Written questions by Perteghella.

Food and Rural Affairs, if she will formally re-establish the Advisory Committee on Packaging as a forum for (a) industry, (b) government and (c) regulators to oversee the operation of the Packaging Recovery Note system.

Defra has no plans to re-establish the Advisory Committee on Packaging in its previous form. However, as part of the forthcoming consultation on Packaging Waste Recycling Note (PRN) reforms, the department will be seeking views on how best to bring together stakeholders including industry, Government, and regulators to advise on the functioning of the PRN system.

Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment her Department has made of trends in the level of (a) private investment and (b) Government funding for (i) storm overflows, (ii) wastewater treatment and (iii) other water infrastructure.

Ofwat’s final determinations for Price Review 2024 set company expenditure for 2025–2030. This will deliver substantial and enduring improvements for customers and the environment through a £104 billion upgrade for the water sector. The £104 billion funding package is the highest level of investment in the water sector since privatisation and is set to be the second largest private sector investment programme in this parliament. Water companies are investing over £11 billion in PR24, a record amount, to improve nearly 3,000 storm overflows across England and Wales over the next five years. Furthermore, £4.795 billion will be spent over the same period to reduce phosphorus pollution from treated wastewater. This represents an increase when compared to the 2022-2023 equivalent prices for Price Review 19, where overall spending was £61bn, storm overflow investment was £3.6 billion, and wastewater treatment improvements were £3.1 billion.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that the Environmental Land Management Scheme Landscape Recovery tier continues beyond the current round.

The Government reconfirmed its commitment to Environmental Land Management (ELM) schemes in the Autumn 2024 Spending Review. More than £2.7 billion a year will be invested in sustainable farming and nature recovery from 2026/27 to 2028/29. Landscape Recovery projects that were awarded funding in rounds 1 and 2 are continuing, with the first projects moving into the delivery phase earlier this year. Landscape Recovery is integral to the delivery of Defra’s statutory environmental targets.

Food and Rural Affairs, what her planned timetable is for publication of the rapid review of the Environmental Improvement Plan.

The Government concluded a rapid review of the existing Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP23) and published a statement of the rapid review’s key findings on 30 January 2025. It is our intention to publish a revised EIP in due course, which will be our long-term plan for improving the natural environment and people’s enjoyment of it.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that the Environmental Land Management Landscape Recovery tier continues beyond the current funding round to deliver nature recovery at landscape scale.

The Government reconfirmed its commitment to Environmental Land Management (ELM) schemes in the Autumn 2024 Spending Review. More than £2.7 billion a year will be invested in sustainable farming and nature recovery from 2026/27 to 2028/29. Landscape Recovery projects that were awarded funding in rounds 1 and 2 are continuing, with the first projects moving into the delivery phase earlier this year. Landscape Recovery is integral to the delivery of Defra’s statutory environmental targets.

Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the potential impact of uncertainty about future rounds of the Landscape Recovery tier of Environmental Land Management schemes on farmers’ willingness to engage in long-term nature recovery projects.

The Government reconfirmed its commitment to Environmental Land Management (ELM) schemes in the Autumn 2024 Spending Review. More than £2.7 billion a year will be invested in sustainable farming and nature recovery from 2026/27 to 2028/29. Defra wants Landscape Recovery to work for collaborative groups of farmers delivering ambitious nature recovery at the landscape scale. The Department is pleased the projects currently in the scheme involve over 1,000 land managers, many of which are farmers. As the first projects are entering the implementation phase, farmers are benefitting directly from engaging in long-term nature recovery projects.

Food and Rural Affairs, how many water bodies are classified as failing to meet good ecological status for which the latest data is available; and what steps she is taking to help improve the quality of water in water bodies.

