Written questions by Dyke.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether conditions of appointment were included for the UK Deposit Management Organisation Ltd to ensure that small producers were adequately represented on its board.

The UK Deposit Management Organisation Ltd (UK DMO)’s board structure includes representation from a small producer. In addition, as part of the UK DMO’s Conditions of Appointment, the DMO’s Advisory Group must include representation of small scheme producers. The DMO Board must seek the views of the Advisory Group before adopting any decision relating to matters on which the UK DMO is required to consult under the Regulations and must take those views into account in its decision making.

Food and Rural Affairs, if she will hold discussions with the UK Deposit Management Organisation Ltd on its definition of a small producer for representation on its board; and what information her Department holds on whether this is the same definition that the Government uses.

The UK Deposit Management Organisation Ltd (UK DMO) is an independent body and appoint their own board.

Food and Rural Affairs, what her Department's planned timeframe is to (a) consult on and (b) legislate for additional criteria for the exemption of non-household waste from Extended Producer Responsibility disposal fees and obligations.

We are continuing to work with stakeholders on the treatment of dual-use packaging and packaging that is unlikely to enter the household waste stream. There is no date set for consultation or legislation at this stage for any additional criteria for exemption from packaging Extended Producer Responsibility disposal fee obligations. Any future changes would need to be workable, enforceable, and protect the operational integrity of the scheme across all business models.

Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on the potential impact of the arrangements for excluding non-household waste from Extended Producer Responsibility disposal fees and obligation on businesses.

The Secretary of State has discussions with Cabinet colleagues on a range of issues, including packaging Extended Producer Responsibility’s impact on businesses. We are aware of industry concerns about producers being charged disposal fees for packaging that is disposed of through commercial waste streams, and we continue to work with stakeholders to find an approach that balances those concerns with the operational integrity of the scheme.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether single use glass containers sold in Wales before October 2027 will be exempt from disposal costs fees under Extended Producer Responsibility.

Glass drinks containers across the UK, including in Wales, are subject to packaging Extended Producer Responsibility data reporting, disposal fees and recycling obligations. The temporary exemption from disposal fees before the Deposit Return Scheme goes live in 2027 applies to steel, aluminium, and PET plastic drinks containers.

Food and Rural Affairs, how many instances of fly tipping have been recorded on the public forest estate in each of the last 10 years.

Forestry England and Forestry Commission are required to report operational waste volumes by category under the Greening Government Commitments (GGC) to Defra. There is no requirement to record or report the number of fly-tipping incidents. Due to the size of our estate and available resources, it has historically proven impractical to systematically record all instances of fly tipping. Forestry England does not therefore hold complete historical records for the period requested. The number of instances that have been recorded across the public forest estate are as follows: 2016-17: 18 instances2017-18: 11 instances2018-19: 111 instances2019-20: 88 instances2020-21: 164 instances2021-22: 116 instances2022-23: 76 instances2023-24: 683 instances2024-25: 57 instances2025-26: 53 instances Since 2023-24 Forestry England has put in place additional mechanisms to record collected waste categorised as fly tip through our national waste contract with Green Zone. This has been recorded in tonnes, rather than as individual instances. Reported data for the past three financial years: 2023-24: 218.98 tonnes2024-25: 181.01 tonnes2025-26: 178.62 tonnes

Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department has made an estimate of the volume of sewage discharged at Baltonsborough Pumping Station in Somerset in the past year.

Water companies are required to submit data to the Environment Agency (EA) showing the duration of discharges. The EA uses this information to target its regulatory work and to drive improvements to assets and parts of the sewerage networks where they are most critical. Water companies have not submitted 2025 data yet; they will do so by the end of this month.

Food and Rural Affairs, if she will conduct an assessment of the value of agricultural land when making decisions to invest in flood defences being based on the value of the asset needing protection.

