Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Penrith and The Border)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the resilience of carbon dioxide supplies for use in abattoirs.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
Towards the end of 2021, approximately 80% of UK carbon dioxide (CO2) was sourced from a single UK producer. The market has now diversified and reliance on a single producer has now diminished. Currently, only 42% of supply comes from this producer, with the rest of CO2 supply met by other producers ranging from biofuel plants, anaerobic digestion plants (AD) and European imports. In addition, the Government is supporting the further diversification of the market though work to ensure that CO2 from AD plants meets food and beverage or industrial grade standards.
All major slaughterhouses were surveyed earlier this year on their CO2 resilience. The majority of these slaughterhouses have mitigation strategies in place or do not use CO2. The Government continues to analyse the situation to ensure that UK food and drink businesses and abattoirs, are able to secure CO2.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Penrith and The Border)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the resilience of carbon dioxide supplies for the food and drink sectors.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
Towards the end of 2021, approximately 80% of UK carbon dioxide (CO2) was sourced from a single UK producer. The market has now diversified and reliance on a single producer has now diminished. Currently, only 42% of supply comes from this producer, with the rest of CO2 supply met by other producers ranging from biofuel plants, anaerobic digestion plants (AD) and European imports. In addition, the Government is supporting the further diversification of the market though work to ensure that CO2 from AD plants meets food and beverage or industrial grade standards.
All major slaughterhouses were surveyed earlier this year on their CO2 resilience. The majority of these slaughterhouses have mitigation strategies in place or do not use CO2. The Government continues to analyse the situation to ensure that UK food and drink businesses and abattoirs, are able to secure CO2.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Penrith and The Border)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the National Audit Office's report on Improving the UK's science capability for managing animal diseases, what steps the Government plans to take to (a) support and (b) improve animal disease monitoring and prevention through development and upgrade of the Animal and Plant Health Agency’s Weybridge site.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government is committed to the strongest possible standards of protection against animal diseases. It is investing £1.4 billion (including £200 million in this Spending Review period) to secure the long-term future of the Weybridge facility. This substantial investment recognises the essential role of this laboratory, and will enable its excellent scientists to continue to protect the country, boosting our resilience and strengthening our understanding of health risks to, and from, animals and plants.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Penrith and The Border)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the announcement of the closure of CF Industries’ carbon dioxide and fertiliser plant in Ince, what steps his Department plans to take to ensure sufficient carbon dioxide and fertiliser supply in the UK.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
We understand this will be distressing news for CF Industries' workers and their families. We are in regular contact with the company and stand ready to support those impacted.
The proposed closure of their Cheshire plant is a commercial decision for CF Industries, it will not impact supplies of CO2. The Billingham plant remains operational.
We source imports of fertiliser and carbon dioxide from a globalised market from a wide range of countries, and continue to produce it domestically at Billingham. The Government continues to analyse the situation to ensure that UK businesses are able to secure fertilisers and carbon dioxide.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Penrith and The Border)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the closure of CF Industries' Ince plant on supplies of fertiliser and carbon dioxide for the UK.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
We understand this will be distressing news for CF Industries' workers and their families. We are in regular contact with the company and stand ready to support those impacted.
The proposed closure of their Cheshire plant is a commercial decision for CF Industries, it will not impact supplies of CO2. The Billingham plant remains operational.
We source imports of fertiliser and carbon dioxide from a globalised market from a wide range of countries, and continue to produce it domestically at Billingham. The Government continues to analyse the situation to ensure that UK businesses are able to secure fertilisers and carbon dioxide.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Penrith and The Border)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to stop sewage discharges in Cumbria.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Restoring water quality in Cumbria and across England is a Government priority. The Environment Agency (EA) is currently working with the water sector to tackle threats to the water environment in Cumbria and reduce nutrient inputs into Windermere. For example, the EA has been working closely with United Utilities on delivering wastewater and agriculture interventions on the River Petteril catchment.
We are going further and faster than any other government to protect our rivers in Cumbria and across England. We have recently launched our consultation on new legally binding targets for water, which will provide a strong mechanism for driving long-term environmental outcomes. We have doubled investment in the Catchment Sensitive Farming programme to £30 million to help reduce impacts from agriculture, and the EA is hiring 50 more inspectors to ensure action is taken against non-compliance.
We have also launched our consultation on the Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction Plan, which proposes that water companies must completely eliminate all ecological harm to the environment from storm sewage discharges. The plan will revolutionise how water companies tackle sewage discharges and will represent the largest investment and delivery programme in tackling storm sewage discharges in history.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Penrith and The Border)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to help improve water quality in Cumbria.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Restoring water quality in Cumbria and across England is a Government priority. The Environment Agency (EA) is currently working with the water sector to tackle threats to the water environment in Cumbria and reduce nutrient inputs into Windermere. For example, the EA has been working closely with United Utilities on delivering wastewater and agriculture interventions on the River Petteril catchment.
We are going further and faster than any other government to protect our rivers in Cumbria and across England. We have recently launched our consultation on new legally binding targets for water, which will provide a strong mechanism for driving long-term environmental outcomes. We have doubled investment in the Catchment Sensitive Farming programme to £30 million to help reduce impacts from agriculture, and the EA is hiring 50 more inspectors to ensure action is taken against non-compliance.
We have also launched our consultation on the Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction Plan, which proposes that water companies must completely eliminate all ecological harm to the environment from storm sewage discharges. The plan will revolutionise how water companies tackle sewage discharges and will represent the largest investment and delivery programme in tackling storm sewage discharges in history.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Penrith and The Border)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department plans to launch a call for evidence on the Government Buying Standards for Food and Catering prior to the introduction of the revised GBSF planned for Summer 2022.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
We will be consulting on public sector food and catering policy following publication of the Food Strategy White Paper due to launch shortly. The consultation will seek views on ways to promote greater take-up of local, and sustainable produce and make public procurement more accessible to small and medium-sized enterprises.
The consultation will be an exciting opportunity for producers and consumers of public sector food to have their say and make suggestions to help shape future policy. We look forward to receiving input to the consultation from the sector, and more information will be released in due course once the consultation date has been confirmed.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Penrith and The Border)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when the National Food Strategy White Paper will be published.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The forthcoming Government Food Strategy will set out the Government's ambition and priorities for the food system, considering the evidence set out in Henry Dimbleby's independent review and building on additional topics.
We are actively collaborating across Government to cover the entire food system and consider the unforeseen challenges that the agri-food sector has faced this last year since the independent review was published.
We expect to publish the Government Food Strategy shortly.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Penrith and The Border)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans the Government has to re-introduce the rabies titre test for entry of small animals to the UK.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government launched a consultation on 21 August on our proposed restrictions to the commercial and non-commercial movement of pets (cats, dogs and ferrets) into Great Britain, including our proposal to ban the commercial and non-commercial movement of puppies under the age of six months into Great Britain. We will take into account the views of the public and will continue to work closely with stakeholders to ensure that our final measures are well considered and are guided by the latest evidence.
Defra has no immediate plans to change the import health requirements in relation to rabies for pets entering Great Britain. Recent quantitative risk assessments have concluded that the risk of a pet animal with rabies entering the UK under the pet travel rules is very low. Defra continues to monitor the disease situation carefully and our future policy will be guided by risk assessment.