Asked by: Lord Rogan (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what percentage of food purchased by UK public sector bodies in each of the last three years has been sourced from UK producers.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government does not collect data on the quantity of UK produced food sourced by public sector bodies. Defra consulted on proposed changes to the public sector Government Buying Standards for Food and Catering Services last year and expect to publish revised standards in due course. Proposed changes to data reporting in the public sector supply chain formed part of this consultation.
Asked by: Lord Rogan (Ulster Unionist Party - 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 evidence provided by the British Veterinary Association to the House of Lords Sub-Committee on the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland in their inquiry on the Windsor Framework, which stated that in the current form "failure to obtain a permanent solution could see Northern Ireland lose access to 51% of the veterinary medicines it currently receives"; and what action they intend to take in response to address any reduction in access to veterinary medicines.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Under the old Protocol over half of existing UK veterinary medicine product lines supplying Northern Ireland could have been at risk at the end of 2022, which would have had serious consequences for human and animal health in Northern Ireland.
The Windsor Framework removed that cliff edge, with a three year extension. This was important to solve the immediate problem, but the British Veterinary Association are right to emphasise the need for a long-term solution which protects the supply of veterinary medicines into Northern Ireland. This is what we are now working on.
Asked by: Lord Rogan (Ulster Unionist Party - 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 impact of food inflation on family budgets in (1) Northern Ireland, (2) England, (3) Scotland, and (4) Wales.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Tackling inflation is this government’s number one priority, with a plan to more than halve inflation this year.
Annual food price inflation, reported by the ONS, was 19.1% in April 2023. This was a decrease of 0.1 percentage points on the March 2023 rate. Overall CPI inflation decreased to 8.7% in April 2023 down from 10.1% in March 2023. The rate of food price inflation in the UK equalled the average rate for the EU in March 2023.
The recent high levels of inflation have primarily been driven by higher energy prices and pressures on global supply chains and there are signs those are beginning to ease. Industry analyst expectations are that we are either at or approaching the food price inflation peak, from which point they expect food price inflation to gradually decrease over the remainder of 2023. We will need several more months of data to be confident that the fall this month is a reflection that the peak has already been reached.
While we do not have individual data on food price inflation rates for the devolved nations, we do have some statistics from the Office of National Statistics on differences in average household spend for the different devolved nations. For the year from April 1st 2020 to March 31st 2021, UK households spent on average £64.90 on food and non-alcoholic beverages, compared to £65.50 for England, £62.20 for Wales, £60.10 for Scotland and £70 for NI. As a proportion of total expenditure, this was 11.7% for UK, 11.5% for England, 12.7% for Wales, 12.4% for Scotland and 14.6% for Northern Ireland.
The average impact of food inflation on household budgets within each of the devolved administrations will depend on both the relevant food inflation rate, and the proportion of total expenditure spend on food per household in that region.
The Government understands the pressures people are facing with the current exceptionally high cost of living. To protect the most vulnerable from the worst of cost-of-living pressures, the Chancellor recently announced a package of targeted support worth £26 billion, which includes continued support for rising energy bills.
Asked by: Lord Rogan (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Lord Benyon on 23 March (HL Deb col 954), what discussions they had with the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs minister in the Northern Ireland Executive about his embargo on the recruitment of veterinarians to deliver controls on (1) sanitary, and (2) phytosanitary, goods arriving at Northern Ireland ports; and what assessment they have made of this decision.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The operation of checks is a matter for the Northern Ireland Executive (as sanitary and phytosanitary checks are a devolved competence). Defra Ministers have written and spoken to Minister Poots about staffing and infrastructure for conducting checks at Northern Ireland points of entry. Defra officials talk regularly to their DAERA counterparts about implementation of the Northern Ireland Protocol including operations at points of entry.
We remain fully committed to fixing the problems with the Protocol and to protect the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement in all its dimensions. We will continue our intensive talks with the EU in order to resolve these.