The last full classification update was produced in 2019 when 3893 water bodies of a total of 4651 were failing to meet good ecological status in 2019. The Independent Water Commission, tasked by the Government to produce recommendations to transform how our water system works, delivered its final report 21 July 2025. This included recommendations intended to restore our rivers, lakes and seas to good health for future generations. The Government will respond to the recommendations in full via a White Paper and will introduce a new water reform bill, bringing forward root and branch reform to secure better outcomes for customers, investors and the environment.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that water companies are penalised for (a) repeated illegal sewage discharges and (b) other repeated breaches of environmental regulations.

We will not let companies get away with illegal activity and where breaches are found, the Environment Agency will not hesitate to hold companies to account. The Water (Special Measures) Act provides the most significant increase in enforcement powers to the regulators in a decade, giving regulators the teeth they need to take tougher action against water companies. These include new powers to enable the Environment Agency to recover costs associated with their enforcement of the water industry. A consultation has been launched to expand and strengthen the current range of financial penalties available to the Environment Agency in a bid to clamp down on more offences. Water companies who commit environmental offences could face quicker penalties of up to £500,000, under changes being considered by the government. The Environment Agency has also increased water company inspections to 10,000 per year from April 2025 as part of the Government’s wider focus to hold companies accountable and improve our water environment.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of rising input costs on grain producers.

Cereals and oilseeds are internationally traded commodities, and their supply chains are dynamic and responsive to global market developments. These developments may be influenced by the global market disruption, weather conditions, or currency fluctuations.Support is being provided through the Environmental Land Management schemes, which reward sustainable farming practices and help improve soil health and long-term productivity. These schemes are designed to enhance the resilience and profitability of arable farmers, including those in the cereals sector.The Department is also investing in innovation and research to help farmers adopt more efficient and sustainable practices, such as precision agriculture and crop breeding. Officials continue to monitor market conditions closely and engage regularly with industry to ensure that policy and support remain responsive to the needs of grain producers.In addition, the Government’s food strategy sets out a vision for a more sustainable and competitive food system, including trade that supports British standards and expands export opportunities for UK producers.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of grain imports produced to standards lower than those required in the UK on domestic producers.

The UK has a highly resilient food supply chain. For the cereal crops that are produced domestically, the UK has been over 80% self-sufficient for a number of years. Due to environmental and climate conditions the UK milling industry require a certain level of imports of high protein milling wheat year on year to meet consumer demand. The Department has not undertaken an assessment of the impact of grain imports produced to standards lower than those required for domestic producers. However, we recognise the importance of maintaining high production standards to protect consumer confidence, food safety, and the competitiveness of British farmers.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of falling grain prices on domestic producers.

Cereals and oilseeds are internationally traded commodities, and their supply chains are dynamic and responsive to global market developments. These developments may be influenced by the global market disruption, weather conditions, or currency fluctuations.Support is being provided through the Environmental Land Management schemes, which reward sustainable farming practices and help improve soil health and long-term productivity. These schemes are designed to enhance the resilience and profitability of arable farmers, including those in the cereals sector.The Department is also investing in innovation and research to help farmers adopt more efficient and sustainable practices, such as precision agriculture and crop breeding. Officials continue to monitor market conditions closely and engage regularly with industry to ensure that policy and support remain responsive to the needs of grain producers.In addition, the Government’s food strategy sets out a vision for a more sustainable and competitive food system, including trade that supports British standards and expands export opportunities for UK producers.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to support grain producers.

Cereals and oilseeds are internationally traded commodities, and their supply chains are dynamic and responsive to global market developments. These developments may be influenced by the global market disruption, weather conditions, or currency fluctuations.Support is being provided through the Environmental Land Management schemes, which reward sustainable farming practices and help improve soil health and long-term productivity. These schemes are designed to enhance the resilience and profitability of arable farmers, including those in the cereals sector.The Department is also investing in innovation and research to help farmers adopt more efficient and sustainable practices, such as precision agriculture and crop breeding. Officials continue to monitor market conditions closely and engage regularly with industry to ensure that policy and support remain responsive to the needs of grain producers.In addition, the Government’s food strategy sets out a vision for a more sustainable and competitive food system, including trade that supports British standards and expands export opportunities for UK producers.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of reduced milling premiums on farmers.

