Written questions by McMurdock.

Food and Rural Affairs, what plans she has to ensure the safe disposal of electric vehicle batteries at the end of their life.

Electric vehicle (EV) batteries are classed as industrial batteries under the Waste Batteries and Accumulators Regulations 2009, which requires producers of industrial batteries to offer free take back upon request from end users. The Office of Product Safety and Standards is the regulator for waste industrial batteries and investigates reported instances of failure by producers to take back end of life EV batteries. The Government is committed to effective end-of-life management for batteries and is engaging with industry and other stakeholders to inform a review of the UK batteries regulations, including obligations on producer responsibility for end-of-life EV batteries.

Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to her Department’s press release entitled Clearer rules to support councils in fight against litter louts, published on 3 March 2026, what additional funding and resources her Department has provided to local authorities to support enforcement of littering offences.

To support local councils to make good use of their fixed penalty powers for littering the Government has laid new Statutory Guidance, “Litter enforcement powers: when and how to use them” in Parliament. Local councils will need to have regard to this guidance when using their powers. This guidance is available at: Litter enforcement powers: when and how to use them - GOV.UK The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs will be issuing a small grant payment to local authorities in England to support them to familiarise themselves with the Litter Enforcement Guidance.The Government has also laid the ‘Code of Practice on Litter and Refuse statutory guidance in Parliament which outlines the standards expected of local authorities and other duty bodies (e.g. National Highways) with regards to their duty to keep their land clear of litter and refuse. This guidance can be found on: Code of practice on litter and refuse - GOV.UK.

Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to her Department’s press release entitled Clearer rules to support councils in fight against litter louts, published on 3 March 2026, how many penalties have been issued for littering from vehicles in each of the last five years.

The Government does not hold this data.

Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to her Department’s press release entitled Clearer rules to support councils in fight against litter louts, published on 3 March 2026, what estimate she has made of the number of fixed penalty notices expected to be issued annually under the revised litter enforcement guidance.

The Government has not made an assessment on the number of fixed penalty notices expected to be issued annually under the revised litter enforcement guidance.

Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to her Department’s press release entitled Clearer rules to support councils in fight against litter louts, published on 3 March 2026, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of increasing the maximum on-the-spot fine for littering to £500 in deterring littering offences.

Local councils already have legal powers to issue a fixed penalty (on-the-spot fine) of up to £500 for littering offences.

Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to her Department’s press release entitled Clearer rules to support councils in fight against litter louts, published on 3 March 2026, what guidance her Department has issued to local authorities on the use of private enforcement companies in relation to littering offences.

The ‘Litter enforcement powers – when and how to use them’ states that in no circumstances should enforcement be considered a means to raise revenue. In addition, it is crucial that councils are transparent about why a fixed penalty has been issued and they must be satisfied that the fixed penalty notice in question is appropriate and proportionate to the circumstances. Any perception that enforcement activity is being used intentionally to generate income is likely to undermine the legitimacy of the enforcement regime in the eyes of the local community, which may diminish the deterrent effect.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of trends in the level of repeat fly-tipping hotspots.

Local authorities in England are required to report fly-tipping incidents and enforcement action, such as prosecutions, to Defra, which the department have published annually since 2012, at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fly-tipping-in-england. Defra does not hold data that allows for trends in more localised fly-tipping hotspots to be monitored.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to review the (a) maximum fines and (b) custodial penalties for fly-tipping offences.

The Government is taking action to clamp down on rogue waste operators by moving the regulation of waste management and transport from a light-touch registration system into environmental permitting. This will introduce tougher background checks for operators and tougher penalties for those who break the law.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps is he taking to help prevent household waste fly-tipping.

The Government is taking action to prevent household waste being fly-tipped by supporting local authorities to make good use of their enforcement powers. Local authorities have powers to take enforcement action against offenders. Anyone caught fly-tipping may be prosecuted which can lead to a significant fine, a community sentence or even imprisonment. Instead of prosecuting, local authorities can choose to issue a fixed penalty notice (on-the-spot fine) of up to £1,000 to fly-tippers and £600 to householders who pass their waste to an unlicensed waste carrier.Following a review of local authorities’ powers to seize and crush vehicles of suspected fly-tippers, we have recently published best practice guidance and case studies on the website of the National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group. This will support councils to make better use of their power to seize vehicles of suspected fly-tippers. An action that could lead to the local authority selling or crushing the vehicle.We are seeking powers in the Crime and Policing Bill to provide statutory fly-tipping enforcement guidance to support councils to consistently, appropriately and effectively exercise these existing powers.Defra chairs the National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group (NFTPG), through which we work with a wide range of interested parties such as local councils, the Environment Agency, National Farmers Union and National Police Chiefs Council, to promote and disseminate good practice with regards to preventing fly-tipping.

Food and Rural Affairs, what proportion of fly-tipping incidents in South Basildon and East Thurrock led to formal enforcement action over the past five years.

Local authorities in England are required to report fly-tipping incidents and enforcement action, such as prosecutions, to Defra, which the department has published annually since 2012, at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fly-tipping-in-england. The data covers trends in the number of fly-tipping incidents, with a breakdown by land type, waste type and size as well as enforcement and prosecution actions undertaken for fly-tipping incidents. However, it does not include a breakdown of enforcement action taken by a constituency or district.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of penalties for fly-tipping in deterring individuals from fly-tipping.

The fly-tipping statistics for England show that local authorities’ enforcement activity has increased in 2024/25 by 8% over 2023/24.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of post-2020 border processes on food import volumes.

