Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate his Department has made of the impact of drought conditions on (a) the economy and (b) food supplies in each year since 2010.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK agricultural sector is highly resilient and adaptable and operates in an open market with the value of commodities established by those in the supply chain. We have seen evidence of this particularly in recent years following global events such as the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine.
There are a wide range of factors that affect harvest size and livestock production, including input costs, currency fluctuations and market demand.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if his Department will publish a consultation on the regulation of dog behaviour and training services.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra are working with police, local authorities and animal welfare groups to promote responsible dog ownership. As part of this work, we will continue to consider the role of education and training (for both dogs and their owners) in encouraging responsible dog ownership.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
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 make an assessment of the potential merits of creating a centralised database of licenced (a) breeders and (b) sellers of (i) dogs and (ii) other pets.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Interested parties can check whether a dog breeder or pet seller is licensed without separately referring to a database. Under the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018, licensed dog breeders and pet sellers must display a copy of their licence at any premises where the activity is carried out and their licence number and name on any website used for the activity.
The associated statutory guidance also recommends that local authorities publish a list of licenced businesses and their star ratings on their website.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions his Department has had with stakeholders on catchment-based water systems planning.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Since taking office, we have prioritised engagement with our stakeholders to reap the benefit of their expertise through information sharing. The Secretary of State and I have held one-to-one meetings and shared panels with several organisations involved in catchment-based approaches such as the Rivers Trust. Defra is supportive of the Catchment Based Approach (CaBA) and officials regularly meet with local catchment partnerships and nationally through attendance at the CaBA National Support Group.
Wednesday 23 October we announced that the UK and Welsh governments are launching an independent commission, led by a chair and supported by expert advisors, to recommend reforms to reset the water sector regulatory system. One of the objectives of the commission will be to ensure there is a strategic spatial planning approach to the management of water across sectors of the economy, tackling pollution and managing pressures on the water environment and supply at a catchment, regional and national scale. This approach should recognise the cross-border challenges that water can present. The scope of the independent commission will include catchment approaches and Stakeholder engagement will be a key component of the review. The commission will consult experts in areas like the environment, public health, engineering, customers, investors and economics, reporting to the Secretary of State for Environment and Wales’ Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs by Q2 2025.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that the water industry provides funding for catchment-based solutions for natural flood management.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra recognises that nature and catchment-based solutions in the water sector have an important role to play. The strategic policy statement in 2022 set out the governments priorities for Ofwat. This set out that water companies should significantly increase their use of nature and catchment-based solutions to achieve multiple benefits for the environment and the public including natural flood management. We expect companies and regulators to work towards delivering these solutions as a matter of preference.
The Working with Natural Processes (NFM) Evidence Directory, will be updated this year provides natural flood management information and case studies: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/working-with-natural-processes-to-reduce-flood-risk.The Environment Agency is producing new long-term investment scenarios to quantify the benefits of natural flood management for the next 50 to 100 years in England.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress his Department has made on its commitment to launch a four-country tree planting task force.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra has been engaging with the Scottish and Welsh Governments and the Northern Ireland Executive on the establishment of a Tree Planting Taskforce.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
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 his counterparts in European countries on mitigating the spread of the Ips typographus tree pest.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Ips typographus is present in most of continental Europe, where it is not a regulated pest. In recent years, large populations have built up across western and central Europe causing extensive damage and mortality of spruce trees. Beetles routinely caught in traps in south-east England are probably a result of blow over from mainland Europe. It is not possible to prevent this natural dispersal, but the Government has robust surveillance and control measures in place nationwide to detect and eradicate outbreaks as they occur.
The Forestry Commission has visited multiple countries experiencing outbreaks of Ips typographus to discuss different approaches to outbreak management, including participating in a pan-European workshop on outbreak mitigation, and has received critical appraisal of our approach from members of the international community. Experts actively engage with European scientists to develop research projects, including research on the susceptibility of Sitka spruce in Denmark and cross-channel dispersal from Belgium.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if his Department will take steps to help ensure that all domestic insurers signed up to the Build Back Better flood insurance scheme offer those provisions across all their products.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
I hosted a roundtable in September 2024 with leaders from the insurance industry, as well as experts in research and development. At this event, the importance of Build Back Better was stressed to the insurance industry and all providers were encouraged to offer this. Flood Re and the insurance industry responded positively to this ask.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if his Department will take legislative steps to ensure all domestic insurers offer Build Back Better policies.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
I hosted a roundtable in September 2024 with leaders from the insurance industry, as well as experts in research and development. At this event, the importance of Build Back Better was stressed to the insurance industry and all providers were encouraged to offer this. Flood Re and the insurance industry responded positively to this ask.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he is taking steps to use the Government's tree planting programme to help tackle (a) flooding and (b) upper catchment management of rivers.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra recognises the role tree planting has to support the management of England’s rivers. Defra works with the Forestry Commission, Natural England and the Environment Agency to ensure tree planting is appropriately targeted. Defra supports a number of projects and grants in this area. These include:
- The England Woodland Creation Offer supports riparian tree planting, flood management and improved water quality;
- The Woodlands for Water project works with the Riverscapes Partnership to facilitate the creation of riparian woodland corridors in six river catchment areas;
- The Environment Agency’s Water Environment Improvement Fund supports the planting of thousands of riparian trees across England;
- The introduction of a Sustainable Farming Incentive action for the management of habitat strips next to watercourses to support the planting of trees and scrub for biodiversity, flooding and water quality benefits.