Asked by: Bill Wiggin (Conservative - North Herefordshire)
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 ban the import of poultry raised at a higher stocking density than is legal in the UK.
Answered by Mark Spencer
The UK Government does not have any current plans to ban the import of poultry raised at a higher stocking density than is legal in the UK.
Asked by: Bill Wiggin (Conservative - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to help support the broiler poultry industry.
Answered by Mark Spencer
The UK has a highly resilient food supply chain which has coped well in responding to the unprecedented challenges the industry, including the poultry sector, has faced in the past few years.
Defra continues to work closely with the poultry sector and has acted where appropriate.
On 28 October 2022 we announced changes to both the AI compensation scheme allowing compensation to be paid to farmers from the outset of planned AI culling rather than at the end and a relaxation to the enforcement of marketing rules allowing the sale of defrosted turkeys, geese and ducks between 28 November and 31 December 2022.
In 2023 and 2024 the poultry sector will continue to be able to access 2,000 seasonal worker visas to meet the pre-Christmas surge in demand for poultry workers.
More widely, the Government has put in place a number of measures which the poultry industry has been able to access, including cuts to VAT and fuel duty and support through the Energy Bill Relief Scheme.
We continue to keep the poultry sector under constant review including through the UK Agriculture Market Monitoring Group and our on-going regular engagement with key sector stakeholders.
Asked by: Bill Wiggin (Conservative - North Herefordshire)
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 had recent discussions with relevant stakeholders on the potential merits of using a traffic light system for animal welfare labelling on food.
Answered by Mark Spencer
Defra ran a call for evidence in 2021 to gather data on the impacts of different types of labelling reforms for animal welfare. The evidence provided suggested that there is public appetite for improved welfare information to consumers.
Based on this, Defra has been working with a wide range of stakeholders to explore how we can harness the market to improve food information to consumers and raise animal welfare standards.
Asked by: Bill Wiggin (Conservative - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of using drones instead of mechanical spraying equipment on steep hillsides.
Answered by Mark Spencer
The control of bracken may be needed on terrain such as steep hillsides which cannot safely be accessed by vehicles for spraying or for mechanical control (such as crushing). For this reason, the emergency authorisation recently granted for spraying bracken with Asulox in England allows for aerial application from helicopters. This is subject to requirements to limit risks to the environment, particularly measures to reduce spray drift, and the need to obtain an aerial spraying permit.
Aerial spraying is subject to requirements under pesticides legislation, in particular the assessment of the safety of the pesticide for use in this way and a system of permits for each spray operation. Drone application of pesticides is considered to come within the legal definition of aerial spraying. It is recognised that drones potentially enable more targeted application of pesticides than other means of aerial spraying. The Health and Safety Executive is leading work with drone operators and other relevant industries to develop a shared understanding of the issues to ensure drone spraying can be done safely.
Asked by: Bill Wiggin (Conservative - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what his Department's policy is on the use of drones to spray bracken.
Answered by Mark Spencer
The control of bracken may be needed on terrain such as steep hillsides which cannot safely be accessed by vehicles for spraying or for mechanical control (such as crushing). For this reason, the emergency authorisation recently granted for spraying bracken with Asulox in England allows for aerial application from helicopters. This is subject to requirements to limit risks to the environment, particularly measures to reduce spray drift, and the need to obtain an aerial spraying permit.
Aerial spraying is subject to requirements under pesticides legislation, in particular the assessment of the safety of the pesticide for use in this way and a system of permits for each spray operation. Drone application of pesticides is considered to come within the legal definition of aerial spraying. It is recognised that drones potentially enable more targeted application of pesticides than other means of aerial spraying. The Health and Safety Executive is leading work with drone operators and other relevant industries to develop a shared understanding of the issues to ensure drone spraying can be done safely.
