To match an exact phrase, use quotation marks around the search term. eg. "Parliamentary Estate". Use "OR" or "AND" as link words to form more complex queries.

Keep yourself up-to-date with the latest developments by exploring our subscription options to receive notifications direct to your inbox

Select Committee
Correspondence to Lidl relating to the Fairness in the food supply chain inquiry, dated 14 May 2024

Correspondence May. 14 2024

Committee: Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee (Department: Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Select Committee
Correspondence from the Minister for Water and Rural Growth regarding Bathing Water Designations, dated 13 May 2024

Correspondence May. 14 2024

Committee: Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee (Department: Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Select Committee
Correspondence to Asda relating to the Fairness in the food supply chain inquiry, dated 14 May 2024

Correspondence May. 14 2024

Committee: Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee (Department: Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Select Committee
Correspondence to the Minister for Water and Rural Growth relating to the Committee's session on flooding preparedness, dated 14 May 2024

Correspondence May. 14 2024

Committee: Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee (Department: Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Written Question
Food: Import Controls
Tuesday 14th May 2024

Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of inspection fees on food from (a) Eastern Europe and (b) other countries under the Border Target Operating Model on the cost of food.

Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Our analysis has shown a minimal impact on food prices and consumers. Our new risk-based model has been designed to minimise costs for traders and consumers. Government analysis estimates the cost of the new model to be £330m per annum overall, across all EU imports. Traders will save around £520m per annum versus the model originally proposed, while the inflationary impacts on food for consumers will be, at most, less than 0.2 percentage points over a 3-year period.

Written Question
Hornets
Tuesday 14th May 2024

Asked by: Sarah Dines (Conservative - Derbyshire Dales)

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 provide (a) resources, (b) strategy and (c) public information to tackle invasive Asian hornets.

Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The National Bee Unit (NBU), part of the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) have a long-standing relationship with Defra to deliver the Bee Health Programme which includes management and control of honeybee pests and diseases and responding to outbreaks of Asian hornets. As part of APHA, the NBU have already and will continue to draw on further resources from the wider agency to take action on Asian hornets. There is an Asian hornet contingency plan in place which details the government response to Asian hornets and it is regularly reviewed. The most effective way of minimising the threat of Asian hornets is through our continued eradication response, with the aim of preventing Asian hornets from establishing.


The NBU has been taking action against Asian hornets since 2016 and has a fine-tuned response. The Inspectors frequently find a nest within a day of an initial sighting being reported. From 2016 to 2022, there were 23 confirmed sightings, leading to the destruction of 13 nests. In 2023, the well-developed strategy was scaled up to deal with increased incursions with 78 confirmed sightings and 72 nests destroyed.

We are using a range of communication channels to raise awareness and keep beekeepers and the public informed about Asian hornets. To support accurate and timely reporting, Defra has funded development of the Asian hornet watch app. The NBU keep beekeepers informed of the response through updates published on BeeBase and have also carried out other awareness raising activities, including a blog filmed in Kent to support Asian Hornet Week in 2023. The Non-Native Species Secretariat (NNSS) works with over 50 local actions groups and a wide range of other organisations to raise awareness of Asian hornets. In 2023 they sent out 14,000 alert posters and 25,000 ID sheets, and since January 2024 they have sent a further 31,000 alert posters, 57,000 ID sheets, and 14,000 nest ID sheets. Professor Nicola Spence, the Defra Deputy Director for Plant and Bee Health, Plant Varieties and Seeds, has provided press interviews covering details of the response to Asian hornets. Defra is hosting an exhibit at the 2024 Chelsea Flower Show dedicated to raising awareness of the Asian hornet, to increase vigilance amongst the public.

Written Question
Rural Areas: Community Development
Tuesday 14th May 2024

Asked by: Andrew Bridgen (Independent - North West Leicestershire)

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 support small rural community projects in North West Leicestershire constituency.

Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

  • In September 2022, the UK Government launched the Rural England Prosperity Fund (REPF). The fund provides a rural top up to the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, providing allocations for eligible local authorities in England to help address the additional needs and challenges facing rural areas.

  • The fund provides capital funding to support new and improved community infrastructure. It will provide essential community services and assets for local people and businesses to benefit the local economy.

  • As part of the fund North West Leicestershire has received a total allocation of up to £469,090 between April 2023 and March 2025.

  • Local authorities are responsible for the delivery of the REPF – including assessing and approving project applications, processing payments and day-to-day monitoring. As with the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, the REPF was designed to enable local decision making to better target the rural priorities of places within England. Places are empowered to identify and build on their own strengths and needs at a local level.

  • In addition, funding has been provided through Defra’s Platinum Jubilee Village Halls Fund. The St John the Evangelist Church in Donisthorpe received a £75,000 towards their project which aims to transform the inside of the church into a space which can be shared with the whole community. The improved, warmer, friendlier environment will help the building to become somewhere that the community are happy to enter and feel a belonging to, suitable for a variety of activities, bringing people together to care for one another.

  • This is one of 106 community buildings which have received grants from the Fund to date and with the additional £5 million of funding for community buildings announced in The Budget many more communities will be able to bid for grants to help improve their buildings.
Written Question
Sustainable Farming Incentive
Tuesday 14th May 2024

Asked by: Robert Goodwill (Conservative - Scarborough and Whitby)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much and what proportion of land covered by applications to the Sustainable Farming Incentive was tenanted farmland in the 2023-24 financial year.

Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Defra does not hold data on which land is tenanted and so the data for the proportion of land covered by applications to the Sustainable Farming Incentive which was tenanted farmland in the 2023-24 financial year is not available.

Written Question
Import Controls: Staff
Tuesday 14th May 2024

Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many staff will be assigned to (a) monitor and enforce the restrictions introduced under the Border Target Operating Model (BTOM) and (b) carry out the administration of the BTOM, expressed as (i) full-time equivalent numbers and (ii) headcount.

Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Monitoring and enforcing the border controls introduced under the BTOM is undertaken collaboratively on a site by site basis at each point of entry between Defra, Port Health Authorities (part of local authorities), the Animal and Plant Health Agency, Border Force and HMRC, and the Port Operators.

The department considers that this information is operationally - and in the case of Port Operators commercially - sensitive and should be withheld.

Written Question
Flowers: Diseases
Tuesday 14th May 2024

Asked by: Chris Bryant (Labour - Rhondda)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many recorded incidents of disease were connected to imports from the EU of (a) gypsophila, (b) solidago, (c) orchids, (d) dianthus and (e) chrysanthemum between 2020 and 2023.

Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

During 2020 – 2023 there were no findings of disease on cut flowers of the stated genera from the EU. Please note that import physical checks on cut flowers from the EU were not required during this time.