Tim Farron MP: written questions 2025
245 published records · newest first.
Written questions
Agriculture: InnovationDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 18 Nov 2025AnsweredUIN 91922More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to support farmer uptake of innovative tools such as virtual fencing.
Answer: Defra has funded virtual fencing technology projects through the Farming in Protected Landscape Programme which are helping to deliver our environmental targets in Protected Landscapes. Defra does not currently offer funding for virtual fencing technology...
Answered 1 Dec 2025
Original Parliament recordLivestock: Electronic Training AidsDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 18 Nov 2025AnsweredUIN 91921More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will review (a) the eligibility of virtual fencing technology under existing agricultural support schemes in England, such as Farming in Protected Landscapes and (b) its potenti
Answer: Defra has funded virtual fencing technology projects through the Farming in Protected Landscape Programme which are helping to deliver our environmental targets in Protected Landscapes. Defra does not currently offer funding for virtual fencing technology...
Answered 1 Dec 2025
Original Parliament recordNigeria: ChristianityForeign, Commonwealth and Development OfficeTabled 17 Nov 2025AnsweredUIN 91326More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with international counterparts on the protection of Christian women in Chibok, Nigeria.
Answer: The UK condemns violence against civilians of all religions in Nigeria and regularly raises freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) with the Nigerian government. For example, on 11 November, the Minister for International Development and Africa discussed the...
Answered 25 Nov 2025
Original Parliament recordWater: StandardsDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 17 Nov 2025AnsweredUIN 91325More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the current SwimFo system in helping the public understand bathing-water risks.
Answer: We know that local communities want to have a clear picture of water quality at popular bathing sites. The Environment Agency (EA) publishes sampling information during the bathing season on Swimfo to inform bathers of water quality and provide daily poll...
Answered 24 Nov 2025
Original Parliament recordSwimmingDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 17 Nov 2025AnsweredUIN 91324More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will take steps to ensure that (a) people swimming away from the shoreline and (b) all other lake users are considered in future bathing-water monitoring strategies.
Answer: The Bathing Water Regulations 2025 were laid before Parliament on 28 October 2025 and come into force 21 November 2025. Defra is committed to working with local and national stakeholders as work progresses to implement these Regulations. In the November –...
Answered 24 Nov 2025
Original Parliament recordWater: StandardsDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 17 Nov 2025AnsweredUIN 91323More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she plans to publish a review comparing UK bathing-water (a) monitoring and (b) classification systems with international best practice.
Answer: Existing practices for monitoring and classification in the UK mirror the European Commission’s Bathing Water Directive which is based on the World Health Organisation’s recommendations for management of recreational waters. Environment Agency (EA) monito...
Answered 24 Nov 2025
Original Parliament recordWater: StandardsDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 17 Nov 2025AnsweredUIN 91322More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of current sampling coverage at designated bathing-water sites.
Answer: The Environment Agency (EA) monitors all designated bathing waters above the minimum monthly frequency requirement of the Bathing Water Regulations during the bathing water season. Most sites are sampled weekly, in line with the World Health Organisation’...
Answered 24 Nov 2025
Original Parliament recordLake Windermere: Pollution ControlDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 17 Nov 2025AnsweredUIN 91321More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will take steps to increase spatial representation of sampling points around Lake Windermere including areas not currently designated as bathing-water locations.
Answer: The Environment Agency samples the designated bathing waters in Windermere according to the Bathing Water Regulations. Applications for new bathing water designations in Lake Windermere can be made to Defra if the criteria published on GOV.UK are met.
Answered 24 Nov 2025
Original Parliament recordWater: StandardsDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 17 Nov 2025AnsweredUIN 91320More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she plans to allocate funding for the introduction of a (a) traffic-light system and (b) publicly accessible platform in the context of improving the communication of bathing-w
Answer: Swimfo, the Environment Agency’s (EA) bathing water quality website, provides details on over 450 bathing waters, classifications, pollution sources, and seasonal water quality results. From May to September, Swimfo posts daily forecasts for over 170 site...
Answered 24 Nov 2025
Original Parliament recordLakes: StandardsDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 17 Nov 2025AnsweredUIN 91319More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of a different classification system for lake ecosystems.
Answer: In the Bathing Water Regulations 2013, ‘Schedule 5, classification’ shows there are already different standards for inland waters and for coastal and transitional waters when measuring E coli and intestinal enterococci. This means there are varying classi...
Answered 24 Nov 2025
Original Parliament recordWater: StandardsDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 17 Nov 2025AnsweredUIN 91318More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will take steps to move away from multi-year averages and adopt a more real-time approach to reporting bathing-water quality data.
Answer: On 28 October 2025, the Department laid before Parliament an SI which incorporates reforms to modernise the Bathing Water Regulations. Core reform 3, due to come into force 21 November, introduces the discretion to determine a different bathing season for...
Answered 24 Nov 2025
Original Parliament recordWater: Health HazardsDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 17 Nov 2025AnsweredUIN 91317More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she plans to publish updated guidance on incorporating (a) blue-green algae and (b) other additional public health factors into bathing-water quality assessments.
Answer: The purpose of the Regulations is to ensure the protection of public health through the use of monitoring and classifications. Bathing waters are one of the most visible ways in which the public interacts with the water environment and so it is critical t...
Answered 24 Nov 2025
Original Parliament recordLake Windermere: Pollution ControlDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 17 Nov 2025AnsweredUIN 91316More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she plans to allocate funding to ensure that bathing-water sampling in Lake Windermere takes place year-round rather than seasonally.
