Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of requiring honey labels to reflect all the countries of origin of the honey.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Lord Chamberlain (HM Household)
All honey on sale in England, regardless of where it comes from, must comply with the Honey (England) Regulations 2015. The general requirement in regulation 17 of the Honey (England) Regulations 2015 is that honey cannot be sold in England unless the country of origin where the honey has been harvested is indicated on the label.
However, for reasons of practicality special provisions apply to ‘blended’ honeys where honey producers can opt for alternative wording indicating that the honey is a blend from more than one country. The mix of different honeys in blended honeys may change frequently throughout the year, depending on availability, price, and seasonality of the various types of honey. Requiring producers to change their labels for every alteration would place additional burdens and likely lead to increased prices and packaging waste.
The Government keeps all its laws under constant review as part of its commitment to carry out post implementation reviews. We will consider the need for further labelling measures as part of the next review of the honey regulations which is due by 2025.
Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how often the Dynamic Food Procurement Board will meet.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
The Dynamic Food Procurement National Advisory Board (DFPNAB) is not a statutory body. It is an independent grass roots body with participants from member organisations, public procurers and small businesses with a shared interest in promoting the use of the dynamic purchasing model in the food supply chain. While its members are not appointed by the Secretary of State, Defra does take part in meetings.
Trials of the dynamic procurement model have shown it can, in the right circumstances, offer greater access to public sector contracts for small, medium and local producers. The Government is investigating the larger scale use of dynamic purchasing for food procurement and the DFPNAB has freely shared its knowledge and expertise to assist with this work.
The DFPNAB meets approximately every three months. The date of the next meeting has not been agreed, but is expected to take place in January 2020.
The DFPNAB does not publish the minutes of meetings.
The Government does not monitor the effectiveness of independent bodies.
Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the minutes of Dynamic Food Procurement Board meetings will be published.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
The Dynamic Food Procurement National Advisory Board (DFPNAB) is not a statutory body. It is an independent grass roots body with participants from member organisations, public procurers and small businesses with a shared interest in promoting the use of the dynamic purchasing model in the food supply chain. While its members are not appointed by the Secretary of State, Defra does take part in meetings.
Trials of the dynamic procurement model have shown it can, in the right circumstances, offer greater access to public sector contracts for small, medium and local producers. The Government is investigating the larger scale use of dynamic purchasing for food procurement and the DFPNAB has freely shared its knowledge and expertise to assist with this work.
The DFPNAB meets approximately every three months. The date of the next meeting has not been agreed, but is expected to take place in January 2020.
The DFPNAB does not publish the minutes of meetings.
The Government does not monitor the effectiveness of independent bodies.
Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how his Department measures the effectiveness of the national advisory board on dynamic food procurement.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
The Dynamic Food Procurement National Advisory Board (DFPNAB) is not a statutory body. It is an independent grass roots body with participants from member organisations, public procurers and small businesses with a shared interest in promoting the use of the dynamic purchasing model in the food supply chain. While its members are not appointed by the Secretary of State, Defra does take part in meetings.
Trials of the dynamic procurement model have shown it can, in the right circumstances, offer greater access to public sector contracts for small, medium and local producers. The Government is investigating the larger scale use of dynamic purchasing for food procurement and the DFPNAB has freely shared its knowledge and expertise to assist with this work.
The DFPNAB meets approximately every three months. The date of the next meeting has not been agreed, but is expected to take place in January 2020.
The DFPNAB does not publish the minutes of meetings.
The Government does not monitor the effectiveness of independent bodies.
Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what criteria were used to appoint members from Devon to the Dynamic Food Procurement Board.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
The Dynamic Food Procurement National Advisory Board (DFPNAB) is not a statutory body. It is an independent grass roots body with participants from member organisations, public procurers and small businesses with a shared interest in promoting the use of the dynamic purchasing model in the food supply chain. While its members are not appointed by the Secretary of State, Defra does take part in meetings.
Trials of the dynamic procurement model have shown it can, in the right circumstances, offer greater access to public sector contracts for small, medium and local producers. The Government is investigating the larger scale use of dynamic purchasing for food procurement and the DFPNAB has freely shared its knowledge and expertise to assist with this work.
The DFPNAB meets approximately every three months. The date of the next meeting has not been agreed, but is expected to take place in January 2020.
The DFPNAB does not publish the minutes of meetings.
The Government does not monitor the effectiveness of independent bodies.
Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans he has to introduce a legal definition of the term grass-fed in relation to livestock raised on pasture all of their lives.
Answered by David Rutley
The Food Information Regulations already protect consumers by stating that food information must not be misleading, in particular, as to its method of manufacture or production.
There is therefore no need for the Government to introduce further legislation to define production methods for meat or other farmed food. Producer-led accreditation schemes such as the highly respected Pasture For Life scheme provide an excellent way for farmers to market their outstanding British food.
Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with Natural England on its revised policy on heather management.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
The most recent statement Natural England (NE) has put out in relation to heather management, has been their position statement on “Burning as a tool for the restoration of upland blanket bog”. On 24 January, NE informed Defra Ministers that a position statement would be published.
On 11 February, NE published the position statement.
Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
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 additional cost to landowners of surveying moorland under the proposed new legislation from Natural England.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
Natural England does not have the powers to legislate or propose legislation.