Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
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 she has had with the Environment Agency on helping to ensure that the process for abstraction licences is adaptable and flexible.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency has recently invested in significant additional resources to help improve the determination timescales associated with abstraction licence applications and to reduce the number of applications in the queue. Improvements are already being seen. The Environment Agency is also prioritising licence applications and Habitats Risk Assessments which are associated with Rural Payments Agency grants for farm storage reservoirs and has appointed a specialist to help support these applications through the process.
The Environment Agency and Defra are working closely with the sector to help farmers refill storage reservoirs and recover from the 2022 drought, and to improve the sector’s resilience to future drought. This includes improvements to water resources planning, investment in infrastructure, greater collaboration across all sectors of use, and more rapid communications to improve access to water when it is available.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she bring forward legislative proposals to help ensure that a food risk assessment is made when changes to abstraction licences or restrictions are implemented to ensure that due regard is given to any potential impact on food security.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency has a duty to take into account the costs and benefits of its actions. The Environment Agency applies this duty, for example, when considering the need for irrigation restrictions. There is recognition of the devastating impacts that a total ban may have on the yield and quality of crops, so where restrictions are absolutely necessary the Environment Agency looks to introduce restrictions on a voluntary basis first, followed by partial restrictions (e.g., abstraction every other day, or night time only) and then total bans as a last resort. During the drought of 2022, the Environment Agency avoided the need for total irrigation bans by using this approach.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
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 help support ornamental horticulture nurseries to access the workforce they need to meet (a) market demand and (b) environmental targets.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra recognises the importance of the domestic ornamental horticulture sector in promoting people’s health and wellbeing, as well as to the economy – UK ornamental production being worth £1.6 billion in 2021. Our highly skilled growers enable us to grow a wide range of top-quality fresh flowers and plants for much of the year. Defra regularly meets with the Ornamental Horticulture Roundtable Group, who last year published their ‘Unlocking green growth: A plan from the ornamental horticulture & landscaping industry’, an action plan which explores opportunities to accelerate the sector's growth and sets out the industry’s potential contributions to the environmental challenges facing the UK. Where Government can help, we will support the opportunities outlined in the plan.
On 24th December 2021, HM Government announced that the Seasonal Worker visa route has been extended until 2024 to allow overseas workers to come to the United Kingdom for up to six months to harvest both edible and ornamental crops.
As announced in the Government Food Strategy in June, an extra 10,000 visas have been released for the Seasonal Worker visa route, with 8,000 of these going to the horticulture sector and 2,000 to the poultry sector. This brings the total number of visas for the horticulture sector, including ornamentals, to 38,000 for 2022. The new Government is carefully considering the position on visa quotas for 2023 and we will say more in due course.
During 2021, Defra undertook a review of automation in horticulture, covering both the edible and ornamental sectors in England. We published the Review on 27 July 2022 and a response from HM Government to the Review’s recommendations will follow soon. The government response will work alongside the extended and expanded Seasonal Worker visa route and Defra’s efforts to attract more residents of the United Kingdom into agricultural work – to support the overall aim of reducing the sector’s dependency on seasonal migrant labour.
All ornamental horticultural businesses are encouraged to advertise roles through the Department for Work & Pensions’ (DWP’s) Find A Job website, where they can upload and manage their vacancies. DWP do not charge for this service and it is available across the United Kingdom.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
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 potential merits of (a) allowing farmers to shoot dogs that attack sheep and (b) allowing dog owners to train dogs not to attack sheep using electronic collars.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The Government takes the issue of livestock worrying very seriously, recognising the distress this can cause farmers and animals, as well as the financial implications, which can be very significant.
New measures to crack down on livestock worrying in England and Wales are to be brought in through the Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill, which was introduced in Parliament on 8 June 2021.
The new measures will enhance enforcement mechanisms available to the police and expand the scope of livestock species and locations covered by the law. Improved powers will enable the police to respond to livestock worrying incidents more effectively – making it easier for them to collect evidence and, in the most serious cases, seize and detain dogs to reduce the risk of further incidents.
The Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill does not include a provision to allow a farmer to shoot a dog which is worrying livestock on their land. However the Animals Act 1971 provides that in civil proceedings against a person for killing or injuring a dog, it is a defence in certain circumstances where a dog is killed or injured by someone protecting livestock.
The proposed ban on the use of electric shock collars controlled by hand-held devices was developed after considering a broad range of factors, including the effects of such a ban. When considered alongside the academic research, the public consultation responses, and direct engagement with the sector, the Government concluded that these devices present a risk to the welfare of dogs and cats and that their use should be prohibited.
We appreciate that the right approach for pet owners to take in managing and controlling their dog’s behaviour differs from both person to person and from pet to pet. Defra would advise all owners who are concerned about controlling their dog’s behaviour, for whatever reason, to take advice from their vet or a suitably qualified dog behaviourist or trainer. Such specialists would be best positioned to advise on the best approach for their specific case. The Animal Behaviour and Training Council maintains national registers of appropriately qualified trainers and behaviourists which can be found at the link below: https://abtc.org.uk/practitioners/.