On 14 October, following consultation, the Government announced major changes to its flood and coastal erosion funding policy. The new rules will optimise funding between building new flood projects and maintaining existing defences and ensure that deprived communities continue to receive vital investment.Our funding rules will support farming and rural communities and improve resilience against flood risk across the country.The old rules gave higher payment rates for properties than agricultural or environmental benefits. We are now giving equal weighting to all the different types of benefits – a positive change for rural areas.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of farmers having to store flood water on agricultural land on (a) feedstock, (b) grassland conditions, (c) crops and (d) food production for 2026/27.

This Government has allocated a record £11.8 billion to sustainable farming and food production over this parliament, including £5.9 billion for environmental farming schemes. The Government is focusing efforts on actions that have multiple benefits: for example, improving soil health so soil can hold more water, which reduces flood risk. Farmers contribute to and are affected by water-related challenges. The measures the Government is introducing will help British farming thrive and boost farmers’ resilience to flooding while protecting this country’s water resources and meeting environmental goals.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of leachate on the aquatic environment as a result of landfill abandonment.

We recognise the potential impacts and threats presented from leachates entering into the environment, such as Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), and the risks of these associated with abandoned landfill sites. Government is assessing options on ensuring that any environmental risks which stem from landfill sites, both current and former, are minimised. Prior to a landfill becoming abandoned, a conceptual site model and hydrogeological risk assessment must be undertaken to identify any potential risks to the aquatic environment. These risks must be mitigated throughout the operational life of the site.

Food and Rural Affairs, what Government body is responsible for landfill sites that have been abandoned.

Defra is the lead Government department for waste policy, including that relating to landfill sites, both former and current. Responsibility for abandoned landfill sites at any given point in time is determined on a case-by-case basis.

Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had with Department officials on potential landfill abandonment due to improved environmental standards.

It is a long-standing convention that meetings between ministers and their officials to discuss matters of policy are not separately reported.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment has been made of the effectiveness of attenuation ponds in reducing both the volume and flow of run from major roads where such works were not considered necessary pre-1990.

Attenuation ponds are deployed by Risk Management Authorities as a flood alleviation measure; they are determined by a range of factors including cost to benefit ratio and the standard of protection that can be achieved. In recent years, the highway sector has been innovative in its use of sustainable drainage and green infrastructure to help manage road flooding. A new three-year £4.2 billion Flood and Coastal Risk Investment Programme will start in April 2026, where new projects will align with the strategic objectives set out in the Government’s new funding rules announced in October 2025. This means investment goes where it is most needed, accounting for flood risk, value for money, natural flood management opportunity and additional contributions to make Government investment go further. This investment will benefit properties, infrastructure and agriculture. The Government and the Environment Agency are committed to improving England’s picture of flood and coastal erosion risk, including from surface water. The Environment Agency published its new National Flood Risk Assessment (NaFRA) data in 2025.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the relative cost benefit of attenuation ponds compared with repeated flood damage to (a) properties, (b) infrastructure and (c) agricultural land.

Attenuation ponds are deployed by Risk Management Authorities as a flood alleviation measure; they are determined by a range of factors including cost to benefit ratio and the standard of protection that can be achieved. In recent years, the highway sector has been innovative in its use of sustainable drainage and green infrastructure to help manage road flooding. A new three-year £4.2 billion Flood and Coastal Risk Investment Programme will start in April 2026, where new projects will align with the strategic objectives set out in the Government’s new funding rules announced in October 2025. This means investment goes where it is most needed, accounting for flood risk, value for money, natural flood management opportunity and additional contributions to make Government investment go further. This investment will benefit properties, infrastructure and agriculture. The Government and the Environment Agency are committed to improving England’s picture of flood and coastal erosion risk, including from surface water. The Environment Agency published its new National Flood Risk Assessment (NaFRA) data in 2025.

Food and Rural Affairs, what the average farmgate milk price was in each of the last five years.

