chalk streams is a top government priority. That is why on 23 October 2024, the Secretary of State announced the launch of an independent commission to fundamentally transform how our water system works.Fixing the systemic issues in the water system is essential to address the multiple pressures facing chalk streams, namely over abstraction, phosphorous pollution and physical modifications of habitats. Restoring our chalk streams to better ecological health is part of our overall programme of reforms for the water sector.Alongside this, we are continuing to direct investment to projects that will improve chalk streams. Through the Water Industry National Environment Programme (WINEP), over 1000 improvement projects are planned within chalk stream catchments between 2024-2029.

Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 6 May 2025 to Question 48443 on Water Charges, if he will publish representations received on (a) progressive and (b) seasonal water metering tariffs since 4 July 2024.

This Government supports the innovative approaches being taken to trial new charges aiming to make bills fairer and more affordable. All companies plan to trial new charging structures by 2030 and some of them plan to introduce them more widely for additional customers if the trials are successful. Companies can design their charges to provide benefits and incentives in a range of ways. As the water regulator, Ofwat regulates the charging trials by issuing rules that require companies to set fair charges for all customers, and to ensure all trials are consistent with good practice principles. Information on Ministerial meetings are published quarterly on GOV.UK.

Food and Rural Affairs, what recent representations his Department has received on (a) progressive and (b) seasonal water metering tariffs.

Ministers and officials have regular discussions with a range of stakeholders, and representatives, on various issues, including progressive and seasonal water metering tariffs. We welcome companies’ willingness to trial innovative new approaches to charging customers, to achieve greater affordability and water efficiency.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of introducing compulsory water metering of homes paying water bills based on rateable value.

Currently, individual water companies decide the best way to manage water demand issues, including their approach to metering. However, to inform their decisions, Defra issues guiding principles that set out our priorities, including our expectations of water companies to increase metering where appropriate. There are conditions that need to be met before a water company can compulsorily charge via a water meter. These conditions include a change of occupier, if the property is new, on the request of the householder and when the water company is in an area designated as under serious water stress. Water companies in areas of serious water stress are already able to implement water metering programmes. Areas of “water stress” are outlined in the Environment Agency’s 2021 classification Water stressed areas – 2021 classification - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). These programmes must be justified by water companies and achieve customer support, striking the right balance between the need to protect water supplies and the importance of water companies reducing leakage before expanding the use of water meters.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department engages with Client Earth.

Defra engages with a range of stakeholders including Client Earth.

Food and Rural Affairs, if he will take steps with the Secretary of State for (a) the Home Department and (b) Housing, Communities and Local Government to ensure a consistent approach to preventing fixed penalty notices being issued by companies to generate (i) revenue and (ii) profit.

Existing guidance on enforcement of environmental offences for local councils makes clear that private firms should not be able to receive greater revenue or profits just from increasing the volume of penalties. This enforcement guidance, attached to the code of practice on litter and refuse, enforcement guidance is available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6683d9b24e8630de328546a1/Code_of_practice_for_litter_and_refuse__Part_1A.pdf Local councils remain responsible for the whole enforcement process. Councils that outsource any area of environmental enforcement to private companies should ensure that the contractor fulfils all the requirements set down for the council itself. Defra is currently considering whether to place this guidance on a statutory footing and is working with other government departments as needed.

Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 3 April 2025 to Question 41085 on Domestic Waste and Fly-tipping: Health Hazards, whether the Environment Agency has made an assessment of the potential impact of (a) fly-tipping and (b) uncollected household rubbish on the environment; and whether it has recent discussions with Birmingham City Council on the issue.

A multi-agency coordinating group was established in response to the declaration of a major incident by Birmingham City Council due to the buildup of waste in Birmingham. The Environment Agency is supporting Birmingham City Council who have led on producing risk assessments and plans as part of the multiagency response. The Environment Agency’s remit is to investigate fly tipping or illegal dumping where there is a single waste deposit of more than 20 cubic metres, more than 5 cubic metres of fibrous asbestos, or 75 litres of potentially hazardous waste in drums or containers. If the offending is believed to be linked to criminal business activity or organised crime, then this may fall to the Environment Agency to investigate and will seek to work jointly with the Local Authority and other partner agencies to resolve the issue. Local Authorities are responsible for assessing, removing and disposing of all fly-tipped waste if it’s on relevant land, which includes land under their direct control and is publicly accessible. The Environment Agency regulates waste-permitted sites to ensure compliance with the conditions of their Environmental Permits and has proactively inspected permitted sites in Birmingham to ensure they are compliant with their permits and no issues arise from the ongoing clean up in the city.

Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 7 April 2025 to Question 40908 on New Towns: Planning Permission, which rare (a) plant, (b) bird and (c) invertebrate species other than the Distinguished Jumping Spider lead to the creation of the Site of Special Scientific Interest in the Ebbsfleet area.

Natural England notified the Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) at the Swanscombe Peninsula in 2021 due to its special interest for numerous rare plant, bird and invertebrate species. The SSSI’s citation sets out the full list of species concerned and can be found at : Swanscombe Peninsula 2021 SSSI Citation.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether the Environment Agency has made an assessment of the potential impact of (a) fly-tipping and (b) uncollected household rubbish on the environment; and whether the Environment Agency has had discussions with Birmingham City Council on (i) fly-tipping and (ii) uncollected household rubbish.

A multi-agency coordinating group was established in response to the declaration of a major incident by Birmingham City Council due to the buildup of waste in Birmingham. The Environment Agency is supporting Birmingham City Council who have led on producing risk assessments and plans as part of the multiagency response. The Environment Agency’s remit is to investigate fly tipping or illegal dumping where there is a single waste deposit of more than 20 cubic metres, more than 5 cubic metres of fibrous asbestos, or 75 litres of potentially hazardous waste in drums or containers. If the offending is believed to be linked to criminal business activity or organised crime, then this may fall to the Environment Agency to investigate and will seek to work jointly with the Local Authority and other partner agencies to resolve the issue. Local Authorities are responsible for assessing, removing and disposing of all fly-tipped waste if it’s on relevant land, which includes land under their direct control and is publicly accessible. The Environment Agency regulates waste-permitted sites to ensure compliance with the conditions of their Environmental Permits and has proactively inspected permitted sites in Birmingham to ensure they are compliant with their permits and no issues arise from the ongoing clean up in the city.

Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 29 March 2025 to Question 39475 on the Aarhus Convention, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of that convention on the effective operation of the planning system.

The Aarhus Convention sets out obligations on Parties to guarantee certain procedural rights for the public relating to access to environmental information, participation in environmental decision-making, and access to justice in environmental matters. The United Kingdom Government remains committed to the effective implementation of its international obligations under the Aarhus Convention, and we consulted on one aspect of this, the cost caps regime last year. Major infrastructure projects are vital in this Government’s mission to deliver growth across the country, and we want to see them built quicker. Earlier this year we announced part of our response to Lord Banner’s report which set out our reforms to speed up the planning process while making sure people still have the opportunity to bring challenges in court.

Food and Rural Affairs, if he will hold discussions with the Food Standards Agency on whether it has a working definition of a fast food outlet.

The Food Standards Agency and Defra Ministers meet regularly to discuss key issues.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of infrequent collections of household waste on public health.

Through Simpler Recycling, all households will receive a comprehensive and consistent set of waste and recycling services. This will enable households to recycle as much waste as possible and to frequently dispose of bad-smelling food waste, which will be collected from all households at least weekly.We recognise that as recycling services are expanded and improved, local authorities may want to review residual waste services to ensure they are providing best value for money in line with local need. The government’s priority is ensuring that households’ needs are met that’s why Defra has published guidance to ensure that local authorities meet household’s needs.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of reductions to the collection of household rubbish on the prevalence of (a) vermin, (b) odours and (c) insects.

Defra has not produced a specific impact assessment regarding service frequency for residual waste collections. Modelling for this would be subjective to the circumstances of each individual local authority. Through Simpler Recycling, all householders will receive a comprehensive and consistent set of waste and recycling services. This will enable householders to recycle as much waste as possible and to frequently dispose of bad-smelling food waste, which will be collected from all households at least weekly. Defra recognises that as recycling services are expanded and improved, local authorities may want to review residual waste services to ensure they are providing best value for money in line with local need. The government’s priority is ensuring that households’ needs are met, and we expect local authorities to continue to provide services to a reasonable standard, as they do now. Building on existing and new legal duties, Defra has published guidance to ensure that local authorities consider certain factors when they review services, to ensure that reasonable standards are maintained.

Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the potential merits of providing additional funding to Internal Drainage Boards.

The Government fully supports the important work internal drainage boards (IDBs) do in managing water and flood risk, benefiting communities, businesses and the environment. On 31st March the Government announced an additional £16 million boost to the IDB Fund to support greater flood resilience for farmers and rural communities. The Fund has increased from £75 million to £91 million to provide opportunities to modernise and upgrade assets. More than 400,000 hectares of agricultural land and around 91,000 homes and businesses across England are expected to benefit. In addition, IDBs, as risk management authorities, are eligible for the government’s flood investment programme. The government is investing a record £2.65 billion over two years in building, maintaining and repairing flood defences, better protecting 52,000 properties by March 2026.

Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of biodiversity net gain on (a) housebuilding costs and (b) levels of development.

Mandatory biodiversity net gain establishes a consistent set of requirements which give developers clarity on how they can meet their net gain obligations and deliver developments which leave biodiversity in a better state. The biodiversity net gain regulatory impact assessment determined that the additional costs of the policy would have a low impact on development viability. As is the case with any new policy, we are collecting information and evidence about the implementation of mandatory biodiversity net gain. Government is committed to working closely with the housebuilding sector to make biodiversity net gain work effectively and implement solutions to unlock new homes without weakening environmental protections.

Food and Rural Affair, with reference to his Department’s publication entitled New approach to ensure regulators and regulation support growth, published 17 March 2025, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of removing environmental compliance guidance to Local Planning Authorities on bats.

As announced by the Chancellor, Defra is fast-tracking the recommendation from the Corry review (published on 2 April) to rapidly review the existing catalogue of environmental compliance guidance, including on protecting bats. This will look to identify opportunities to remove duplication, ambiguity or inconsistency. Natural England has already agreed to review and update their advice to Local Planning Authorities on bats to ensure there is clear, proportionate and accessible advice available.

Food and Rural Affairs, what plans he has to consolidate the different types of nature designation of land.

The Government has no plans to consolidate the different types of nature designation of land.

Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the policy paper entitled A new approach to ensure regulators and regulation support growth, published on 17 March 2025, which public body will be designated as the lead regulator for major projects.

As the Government announced on 17 March a lead environmental regulator will be appointed for all major projects in which multiple environmental regulators have an interest, to make decisions on their behalf. This will reduce layers of regulation and create a single front door for major projects. This model will be tested through a series of projects this year, which could start with the Lower Thames Crossing subject to the planning process, as well as a new town-related housing project and future schemes like Heathrow expansion. We will assign a lead environmental regulator as part of this pilot phase. We are also asking industry to come forward with suggestions of additional projects which meet the steering criteria where they want to trial this new approach.

Food and Rural Affairs, how Extended Producer Responsibility fees collected will be allocated to local authorities.

Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging (pEPR) payments are allocated fairly to Local Authorities through the calculation of local authority waste management costs, which accurately reflect the costs of efficient management of different packaging materials in the household waste streams. Defra have written to every Local Authority in the UK detailing estimated pEPR payments 2025/26, allowing authorities to check accuracy and to engage with PackUK as needed. PackUK have recently issued a survey, open to all authorities, to invite views on the estimated payments, this feedback has helped to shape our plans.

Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions his Department has had with each local authority in England on how collected Extended Producer Responsibility fees will be allocated.

Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging (pEPR) payments are allocated fairly to Local Authorities through the calculation of local authority waste management costs, which accurately reflect the costs of efficient management of different packaging materials in the household waste streams. Defra have written to every Local Authority in the UK detailing estimated pEPR payments 2025/26, allowing authorities to check accuracy and to engage with PackUK as needed. PackUK have recently issued a survey, open to all authorities, to invite views on the estimated payments, this feedback has helped to shape our plans.