Asked by: John Penrose (Conservative - Weston-super-Mare)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to Question 19018, tabled on 18 March 2024, on Members: Correspondence, when he plans to reply to the letters of 12 January and 14 February 2024 from the hon. Member for Weston-super-Mare on behalf of a constituent about e-collars.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
A reply was sent to the hon. Member on 15 April 2024. I apologise for the delay in responding to the hon. Member.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
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 merits of (a) issuing a moratorium on intensive poultry-farming units and (b) lowering the population threshold at which an environmental permit to operate is required.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The British poultry industry is resilient and operates in an open market. Environmental permits require intensive poultry farms with more than 40 000 bird places to mitigate the environmental risks of their operations. Over 80% of poultry birds and nationally are raised on farms which require an environmental permit to operate. Impacts on habitats are also considered when planning consents are issued to both permitted farms and to smaller poultry units.
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much his Department spent in the last 12 months on (a) in-work and (b) other training on (i) coastal restoration, (ii) the protection of coastal and marine ecosystems, (iii) monitoring, (iv) enforcement and (v) sustainable recreation; how much he plans to spend on each of those areas in the next 12 months; and whether his Department employs apprentices.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The requested information on training spend is not held centrally and to obtain it would incur disproportionate costs.
Core Defra Marine and Fisheries staff and employees of Defra’s marine Arm’s Length Bodies undertake a range of training and learning and development (L&D) opportunities covering a wide range of topics including coastal restoration and the protection of marine ecosystems, monitoring, enforcement, and sustainable recreation. Training is delivered through a range of means, including for example on the job learning, attending courses, peer to peer learning, conferences or talks, membership of professional bodies/learned societies, reviewing literature and mentoring. There is no mechanism through which we can give a specific amount that will be spent on those areas in the next 12 months. Every civil servant is supported to undertake L&D and expected to undertake the training necessary to their role. Detailed records are not kept at a corporate level on specific training.
The department does employ apprentices. As at March 2024 Defra Group currently has 880 active apprentices.
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, what the operational hours for Sevington border control post are for the week commencing 6 May 2024; and whether the post will have the capacity to carry out inspections overnight.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Sevington IBF is intended to operate as a Border Control Post 24 hours a day, 7 days a week from 30th April. As such, and pending the designation decision, the site will conduct inspections overnight.
Asked by: Alyn Smith (Scottish National Party - Stirling)
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 introducing Not for EU labelling on trends in consumer behaviour in the purchase of agricultural products from UK-based businesses.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Labelling is a proportionate and necessary means of ensuring goods moving under the unique arrangements provided by the Windsor Framework are not being moved inappropriately into the EU.
We are not aware of any change in consumer behaviour based on the labelling requirements in place so far, which already sees those labels on products on shelves across the UK in practice. That reflects that the ‘not-for-EU’ label does not represent a change in standards of production and quality and is simply a means of ensuring the smooth movement of goods within the UK.
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, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of declaring (a) Orchidaceae, (b) Dendranthema, (c) Dianthus, (d) Gypsophila and (e) Solidago from the EU as medium risk on the floristry industry.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The new import health control regime aims to achieve the lowest regulatory obligation for businesses, consistent with the need to protect biosecurity and public health and to safeguard the UK’s reputation for high regulatory standards.
We will work closely with trade partners to ensure that the process and rationale for categorisation of commodities is understood and seen to be robust and fair. However, it should be noted that categorisation is based on the UK’s risk assessment, not stakeholder feedback.
Asked by: Greg Knight (Conservative - East Yorkshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he last met representatives of the (a) National Farmers Union and (b) National Pig Association UK; and what the results of those discussions were.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Secretary of State regularly meets with the National Farmers’ Union (NFU). In the last month he has met with the NFU President, Tom Bradshaw, during a visit to Dartmoor to discuss the Government’s response to the Fursdon Review. He also met with the NFU’s Deputy President, David Exwood, during a Farm Tenancy Forum in March to discuss the implementation of Kate Rock’s tenant farming review.
As the Minister of State for Food, Farming and Fisheries, I also have frequent engagement with the pig sector and officials meet with representatives of the National Pig Association on a regular basis.
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 2010 and 2020.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Between 2010 and 2020 fifty-two (52) consignments from the EU were diagnosed with pests, or disease as part of general quarantine inspections. Findings were as follows:
(a) Gypsophila (1), (b) Solidago (1) (c) Orchids including Phalaenopsis, Cymbidium, Dendrobium & Vanda, (13), (d) Dianthus (5) and (e) Chrysanthemum (32)
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, pursuant to the Answer of 28 March 2024 to Question 19615 on Import Controls: Fees and Charges, if he will publish a list of all (a) Government-run and (b) privately-run border control posts.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Please see a full list of Border Control Posts (BCPs) at Animal and animal product imports: authorised border control posts in the UK - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). Sevington is currently undergoing the designation process to become a BCP, and, if so designated, will be the only Government run BCP.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has had recent discussions with his counterpart in Northern Ireland on the number of skilled workers employed in the Northern Irish fisheries industry.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government believes that every role in the fishing industry in Northern Ireland requires a wide variety of skills. The most recent statistics from the Marine Management Organisation’s Sea Fisheries Statistics 2022 show that the fishing industry in Northern Ireland employed 799 people, all of whom are skilled.