Asked by: Bill Wiggin (Conservative - North Herefordshire)
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 considered evidence on trends in the level of livestock worrying by dogs in Wales in setting its policy on electronic shock collars for dogs in England.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
My Department liaised closely with the police and Welsh Government officials to better understand concerns about a reported increase in livestock worrying incidents in Wales. Following these discussions, we are satisfied that there is no causal link between the Welsh ban on these devices and livestock worrying incidents in Wales. The police report that the majority of livestock worrying incidents relate to dogs escaping from their owner’s properties without their knowledge. We also understand that since the Welsh ban came into force police forces have been actively encouraging members of the public to report incidents of livestock worrying, which may also contribute to the reported rise in incidents.
In Wales, the prohibition extends to electronic collars which are controlled by hand-held devices and also to electronic collars which are part of ‘invisible fence’ containment systems. In England, the ban will not apply to ‘invisible fence’ systems. In Wales, the prohibition applies to all types of electronic collar, including those emitting an electric shock, a spray, a noise or a vibration. In England, the ban will apply only to collars emitting an electric shock.
Asked by: Bill Wiggin (Conservative - North Herefordshire)
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 made an assessment of the potential impact of banning the use of electronic shock collars for dogs in England on the number of incidents where dogs that worry livestock are shot.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
Very careful consideration was given to potential unintended consequences of banning e-collars controlled by hand-held devices that deliver an electric current to cats or dogs. My Department liaised closely with police chiefs and forces who report that the majority of livestock worrying offences (nearly 7 in 10) occur from unaccompanied dogs. We agree with the police’s recommendation that keeping dogs on leads around livestock and securing dog enclosures offer effective means of preventing livestock worrying, keeping both livestock and dogs safe without the need to use e-collars.
Asked by: Bill Wiggin (Conservative - North Herefordshire)
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 made an assessment of the potential merits of merging Natural England with the Environment Agency.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
Defra’s arm’s-length bodies (ALBs), including Natural England and the Environment Agency, provide vital services to communities and businesses across the country, while protecting and enhancing the environment.
The department is not currently assessing a merger of the two organisations. Defra and its ALBs are continuing to work collaboratively to ensure that we are equipped to drive nature recovery and deliver against this Government’s ambitious outcomes on Net Zero, climate adaptation and the environment.
Asked by: Bill Wiggin (Conservative - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions her Department has had with the (a) Welsh Government and (b) Natural Resources Wales on their guidance to local authorities on river pollution.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
Tackling pollution, including phosphorous pollution, is a priority for this government, and we are working closely with the Welsh Government to ensure that this is effectively addressed in the Wye Valley.
On 30th May the Secretary of State visited Hereford to discuss the River Wye at a roundtable with Hereford Council, the Welsh Government, local environmental groups and farming representatives. She agreed to consider how national policies and closer co-operation with the Welsh Government could better help local partners to restore the river.
The Government’s Plan for Water sets out a range of support to farmers, including those in the Wye, to help them transition to more sustainable agriculture and reduce their pollution. This support includes more than doubling the money for slurry infrastructure to £34 million nationally through our grant scheme to help prevent unnecessary spreading, of which £1.2m has been allocated to farms in Herefordshire and Gloucestershire. We intend to adapt the grant offer over time to ensure that any public funding for better manure management supports adoption of storage, processing, and application of manures to aid their responsible management. The offer will also look to promote uptake of innovative treatments that can produce fertilisers from organic materials (including phosphate stripping technology) and circular use of slurry, such as fugitive gas capture for energy and fuel. In addition, our farming schemes are paying farmers for actions that protect our rivers and reduce run off, helping strengthen their role as stewards of the British countryside and rewarding them for work to look after our environment now, and in the long-term.
The Environment Agency (EA) is prioritising actions in the River Wye catchment. Around 70% of the excess phosphate comes from agricultural sources and one of the EA’s major focuses has been helping farmers better understand their impacts. We are funding extra Environment Agency (EA) inspectors to visit farms with 80 new officers in place and a significant increase in annual inspections in England to 4,000. The EA has prioritised this funding to focus on high-risk catchments including the Wye.
We have doubled the funding for the Catchment Sensitive Farming (CSF) advice programme. This helps farmers reduce water and air pollution through free one to one advice. Approximately fifty per cent of Natural England (NE)’s CSF resource is targeted in the Wye, giving advice to farmers about appropriate manure management and steps to reduce diffuse pollution through options like Countryside Stewardship (CS) Mid-tier.
