Environment and Climate Change Committee

The committee scrutinised the use, sale and environmental impacts of pet parasiticides, with veterinarians arguing that routine prophylactic use is often unnecessary, commercially driven and increasingly hard to justify given evidence of environmental contamination, possible human-health exposure and emerging resistance concerns. Witnesses backed a shift to risk-based prescribing, better data collection, clearer independent guidance, stronger label advice, and safe-disposal arrangements, while criticising the current VMD approach as too reliant on industry-linked bodies and too optimistic that advice at point of sale will solve pollution. They also discussed distribution categories, costs to pet owners, prevalence of fleas and zoonotic risks, and the need for independent research and more transparent publication of sales and usage data.

The Committee scrutinised the environmental and human-health impacts of pet parasite medications, especially flea and tick treatments containing imidacloprid, fipronil and fluralaner. Witnesses argued that UK authorisation has not been backed by adequate environmental risk assessment, that monitoring is patchy or absent for most products, and that current use patterns amount to prophylactic overuse. They pressed for stronger VMD action, revised assessments, better monitoring, possible prescription-only controls, limits on advertising, and producer-funded treatment and research. The witnesses also disputed claims that veterinary products are only a small contributor to river contamination, citing modelling, field studies and declining aquatic invertebrate populations downstream of sewage works.

Environment Agency witnesses scrutinise progress on waste crime since the committee’s report, focusing on upstream enforcement, data and intelligence, funding, and governance. Key government commitments include a 48-hour on-site target for credible illegal waste reports, publication of a 151-priority-site list (with 15 red sites) on Waste Explorer within a month, and a £45m government uplift over three years to support enforcement and intelligence. The session also flags needs for digital waste tracking, stronger duties of care, and faster, more certain powers (e.g., injunctions) to shut down sites, alongside ongoing debates about responsibilities for site clearance and the role of policing.

This session revisited the Lords’ waste inquiry focusing on illegal waste sites, penalties, enforcement, and the role of Defra and the Environment Agency (EA). Ministers outlined commitments to bolster prevention and enforcement through new EA powers, increased enforcement funding (plus a larger Joint Unit for Waste Crime) and potential police-style powers, alongside digital waste tracking and tighter carrier/broker/dealer controls. The committee pressed for earlier intervention, clearer accountability, and a root-and-branch reform of waste-management oversight, including local-authority responsibilities and the polluter-pays principle. A waste-crime action plan and legislative changes were flagged as imminent, though dates remained tentative. The session highlighted tensions over resource allocation, agency accountability, and who should bear enforcement and clean-up costs, with calls for improved information sharing, ground deployments, and cross-agency collaboration.

The Environment and Climate Change Committee scrutinised Defra’s drought-preparedness approach, focusing on evidence-gathering, data integration, cross-departmental coordination, prioritisation frameworks in severe drought, and how future water security will be achieved through a mix of demand-reduction, leakage reduction, and new supply such as reservoirs. Key government positions include keeping a firm commitment to nine new reservoirs, expanding drought-planning to other sectors, developing a national resilience target, and progressing with a Water Bill transition plan to avoid policy lurches, while exploring nature-based solutions and non-potable-water use where feasible.

The Environment and Climate Change Committee scrutinised drought risk, regulatory frameworks, and the RAPID programme. Witnesses from the Environment Agency and Ofwat outlined RAPID’s origins, its current scale (28 major schemes) and longer-term pipeline, the governance of drought (four-stage framework) and the transfer of severe-drought powers to government, plus plans to expand cross-sector planning, enhance data and telemetry, and accelerate investment through regulatory flexibility. They also highlighted ongoing work on drought warning systems, leakage reduction, water reuse, and building-regulations integration.