The Border Target Operating Model Impact Assessment frames economic analysis around business costs/benefits, check rates, and biosecurity risk. It does not model or quantify changes in food import volumes attributable to the post‑2020/BTOM border processes. Defra publishes statistics on overseas trade of food, feed and drink imports (Chapter 13: Overseas trade - GOV.UK). UK agri‑food import patterns are influenced by various factors, making it difficult to attribute changes to border processes alone. The latest official statistics show that in 2024 the value of UK food, feed and drink imports rose by 6.6% to £64.1 billion, with fresh fruit and vegetable imports increasing 12% over the same period.

Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate her Department has made of the proportion of retail food price inflation since 2020 attributable to changes in trading arrangements with the EU.

Consumer food prices are shaped by a variety of factors, such as agri-food import prices, domestic agricultural prices, domestic labour and manufacturing costs, and Sterling exchange rates. Several of these factors are affected by the UK's trading arrangements with other countries, including the EU. Any changes in food prices can reflect changes in one or more of these elements. Although the Trade and Cooperation Agreement with the EU allows zero tariffs and zero quota trade, leaving the EU Single Market and Customs Union had an impact on agri-food trade. Under the Border Target Operating Model (BTOM), imported consignments of products of animal origin (POAO), and plant and plant products (P&PP), including from the EU, are subject to a range of border controls. Defra estimates the measures introduced through the BTOM would have a minimal impact on consumer food price inflation of less than 0.2 percentage points in total over a 3-year period. The Government is working to agree a Sanitary and Phytosanitary Agreement with the European Union to make agrifood trade with the UK’s biggest trading partner cheaper and easier, cutting costs and red tape for British producers and retailers. Final_Border_Target_Operating_Model.pdf

Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate her Department has made of the proportion of food consumed in the UK that was domestically produced in each of the last five years.

The proportion of UK food consumption that is domestically produced is shown in the below table, for the latest available years. This information is published annually in Defra’s Agriculture in the UK report. 2020202120222023202454%58%58%58%57%

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to increase domestic food production capacity.

This Government allocated a record £11.8bn to sustainable farming and food production over this parliament. It is targeting public money where it delivers most value – supporting nature, because all farms need healthy soils, abundant pollinators, and clean water to produce good food. The Government will continue to invest in our farmers and land managers to make their businesses, food production and our country more sustainable and resilient through Environmental Land Management (ELM). For example, Defra has streamlined the actions available under the SFI26 offer, reducing complexity while still having actions available for all farm types. This means the Government removed around a third of the previous actions – particularly those that weren’t delivering for food production or the environment.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the UK’s vulnerability to external shocks in food supply.

The UK has a resilient food supply chain that is well equipped to deal with situations that have the potential to cause disruption. Defra works closely with industry and across Government to identify and monitor risks to food supply. In compliance with the Agriculture Act 2020, the United Kingdom Food Security Report (UKFSR) is presented to Parliament at least once every three years, most recently in 2024. This examines past, current, and future trends relevant to food security and presents a full and impartial analysis of UK food security. In the intervening years, the UK Food Security Digest (UKFSD) is published containing a selection of summary statistics on issues relevant to a range of aspects of food security, drawn from national and international sources. The most recent report was published on 11 December 2025.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to improve long-term food security.

The Food Sector is one of the UK's 13 Critical National Infrastructure sectors. Defra and the Food Standards Agency (FSA) are joint Lead Government Departments (LGDs), with Defra leading on supply and the FSA on food safety. Defra works closely with the Cabinet Office and other LGDs ensuring food supply is fully incorporated as part of emergency preparedness, including consideration of dependencies on other sectors. Defra works with industry and across Government to monitor risks that may arise. This includes extensive, regular and ongoing engagement in preparedness for, and response to, issues with the potential to cause disruption to food supply chains.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of import-related costs on food prices.

Defra modelling shows consumer food prices are driven by domestic farmgate prices, agricultural and food import prices, exchange rates and manufacturing costs. ONS input producer price inflation rates for domestic and imported food inputs were 2.1% and 1.2% respectively in January 2026. This compares with 1.7% and -3.1% in January 2025. Import prices are driven by movements in global commodity markets. For example, cocoa prices have risen strongly since 2024 following poor weather conditions in West Africa and contributed to UK chocolate prices rising 14.7% higher in January 2026 compared to the previous year. The Institute of Grocery Distribution (IGD)’s latest forecast, published November 2025, suggests that they expect food price inflation to peak at 4.3% at the start of 2026 and average 3.8% over 2026.

Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to her Department’s press release entitled UK beef hits US shelves tariff-free for the first time – cutting costs for UK businesses, published on 2 March 2026, what assessment her Department has made of the animal welfare standards applied to the beef imports from the United States included in the 13,000 tonne quota referenced in the press release.

Through the UK-US Economic Prosperity Deal (EPD) negotiations, the UK has agreed preferential trading terms with the US in a range of sectors. This includes an exclusive reciprocal 13,000 tonne quota for beef. The quota is now open and worth up to £70 million a year if fully utilised. Hormone treated beef remains banned and is not permitted to enter the UK. All agri-food products must comply with the UK’s high 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.

Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to her Department’s press release entitled UK beef hits US shelves tariff-free for the first time – cutting costs for UK businesses, published on 2 March 2026, what assessment her Department has made of the hygiene standards applied to the beef imports from the United States included in the 13,000 tonne quota referenced in the press release.

Through the UK-US Economic Prosperity Deal (EPD) negotiations, the UK has agreed preferential trading terms with the US in a range of sectors. This includes an exclusive reciprocal 13,000 tonne quota for beef. The quota is now open and worth up to £70 million a year if fully utilised. Hormone treated beef remains banned and is not permitted to enter the UK. All agri-food products must comply with the UK’s high 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.