Written questions by Hobhouse.

Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Animal Welfare Strategy published on 22 December 2025, if she will extend the strategy to include the welfare of marine mammals hunted in the Faroe Islands that also inhabit UK waters.

We remain committed to meeting our international obligations and continue to have concerns about the welfare and sustainability of these hunts. In December 2025 we published the UK Cetacean Conservation Strategy with devolved governments. This includes species hunted in the Faroe Islands and aims to improve the conservation status of cetaceans in UK waters. UK ministers and officials consistently call for an end to cetacean hunts in the Faroe Islands. As Chair of the International Whaling Commission’s Conservation Committee and Intersessional Working Group on Welfare, the UK promotes stronger protection and improved welfare for small cetaceans.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the implications of Faroese cetacean hunting for (a) international marine conservation and (b) biodiversity agreements.

We remain committed to meeting our international obligations and continue to have concerns about the welfare and sustainability of these hunts. In December 2025 we published the UK Cetacean Conservation Strategy with devolved governments. This includes species hunted in the Faroe Islands and aims to improve the conservation status of cetaceans in UK waters. UK ministers and officials consistently call for an end to cetacean hunts in the Faroe Islands. As Chair of the International Whaling Commission’s Conservation Committee and Intersessional Working Group on Welfare, the UK promotes stronger protection and improved welfare for small cetaceans.

Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Government consultation response of 12 June 2025 on fairer food labelling, whether she has assessed the potential merits of mandating country-of-origin labelling for (a) fish and; (b) seafood products imported from the Faroe Islands.

Food labelling rules require country of origin information for some fish products. The Government has not undertaken a specific assessment of mandating country of origin labelling requirements for fish or seafood products imported from the Faroe Islands in cases where it is not already required. Food labelling requirements are kept under review to ensure they provide clear information for consumers, while remaining proportionate and consistent with wider regulatory and trade considerations. Defra officials continue to look at how the origin for food products may be better highlighted to ensure consumers can make informed choices wherever they purchase food.

Food and Rural Affairs, when she intends to publish the Circular Economy Growth Plan; and what opportunity stakeholders will have to formally respond to plan.

This Government remains committed to transitioning towards a circular economy and driving economic growth. This is why we will publish our Circular Economy Growth Plan in the new year that sets out how government will deliver a more circular and more prosperous economy. The Circular Economy Taskforce has undertaken extensive engagement with industry leaders, trade associations, and other key stakeholders to ensure that the circular transition reflects the needs and insights of all. We will engage stakeholders, including through consultation, on the interventions set out in the Growth Plan after publication.

Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer, on the potential impact of the circular economy on local economic growth.

This Government’s commitment to transitioning towards a circular economy builds a path to economic growth, progress towards Net Zero, restoration of nature, and creates a more resilient economy with investment in green jobs and vital infrastructure. The UK’s existing circular industries deliver £67 billion to the economy, and industry estimates indicate that the ongoing reforms in the packaging sector alone have the potential to support an estimated 21,000 new jobs and stimulate over £10 billion of investment in recycling capability over the next ten years. We will publish a plan for delivering the Government’s circular economy ambitions in the coming months and the action plan will set out the biggest opportunities to support growth in sectors right across the economy, including: agri-food; built environment; chemicals and plastics; electrical and electronic equipment; textiles; and transport. We also convened a Circular Economy Taskforce of experts to help us with this – they have undertaken extensive engagement with industry leaders, trade associations, and other key stakeholders to ensure that the needs and opportunities for all are considered.

Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions her Department has had with PackUK on the role of the Producer Responsibility Organisation in setting expectations for (a) the sorting of collected materials and (b) mechanisms which could support consistent recovery across different local authorities and MRFs.

The Department is working with PackUK to appoint a Producer Responsibility Organisation (PRO) which will be responsible for administering certain elements of the pEPR scheme. The sorting of collected materials and consistent collections is not within PackUKs remit, so no discussions have taken place so far on the involvement of the PRO in this area. We are working with WRAP (Waste and Resources Action Programme) and waste industry representatives to support MRF (Materials Recovery Facility) readiness for the Simpler Recycling requirements in England.

Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the potential for private investment in the circular economy.

This Government’s commitment to transitioning towards a circular economy builds a path to economic growth, progress towards Net Zero, restoration of nature, and creates a more resilient economy with investment in green jobs and vital infrastructure. The UK’s existing circular industries deliver £67 billion to the economy, and industry estimates indicate that the ongoing reforms in the packaging sector alone have the potential to support an estimated 21,000 new jobs and stimulate over £10 billion of investment in recycling capability over the next ten years. We will publish a plan for delivering the Government’s circular economy ambitions in the coming months and the action plan will set out the biggest opportunities to support growth in sectors right across the economy, including: agri-food; built environment; chemicals and plastics; electrical and electronic equipment; textiles; and transport. We also convened a Circular Economy Taskforce of experts to help us with this – they have undertaken extensive engagement with industry leaders, trade associations, and other key stakeholders to ensure that the needs and opportunities for all are considered.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of the lack of sorting requirements of collected materials under Simpler Recycling on recycling rates.

