Asked by: Stephen Gethins (Scottish National Party - Arbroath and Broughty Ferry)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many inspections Border Control Posts have conducted since 2022; and at what cost to the public purse.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Checks at Border Control Posts (BCPs) are intelligence-led and based on biosecurity risk. To protect the integrity of this approach, we cannot share data on volumes of inspections.
Regarding the cost to the public purse, the only UK Government run BCP is at Sevington, where the Common User Charge applies (CUC). The CUC is intended to recover the operating costs of government-run Sevington BCP facility serving the Port of Dover and Eurotunnel. There will be no profit from the charge as it is intended to be a full cost recovery charging scheme only, in line with HMG’s Managing Public Money principles.
For information on calculation and operating costs please review the report at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sevington-border-control-post-estimated-operating-costs.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
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 estimate of the cost to the police of (a) kennelling and (b) court fees for dogs subject to seized dog cases.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra does not hold data on the total cost to the police of kennelling or of court fees for dogs subject to seized dog cases. This information may be collected by individual police forces.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Hayman of Ullock on 20 May (HL7268), what engagement they have had with logistics businesses about the current system that is used to notify drivers of physical checks of their vehicle under the Border Target Operating Model without specifying which consignment is affected.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Border Target Operating model (BTOM) was developed following extensive engagement with businesses (including the logistics sector) across the UK, points of entry, enforcement agencies and with the Scottish and Welsh Governments.
Defra continues to have regular engagement with border stakeholders including the logistics sector, to discuss operational aspects of the BTOM implementation.
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, what the turn around time for results on livestock samples at the Pirbright lab has been in the latest period for which data is available.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Pirbright Institute is the UK national reference laboratory and provides a commercial testing service five days a week. Results from submissions from private vets are reported within three working days from the time samples are received at the lab, as stated on Pirbright’s website.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
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 ensure the future of agri-environmental farming schemes.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In the recent spending review, we committed to carrying on the transition towards paying to deliver public goods for the environment, with over £7 billion directed into nature’s recovery between 2026 and 2029. This includes environmental farming schemes (£5.9 billion), tree planting (£816 million) and peatland restoration (£85 million).
There are currently record numbers of farmers taking part in farming schemes such as the Sustainable Farming Incentive. As of April 2025, these schemes supported 885,000 hectares of arable land being farmed without insecticides; 330,000 hectares of low input grassland being managed sustainably; and 85,000 kilometres of hedgerows being protected and restored.
Asked by: Jenny Riddell-Carpenter (Labour - Suffolk Coastal)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of regulations on dog breeding; and what steps she is taking to tackle illegal puppy farming.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra undertook a post-implementation review of The Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018, which was published in December 2024. The Government is considering the findings, as well, as the recommendations in the EFRA select committee’s report into pet welfare and abuse and the Animal Welfare Committee’s Opinion on canine breeding.
As outlined in our manifesto, the Government will bring an end to puppy farming. We are considering the most effective way to deliver this commitment and will be setting out next steps in due course.
Asked by: Jim Allister (Traditional Unionist Voice - North Antrim)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the Movement Assistance Scheme operating until 30 June 2025 had a statutory foundation beyond that set out by the Plant Health etc. (Miscellaneous Fees) (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2021 (S.I. 2021/623).
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
At its inception, Defra relied on the Supply and Appropriation (Main Estimates) Act 2020 as legal authority for spending on the Movement Assistance Scheme (MAS). Under the Act, Defra is permitted to spend public money on matters such as “deliver[ing] social, environmental and economic programmes”; “Promotion and support for sustainable development, consumption and production”; and “Support[ing] a sustainable, secure and healthy food supply”. On 1 September 2022, legal authority for spending on MAS moved to s.50 of the United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020. The Plant Health etc. (Miscellaneous Fees) (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2023 (S.I. 2023/1391) extended the exemption from payment of fees in connection with applications for phytosanitary certificates only.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
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 has spent money on promotion through social media influencers since July 2024.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
No money has been spent by Defra on social media influencers since July 2024.
Asked by: Stephen Gethins (Scottish National Party - Arbroath and Broughty Ferry)
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 potential impact of the UK-EU Sanitary and Phytosanitary Agreement on the future use of Border Control Posts.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Work is ongoing to confirm what the future requirements for activities at the border will look like under an SPS Agreement, including what will happen to operations at Border Control Posts (BCPs). The Government recognises that there are questions that will need to be looked at as part of implementation and remains committed to working openly and closely with the Devolved Governments, Port Health Authorities, Local Authorities and port operators to ensure the transition to these new arrangements is as clear and seamless as possible, noting that the precise detail and timing of this process – including legislative arrangements – are naturally subject to the course of the detailed negotiations.
Asked by: Jim Allister (Traditional Unionist Voice - North Antrim)
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 has taken to ensure that the decision not to extend the Movement Assistance Scheme a third time was compliant with his obligations under Section 46 of the Internal Market Act 2020.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Movement Assistance Scheme (MAS) was always intended to be time limited. It was originally set up for a period of three months, and on review it was renewed for a further three months before being extended until December 2023. The decision to extend MAS until June 2025, to align with implementation of the Windsor Framework, was made public on 10th October 2023. There was never a suggestion it would extend beyond this date. MAS was created and extended to provide transitional support to businesses following the end of the transition period and during implementation of the Windsor Framework.
Defra remains committed to the ongoing support for Great Britain-Northern Ireland trade delivered through the Northern Ireland Retail Movement Scheme and the Northern Ireland Plant Health Labelling Scheme, plus the ongoing work to reach an SPS agreement with the EU.