Defra’s statutory Code of Practice for the Welfare of Dogs and Natural England’s refreshed version of the Countryside Code apply to handling dogs in the vicinity of livestock and outline the actions that can be taken by dog owners to reduce the occurrence of attacks or chasing.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
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 bring forward legislative proposals to ban the sale of peat for use in domestic gardens.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We are committed to phasing out the use of peat in horticulture in England. The biggest user of peat is the amateur sector, and this is an important part of our policy focus. We signalled to the industry that if we have not seen sufficient movement to peat alternatives by 2020, then we would look at further measures that could be taken. We are working towards publishing a formal consultation this year on further measures to end the use of horticultural peat.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent progress his Department has made on banning the sale of peat for use in domestic gardens.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We are committed to phasing out the use of peat in horticulture in England. The biggest user of peat is the amateur sector, and this is an important part of our policy focus. We signalled to the industry that if we have not seen sufficient movement to peat alternatives by 2020, then we would look at further measures that could be taken. We are working towards publishing a formal consultation this year on further measures to end the use of horticultural peat.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of poor broadband speeds and connectivity on the agriculture and horticulture industry.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The Government has delivered superfast broadband to over five million premises, mainly in rural areas, which means that 97% of UK premises have access to superfast speeds and the UK has one of the highest rates of rural superfast coverage in Europe.
However, the Government recognises that further investment in rural broadband is needed. That is why the Government is investing an unprecedented £5 billion to further subsidise deployment of gigabit broadband in the hardest to reach 20% of the country. The majority of this funding will be deployed in rural areas, and this approach will help to directly connect farms in these areas, or bring connectivity much closer to them, opening the possibilities of other technical solutions. The £5 billion investment will prioritise deployment to premises without access to superfast broadband, where possible.
The Government also recognises more information is needed on how to reach the remotest areas and published a call for evidence on improving connectivity for very hard to reach premises on 19 March. We are exploring effective approaches to how the Government and broadband providers can deliver improved broadband connectivity to businesses in remote and very hard to reach areas of the UK, including farm businesses in these areas.
For mobile broadband coverage, the Shared Rural Network programme, launched in March 2020, will also help to improve coverage in rural areas. The Government and industry will jointly invest over £1 billion to increase 4G mobile coverage throughout the UK to 95% geographic coverage by the end of the programme.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
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 (a) incentivise and (b) encourage farmers and growers to use digital technology to boost productivity in the agriculture and horticulture sectors.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
We want to encourage a thriving and competitive farming sector where farms can be profitable and economically sustainable without subsidy.
Digital technology has a significant role to play. For farmers and growers, a reliable mobile and broadband connection can unlock a range of benefits, such as increased farm productivity through improved planning, monitoring and delivery of farming operations and aiding the diversification of their businesses.
We are helping farmers and growers through a number of schemes designed to incentivise and encourage the use of digital technology.
In autumn 2021, we will launch the Farming Investment Fund, formed of two strands.
The Farming Equipment and Technology Fund will support smaller investments from a prescribed list of items which we are developing. This will provide farmers and growers with the opportunity to invest in the equipment, technology and infrastructure that will help their businesses to prosper, while improving their productivity and enhancing the environment.
The Farming Transformation Fund will support more substantial investments in equipment, technology or infrastructure. Eligible investments could include precision slurry application equipment, efficient irrigation systems, and robotic systems for example.
In 2022, we will launch an ambitious innovation programme, putting farming businesses at the centre of R&D for new technologies and practices - including digital capabilities - to transform the productivity, profitability and sustainability of agriculture.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the findings of the National Farmers Union's Digital Technology Survey, published in January 2021, if he will take steps to improve access for farmers to the 4G mobile network.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The Government recognises that businesses and communities in rural areas need improved access to 4G mobile connectivity. The Shared Rural Network programme, launched in March 2020, is targeted at improving mobile coverage in rural areas. The Government and industry will jointly invest over £1 billion to increase 4G mobile coverage throughout the UK to 95% geographic coverage by the end of the programme, underpinned by legally binding coverage commitments. With funding now available, the Government and the operators remain confident that combined coverage will be delivered to 95% of the UK by the end of 2025, with areas around the UK starting to see improvements to 4G coverage long before completion. There have already been over 700 sites announced by the operators so far this year to help close not-spots across the UK. This will benefit consumers and businesses, including farm businesses.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
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 work with broadband providers to ensure that farmers have access to adequate broadband to support the planning, monitoring and delivery of their farming operations.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The Government is working with industry to target a minimum of 85% gigabit-capable coverage by 2025 but will seek to accelerate rollout further to get as close to 100% as possible. We are committed to investing £5 billion in bringing gigabit coverage to the hardest to reach areas, including areas with farm businesses, and will continue to work with suppliers to accelerate this investment.
On 19 March we announced the launch of the new gigabit broadband voucher scheme which forms part of the £5 billion programme and will go live on 8 April 2021. We will work closely with agricultural organisations, including the National Farmers Union, to promote the scheme with their members. The voucher will help to improve access to broadband in rural areas for all types of businesses, including farm businesses.
On 19 March, we also published a call for evidence on improving connectivity for very hard to reach premises. The call for evidence will help the Government explore all possible options for improving broadband connectivity in remote and very hard to reach areas of the UK, including farm businesses in these areas.