Asked by: Philip Hollobone (Conservative - Kettering)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of progress on rolling out the Sustainable Farming Incentive 2023 in (a) North Northamptonshire and (b) England.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We are rolling out the Sustainable Farming Incentive 2023 in a controlled way, making sure we offer everyone the right level of support.
We invited Basic Payment Scheme eligible farmers to register interest for SFI2023 with the Rural Payments Agency from 30 August 2023. Over 14,000 farmers have done so, representing one in six. This process is already being simplified, with the majority of farmers no longer needing to registrations of interest as of this week.
We started to accept applications from 18 September. I am pleased to confirm the first payments were made yesterday.
Asked by: Philip Hollobone (Conservative - Kettering)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 17 May 2023 to Question 184463 on Glass: Deposit Return Schemes, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of excluding glass from the proposed Deposit Return Scheme in England and Northern Ireland on the (a) plastic and (b) aluminium packaging industry.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Businesses have been clear that adding glass to a deposit return scheme will add fundamental complexity for our pubs and restaurants, increase burdens on small businesses, whilst creating greater inconvenience for consumers. We recognise that some sectors are concerned about potential for material switching. However, there are many market forces acting in this space - predicting impacts is very hard. Importantly glass will be included in Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging where obligated producers will be responsible for the disposal costs of their packaging so there will be some balancing of incentives.
Asked by: Philip Hollobone (Conservative - Kettering)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she plans to increase glass recycling rates following the exclusion of glass in the proposed Deposit Return Scheme in England and Northern Ireland.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In England and Northern Ireland glass drinks bottles will remain in scope of the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for packaging scheme as will all other types of glass packaging placed on the market in all nations. EPR will place recycling targets on producers in relation to glass packaging and require relevant obligated producers to cover the costs of collecting and managing glass packaging arising in household waste and discarded in street bins managed by local authorities.
In our 2022 response to the 2021 EPR consultation the Government set out recycling targets for 2025 and 2030, including glass. These included glass drinks containers in England and Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Philip Hollobone (Conservative - Kettering)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 7 June 2023 to Question 187143 on Deposit Return Schemes: Glass, whether her Department plans to give (a) glass and (b) PET bottles the same recycling target under the Extended Producer Responsibility as the 90 per cent target given to other materials under the proposed Deposit Return Scheme in England and Northern Ireland.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We are working on the recycling targets for each packaging material as part of work to finalise our plans for Extended Producer Responsibility. The individual recycling targets for each material will be set to achieve our environmental ambitions taking into account the specific issues and challenges associated with each material.
Asked by: Philip Hollobone (Conservative - Kettering)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what information he holds on the amount of litter that was dropped in (a) Northamptonshire and (b) England in the last year for which figures are available.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Defra does not hold data on the amount of litter collected, either locally or at a national level.
Further to the commitments given in the Litter Strategy, earlier this year we published a new ‘dashboard’ of indicators which, taken together, help us to understand the extent of litter and littering in England. The dashboard can be found online at:
Asked by: Philip Hollobone (Conservative - Kettering)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
What assessment he has made of the level of self-sufficiency in food production in England and Wales; and whether he plans to increase that level.
Answered by George Eustice
The UK’s current production to supply ratio is 76% for indigenous-type foods and 60% for all foods. This is not low in the context of the past 150 years. The UK has historically been a net-importer of food sourced from a diverse range of stable countries and this will continue once we leave the EU. Looking ahead, we now have the opportunity to design an agricultural policy which increases productivity through innovation, technology and skills.
Asked by: Philip Hollobone (Conservative - Kettering)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to give animal sentience protection under the law; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by George Eustice
The Secretary of State set out the Government’s position in a Written Ministerial Statement on 23 November:
Asked by: Philip Hollobone (Conservative - Kettering)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the purpose was of her recent visit to Weetabix in Burton Latimer; and what progress has been made on the launch of the Great British Food Unit.
Answered by George Eustice
My Rt. Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, launched the Great British Food Unit during a visit to Weetabix on 21 January 2016. This unit brings together experts from Defra and UKTI and will celebrate British food, encourage innovation and increase the number of Protected Food Names. The unit will increase investment and exports by opening new global markets and offering support to companies.
Weetabix is made with locally sourced wheat and its iconic cereal is eaten in 80 countries. It is an historic British business benefitting from foreign investment and so provided an excellent example of the various types of business the Food Unit is there to support.
Asked by: Philip Hollobone (Conservative - Kettering)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what (a) guidelines, (b) regulations and (c) EU directives are in place which restrict the use of antibiotics for livestock.
Answered by George Eustice
The rules governing the authorisation and use of veterinary medicines are set at the European level through an EU Directive and these apply to all Member States. All antibiotic veterinary medicines in the UK are available only on prescription by a veterinary surgeon, who in turn is only permitted to prescribe to animals under their care.
The Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD), an executive agency of the Department for Food, Environment and Rural Affairs (Defra), published the ‘Code of Practice on the responsible use of animal medicines on the farm’ in December 2014. The guidance makes it clear that the Government does not support the routine preventative use of antibiotics, or the use of antibiotics to compensate for poor animal husbandry.
A number of UK veterinary and farming organisations have well established guidance on the prescription and use of veterinary medicines, including antibiotics.
Asked by: Philip Hollobone (Conservative - Kettering)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to tackle illegal fly grazing in (a) Northamptonshire and (b) England.
Answered by George Eustice
The Control of Horses Act 2015 (the 2015 Act) came into force on 26 May and specifically applies to horses that are fly-grazing or abandoned on another person’s land. Under the 2015 Act, local authorities and private owners and occupiers of land are able to deal with fly-grazing or abandoned horses more quickly and effectively. Specifically, it permits the disposal of such horses after 4 working days from detention, rather than the 14 days currently prescribed by the previous law. The 2015 Act applies to the whole of England.