Written questions by Wrigley.

Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to respond to Question 34414 on Climate and Nature Bill, tabled by the hon. Member for Newton Abbot on 27 February 2025.

Question 34414 was answered on 3 April 2025.

Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 19 March 2025 to Question 36240 on Zoos: Animal Breeding, how many civil servants are working on negotiating a UK-EU Sanitary and Phyto-Sanitary agreement.

On 19 May the UK and EU announced the terms of the Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Agreement that we will now negotiate, in addition to the Government announcing recent deals with India and the USA, and further deals in the pipeline. These deals will make agrifood trade with key markets cheaper and easier, cutting costs and red tape for British producers and retailers, and boosting exports. Defra’s trade staff work flexibly across trade deals according to demand.

Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 1 April to 2025 to Question 41338 on Nature Restoration Fund, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of a long term plan to help protect irreplaceable (a) peatlands and (b) ancient woodlands.

This Government is committed to protecting our irreplaceable peatlands. That's why we are investing £400 million to protect and restore nature, including our peatlands and trees including ancient woodlands. We have large ambitions to restore hundreds of thousands of hectares of peatlands across the country, and we are working to ensure that we have the most effective mechanisms in place to go further than we have before. Defra recently conducted and published a review into how ancient woodland and ancient and veteran trees are protected by the National Planning Policy Framework. This revealed that the policy is not being consistently implemented and we are looking at how this can be improved. Defra is also currently revising the Environmental Improvement Plan, which includes actions to protect ancient woodlands.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to support the Climate and Nature Bill.

This Government is absolutely committed to tackling the climate and nature crises. We do not believe that more legislation is needed in the areas of climate and nature, where there is already a well-developed legislative framework, especially the Climate Change Act and the Environment Act. In accordance with parliamentary convention, the Government will set out its formal position on this Bill when its Second Reading debate is scheduled to resume.

Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to answer Question 38216, tabled on 13 March 2025.

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Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to answer Question 34414, tabled on 27 February 2025.

Question 34414 was answered on 3 April 2025.

Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to answer Question 38211, tabled on 13 March 2025.

Question 38211 was answered on 8 April 2025.

Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to answer Question 36241, tabled on 6 March.

An answer to Question 36241 was provided on 25 April 2025.

Food and Rural Affairs, what information his Department holds on the number of 16-week old puppies brought into the UK for animal testing purposes in the latest period for which data is available.

Defra does not hold the data requested. Imports data drawn down from the import of products, animals, food and feed system (IPAFFS) does not record the age of the animal. The Home Office assures that, in every research proposal, animals are replaced with non-animal alternatives wherever possible, the number of animals are reduced to the minimum necessary to achieve the result sought, and that, for those animals which must be used, procedures are refined as much as possible to minimise their suffering. Dogs are a specially protected species under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986. The Home Office will only grant a project licence for a programme of work using dogs where the purpose of the programme of work specified in the licence can only be achieved by their use, or where it is not practicable to obtain other suitable animals.

Food and Rural Affairs, if he will take steps to reintroduce the Government's £50 reduction for customers of South West Water.

The taxpayer-funded contribution to the water and sewerage bills of South West Water (SWW) household customers ended on 31 March 2025. The rebate was originally introduced in 2013 because SWW customers faced significantly higher water bills than customers in other regions due to the level of investment the company was required to make in the region’s infrastructure to meet environmental and water quality standards. Over the last decade the difference between water bills in the South West region and others has decreased. Over the next Price Review period (2025-2029) Ofwat’s latest projections are that SWW customers will have similar bills to those in other regions. The Government is committed to taking action to address water poverty and help vulnerable customers with their water bills. All water companies have measures in place for people who struggle to pay for their water and wastewater services, including measures such as WaterSure, social tariffs, payment breaks and holidays, and debt management support. We expect all water companies to proactively engage with their customers to ensure they know what support schemes are available and how to use them.

Food and Rural Affairs, if his Department will take steps to review its policy on the private ownership model of South West Water.

The Government has no intention to nationalise water companies, including South West Water. Such a process would significantly stall much needed investment, leaving sewage pollution only to get worse. Nationalising the water industry would put a huge burden on the public purse and would not fix the root of the problem. Shareholders and debt holders would need to be compensated, which could cost over an estimated £90 billion based on Ofwat’s Regulatory Capital Value (RCV) 2024 figures for companies in England and Wales. This Government has already shown we will take the necessary action with the introduction of our landmark piece of legislation, the Water (Special Measures) Act, and the Independent Water Commission which will make recommendations to ensure we have a sufficiently robust and stable regulatory framework to attract the investment needed to clean up our waterways, speed up infrastructure delivery and restore public confidence in the sector.

Food and Rural Affairs, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to make importing dogs with cropped ears illegal.