As part of the Simpler Recycling reforms, the Government has made an exemption in regulations to allow local authorities and other waste collectors to co-collect plastic, metal and glass in the same container. This applies in all circumstances without the need to produce a written assessment, based on the evidence that co-collection does not significantly affect the potential for those materials to be recycled. The decision to allow dry materials to be co-collected has been taken based on evidence to indicate that simplifying the number of bins can help increase participation in recycling. Evidence also suggests that fully co-collecting systems (with one mixed dry recycling bin) have the highest levels of contamination (for example, broken glass stuck on paper or soggy paper from the liquid from bottles and cans), and that paper and card are particularly vulnerable to cross-contamination, which will affect the recycling rate. By default, therefore, paper and card should be separately collected from all other dry materials so their potential to be recycled is not reduced.

Food and Rural Affairs, under what circumstances would she consider withdrawing from the Aarhus Convention.

The United Kingdom Government is committed to the effective implementation of its international obligations and has no plans to withdraw from the Aarhus Convention.

Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the introduction of mandatory food waste reporting.

The Secretary of State has regular discussions with Cabinet colleagues on a range of issues. No recent discussions have taken place between the Secretary of State and Cabinet colleagues on the subject of mandatory food waste reporting. This Government has announced the development of a food strategy as well as its plans to publish a Circular Economy Strategy for England. Defra recognises the importance of reducing food waste in the supply chain and as this work is developed, the evidence for action will be considered as we evaluate what interventions may be needed, including the potential introduction of a mandatory food waste reporting requirement for large food businesses.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of proposed changes to Agricultural Property Relief on the (a) Agricultural Transition Plan and (b) Food Security Strategy.

The Agricultural Transition Plan was the policy of the previous Government and covers the period 2021 to 2024. This Government remains committed to supporting the farming industry by carrying on the transition away from payment for land ownership and towards paying to deliver public goods for the environment. This is why we are investing £5 billion of funding in the farming budget which this Government secured over a two-year period for sustainable farming and nature. More than 50,000 farm businesses and more than half of all farmed land is now being managed in Environmental Land Management (ELM) schemes, including over 38,000 multi-year live Sustainable Farming Incentive agreements covering 4.3 million hectares of land. The food strategy is about working through partnership across the food system and Government to make our food system one that we can be proud of, protects British traditions, grows the economy, improves people’s health and strengthens food security. We are in the process of developing outcomes and delivery mechanisms for the food strategy, through a programme of stakeholder engagement, alongside expert advice and partnership across Government and the four nations.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to prevent priority habitat grasslands from being destroyed by being entered into the Sustainable Farming Incentive herbal ley action (CSAM3) in future years.

The published Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) CSAM3 herbal ley guidance protects priority habitat grassland by explicitly stating that the only eligible land types are arable, temporary grassland and improved permanent grassland. It also notes that Priority Habitats are protected by the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) (Agriculture) Regulations, and that permission would be needed from Natural England before undertaking any activities which ‘increase the productivity of 2 hectares or more of uncultivated land or semi-natural areas – such as ploughing, applying fertilisers, sowing seed, converting grassland to arable, and clearing scrub or vegetation’. We estimate that 202ha (0.15%) of species-rich priority habitat grassland and 720ha (0.91%) of good quality semi-improved grassland have herbal leys somewhere within the land parcels. There is some uncertainty in this estimate as it will depend at more detailed scale whether a portion of a land parcel contains priority grassland. Implementing herbal leys on part of a land parcel which is not priority habitat could be done without damaging a different part of the same land parcel which is priority habitat grassland. Where the existing priority habitat sward contains the mix of species required for a herbal ley it is entirely possible the existing management is continuing, avoiding any damage to the priority habitat. We continue to monitor the situation while developing improved guidance for where and how to implement herbal leys, as well as signposting to more appropriate SFI actions for grasslands with potential to become species rich.

Food and Rural Affairs, what proportion of the total land entered into the Sustainable Farming Incentive herbal ley action (CSAM3) has been on priority habitat grassland; and how many hectares of priority habitat grassland is this.

The published Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) CSAM3 herbal ley guidance protects priority habitat grassland by explicitly stating that the only eligible land types are arable, temporary grassland and improved permanent grassland. It also notes that Priority Habitats are protected by the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) (Agriculture) Regulations, and that permission would be needed from Natural England before undertaking any activities which ‘increase the productivity of 2 hectares or more of uncultivated land or semi-natural areas – such as ploughing, applying fertilisers, sowing seed, converting grassland to arable, and clearing scrub or vegetation’. We estimate that 202ha (0.15%) of species-rich priority habitat grassland and 720ha (0.91%) of good quality semi-improved grassland have herbal leys somewhere within the land parcels. There is some uncertainty in this estimate as it will depend at more detailed scale whether a portion of a land parcel contains priority grassland. Implementing herbal leys on part of a land parcel which is not priority habitat could be done without damaging a different part of the same land parcel which is priority habitat grassland. Where the existing priority habitat sward contains the mix of species required for a herbal ley it is entirely possible the existing management is continuing, avoiding any damage to the priority habitat. We continue to monitor the situation while developing improved guidance for where and how to implement herbal leys, as well as signposting to more appropriate SFI actions for grasslands with potential to become species rich.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to help ensure the enforcement of the single-use plastics ban.

The Government recognises farmers’ concerns about imports produced using methods not permitted in the UK. We have been clear that we will use our Trade Strategy to promote the highest food production standards.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether (a) Ministers and (b) officials in his Department have had discussions with His Majesty's Treasury on the Government's response to the consultation on Plastic Packaging Tax - chemical recycling and adoption of a mass balance approach, published on 18 July 2023.

Yes. Officials in Defra work closely with HM Treasury colleagues. We are aware that the Treasury has committed to publishing a response to the consultation before the end of this year.