Answer: On 28 October 2025, the Department laid before Parliament a Statutory Instrument which incorporates reforms to modernise the Bathing Water Regulations. Core reform 3, which is due to come into force 21 November, introduces discretion to determine a differ...
Answered 24 Nov 2025
Original Parliament recordLake Windermere: PollutionDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 12 Nov 2025AnsweredUIN 90159More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she plans to introduce a pollution risk costing model for Windermere based on Environment Agency modelling of other mainly coastal designated bathing sites.
Answer: The Environment Agency currently provides pollution forecasting at 171 coastal sites and is exploring the feasibility of providing a forecast for inland sites.
Answered 24 Nov 2025
Original Parliament recordNigeria: ChristianityForeign, Commonwealth and Development OfficeTabled 10 Nov 2025AnsweredUIN 88615More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of reports of Islamist attacks on Christian communities in Nigeria’s Middle Belt on 31 October 202
Answer: I refer the Hon Member to the answer provided on 3 November to Question 85661.
Answered 18 Nov 2025
Original Parliament recordAgriculture: FloodsDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 5 Nov 2025AnsweredUIN 88225More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to ensure farmers receive support for instances of flooding in winter 2025-26.
Answer: To support rural communities and farmers, we: are funding actions to improve the environment, mitigate flood risk, and boost resilience such as natural flood management, through the Environmental Land Management schemes.are investing over £300 million in ...
Answered 13 Nov 2025
Original Parliament recordFlood Control: FinanceDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 5 Nov 2025AnsweredUIN 88224More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to fund flooding defence systems in winter 2025-26.
Answer: This Government is investing £2.65 billion over two years (2024/25 and 2025/26) into our flood resilience. Since July last year, the Environment Agency has delivered 151 flood defence schemes, better protecting over 24,000 homes and businesses. It is pois...
Answered 11 Nov 2025
Original Parliament recordRivers: Repairs and MaintenanceDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 5 Nov 2025AnsweredUIN 88223More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much funding the Environment Agency received for river and stream maintenance in each of the last five years.
Answer: As the EA operates at arm’s length from its sponsor department, Defra, it is for the EA to determine how much of its budget it spends on maintenance under its remit.
Answered 17 Nov 2025
Original Parliament recordEnvironment Agency: FinanceDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 5 Nov 2025AnsweredUIN 88222More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much funding the Environment Agency received in each of the last five years.
Answer: The EA’s total budget for 2025/26 is £2,274 million. This is an increase of £188 million compared with its £2,086 million budget in 2024/25. YearTotal budget2025/26£2,274m2024/25£2,086m2023/24£1,961m2022/23£1,704m2021/22£1,627m
Answered 17 Nov 2025
Original Parliament recordHousing: FloodsDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 5 Nov 2025AnsweredUIN 88221More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department holds data on the estimated cost of flood losses for (a) insured properties and (b) uninsured properties in each year since 2015.
Answer: The Evidence on the Costs of Floods in England and Wales, covers the 2016 to 2019 period and the Estimating the Economic Costs of the 2015 to 2016 Winter Floods covers 2015 through to 2016. Flood Re has enabled over 660,000 households to access affordable...
Answered 11 Nov 2025
Original Parliament recordHousing: FloodsDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 5 Nov 2025AnsweredUIN 88220More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department holds data on the number of properties in each flood risk zones that does not have insurance.
Answer: Flood Re is a joint Government and industry scheme enabling households at high flood risk to access affordable insurance. Since launch, over 650,000 properties have benefitted, with 346,000 policies supported in 2024/25. Before Flood Re, average premiums ...
Answered 12 Nov 2025
Original Parliament recordHousing: FloodsDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 5 Nov 2025AnsweredUIN 88219More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department holds data on the average insurance premiums for properties in each flood risk zone in each of last five years.
Answer: Flood Re is a joint Government and industry scheme enabling households at high flood risk to access affordable insurance. Since launch, over 650,000 properties have benefitted, with 346,000 policies supported in 2024/25. Before Flood Re, average premiums ...
Answered 12 Nov 2025
Original Parliament recordHousing: FloodsMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 5 Nov 2025AnsweredUIN 88218More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many new homes were built within areas classified as flood zone 3 in 2024-2025.
Answer: My Department does not hold data on how many new homes were built within areas classified as flood zone 3 in 2024-2025. The proportion of new residential addresses built on national Flood Zone 3 is published by financial year in live table P320 of our ‘La...
Answered 12 Nov 2025
Original Parliament recordRefugees: FamiliesHome OfficeTabled 3 Nov 2025AnsweredUIN 87270More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the review of refugee family reunion will consider the optimisation of decision making to reduce the need for appeals.
Answer: The family reunion route is temporarily suspended for a short period until Spring 2026. The Home Office is reviewing the route, with the intention to set out and implement those changes from then.
Answered 11 Nov 2025
Original Parliament recordRefugees: FamiliesHome OfficeTabled 3 Nov 2025AnsweredUIN 87269More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of (a) gathering documentation and (b) submitting biometrics on people submitting refugee family reunion applications; and whether she p
Answer: The family reunion route is temporarily suspended for a short period until Spring 2026. The Home Office is reviewing the route, with the intention to set out and implement those changes from then.
Answered 11 Nov 2025
Original Parliament record
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