The EA and NE also work in partnership with other partners across the entire Wye catchment. This includes working with communities through a Citizen Science programme, with Avara foods, and others in the food supply chain to find more opportunities for nutrient reduction, and with Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water. Dwr Cymru Welsh Water are already investing in a number of wastewater treatment works in the Wye catchment to reduce nutrient loads in wastewater by 2025. This includes work to add phosphate strippers and integrated wetlands to wastewater treatment works to reduce the levels of phosphorus in wastewater.
Welsh Government guidance to local authorities is a devolved matter for the Welsh Government, but statutory agencies and other organisations are part of a Nutrient Management Board (NMB) that come together to provide oversight and direction to all involved to drive actions to improve water quality in the Wye catchment. Such oversight is critical given the complexity of the issues and how they are all interlink. NE, EA and NRW and other partners are also part of five technical advisory groups for the Wye covering evidence, farm advice, regulation, poultry, and projects and innovation.
Asked by: Bill Wiggin (Conservative - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to promote phosphate stripping technology as a means of reducing the levels of phosphate in the River Wye.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
Tackling pollution, including phosphorous pollution, is a priority for this government, and we are working closely with the Welsh Government to ensure that this is effectively addressed in the Wye Valley.
On 30th May the Secretary of State visited Hereford to discuss the River Wye at a roundtable with Hereford Council, the Welsh Government, local environmental groups and farming representatives. She agreed to consider how national policies and closer co-operation with the Welsh Government could better help local partners to restore the river.
The Government’s Plan for Water sets out a range of support to farmers, including those in the Wye, to help them transition to more sustainable agriculture and reduce their pollution. This support includes more than doubling the money for slurry infrastructure to £34 million nationally through our grant scheme to help prevent unnecessary spreading, of which £1.2m has been allocated to farms in Herefordshire and Gloucestershire. We intend to adapt the grant offer over time to ensure that any public funding for better manure management supports adoption of storage, processing, and application of manures to aid their responsible management. The offer will also look to promote uptake of innovative treatments that can produce fertilisers from organic materials (including phosphate stripping technology) and circular use of slurry, such as fugitive gas capture for energy and fuel. In addition, our farming schemes are paying farmers for actions that protect our rivers and reduce run off, helping strengthen their role as stewards of the British countryside and rewarding them for work to look after our environment now, and in the long-term.
The Environment Agency (EA) is prioritising actions in the River Wye catchment. Around 70% of the excess phosphate comes from agricultural sources and one of the EA’s major focuses has been helping farmers better understand their impacts. We are funding extra Environment Agency (EA) inspectors to visit farms with 80 new officers in place and a significant increase in annual inspections in England to 4,000. The EA has prioritised this funding to focus on high-risk catchments including the Wye.
We have doubled the funding for the Catchment Sensitive Farming (CSF) advice programme. This helps farmers reduce water and air pollution through free one to one advice. Approximately fifty per cent of Natural England (NE)’s CSF resource is targeted in the Wye, giving advice to farmers about appropriate manure management and steps to reduce diffuse pollution through options like Countryside Stewardship (CS) Mid-tier.
The EA and NE also work in partnership with other partners across the entire Wye catchment. This includes working with communities through a Citizen Science programme, with Avara foods, and others in the food supply chain to find more opportunities for nutrient reduction, and with Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water. Dwr Cymru Welsh Water are already investing in a number of wastewater treatment works in the Wye catchment to reduce nutrient loads in wastewater by 2025. This includes work to add phosphate strippers and integrated wetlands to wastewater treatment works to reduce the levels of phosphorus in wastewater.
Welsh Government guidance to local authorities is a devolved matter for the Welsh Government, but statutory agencies and other organisations are part of a Nutrient Management Board (NMB) that come together to provide oversight and direction to all involved to drive actions to improve water quality in the Wye catchment. Such oversight is critical given the complexity of the issues and how they are all interlink. NE, EA and NRW and other partners are also part of five technical advisory groups for the Wye covering evidence, farm advice, regulation, poultry, and projects and innovation.