The Department engages regularly with local authority representative groups to understand pressures on their animal welfare functions, including kennelling and enforcement.

Powers in the Tobacco and Vapes Bill allow us to develop a new registration and testing scheme for all vape, nicotine, and tobacco products. These powers will apply across the United Kingdom, and it is therefore vital that the future registration scheme works for all nations.

We are in the process of developing the new registration scheme and we launched a call for evidence in October 2025 which sought further detail on the existing product notification schemes and where registration could go further than current requirements. The call for evidence closed on 3 December 2025, and we are in the process of analysing the responses.

We are working closely with the devolved administrations on all future regulations and officials meet with them regularly to discuss a range of issues. This includes on the registration scheme and the coordination across the United Kingdom that will be a crucial part of any considerations. Policy proposals will be subject to further consultation before regulations are made with sufficient lead time for businesses to adjust to the new requirements.

Officials in the Department of Health and Social Care regularly meet with officials from other departments, including HM Treasury, HM Revenue and Customs, the Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs, the Office for Product Safety and Standards, Border Force, and the Home Office, as well as National Trading Standards, to share intelligence and ensure a coordinated approach to the enforcement of our rules on vaping products. This coordinated approach to enforcement will continue once the Tobacco and Vapes Bill becomes law.

Furthermore, in 2025/26, we are investing £30 million of new funding in total for enforcement agencies including Trading Standards, Border Force, and HM Revenue and Customs, to tackle the illicit and underage sale of tobacco and vapes, and to help enforce the law. As part of this, the Government is investing £10 million of new funding in 2025/26 in Trading Standards. This funding is being used to boost the Trading Standards workforce by hiring 94 apprentices across England.

The agreement will cover SPS standards and controls and also wider agrifood rules related to food labelling, organics, and key marketing standards and compositional standards.

The EU has accepted there will need to be a number of areas where we need to retain our own rules. The details of these are subject to negotiation, but we have been clear about the importance of being able to set high animal welfare standards, support public health, and support the use of new and innovative technologies.

The Prime Minister announced that we will be publishing an animal welfare strategy later this year.

Dogs that are prohibited under section 1 of the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 and which do not have a valid certificate of exemption could be seized by the Police.

In these cases, there is an interim exemption scheme which allows suspected prohibited dogs to remain with their owners in advance of a court hearing. It is for the Police to determine whether to make use of this scheme on a case-by-case basis.

My Department has analysed the potential costs relating to the XL Bully ban. The cost estimates were generated using evidence and data collated in consultation with animal welfare charities, interested parties and key stakeholders. The assessment of the cost impact can be found in the Explanatory Memorandum which accompanied the Dangerous Dogs (Compensation And Exemption Schemes) (England And Wales) Order 2023. My Department is continuing to engage closely with the Police, local authorities, and rescue and rehoming organisations to monitor the impacts of the XL Bully dog ban.

Environment Agency (EA) officers carry out pro-active, intelligence led inspections to stop suspected illegal waste shipments. This can be done at site or before the shipment leaves port. The EA prioritises shipments that have the greatest potential for environmental impact. Its intelligence led approach considers various factors such as destination country, waste type, operator history and risks associated with each shipment. In 2022-23 the EA prevented over 17,000 tonnes of waste being illegally exported, this was through stopping containers at port, but also through upstream interventions at waste sites and preventing waste from being loaded for export.

The EA provides advice and guidance to operators on how to export waste lawfully, and only considers enforcement action where this advice and guidance has not been heeded. Any decision on enforcement action is taken in accordance with the EA’s Enforcement and Sanctions Policy, which can be found here Environment Agency enforcement and sanctions policy - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

Prosecutions can be complex and generally involve engagement with international partners given the nature of illegal waste exports, but they are vital in appropriate cases. Other interventions such as Notices requiring action are quicker and can be more effective. Since 2018 the EA has regularly served over 100 notices per year on suspected illegal waste shipment.

Data on enforcement actions undertaken by the EA since 2017 are presented in the table below. Data on enforcement actions undertaken prior to 2017 are not held centrally and therefore cannot be provided in the current timeframe.

Breakdown of Environment Agency enforcement actions since 2017:

No information is held on the illegal sale of these items. The responsibility for enforcement lies with Trading Standards and Local Authorities.

No exceedances of air quality standards by modern incinerators that are subject to environmental permits have been identified by the Environment Agency. There has been no recent specific assessment of the effectiveness of the Environment Agency’s enforcement towards incineration sites. The Environment Agency are satisfied that they have an effective risk-based policy for delivering effective enforcement action under the Environmental Permitting Regulations, 2016.

Data on the number of Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs) issued under the COVID-19 regulations by police forces in England and Wales is collected by policing and published by the National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) on a monthly basis and can be found on the NPCC website.

Ofcom will enforce the new online safety regime with tough powers to take action against companies breaching their duties, including substantial fines, requiring companies to take action and even blocking services in the most serious cases.

The Bill will also provide for Ofcom to pursue criminal action where a senior manager fails to ensure that their company complies with its information requirements.

We are confident these robust enforcement powers will push strong compliance, hold the tech sector to account and incentivise companies to go further in protecting people online.

No specific assessment has been made. However, evidence suggests that face coverings are effective in reducing transmission of COVID-19 indoors when people are likely to be in close proximity, such as on public transport or in shops.

In response to the 50 enforcement undertakings that Natural England has accepted relating to Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs), Natural England has issued 2 completion certificates.

In response to non-compliance with enforcement undertakings relating to SSSIs, Natural England has not served any civil sanctions or undertaken any criminal proceedings. Natural England is nevertheless planning to undertake comprehensive compliance/success monitoring of their enforcement undertaking outcomes in the forthcoming field season. COVID-19 restrictions may impact this work but where necessary enforcement visits will continue to ensure that our protected sites are looked after in an appropriate manner.

In monitoring compliance with stop notices, Natural England takes a risk based approach. Where non-compliance has been suspected this has been subject to further investigation. In regard to the five Stop Notices in respect of which completion certificates have not been issued, further enforcement action was not found to be necessary. In the one case where non-compliance was discovered, the offender was able to be swiftly brought back into compliance through advice.

Information on Natural England enforcement action is available on GOV.UK at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/register-of-enforcement-action-taken-by-natural-england).