Asked by: Lord Truscott (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to create strategic food stockpiles.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK does not have national food stockpiles or plans to create these. The UK has a resilient food supply chain that is equipped to deal with any potential disruption. This high degree of food security is built on supply from diverse sources including strong domestic production and imports through stable trade routes.
Defra work closely with the Cabinet Office and other departments ensuring food supply is fully incorporated as part of emergency preparedness, including consideration of dependencies on other sectors. This includes extensive, regular and ongoing preparations, and response to, issues with the potential to cause disruption to food supply chains.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they expect to publish proposals for Stage 4 fisheries management measures for marine protected areas.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Stage 4 Marine Protected Areas are sites designated to protect highly mobile species such as seabirds and harbour porpoise. The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) has been talking to stakeholders about options for managing the impacts of fishing on these sites. The MMO is now analysing all the feedback it has received, including through an earlier call for evidence, and will decide on what management measures it thinks is needed to protect these species.
Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department has undertaken an analysis to assess whether using Regulated Capital Value to measure water company values provides the most accurate measure of their value since July 2024.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 24 March 2026 to PQ UIN 120291.
Asked by: Jayne Kirkham (Labour (Co-op) - Truro and Falmouth)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will confirm whether fur falls outside of scope of the UK/EU SPS Agreement as it was not listed in the recently published UK-EU SPS Agreement - Legislation in scope document.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
As part of the UK‑EU SPS Agreement currently being negotiated, the Government is making a sovereign choice in the national interest to align in some areas where it makes sense to do so, as set out in the Government’s recently published announcement on legislation in scope. The announcement reflected the UK’s current view of what is in scope and remains subject to change as negotiations progress with the EU.
While those discussions are ongoing, we cannot provide a running commentary or speculate on the scope of the agreement, but we have been clear about the importance of being able to set high animal welfare standards.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
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 Animal Welfare Strategy for England, whether her Department plans to support voluntary efforts to move away from the use of fast-growing meat chicken breeds.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 16 March 2026 to the hon. Member for Stockport, PQ UIN 118907.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
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 Animal Welfare Strategy for England, whether her Department plans to require that all chicken is sourced from higher welfare systems meeting the standards of the Better Chicken Commitment in Government procurement contracts.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
As set out in the Animal Welfare Strategy, public sector food procurement policies have the potential to drive more positive animal welfare outcomes. We will explore such opportunities as we develop our policy, including the potential to strengthen the animal welfare provisions across a range of products within the Government Buying Standards for Food and Catering Services (GBSF). Further, the National Procurement Policy Statement, published in February 2025, underscores the government's commitment to increasing the procurement of food that meets higher environmental standards and upholds ethical sourcing practises across public sector contracts.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
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 Animal Welfare Strategy for England, when the guidance on the welfare of decapods at time of killing will be published; and whether killing methods beyond live boiling are to be included in the Strategy.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government will publish guidance on which methods of killing decapods are compatible with the existing legal requirements on animal welfare at time of killing. This guidance is under development.
Asked by: Cat Eccles (Labour - Stourbridge)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what action the Government is taking to address harmful cat breeding practices, including the breeding of wildcat hybrids.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Stourbridge on 24 March 2026 PQ UIN 121217.
Asked by: David Smith (Labour - North Northumberland)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing import restrictions on enriched cages for laying hens, pullets and breeder layers.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 18 March 2026 to the hon. Member for Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend, PQ UIN 120331.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
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 ensure long-term resilience in fertiliser supply chains.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK Government, Scottish Government, Welsh Government and the Northern Ireland Executive have launched a joint consultation and call for evidence on proposals to modernise UK fertilisers legislation. The consultation and call for evidence set out plans to help support innovation in the fertiliser sector, diversify supply, and strengthen the UK’s resilience to global market shocks. Current fertiliser regulations are widely seen as outdated and could do more to support fertiliser supply resilience and protect the environment, as well as being more agile to enable new products to enter the market.