The Department has not conducted an assessment of the impact of reduced milling premiums on farmers. However, the Government recognises that fluctuations in quality-based market premiums, including those for milling wheat can affect farm incomes and business resilience.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of extending enforcement powers to cover incidents where dogs are not kept under control in public before they become dangerously out of control.

The police and local authorities have a range of powers available to tackle dangerous dogs and irresponsible dog ownership across all breeds of dog. Defra is working with the police, local authorities and animal welfare groups to encourage responsible dog ownership, to ensure dog control issues are addressed before they escalate and to make sure the full force of the law is applied. As part of this work, we reconvened the Responsible Dog Ownership taskforce to explore measures to promote responsible dog ownership, including the consideration of enforcement. We look forward to receiving the findings and recommendations from the taskforce in due course.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to review the Weeds Act 1959.

The Government regularly monitors the effectiveness of its legislation. At present we are not planning to review the Weeds Act 1959.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to prevent executives from water companies that have been sanctioned for releasing sewage into waterways from receiving bonuses.

The Government is clear that transformative change across the water sector is needed to clean up our rivers, lakes and seas, and modernise the sector for decades to come. Unfair bonuses have been banned under new powers given to Ofwat within the Water (Special Measures) Act which came into force on 06 June. Under Ofwat’s rules, companies are not permitted to pay bonuses to water bosses that oversee poor environmental and customer outcomes. This delivers on a key manifesto commitment and has been backdated to apply to any bonuses relating to the financial year from April last year. Additional information can be found at GOV.UK.

Food and Rural Affairs, what his planned timetable is for enacting Schedule 3 of the Flood and Water Management Act 2010 to (a) make sustainable drainage systems mandatory and (b) remove the automatic right to connect to public sewage infrastructure.

This Government is strongly committed to requiring standardised Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) in new developments. These should be to designs that cope with changing climatic conditions as well as delivering wider water infrastructure benefits, offer reuse opportunities, reduce run off and help to improve water quality, amenity, and biodiversity. It is also important to ensure appropriate adoption and maintenance arrangements are in place.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department plans to take to ensure that local water companies promptly implement new requirements following the enactment of Schedule 3 of the Flood and Water Management Act 2010.

This Government is strongly committed to requiring standardised Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) in new developments. These should be to designs that cope with changing climatic conditions as well as delivering wider water infrastructure benefits, offer reuse opportunities, reduce run off and help to improve water quality, amenity, and biodiversity. It is also important to ensure appropriate adoption and maintenance arrangements are in place.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department plans to allocate additional funding to upgrade sewage infrastructure in (a) rural and (b) suburban communities impacted by frequent overflows.

Ofwat’s final determinations for Price Review 2024 (PR24) set out a £104 billion upgrade for the water sector. Water companies are investing over £11 billion in PR24, a record amount, to improve nearly 3,000 storm overflows across England and Wales over the next five years. For England, this equates to over £10bn to improve over 2,500 storm overflows. The PR24 investment package also includes £6 billion to remove nutrients from water bodies.

Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Business and Trade on requiring imports of (a) eggs, (b) pork and (c) fur to meet UK animal welfare standards to be permitted for (i) import and (ii) sale in the UK.

Ministers and officials meet regularly to address these important topics. The Government shares the public’s high regard for the UK’s environmental protections, food standards and animal welfare. We will promote robust standards nationally and internationally and will always consider whether overseas produce has an unfair advantage. All agri-food products must comply with our import requirements in order to be placed on the UK market. This includes ensuring imported meat products have been slaughtered to animal welfare standards equivalent to our domestic standards. The Government recognises the concerns about imports produced using methods not permitted in the UK. We have been clear that we will use our Trade Strategy to support economic growth and promote the highest standards of food production.