Written questions by Holden.

Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the answer of 4 March 2026 to Question 11458 on Clean Air Zones, whether she plans to redraft the Clean Air Zone Framework to require compliance with PM2.5 targets.

Awaiting answer.

Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Answer of 13 April 2026 to Question 123377 on Nitrogen Dioxide: Pollution Control, when her Department plans to place a breakdown of the NO2 programme expenditure on local authority grants in the House of Commons Library.

Awaiting answer.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether she plans to take legislative steps to improve access to nature.

Awaiting answer.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of the European Commission’s support for grazing and the controlled burning of vegetation as measures to reduce wildfire risk.

Awaiting answer.

Food and Rural Affairs, when the consultation on licensing domestic rescue and rehoming organisations will be launched; and what her planned timetable is for its conclusion and response.

The Animal Welfare strategy sets out Government priorities until 2030. Policies will be delivered throughout this time. Next steps on the consultation will be announced in due course.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether a written assessment of the commercial impact on existing private sector BNG technology providers was completed before the Alpha phase of contract C24064 was approved.

The statutory Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) metric is a Government‑owned tool and is currently only available to users in spreadsheet format. The existing tool has well‑recognised issues relating to accessibility, usability, and data integrity, which the Government's digitisation project will address. Contract C24064 is for Application Development Services and provides digital specialist support and programme delivery capability. The Discovery phase of the BNG metric digitisation project explored a wide range of user needs and potential options and does not represent a delivery commitment. Discovery reports are not routinely published but can be made available on request. Defra first became aware of written representations from private sector companies alleging procedural irregularities in the BNG metric digitisation procurement on 4 March 2026. Checks were undertaken to make sure the work is following due process. User research activities conducted during the Discovery phase were reviewed and found to be compliant with Government standards for research, and therefore further advice has not been sought. We are keen to work with private sector BNG technology providers to ensure digitisation of the BNG metric is a success.

Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 20 January 2026 to Question 105309 on Animal Welfare, when her Department plans to launch the consultation on licensing domestic rescue and rehoming organisations.

The Government has committed to launch a consultation on licensing domestic rescue and rehoming organisations, as set out in the Animal Welfare Strategy published on 22 December 2025. This will be delivered in due course and will seek views from all those with an interest.

Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 26 March 2026 to Question 122592 on Electric Vehicles: Hire Services, whether her Department plans to break down the data by owned fleet and hired vehicles.

Data for the Greening Government Commitments framework for 2021-25, including the Government Fleet Commitment (GFC), was collected by Defra and published on GOV.UK. Reporting for the GFC was required for both owned fleet and hired vehicles as set out in the published reporting requirements. For the status of the next set of Greening Government Commitments I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 26 February 2026 to the hon. Member for Bristol Central, PQ UIN 114247.

Food and Rural Affairs, when she plans to complete the review of the Greening Government Commitments, including the Government fleet commitment.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 26 February to the hon. Member for Bristol Central to PQ UIN 114247.

Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 26 March 2026 to Question 122592 on Electric Vehicles: Hire Services, when the review of the Greening Government Commitments framework will be completed.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 26 February to the hon. Member for Bristol Central to PQ UIN 114247.

Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the answer of 16 March 2026 to Question 119491, if she will break down the £478 million whole-life cost of the NO2 Programme by (a) funding stream, including the Implementation Fund, Clean Air Fund and administrative costs, (b) local authority scheme and (c) individual project; and how much has been (i) allocated, (ii) committed and (iii) spent.

The Department for Transport provides all capital funding and a small amount of resource funding.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department has considered amending section 30 of the Countryside Act 1968 to permit equestrians to use rights of way currently designated as footpaths; what assessment she has made of the potential impact of such an amendment on access for horse riders to the countryside; and what assessment she has made of the level of the administrative workload associated with upgrading footpaths to bridleways through the existing rights of way modification process.

The Government has no plans to amend section 30 of the Countryside Act 1968 to permit equestrian use of footpaths and as such, has not assessed the potential im-pact of this change.Defra has not made a specific assessment of the administrative workload associated with upgrading footpaths to bridleways through the definitive map modification order process. Applications are considered by local authorities in the first instance. Where orders are made and objections are received, they may be referred to the Planning Inspectorate (PINS) for determination, which can extend the time taken to reach a de-cision. Timescales vary depending on factors such as complexity and the presence of objections, and local authorities and PINS may also have a backlog of applications.

Food and Rural Affairs, what her long-term strategy is for reducing sewage discharges from storm overflows; and what targets, timelines and investment requirements have been set for water companies to deliver those reductions.

To deliver on the Government’s Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction Plan, we are expecting £60 billion of investment to be delivered across England by 2050. 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. This investment will be targeted at those affecting the most sensitive sites for ecological and human health. We want to better address the root causes of pollution head on, by shifting the focus towards ‘pre-pipe’ solutions, such as rainwater management and tackling sewer misuse. These changes are more sustainable and will deliver wider benefits such as reducing flood risk and increasing biodiversity. To enable this shift, we will ensure legislation, funding streams and regulatory mechanisms support the delivery of pre-pipe solutions.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether the Government plans to publish a new set of Greening Government Commitments to succeed the commitments covering April 2021 to March 2024.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 26 February to the hon. Member for Bristol Central, PQ UIN 114247.

Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to page 17 of the report by the National Audit Office entitled Department for Transport overview 2024-25, published in November 2025, what the £478 million whole-life cost of the NO2 Programme comprises, by project, programme and local authority scheme; and how much of that cost has been spent to date.

The Department for Transport (DfT) spend on the NO2 Programme up to the end of financial year 2024/25 was £450m.

Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 13 February 2026 to Question 110886 on Roads: Biodiversity, in what month the biodiversity net gain impact assessment for Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects will be published.

The Government intends to publish the biodiversity net gain impact assessment for nationally significant infrastructure projects soon.

Food and Rural Affairs, how many pet microchip databases are authorised for use in England; what regulatory oversight she exercises over (i) pricing structures, (ii) subscription models and (iii) data access arrangements operated by microchip database providers; what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the number of commercial microchip database operators on animal welfare and pet theft prevention; and whether she has considered establishing a statutory framework to require (a) interoperability and (b) a mandatory central lookup facility across approved databases.

Since the introduction of compulsory dog microchipping in 2016, the number of compliant database operators has increased from four to 24. While this gives consumers more choice, it has made it harder for authorised users to access records quickly. Defra is working with the Association of Microchip Database Operators (AMDO) to develop improvements to how the microchipping regime operates. AMDO is currently testing industry‑led solutions that will give authorised users digital access to database information through a single point of search. Pet microchipping databases are operated by commercial providers and Defra does not regulate how much they charge for their services. However, all compliant database operators must ensure that they can redirect an online request for a microchip record to the database operator that holds the record. Defra monitors compliance with these requirements and will act where a database operator is failing to meet them. Defra has not assessed the potential impact of the number of pet microchip databases on reunification times or enforcement under the Pet Abduction Act 2024.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether she plans to introduce a Central Microchip Portal to enable authorised users, including (i) veterinary professionals, (ii) local authorities, (iii) animal wardens and (iv) police forces, to conduct secure cross-database microchip lookups; and what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the number of separate pet microchip databases on (a) reunification times for lost and stolen pets and (b) enforcement under the Pet Abduction Act 2024.

Since the introduction of compulsory dog microchipping in 2016, the number of compliant database operators has increased from four to 24. While this gives consumers more choice, it has made it harder for authorised users to access records quickly. Defra is working with the Association of Microchip Database Operators (AMDO) to develop improvements to how the microchipping regime operates. AMDO is currently testing industry‑led solutions that will give authorised users digital access to database information through a single point of search. Pet microchipping databases are operated by commercial providers and Defra does not regulate how much they charge for their services. However, all compliant database operators must ensure that they can redirect an online request for a microchip record to the database operator that holds the record. Defra monitors compliance with these requirements and will act where a database operator is failing to meet them. Defra has not assessed the potential impact of the number of pet microchip databases on reunification times or enforcement under the Pet Abduction Act 2024.

Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate her Department has made of the level of import of (a) maize, (b) oilseed rape, (c) ethanol and (d) wheat in each of the next five years.

Imports supplement domestic production and ensure any disruption from risks such as adverse weather or disease do not affect the UK's overall security of food supply. The UK agricultural sector is highly resilient and adaptable and operates in an open market where the value of commodities is established by those in the supply chain. For cereals crops produced domestically, including wheat, barley, oats, and oil seed, the UK has continuously been over 80% self-sufficient in domestic production for the past 20 years. In 2023, estimates indicate 76% of the crop-derived bioethanol for road transport originated from crops grown outside the UK. An estimated 24% originated from crops grown in the UK, which was mainly made up of bioethanol derived from UK-grown wheat. From recent UK supply and demand estimates produced by the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board, data suggests a competitive demand for domestic feed grains has been offsetting maize imports. Defra does not maintain any estimates of expected levels of imports over the coming years. The level of imports will vary from year to year depending on market needs and disruption to domestic production.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that UK producers are not disadvantaged by lower-standard imports.

As the Secretary of State set out at the NFU Conference, the first meeting of the new Farming and Food Partnership Board will take place in March. This represents a reset of the relationship between government and the farming and food sectors, and will develop sector plans, which target growth. All agri-food products must comply with the UK’s sanitary and phytosanitary standards and wider import requirements in order to be placed on the UK market. Products produced to different environmental and animal welfare standards can be placed on the UK market if they comply with these requirements. This has always been the case and includes products from the EU and other longstanding trading partners. As set out in the UK’s Trade Strategy, this Government will not lower food standards and will uphold high animal welfare standards. The Government recognises concerns about methods of production which are not permitted in the UK. While production methods vary in line with different climates, diseases and other contextual reasons, the Government will always consider whether overseas produce has an unfair advantage and any impact that may have. Where necessary, this Government will be prepared to use the full range of powers at the Government’s disposal to protect the UK’s most sensitive sectors.