Asked by: Fiona Bruce (Conservative - Congleton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the deadline is for derogation applications for 2021 for farms in Nitrate Vulnerable Zones.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Due to pressures on government from the pandemic some decisions have had to be delayed. I am currently considering the appropriate way forward on the grassland derogation, but can guarantee that farmers will be given appropriate time and opportunity to make necessary arrangements.
As soon as a decision has been made, farmers will be informed of the application window and deadline.
Asked by: Fiona Bruce (Conservative - Congleton)
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 reduce littering in public places.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government published its Litter Strategy for England in April 2017, setting out our aim to deliver a substantial reduction in litter and littering within a generation. The Litter Strategy focuses on three key themes: education and awareness; improving enforcement; and better cleaning and access to bins. A copy of the Litter Strategy can be found at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/litter-strategy-for-england.
The "Keep it, Bin it" campaign, which is run by Defra with support from Keep Britain Tidy, encourages people to dispose of their waste responsibly and calls time on rubbish excuses for littering. In addition to this national campaign, and in response to recent reports of littering as people start to enjoy outdoor spaces once more, Defra has supported, and provided funding for, Keep Britain Tidy's Love Parks campaign, which encourages people to treat our parks with respect this summer. Further information about the campaign is available at:
www.keepbritaintidy.org/news/new-campaign-launched-face-littering-epidemic-parks.
Defra has also launched a 'Respect the Outdoors' campaign this summer. This has been promoted both online and in locations near to urban parks, beaches and national parks to further highlight the impacts of littering, among other things.
It remains an offence to drop litter, and councils have legal powers to take enforcement action against offenders. Following consultation, with effect from April 2018, we increased the maximum fixed penalty for littering from £80 to £150, and from April 2019, the minimum fixed penalty was also raised from £50 to £65. We have also given councils in England (outside London) new civil penalty powers to tackle littering from vehicles. Councils can issue the keeper of a vehicle from which litter is thrown with a civil penalty of between £65 and £150.
The Government has, in its 2019 manifesto, committed to introduce a deposit return scheme (DRS) for drinks containers to secure an increase in recycling and reuse of materials, and to reduce the incidence of littering. We plan to undertake a second consultation on a DRS in early 2021.
Asked by: Fiona Bruce (Conservative - Congleton)
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 tackle problems associated with noise and dirt emanating from industrial units located near to residential properties.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Owners of industrial, trade and business premises are expected to use the best practicable means available to reduce noise, dust and other potential sources of statutory nuisance emanating from their place of work in the first place. If this is not happening then local authorities have powers through the Environmental Protection Act 1990 to investigate and issue abatement notices to stop the problem from re-occurring if they determine a statutory nuisance exists.
The current legislation provides local authorities with the necessary powers to deal with these types of issues and there are no plans for legislative change at this moment.
Asked by: Fiona Bruce (Conservative - Congleton)
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 Cabinet colleagues on ensuring that UK farmers are not compromised by tariffs on future exports of agricultural produce to the EU.
Answered by George Eustice
My Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State routinely discusses agricultural trade with his Cabinet colleagues. The Government recently published a White Paper setting out its vision for a future free trade agreement with the EU which would allow tariff free trade and would accept some regulatory alignment in agri-food technical and food standards to eliminate any friction at the border.
Asked by: Fiona Bruce (Conservative - Congleton)
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 Cabinet colleagues ensuring that farm productivity will not be affected by changes in the availability of non-UK EU labour when the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by George Eustice
Access to a sufficient and appropriately-skilled workforce is essential to continued industry growth, productivity and safety, and the Government is determined to get the best deal for the UK in our negotiations to leave the EU, including for our world-leading food and farming industry.
Defra Ministers have ongoing discussions with a range of Government departments, including the Home Office, about securing the workforce that the farming industry needs for the future.
Asked by: Fiona Bruce (Conservative - Congleton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the oral evidence given before the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee on 20 December 2017, what steps he has taken to ensure the maintenance of high food production standards for (a) domestic and (b) imported food after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by George Eustice
UK food law applies equally to food that is imported and food produced in the UK. When we leave the European Union, we will maintain our current standards. We have no intention of undercutting our own reputation for quality by lowering our food and animal welfare standards.
Defra are working closely with the Food Standards Agency and Department of Health and Social Care to ensure that the regulatory regime for food safety remains robust as the UK leaves the European Union, in order to protect public health and retain the confidence of consumers.
Asked by: Fiona Bruce (Conservative - Congleton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, to which legislation his Department has applied the Family Test, published in August 2014.
Answered by George Eustice
The government is committed to supporting families. To achieve this, in 2014 we introduced the Family Test, which aims to ensure that impacts on family relationships and functioning are recognised early on during the process of policy development and help inform the policy decisions made by Minsters. The Family Test was not designed to be a ‘tick-box’ exercise, and as such there is no requirement for departments to publish the results of assessments made under the Family Test.
Asked by: Fiona Bruce (Conservative - Congleton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 30 November 2017 to Question HL3576, what steps his Department is taking to strengthen families.
Answered by George Eustice
The government is committed to supporting families. To achieve this, in 2014 we introduced the Family Test, which aims to ensure that impacts on family relationships and functioning are recognised early on during the process of policy development and help inform the policy decisions made by Minsters. The Family Test was not designed to be a ‘tick-box’ exercise, and as such there is no requirement for departments to publish the results of assessments made under the Family Test.
Asked by: Fiona Bruce (Conservative - Congleton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to encourage more young people to go into farming.
Answered by George Eustice
The Government is working with the food and farming industries to encourage bright, talented young people into agriculture. We aim to treble the number of food and farming apprenticeships by 2020. Agriculture and related subjects is the fastest-growing subject at university, with a 4.6% increase in student numbers last year. We are also working with industry partners and others to build links between food and farming businesses and schools. The Great British food campaign will help to highlight the breadth of careers the food and farming industries can offer.