Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West)
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 recent flooding on (a) food production and (b) the health of livestock.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK agricultural sector is highly resilient and adaptable and operates in an open market with the value of commodities established by those in the supply chain.
The recent prolonged period of wet weather has impacted the UK arable and livestock sectors in several ways. These include late/limited planting opportunities for arable and horticulture crops; delayed turn out of grazing animals and the associated risk of diseases in keeping animals housed indoors for longer periods than usual, concerns about the potential scarcity and cost of straw; a build-up of stored slurry and reduced application opportunities; and wider concerns about the impact on mental health of farmers. Yields and productivity will also vary depending on individual farmer decisions, region, area and in the case of the arable sector, crop and soil type amongst other factors.
A number of individual farms have clearly been affected by the wet weather. While the current market assessment is that there may be implications over the coming months for certain commodities, particularly in the expected yield and quality of several arable crops this summer/autumn, it is still too early to predict the full impact on domestic food production, especially if the weather improves in the coming weeks.
We continue to monitor the on-going situation, working closely with the industry and through the UK Agriculture Market Monitoring Group (UKAMMG). The UK AMMG held an interim meeting on 16 April to specifically consider the impacts of the weather on each commodity sector.
The Farming Recovery Fund has been opened to provide farmers support to recover from uninsurable damage with grants of between £500 and £25,000 to return their land to the condition it was before exceptional flooding of Storm Henk. The fund was initially opened in nine English local authority areas where the Flood Recovery Framework has been activated to help farms which have experienced the highest levels of flooding. Eligibility for the Fund is actively under review.
This forms part of a package of support available to farmers through the Flood Recovery Framework, including a grant of up to £2,500 through the Business Recovery Grant Scheme.
The UK Food Security Report (UKFSR) sets out an analysis of statistical data relating to food security, fulfilling the duty in the Agriculture Act 2020 to present a report on food security to Parliament at least once every three years. It examines trends relevant to food security to present the best available understanding. The report was last published in December 2021 and will next be published by December 2024.
Starting this year, we are strengthening our food security monitoring by producing the Annual Food Security Index. This will complement the UKFSR with a shorter and more regular report. The first version will be published at the Farm to Fork Summit in the Spring.
The next UKFSR, which will be published later this year, will include analysis on the risk of flooding to food security as part of its assessment of longer-term climate-related trends.
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, what funding his Department has allocated to the farming sector in South Holland and the Deepings constituency since 2022 by (a) funding type and (b) recipient.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Rual Payment Agency has supported the farming and rural sector through payments under a range of schemes.
Since January 2022, the RPA has released 954 payments to farmers, worth around £21.3m, in South Holland and the Deepings constituency broken down as follows.
Vol/Val | Basic Payment Scheme | Countryside Stewardship Scheme | Environmental Stewardship | Sustainable Farm Incentive | Other Grants | Total |
Volume | 756 | 140 | 5 | 25 | 28 | 954 |
Value (£) | £ 17,960,030.90 | £ 1,863,631.02 | £ 98,297.09 | £ 384,085.30 | £ 963,624.28 | £ 21,269,668.59 |
Asked by: Tahir Ali (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
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 take steps with local authorities to increase access to mobile household recycling centres in cities.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs) play an important role in helping people manage the waste they produce in a convenient and sustainable way. Local authorities are responsible for managing HWRCs and determining how best to support their residents to manage waste responsibly. We encourage any innovative approaches that local authorities take to improve access and availability of their waste services.
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, pursuant to the Answer of 15 April 2024 to Question 20753 on Flood Control, how many schemes that went through an appraisal process have been deferred (a) in total and (b) to a date beyond the end of the current programme of works in March 2027; and when he plans to publish more information on those schemes.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
I refer the Honourable member to the Answer of 15 April 2024 to Question 20753, which set out that delivery is the Government’s key priority, and we are working with the Environment Agency to review the programme in light of the impacts of inflation and the pandemic. More information will be available in due course.
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, when he plans to respond to the correspondence of (a) 29 January and (b) 4 March 2024 from the hon. Member for Weston-super-Mare relating to haggis exports.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
A reply to the hon. Member is being prepared and will be issued in due course. I apologise for the delay in responding to the hon. Member.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
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 plans to take to help ensure that Thames Water continues to (a) operate, (b) provide services and (c) keep bills low for customers.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Customers will not experience any change or disruption to their water supply or wastewater services as a consequence of the financial position of their water company. There are long standing processes in place whereby the regulator must approve individual companies’ investment plans to ensure they deliver on their requirements in an efficient way.
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, what steps he is taking to ensure water companies are held accountable for sewage discharge.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is clear that the amount of sewage discharged into our waters is unacceptable. We will not let companies get away with illegal activity and we have taken a series of actions to ensure that where breaches, are found companies will be held to account.
Government directed water companies to increase their storm overflow monitoring in 2013 and achieved 100% coverage before the end of 2023.
Meeting this target is a significant achievement in creating positive environmental change and holding water companies to account. The wealth of data collected from these monitors will ensure that we know the full extent to the problem – increasing transparency, revealing the worst-offending overflows, and enabling regulators to continue to hold polluters to account.
The Environment Agency can now impose unlimited penalties on water companies for a wider range of offenses following Government’s changes to broaden of the scope of the existing civil sanctions regime and remove the previous cap on penalties.
The Government also has recently announced a consultation to ban water bosses’ bonuses when criminal breaches have occurred, quadrupled company inspections- by the end of March 2025, fast-tracked £180m investment to cut spills, and launched a whistleblowing portal for water company workers to report breaches.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
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 Table 1.2 of his Department's national statistics entitled Farm business income in England 2023/24 forecast, updated on 14 March 2024, whether his Department plans to provide financial support to dairy farmers in the context that their average farm business income in real terms is forecast to decrease by the greatest percentage among all farm types from financial year 2022-23 to financial year 2023-24.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK has a resilient and dynamic dairy sector which operates in an open market where the value of dairy commodities, including farmgate milk price, is established by those in the supply chain. The average Farm Business Income is at a 20-year high in 2022/23 following a previous 20-year high in 2021/22. The forecast decrease for 2023/24 would bring average Farm Business Income for dairy farm businesses back closer to historic trends. Through a range of government schemes, there is support for investment in dairy businesses through the Sustainable Farming Incentive, the animal health and welfare pathway and various productivity and innovation grants.
We have also recently introduced new legislation, The Fair Dealing Obligations (Milk) Regulations 2024, which creates new rules for dairy contracts covering issues such as pricing provisions, unilateral changes to contracts and notice periods. Ensuring fairer contracts will provide greater certainty for farmers and help the dairy industry thrive into the future.
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, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of resources allocated to enforcement agencies responsible for checking pets entering the UK to effectively counter puppy and kitten smuggling.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra regularly engages with enforcement agencies regarding tackling illegal pet smuggling and appropriate resourcing.
Local authorities and the Animal and Plant Health Agency are responsible for enforcing pet travel and commercial import requirements.
Authorised carriers and pet checkers have the delegated responsibility for conducting pet checks on non-commercial movements. They can refuse travel for non-compliant animals or share intelligence with the Animal and Plant Health Agency who can intercept at the port or border if non-compliance is suspected.
Asked by: George Eustice (Conservative - Camborne and Redruth)
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 designate the swift under Schedule 1 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 on birds which are protected by special penalties.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
There are no plans to amend Schedule 1 or Schedule ZA1 at this time.