The Government recently announced its support for the Animal Welfare (Import of Dogs, Cats and Ferrets) Bill, a Private Members’ Bill sponsored by the hon. Member for Winchester. The Bill will give the Government powers to prevent the supply of low-welfare pets to the United Kingdom. We will use these powers to prohibit the bringing into Great Britain of dogs with non-exempted mutilations such as cropped ears. We are fully supportive of this Bill and would like to see it pass through both Houses as soon as Parliamentary time allows.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to reduce dog bites in the UK.

Defra continues to work with the police, local authorities and animal welfare groups to explore measures to reduce dog attacks and promote responsible dog ownership across all breeds of dog.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the nature restoration fund on (a) peatlands, (b) ancient woodlands and (c) other irreplaceable habitats.

The Planning and Infrastructure Bill provides an opportunity to accelerate housebuilding and infrastructure delivery by using development to fund nature recovery. This will create a win-win outcome, benefitting both the economy and nature, where both are currently stalled. The Nature Restoration Fund (NRF) will offer an alternative way for developers to discharge existing environmental obligations related to protected sites and species, without reducing overall levels of environmental protection. The Bill sets out that the specific environmental obligations which may be in scope of Environmental Delivery Plans in future are only those stemming from the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017, the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, or the Protection of Badgers Act 1992. The National Planning Policy Framework makes clear that development resulting in the loss or deterioration of irreplaceable habitats, which includes ancient woodland and ancient and veteran trees, as well as blanket bog and lowland fen (which are peatland habitats), should be refused, unless there are wholly exceptional reasons and a suitable compensation strategy exists. These protections will continue to apply.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of trends in the level of agri-environmental scheme investment in Dartmoor National Park since 2015.

Data related to the boundaries of the Dartmoor National Park is not held. The Government’s commitment to our farmers remains steadfast. In the budget in October 2024, we committed £5 billion to the farming budget over two years. This means more money than ever for sustainable food production and agri-environmental schemes across the country, including Dartmoor. We are funding around 38,000 live Sustainable Farming Incentive agreements, increased payments under Higher Level Stewardship, and Round 1 and 2 Landscape Recovery projects. We are also funding new Higher Tier agreements and Capital Grants, both of which open or re-open to applications later this year.

Food and Rural Affairs, further to his Department's policy paper, Government response to the independent review of protected site management on Dartmoor: full report, published 11 April 2024, if he will increase investment in agri-environmental funds for Dartmoor National Park.

In response to the independent review, Defra has set up the new Dartmoor Land Use Management Group (DLUMG). The group is now working to implement the 25 recommendations attributed to it in the government response. This Government is proud to have secured the largest budget for sustainable food production in our country’s history. We remain committed to investing £5 billion of funding in the farming budget this year and next (£2.6 billion for 24/25 and the £2.4 billion for 25/26, as previously announced). We are on track to spend all the funding that is available. We are supporting Dartmoor and other upland areas through a range of grants and schemes. We have extended the Farming in Protected Landscapes programme with an additional £30 million of funding. We plan to launch the new Higher Tier scheme later this year, and Capital Grants will re-open in summer 2025. We continue to move forward with Landscape Recovery; and we are increasing payment rates for Higher Level Stewardship (HLS) agreement holders to recognise their ongoing commitment to delivering environmental outcome. The budget for future years will be set in phase 2 of the Spending Review.

Food and Rural Affairs, if he will provide funding to support the electrification of UK fishing fleets.

The UK Shipping Office for Reducing Emissions programme in the Department for Transport has opened a round of funding for feasibility studies and pre-deployment trials into clean maritime solutions, with fishing vessels in scope.

Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 6 March 2025 to Question 34339 on Fisheries: civil servants, if he will assign civil servants to work on trade and co-operation agreements with the fishing industry.

Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) is the title of the 2020 agreement between the United Kingdom and European Union rather than a generic concept which Defra works on with the fishing industry. In respect of whether the Government will assign civil servants to work on aspects of the UK-EU TCA affecting the fishing industry, I ref the hon. Member to the reply previously given to the hon. Member for Torbay on 6 March 2025, 34339.

Food and Rural Affairs, how long a period of notice was given to stakeholders before the closure of SFI.

To ensure fair access, and to avoid the risk of overspend, we could not give any advance notice to avoid creating a sudden increase in the level of demand. Whilst we aim to give notice where possible (and we are aware the application service mentioned this intention of 6 weeks’ notice), there was no requirement in the scheme rules for SFI24 for us to give any notice before we closed applications.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to open capital grants in summer 2025.

The Environmental Land Management standalone Capital Grant will re-open in the summer. Other grant schemes, including Higher Tier Capital Grants and Protection and infrastructure grants are open now.