Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)
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 increase protections for farmers who sell produce to supermarkets.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government has already launched a review to increase fairness in the fresh produce supply chain in December 2023, building on what we have already got underway to improve transparency and contracts in the pork and dairy markets and the. Following this, we will analyse the responses and consider the need for providing additional protections for farmers at risk of unfair practices.
This review seeks to understand issues relating to fairness in the supply chain across the whole of the UK. If responses indicate there are contractual issues that we believe we should seek to address, the powers in the Agriculture Act apply to the whole of the UK. If regulations are developed, we will engage widely with stakeholders, including the devolved administrations, to ensure that legislation works for all parts of the UK and incorporate special provision for differing circumstances, if necessary.
A parliamentary debate is scheduled for 22 January to debate reforming the grocery supply code of practice to better protect farmers where the issues you’ve raised will be discussed.
Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to encourage food growth in the horticulture sector.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
An innovative, productive, and competitive agricultural sector is one of HM Government's key priorities, it is crucial to the resilience of our food system as well as an important part of our wider economy, and we are committed to supporting it.
At last month’s Farm to Fork Summit we announced a wide range of measures to support the horticulture sector, including a replacement Fruit & Vegetables Aid Scheme for England from 2026, expanding the scheme to ensure that more growers, including those involved in Controlled Environment Horticulture such as glasshouses, are able to benefit. This improved scheme will play a vital role in our farming reforms and help increase domestic horticulture production. Also announced was a review of the horticulture supply chain to help ensure farmers are paid a fair price for their produce.
Defra regularly engages with the horticulture industry to understand what support they need to continue to produce great food. Our discussions with industry representatives, help inform future policy development and help us understand what support the sector needs to help it thrive.
Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department has taken recent steps to reduce litter caused by the recreational use of nitrous oxide canisters; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
It is an offence to drop litter, and in recent years we have bolstered councils' powers to take enforcement action by almost doubling the upper fixed penalty limit for littering to £150. Furthermore, The Anti-social Behaviour Crime and Policing Act 2014 introduced powers, such as Public Space Protection Orders, which the police and local councils can use to prevent people from taking intoxicating substances, such as nitrous oxide, in specified areas.
In September 2021, the Government asked the independent statutory advisory body, the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD), to provide advice on whether nitrous oxide should be controlled under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. The ACMD is independent of Government and can provide a broad range of recommendations, including advice on regulatory or legislative changes. The Government will consider the ACMD advice carefully before deciding how to proceed.
Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what her Department's policy is on the importing of (a) fur and fur products, (b) foie gras and (c) hunting trophies; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Action Plan for Animal Welfare outlined our intention to explore potential action on the import of animal fur. We have since conducted a Call for Evidence on the fur sector along with other forms of engagement with interested parties. We are continuing to build our evidence base on the fur sector.
The production of foie gras by force feeding is banned in the UK as it is incompatible with our domestic legislation. We are committed to building a clear evidence base to inform any potential future decisions relating to imports.
HM Government has pledged to ban the imports of hunting trophies from thousands of species. We are committed to a ban that is among the strongest in the world and leads the way in protecting endangered animals. We are supporting the Private Member’s Bill led by the hon. Member for Crawley that will deliver this.
Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she plans to take steps to extend the right to roam to (a) woodlands, (b) watersides and (c) more downland; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 provides for a right to roam across open access land, giving the public a right of access to most areas of mountain, moor, heath, down, registered common land and coastal margin. We have no plans to change this. England has a fantastic network of footpaths and the public has the ‘right to roam’ over many areas of wild, open countryside
We are working to complete the England Coast Path which, at around 2,700 miles, will be the longest waymarked and maintained coast walking route in the world. Over 2,000 miles have now been approved as England Coast Path, with nearly 800 miles already open. It will also create 250,000 hectares of new open access land within the coastal margin. We will also be creating a new National Trail across the North of England
We do not plan to mandate that new woodlands have public access or introduce a right to roam across all woodlands. In the England Trees Action Plan, we committed to the provision of safe and appropriate public access in as many woodlands as possible through a suite of measures from updating Forestry Commission guidance through to plans to encourage improvements to the quality and permanency of existing access. This will include how we might support greater access for all abilities. We will also encourage more access provision through our woodland creation grants. We recently amended the England Woodland Creation Offer to offer a higher incentive for the provision of access to new woodlands, and made more applicants eligible to apply for funding for access.
