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

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) the impact of the proposed 70 per cent cut in funding from DEFRA from April 2024 for the inspection team of Dover Port Health Authority, and (2) how this will affect the action of this team to maintain UK food safety and security.

Answered by Lord Douglas-Miller - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

On the 31 January 2023 we introduced the first stage of the Border Target Operating Model (BTOM) which balances the need to protect biosecurity with the impact on trade. All port health authorities (PHAs) and local authorities (LAs) undertaking the new sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) checks on EU goods from 30 April 2024 will be able to issue charges to recover their costs in the way they do now for Rest of the World goods. In 2022, Defra began providing a temporary financial support package to PHAs and LAs to retain staff until the introduction of the BTOM. In that time, these staff were focused on supporting wider biosecurity work. This included supporting Border Force with enforcing the temporary African Swine Fever (ASF) safeguard measure on pork and pork products from the EU, in place pending implementation of a new SPS policy for goods intended for personal use.

Defra remains committed to protecting biosecurity and we are confident that this will not negatively impact UK food safety and security. We are working closely with all border stakeholders in the lead up to all implementation dates of new SPS controls. We are working with them to train and upskill staff to ensure that any new controls that are brought in are enacted in an efficient manner so as not to disrupt trade, but which crucially will maintain our high biosecurity standards.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with P&O Ferries regarding the wages currently paid to its staff, following reports that those are below the National Minimum Wage; why the provisions of the Seafarers’ Wages Act 2023 have not yet been implemented; and when they expect that to happen.

Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

We welcome P&O Ferries’ recent commitment to working towards the requirements of the Seafarers’ Charter, joining Britanny Ferries, Condor, DFDS and Stena Line in doing so. Officials have begun technical discussions with the company about compliance with the Charter, which requires paying seafarers an equivalent to the UK National Minimum Wage throughout their engagement.

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

To ask His Majesty's Government what is the tonnage of illegal meat intended for import into the UK seized following UK customs checks in each of the last five years; and what is their assessment of the risk to UK pig farms from African Swine Flu present in consignments of imported meat.

Answered by Lord Douglas-Miller - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The data we have relates to seizures of “products of animal origin, contaminated goods and packaging” (not necessarily just meat) reported to Defra by English PHAs only. Any seizures made by other officials or seizures not reported to Defra are not included here. The data below relates to all EU and Rest of World imports.

There are rules for bringing food or animal products into Great Britain (GB) for personal use, depending on the country that the traveller is coming from. There are restrictions on meat, dairy and other products.

African swine fever (ASF) cases in Europe in 2022 represented new “jumps” in disease distribution towards the United Kingdom. While we consider that the overall risk of entry of ASF virus into the UK from all combined pathways remains at medium, the particular pathway of human-mediated transport of non-commercial, infected products from the EU is considered to be high risk. The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) conducts outbreak risk assessments on ASF in the EU, published here https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/african-swine-fever-in-pigs-and-boars-in-europe and attached to this answer.

As a result, we announced controls restricting the movement of pork and pork products into GB to help safeguard Britain's pigs. Travellers are no longer allowed to bring pork or pork products weighing over two kilograms into GB, unless they are produced to the EU’s commercial standards. The controls, which came into force in September 2022, strengthen the standards for bringing pork and pork products into GB from the EU and EFTA states. This measure helps limit possibly infected pig meat being brought into GB through various means, such as in passengers’ luggage or in vehicles.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Future of Flight Action Plan, published on 18 March, what manufacturing standards will be in place for uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS), and when, to ensure compliance with Regulation (EU) 2019/947 which requires operators to ensure UAS are capable of performing intended flights safely.

Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

Regulation (EU) 2019/945 sets out the product standard requirements for uncrewed aircraft systems, which will come into force on the 1 January 2026 (as set out in Regulation (EU) 2019/947).

The CAA recently consulted on product standards and will be providing the department with recommendations on potential regulatory amendments. There are four areas that DfT particularly intend to focus on: remote ID, geo-awareness/fencing, lighting requirements and manufacturer requirements.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Future of Flight Action Plan, published on 18 March, what regulations are being considered to ensure that ‘temporary reserved areas’ do not impact citizens regarding (1) safety, (2) noise, (3) privacy, and (4) environmental impacts; and when they will provide the necessary regulatory frameworks.

Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The regulatory framework exists and Temporary Reserved Areas (TRAs) are applied for through the Airspace Change Process and are assessed by the regulator, the Civil Aviation Authority, which under Section 70 of the Transport Act 2000, has a duty to take a number of factors into account. This includes assessing that a high standard of safety is maintained in the provision of air traffic services; specific guidance on environment objectives contained within the Air Navigation Guidance 2017; and the process allows for consultation with potentially impacted stakeholders to raise concerns such as privacy.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Future of Flight Action Plan, published on 18 March, when they anticipate that the British Standards Institute will report on recommended performance standards for uncrewed aircraft systems for testing in operational non-segregated airspace environments known as ‘temporary reserved areas’.

Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

It is within the Action Plan for CAA to start an Uncrewed Traffic Management (UTM) sandbox this year to allows testing in non-segregated airspace environments.

Any recommended performance standards for uncrewed aircraft system testing will need to meet the expectations of the CAA, to ensure that all airspace users meet the necessary safety requirements.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Future of Flight Action Plan, published on 18 March, where the ‘temporary reserved areas’ will operate; and what will be the size of those areas.

Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

Details of location and size are proposed by the industry, before assessment by the CAA on a case-by-case basis, to consider safety in the proposed operational environment.

Temporary Reserved Areas (TRAs) are applied for through the Airspace Change Process, which allows for consultation with potentially impacted stakeholders.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Future of Flight Action Plan, published on 18 March, what is their timeline to achieve operational ‘temporary reserved areas’ by end of 2024.

Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

Operational temporary reserved areas (TRAs) are in use now and throughout 2024 for Uncrewed Aircraft Systems (UAS) trials, enabling the CAA to validate the use of airspace policy concepts with real world use cases.

Found: COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE HOUSE [Supplementary to the Marshalled List] The Schedule LORD HAIN BARONESS