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Written Question
Import Controls
Tuesday 12th March 2024

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 Neville-Rolfe on 27 December 2023 (HL1079), what assessment they have carried out to inform the conclusion that no differential impact on traffic flows, congestion and emissions has been identified by different levels of user charges.

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

Charges to recover BCP operating costs for Government-run facilities are due to be published shortly through the Government Response to the “Charging Arrangements at government-run border control posts” consultation. Commercial ports will independently set their own fees which are still being finalised, therefore the impact of different charges at different BCPs on traffic volumes, queues and emissions cannot currently be quantified.


Written Question
Import Controls
Friday 5th January 2024

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 Neville-Rolfe on 23 November (HL180), whether they have developed plans for managing traffic flows through the Sevington border facility (1) when the facility is operating smoothly, and (2) during periods of congestion and queuing.

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

Sevington Inland Border Facility is a cross-Government managed site owned by the Department for Transport. HM Revenue and Customs operates customs checks on the site and Defra has built a Border Control Post to support sanitary and phytosanitary checks on goods arriving from the Port of Dover and Eurotunnel.

Departments have worked together to develop traffic management plans which set out the mitigations required to ensure traffic flow is managed in and around the site, both when the facility is operating smoothly and in the event of congestion. These have also taken into account the wider Kent Resilience Forum Traffic Management plans, which include the use of some capacity at Sevington if required in times of disruption.


Written Question
Import Controls
Friday 5th January 2024

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 Neville-Rolfe on 23 November 2023 (HL180), what "appropriate contingencies" are under consideration to be deployed by (1) importers, and (2) the Government.

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

The introduction of new controls for the Border Target Operating Model is not expected to impact products of animal origin and fresh produce availability. We are working closely with importers and border officials, and we are continuously monitoring the range of potential risks that could impact on the supply chain, and this would inform any future thinking around contingencies to be deployed if required.


Written Question
Food Supply: Climate Change
Thursday 4th January 2024

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 what assessment they have made of adopting crop diversity to mitigate against climate change crop failure and promote sustainable food production and security.

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

Our fantastic British farmers are world-leaders and carefully plan their planting to suit the weather, their soil type, and their long-term agronomic strategy.

It is not Government policy to determine which crops farmers should prioritise to include in their crop rotation. However, we will continue to support farmers, so they can make the right decisions for them and the productivity of their land.

Defra’s Genetic Improvement Networks (GINs) on Wheat, Oilseed Rape, Pulses and Vegetable crops aim to improve the main UK crops by identifying genetic traits to improve their productivity, sustainability and resilience. Across the GINs we have already successfully identified genetic traits that have improved resilience to climate change and common pests and diseases, and we are working with breeders to incorporate these traits into elite UK crop varieties.

A recent Defra commissioned research project “Review of opportunities for diversifying UK agriculture through investment in underutilised crops” also sought to identify underutilised, underdeveloped and novel crops with potential to be grown successfully in the UK within diversified cropping systems. The report can be located on the Defra Science & Research webpage at the following link: Science Search (defra.gov.uk).

Furthermore, UK consumers have access through international trade to food products that cannot be produced here, or at least not on a year-round basis. This supplements domestic production and ensures that any disruption from risks such as adverse weather or disease does not affect the UK's overall security of supply.


Written Question
Forest Products: Origin Marking
Thursday 4th January 2024

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 what assessment they have made of the need to ban the commercialisation of products derived from deforested areas and certify more strongly the origin of products imported to the UK.

Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The Government recognises the impact of consumption in the UK on the world’s forests. In 2019 we asked an independent taskforce - the Global Resource Initiative (GRI) – to provide the UK Government with specific recommendations on addressing the problem. The GRI submitted its first report in March 2021, and recommended the Government introduce a mandatory due diligence requirement on organisations using ‘forest risk commodities’ – commodities whose production is associated with wide-scale deforestation – in their supply chains.

The Government introduced new legislation through the Environment Act to tackle illegal deforestation in UK supply chains. Recent research estimates that around 70% of global tropical deforestation for commercial agriculture between 2013 and 2019 was conducted in violation of national laws.

The Government announced further details of our forest risk commodities regulations at COP28 in December. The new law will make it illegal for larger organisations, with a global annual turnover of more than £50 million, to use key forest risk commodities produced on land illegally occupied or used. Initial secondary legislation will focus on four commodities identified as key drivers of deforestation: cattle products (excluding dairy), cocoa, palm oil and soy.