We recognise that when open access land was originally mapped and new rights over it introduced in 2004-5, not all downland was mapped satisfactorily. We have already announced our intention to carry out a review of those maps, and work has begun to plan for this review. As part of the review, we will aim to improve our mapping of the downland landform, which is likely to mean that more areas of downland are identified and will become subject to access rights.
Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)
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 consult with people who operate boarding facilities for cats and dogs on the proposed changes to licencing conditions; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018 introduced an updated licensing system in England for specified activities including the provision of boarding for cats and dogs.
The supporting guidance for the Regulations is statutory and aims to improve consistency in interpretation and application of the licensing regime across England. Defra has not made any changes to the 2018 Regulations or brought in new legislation.
This means that the minimum welfare conditions that all operators must meet remain the same and all licences granted or renewed before the 01 February 2022 are valid for their stated licence length.
We are always seeking to learn from implementation and make improvements where necessary. The 2018 Regulations are due to be reviewed five years after they came into force and so, this will be an appropriate time to re-examine the standards, the associated guidance and consider any changes. We will be working with partners, including local authorities and stakeholder sector groups, while we undertake this review.
Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)
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 to ensure that businesses effected by the proposed changes to Conditions for Boarding for cats or dogs licence (England) are notified in advance of their introduction; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018 introduced an updated licensing system in England for specified activities including the provision of boarding for cats and dogs.
The supporting guidance for the Regulations is statutory and aims to improve consistency in interpretation and application of the licensing regime across England. Defra has not made any changes to the 2018 Regulations or brought in new legislation.
This means that the minimum welfare conditions that all operators must meet remain the same and all licences granted or renewed before the 01 February 2022 are valid for their stated licence length.
We are always seeking to learn from implementation and make improvements where necessary. The 2018 Regulations are due to be reviewed five years after they came into force and so, this will be an appropriate time to re-examine the standards, the associated guidance and consider any changes. We will be working with partners, including local authorities and stakeholder sector groups, while we undertake this review.
Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)
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 prioritise environmental land management scheme funding for the Sustainable Farming Initiative in order to attract more farmers to the scheme; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)
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 suspend incremental reductions in Basic Payment Scheme for 2022 and 2023 as a result of potential uncertainly and higher cost of production across all sectors.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
We will not change the profile of Direct Payments reductions.
Area based subsidy gave half the farming budget to 10% of landowners. The Basic Payment Scheme did not support food production and did nothing to stop the decline in nature. We must seize the opportunity to establish a different system of rewards and incentives in agriculture. I am pleased that we are supporting farmers with the choices that they make for their own holdings.
Last month we announced steps to assist farmers with the availability of fertilisers for the coming growing season, to help address uncertainty amongst growers and keep costs down for farmers.
The planned changes to the use of urea fertiliser will be delayed by at least a year, helping farmers manage costs and giving them more time to adapt to pressures on the supply of ammonium nitrate fertilisers. We are also encouraging farmers to make use of organic fertilisers. Farmers will be further supported by new slurry storage grants introduced this year.
Alongside this, we have published further details of the early rollout of Sustainable Farming Incentive. The scheme will help farmers move towards more sustainable farming practices over time; supporting farmers to build the health and fertility of their soil, and to reduce soil erosion which are essential for food production, helping to bolster food security and the longer-term resilience of the sector.
Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)
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 officially define food production as a Public Good; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
Supporting domestic food production is a priority for the Government.
The Agriculture Act 2020 includes powers to enable the Government to support farmers to invest in long-term food security by investing in the foundations of food production: healthy soil; water; and biodiverse ecosystems. Through the legal powers in the Act, the Government is also providing funding to farmers to be more productive and improve the health and welfare of their animals.
In providing this financial assistance, the Act requires the Secretary of State to have regard to the need to encourage the production of food by producers in England and its production by them in an environmentally sustainable way.
Recognising the importance of food production and security of supply, in the Agriculture Act 2020, the Government made a commitment to produce an assessment of our food security at least once every three years. The first UK Food Security Report was published in December 2021. This report provides a crucial evidence base for ongoing policy work, including around the Food Strategy.
Last month, the Government set out a package of measures to support farmers respond to some of the secondary impacts we are seeing due to the Russian Invasion of Ukraine.
In the coming weeks, the Food Strategy White Paper will set out the Government's ambition for the food system: to support exceptional British food and drink producers, and to protect and enhance the nation's health and the natural environment for generations to come.