Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has contingency plans for a national bin strike.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Local authorities are independent employers, responsible for managing industrial relations and the impacts of any potential industrial action.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
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 implications for his policies of the cost of extended producer responsibility fees in (a) the UK and (b) other European countries.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 4th April 2025, UIN 42346.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many applications have been received from commercial laying hen and pullet keepers for the Laying Hen Housing for Health and Welfare Grant in England.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The deadline for online applications was the 18 September 2024. The Rural Payments Agency received 103 applications. The deadline for full applications is 28 April 2026. As of 22 April 25, one full application has been received. Checks to confirm eligibility against the requirements of the Laying Hen Housing for Health and Welfare Grant will be completed as part of full application process.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
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 (a) banning the use of Bovaer and (b) allowing the use of Kelp.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Food Standards Agency has advised milk from cows given Bovaer is safe to drink. Bovaer has undergone a rigorous safety assessment and is approved for use in Great Britain.
Regulation of feed additives and materials, such as Kelp, is the responsibility of the Food Standards Agency. Both synthetic and natural feed products must be demonstrated as safe for use to be added to the GB Register of Feed Materials.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
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 encourage Forestry England to introduce disabled parking spaces in the Bourne Woods car park, Surrey.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 11 November 2024, UIN 12353.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
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 potential impact of (a) extended producer responsibility fees and (b) other tax increases on the viability of UK breweries.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The 2024 pEPR impact assessment can be found here.
The impact assessment estimated the pEPR producer fees would generate over £1 billion annually to support local authority collection and disposal services, including recycling services. We expect Greenhouse Gas Emissions savings of approximately 0.8 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent over the 10-year appraisal period.
Retail, Hospitality and Leisure (RHL) relief would have ended entirely in April 2025, creating a cliff-edge for businesses. Instead, the Government has decided to offer a 40 per cent discount to RHL properties up to a cash cap of £110,0000 per business in 2025-26 and frozen the small business multiplier.
By tapering RHL relief to 40%, rather than letting it end, the Government has saved the average pub, with a rateable value (RV) of £16,800, over £3,300 in 2025.
At Budget, the Government also announced that from 2026-27, it intends to introduce permanently lower tax rates for RHL properties with rateable values below £500,000. This permanent tax cut will ensure that they benefit from much-needed certainty and support. The Government intends to fund this by introducing a higher multiplier on the most valuable properties, which includes the majority of large distribution warehouses, including warehouses used by online giants.
The rates for any new business rate multipliers will be set at Budget 2025 so that the Government can take into account the upcoming revaluation outcomes as well as the economic and fiscal context.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to publish the findings of the consultation entitled Reform of the Bathing Water Regulations 2013, published on 12 November 2024.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The consultation on Reforms to the Bathing Water Regulations 2013 closed on 23 December 2024. We are currently analysing responses and evaluating how any proposed changes may impact the application and designation process. We will issue a formal government response to the consultation in due course.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
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 (a) banning the use of Bovaer and (b) allowing the use of Kelp in milk products.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has advised milk from cows given Bovaer is safe to drink. Bovaer has undergone a rigorous safety assessment and is approved for use in Great Britain.
Regulation of feed additives and materials, such as kelp, is the responsibility of the FSA. Both synthetic and natural feed products must be demonstrated as safe for use to be added to the GB Register of Feed Materials.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
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 halal products are clearly marked on food labelling.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
There are no regulations that require the labelling of halal meat, but where any information of this nature is provided it must be accurate and must not be misleading to the consumer. The Government respects religious freedoms and expects the industry, whether food producer or food outlet, to provide consumers with all the information they need to make informed choices.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
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 encourage Forestry England to introducing disabled parking spaces in the Bourne Woods car park, Surrey.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Parking in the nation’s forests is an operational matter for Forestry England. Forestry England values accessibility for all visitors. It is not currently able to mark out designated spaces for disabled parking in some forests due to the location of these car parks within woodland environments and the unsuitability of the surfaces. This includes for Bourne Woods, Surrey. Forestry England is looking at alternative options to address this issue and will be trialling potential approaches across its car parks nationally.