Organisations in scope will also be required to undertake a due diligence exercise on their supply chains and to report on this exercise annually. To ensure transparency, information about businesses' due diligence exercises will be published. Businesses in scope that do not comply with these requirements may be subject to fines and other civil sanctions.

The secondary legislation required to operationalise the Environment Act provisions will be laid as soon as parliamentary time allows.


Written Question
Flood Control
Thursday 4th January 2024

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 what consideration they have given to collecting data on communities at risk of flooding with a view to designing a purposeful early warning system.

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

The Environment Agency provides the Check for flooding service on gov.uk giving information on flood alerts and warnings as well as a 5-day forecast. The Environment Agency uses its flood warning system on gov.uk to directly alert those who have signed up to receive flood warnings when flooding is expected in their area. There are currently around 1.6 million people signed up to receive these warnings.

In March 2023 the Government launched Emergency Alerts on gov.uk. The technology allows emergency messages to be broadcast to a defined area. This means any compatible device in or entering that area immediately receives the emergency message. Emergency Alerts are to be used in the most severe emergency situations where there is significant risk to life.

The Environment Agency is continuously improving its flood risk data. It is currently developing a new National Flood Risk Assessment (NaFRA2) that will provide a single picture of current and future flood risk from rivers, the sea and surface water, using both existing detailed local information and improved national data.

The new risk assessment will be available as open data and will provide risk management authorities, infrastructure providers, insurers, and members of the public with more accessible, richer, and trusted flood risk data and information (such as flood depth and duration of flooding).


Written Question
Flood Control
Thursday 4th January 2024

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 what steps they have taken to support communities in becoming more aware of the risks of flooding and developing flood preparation measures.

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

The Environment Agency provides practical information about what people can do before, after and during a flood on GOV.UK. Between April 2022 and March 2023, the Environment Agency sent over 4.7 million messages to the public, partners and the media. These messages informed them of flooding in their area and the flood warning service they can receive.

The Environment Agency’s annual Flood Action Campaign launched in November 2023, with Flood Action Week. The campaign encourages people at risk of flooding to focus on what they need to do to prepare for a flood. Signing up to flood alerts forms part of the Environment Agency’s "Prepare Act Survive" message.


Written Question
Climate Change
Wednesday 29th November 2023

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, given recent weather events, what progress has been made in helping the UK to adapt to climate change.

Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The Government published its Third National Adaptation Programme (NAP3) (see attached) in July 2023. This marked a step-change in the Government’s approach to climate adaptation, putting in place an ambitious programme of decisive action for the next 5 years to address each of the 61 climate risks and opportunities in its Third Climate Change Risk Assessment.

NAP3 builds on our work already underway to provide an improved and more resilient infrastructure, greener economy, and sustainable food production.  For example, we are responding to environmental threats to domestic food production through our Environmental Land Management farming schemes, protecting hundreds of thousands of homes with a record-breaking £5.2 billion investment in flood and coastal schemes, and safeguarding future water supplies by working with regulators to accelerate £2.2 billion of investment through our ambitious Plan for Water.

The Government will continue to monitor its progress on adapting to climate change both internally through a new, senior officials Climate Resilience Board, and externally by the Climate Change Committee’s (CCC’s) reports to Parliament. The Government published its response to the CCC’s latest report in October 2023.


Written Question
Import Controls
Wednesday 15th November 2023

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 when will a decision be made and published on the proposed common user charge under the Border Target Operating Model.

Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

Defra recently consulted on the proposed Common User Charge to recover operating costs at Government-run Border Control Posts. We expect to publish a summary of the responses and an update on the Common User Charge proposal over the coming months.


Written Question
Export Health Certificates
Monday 13th November 2023

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 how they will work with trading partners to ensure that the capacity and availability of certifiers for export health certificates are sufficient to prevent any barrier to trade.

Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The UK Government is working closely with EU member states and the European Commission to ensure that there is sufficient certifier capacity for implementation of the Border Target Operating Model (BTOM). Our evidence suggests that member states will be ready with the necessary certifier capacity in place. We remain in contact with the European Commission to discuss and review the availability of EU certifiers to exporters, as it is the responsibility of the exporter to identify a certifying officer in the EU.

Furthermore, under the BTOM’s risk-based approach most imports of animal and plant products will not require health certification. Where certification is needed, it will be simplified and digitised.