Defra publishes monthly and annual milk prices on GOV.UK (Latest UK milk prices and composition of milk - GOV.UK). UK annual farmgate milk prices for the last five years are shown in the table below. Table: UK annual farmgate milk prices 2021-2025, pence per litre (ppl)YearPrice (ppl)202131.07202243.98202339.50202441.17202544.05

Food and Rural Affairs, what information her Department holds on the average cost of producing a pint of milk in each of the last five years.

The average cost of production for milk is shown below. Data is from the Farm Business Survey which covers farm businesses in England with a Standard Output of more than £21,000. Whilst it captures the majority of agricultural activity, it excludes smaller businesses (which account for 2% of output).Production costs include all financial aspects of dairy enterprises such as unpaid labour, herd depreciation and an estimated rental equivalent for owned land. An allowance is also made for non-milk revenue (mostly the sale of dairy calves), which is applied as a reduction to cost. This reflects the value of by-products from milk production. The production costs therefore represent the price that would have to be paid on all milk produced for dairy enterprises to break even. The data includes organic production which is likely to incur higher production costs.Average cost of milk production (pence per litre) 2020/21 to 2024/252020/212021/222022/232023/242024/2528.336.448.644.244.9 Source: Farm Accounts in England

Food and Rural Affairs, when representatives from her Department last met with milk producers to discuss farmgate milk prices.

Defra officials regularly engage with stakeholders from across the UK dairy industry on a wide range of issues including farmgate milk prices. Engagement is undertaken in various forms including through ad hoc and regular meetings with industry bodies and individual dairy businesses and milk producers, farm visits and attendance at industry events..

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the single-year funding arrangement for the School Milk Subsidy Scheme on the financial sustainability of the school milk dairy supply chain.

This is a devolved matter, and this response applies to England only. The School Milk Subsidy Scheme is available in participating schools and supports the provision of milk, certain milk products and yoghurts. The administration of the scheme is renewed regularly, and funding decisions are made on a single or multi-year basis, influenced by the timing and the duration of departmental spending reviews. The volume of milk consumed under the scheme annually accounts for less than 1% of total UK milk production. It therefore has limited impact on the financial sustainability of those in the dairy supply chain who participate in the scheme.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the potential financial impact of the changes to bird show and gathering licences for (a) bird breeders, (b) seed merchants and (c) cage makers.

This is a devolved matter and the information provided therefore relates to England only. Regulation 6 of the Avian Influenza (Preventive Measures) (England) Regulations 2006, as amended, sets out the legal basis for permitting gatherings of poultry or other captive birds. In England, a licence to hold a bird gathering may be granted by Defra if a veterinary risk assessment has been carried out, and if the gathering, including the movement of birds to and from it, would not significantly increase the risk of the transmission of avian influenza virus. Detailed risk assessments can be found on Gov.UK. As legislation requires this to be a risk-based decision, assessments of the financial or breeding impacts have not been made. The restrictions on certain types of gatherings do not prevent direct sales of breeding birds or their progeny from a breeder’s own premises. There are no native wild canary populations in Britain.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made on the potential impact of restricting bird sales through changes to bird show and gathering licences for (a) breeding Type Canaries and (b) protecting Britain’s native wild canary population.

This is a devolved matter and the information provided therefore relates to England only. Regulation 6 of the Avian Influenza (Preventive Measures) (England) Regulations 2006, as amended, sets out the legal basis for permitting gatherings of poultry or other captive birds. In England, a licence to hold a bird gathering may be granted by Defra if a veterinary risk assessment has been carried out, and if the gathering, including the movement of birds to and from it, would not significantly increase the risk of the transmission of avian influenza virus. Detailed risk assessments can be found on Gov.UK. As legislation requires this to be a risk-based decision, assessments of the financial or breeding impacts have not been made. The restrictions on certain types of gatherings do not prevent direct sales of breeding birds or their progeny from a breeder’s own premises. There are no native wild canary populations in Britain.