Asked by: Lord Rogan (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to compensate companies that recruited additional qualified veterinarians to administer checks on meat and dairy products entering the UK from the EU from 1 April who may now face redundancy following the decision to delay the introduction of these checks and health certificates; and what plans they have to meet with representatives of the affected companies.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
Defra is working with PHAs to have new staff (including OVs) recruited and trained in advance of October, and will continue engaging with a number of organisations, including vet providers, to ensure we meet those timelines. PHAs are continuing to recruit OVs in order to train, familiarise and prepare themselves for the changes from 1st October.
Asked by: Lord Rogan (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many fully qualified (1) veterinarians, and (2) meat hygiene inspectors, they estimate will be required to conduct veterinary controls and inspections in Northern Ireland when the grace period provided for by the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland expires.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The recruitment of veterinary professionals for carrying out veterinary controls and inspections in Northern Ireland is a devolved matter. This means that the responsible department is the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs in Northern Ireland (DAERA).
Veterinary controls and inspections do not only take place in ports and airports but include work done on farms and in various types of establishment, including slaughterhouses.
During the month of June 2020 (being typical of the base-line position for calendar year 2020) the number of staff employed by the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs in Northern Ireland to carry out veterinary controls and inspections was in the order of:
- 114 qualified veterinarians,
- 69 qualified meat hygiene inspectors, and
- 27 trainee meat hygiene inspectors.
At that time the number of staff employed in northern Ireland’s ports and airports, and authorised to carry out veterinary controls and inspections and participate in the goods clearance process was of the order of:
- Veterinarians – 1
- Portal Inspectors – 41
Inspectors working in the ports are not meat hygiene inspectors but are portal inspectors who have received training in that specific role. Meat hygiene inspectors are only employed in DAERA’s Veterinary Public Health Programme which delivers the Official Controls in Food Business Operator premises on behalf of the Food Standards Agency for Northern Ireland.
When the grace period provided for by the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland expires Northern Ireland the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs currently estimates that the number of staff required to conduct veterinary controls and inspections in Northern Ireland will, in total, approximate to:
- 186 qualified veterinarians,
- 69 qualified meat hygiene inspectors, and
- 27 trainee meat hygiene inspectors.
The most recent estimates for the numbers of staff that will be required to conduct veterinary controls and inspections in Northern Ireland ports and airports, when the grace period provided for by the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland expires, is as follows:
- Veterinarians – 72
- Officially authorised portal inspectors – 122
- Officially authorised portal administrative officers – 80
- Industrial grade animal handlers – 12
- Stevedores – 72
- Veterinarians, Portal Inspectors and admin staff - 3
DAERA is on track to spend a total of £16m on personnel, infrastructure and IT systems to the end of the current financial year for the work necessary to carry out the required sanitary and phytosanitary checks at Northern Ireland’s Points of Entry.
Asked by: Lord Rogan (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many fully qualified (1) veterinarians, and (2) meat hygiene inspectors, were employed to conduct veterinary controls and inspections in Northern Ireland from 1 January to 31 December 2020.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The recruitment of veterinary professionals for carrying out veterinary controls and inspections in Northern Ireland is a devolved matter. This means that the responsible department is the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs in Northern Ireland (DAERA).
Veterinary controls and inspections do not only take place in ports and airports but include work done on farms and in various types of establishment, including slaughterhouses.
During the month of June 2020 (being typical of the base-line position for calendar year 2020) the number of staff employed by the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs in Northern Ireland to carry out veterinary controls and inspections was in the order of:
- 114 qualified veterinarians,
- 69 qualified meat hygiene inspectors, and
- 27 trainee meat hygiene inspectors.
At that time the number of staff employed in northern Ireland’s ports and airports, and authorised to carry out veterinary controls and inspections and participate in the goods clearance process was of the order of:
- Veterinarians – 1
- Portal Inspectors – 41
Inspectors working in the ports are not meat hygiene inspectors but are portal inspectors who have received training in that specific role. Meat hygiene inspectors are only employed in DAERA’s Veterinary Public Health Programme which delivers the Official Controls in Food Business Operator premises on behalf of the Food Standards Agency for Northern Ireland.
When the grace period provided for by the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland expires Northern Ireland the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs currently estimates that the number of staff required to conduct veterinary controls and inspections in Northern Ireland will, in total, approximate to:
- 186 qualified veterinarians,
- 69 qualified meat hygiene inspectors, and
- 27 trainee meat hygiene inspectors.
The most recent estimates for the numbers of staff that will be required to conduct veterinary controls and inspections in Northern Ireland ports and airports, when the grace period provided for by the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland expires, is as follows:
- Veterinarians – 72
- Officially authorised portal inspectors – 122
- Officially authorised portal administrative officers – 80
- Industrial grade animal handlers – 12
- Stevedores – 72
- Veterinarians, Portal Inspectors and admin staff - 3
DAERA is on track to spend a total of £16m on personnel, infrastructure and IT systems to the end of the current financial year for the work necessary to carry out the required sanitary and phytosanitary checks at Northern Ireland’s Points of Entry.
Asked by: Lord Rogan (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to recruit fully trained veterinary professionals to carry out the necessary veterinary controls and inspections in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The recruitment of veterinary professionals for carrying out veterinary controls and inspections in Northern Ireland is a devolved matter. This means that the responsible department is the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs in Northern Ireland (DAERA).
Veterinary controls and inspections do not only take place in ports and airports but include work done on farms and in various types of establishment, including slaughterhouses.
During the month of June 2020 (being typical of the base-line position for calendar year 2020) the number of staff employed by the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs in Northern Ireland to carry out veterinary controls and inspections was in the order of:
- 114 qualified veterinarians,
- 69 qualified meat hygiene inspectors, and
- 27 trainee meat hygiene inspectors.
At that time the number of staff employed in northern Ireland’s ports and airports, and authorised to carry out veterinary controls and inspections and participate in the goods clearance process was of the order of:
- Veterinarians – 1
- Portal Inspectors – 41
Inspectors working in the ports are not meat hygiene inspectors but are portal inspectors who have received training in that specific role. Meat hygiene inspectors are only employed in DAERA’s Veterinary Public Health Programme which delivers the Official Controls in Food Business Operator premises on behalf of the Food Standards Agency for Northern Ireland.
When the grace period provided for by the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland expires Northern Ireland the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs currently estimates that the number of staff required to conduct veterinary controls and inspections in Northern Ireland will, in total, approximate to:
- 186 qualified veterinarians,
- 69 qualified meat hygiene inspectors, and
- 27 trainee meat hygiene inspectors.
The most recent estimates for the numbers of staff that will be required to conduct veterinary controls and inspections in Northern Ireland ports and airports, when the grace period provided for by the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland expires, is as follows:
- Veterinarians – 72
- Officially authorised portal inspectors – 122
- Officially authorised portal administrative officers – 80
- Industrial grade animal handlers – 12
- Stevedores – 72
- Veterinarians, Portal Inspectors and admin staff - 3
DAERA is on track to spend a total of £16m on personnel, infrastructure and IT systems to the end of the current financial year for the work necessary to carry out the required sanitary and phytosanitary checks at Northern Ireland’s Points of Entry.
Asked by: Lord Rogan (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how much Government funding has been spent in the current financial year on physical infrastructure at sea ports in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
A total of £16m is on track to be spent by the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs of Northern Ireland on infrastructure, IT systems and personnel to the end of the current financial year for the work necessary to carry out the required sanitary and phytosanitary checks at Northern Ireland’s Points of Entry.
Asked by: Lord Rogan (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether giving subsidies to farmers in the UK in the event of a no-deal Brexit to assist them with the export of (1) lamb, and (2) beef, to the EU would be in breach of World Trade Organization rules.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The World Trade Organisation’s (WTO’s) rules covering agricultural subsidies are set out in the Agreement on Agriculture. A final assessment against these rules can only be made once a subsidy scheme has been designed in detail.
However, at the 10th WTO Ministerial Conference in 2015 a decision was taken to fully eliminate any form of agricultural export subsidy as part of the ‘Nairobi Package’. This prevents the UK from putting in place measures such as: direct payments related to export performance; buying up non-commercial stocks of agricultural products and selling them overseas at less than domestic market value; or subsidising domestic or international transport costs for exported goods.