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Written Question
Horticulture: Imports
Wednesday 6th December 2023

Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)

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 guidance entitled Apply for CITES permits and certificates to move or trade endangered species, published on 17 July 2019, whether he is taking steps to digitise the end-to-end process for importing horticultural products into the UK.

Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

A project to move CITES permitting online and improve the functionality of the system used to consider and issue CITES permits and certificates, is nearing completion. The new system is due to be formally rolled out early in the New Year. Interested traders are welcome to join the testing platform, which includes live applications. An assessment of the feasibility of e-permitting for CITES documents is scheduled for a later phase of this ongoing work.


Written Question
Seasonal Agricultural Workers' Scheme
Tuesday 5th December 2023

Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)

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 extending the seasonal agricultural worker scheme on a multi-year basis.

Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

We appreciate that farmers would like longer term assurances on the Seasonal Worker visa route, and we continue to work extensively to understand employers’ needs and demands on the visa route through regular engagement with industry. It is currently confirmed until the end of 2024, with an initial visa allocation of 45,000 for horticulture and 2,000 for poultry.

To inform future decisions on labour across the sector, the Government commissioned John Shropshire to carry out an independent review considering how automation, domestic labour and migrant labour could contribute to tackling labour shortages in our sectors, including horticulture. The report was published in June 2023, with the Government Response due shortly. At the same time, the Government will set out how it will support the sector to access the labour it needs alongside actions to reduce the sector’s reliance on migrant labour including via our work on automation and promoting domestic labour procurement and training.

The Migration Advisory Committee are also carrying out a review of the Seasonal Worker visa route, considering all aspects of the route, with a report due in early 2024.


Written Question
Agriculture: Trade
Tuesday 5th December 2023

Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)

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 publishing an annual assessment of the potential impact of international trade deals on agriculture.

Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Government has published Impact Assessments for each of the Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) we have agreed, which set out expected impacts for the UK economy and its regions and sectors. The agreements balance open and free trade with protections for the agricultural industry. Defra also monitors and evaluates the impact of FTAs on sectors to ensure that UK businesses are benefitting from FTAs.

Following the agreement of FTAs with Australia and New Zealand, a suite of products has been developed to help businesses understand and use new opportunities and make use of the preferential terms. This includes thematic guidance in business-friendly language on key FTA areas such as rules of origin and customs procedures, and sector-specific explainers for businesses looking to understand market opportunities and how to operationalise their export plans.


Written Question
Oilseed Rape: Imports
Monday 4th December 2023

Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)

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 (a) make an estimate of the level of rapeseed imports in each year since 2013 and (b) commission research on the potential impact of restrictions on the use of neonicotinoids on the level of rapeseed imports.

Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The details requested for imports of oilseed rape dated back to 2013 can be seen in the below table. These are published annually by Government in Agriculture in the United Kingdom, the data set can be found under Table 7.5 Oilseed rape production, value, supply and use.

Units 1,000 tonnes

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

Total imports

117

87

87

63

345

206

354

503

926

811

Oilseeds are internationally traded commodities. Subsequently, their supply chains are dynamic and responsive to global market developments in price and availability. Our fantastic British farmers are world-leaders and carefully plan their planting to respond to market developments, suit the weather, their soil type, and their long-term agronomic strategy including pest and disease management.

Together with the devolved administrations, Defra has established the UK Agricultural Market Monitoring Group (UKAMMG) to monitor and assess the impact of market developments across the UK. It monitors UK agricultural markets including price, supply, inputs, trade and recent developments, enabling it to provide forewarning of any atypical market movements.


Written Question
Living Wage
Monday 4th December 2023

Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)

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 his Department has had with the Low Pay Commission on the level of the national living wage in 2024-25.

Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The National Minimum Wage and National Living Wages rates for all eligible workers, including those in agriculture, are set by the Government, based on the advice of an independent advisory group, the Low Pay Commission.

Recruitment and retention of agricultural workers, of which wages are one element, were considered in the independent review of labour shortages in the food supply chain which the Government commissioned in 2022. The review focussed on farming, processing, and food and drink manufacturing as sectors that are critical for food production and food security. The final report was published on 30 June 2023, and the Government Response will follow shortly.


Written Question
Horticulture: Peat
Friday 1st December 2023

Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)

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 impact of delaying implementation of the forthcoming ban on peat until 2030 on the horticultural sector.

Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Government remains committed to legislating for a ban on the sale of peat as soon as parliamentary time allows. In the professional sector, our proposals include restrictions on the sale of peat from 2026 with a full ban from 2030. We are currently updating our economic Impact Assessment to reflect this.


Written Question
Ragwort: Weed Control
Monday 12th June 2023

Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)

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 provide guidance to local authorities on the control of ragwort.

Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

There are no plans to issue Local Authorities with guidance. The Government Code of Practice on How to Prevent the Spread of Ragwort supports the public by providing guidance on the most appropriate means of ragwort control, taking into account both animal welfare and environmental considerations.


Written Question
Bovine Tuberculosis: Disease Control
Monday 12th June 2023

Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)

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 she has made on her Department's 25 year plan to eradicate bovine tuberculosis.

Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Defra is driving forward an ambitious strategy to eradicate bovine TB in England, which includes a range of evidence-led interventions to tackle the disease in both cattle and wildlife.

Our comprehensive strategy includes strengthening cattle testing and movement controls, introducing new help for herd owners to improve biosecurity measures on farms and to help manage down the risk of bringing the disease into their herds., and supporting the deployment of badger vaccination Working with our TB Partnership stakeholder group, we’re currently developing a policy proposal for a targeted approach to future wildlife control increasing local ownership in delivering TB against a holistic strategy. This will include a provision for culling in the worst affected areas and where the epidemiological evidence points to an ongoing role of badgers in the disease.

Developing new and better tools is an important part of our programme of work. We continue to fund major research, including on cattle vaccination and improved diagnostics. That funding has already resulted in a major breakthrough by APHA in developing a test that can differentiate TB-infected among vaccinated cattle (a DIVA test). World-leading BCG vaccination trials in cattle began in England and Wales in June 2021. Our aim is to have a deployable TB vaccine for cattle within the next few years.


Written Question
Bovine Tuberculosis: Vaccination
Monday 12th June 2023

Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)

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 she has made on developing a vaccine for cattle against Bovine Tuberculosis.

Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Developing a deployable cattle vaccine is one of the Government’s top priorities.

Defra aims to have a deployable cattle TB vaccine (CattleBCG) in the next few years. In 2021, world-leading cattle TB vaccination field trials began as a result of a

major breakthrough by government scientists on the development of a new DIVA

skin test to Detect Infected among Vaccinated Animals.

The UK is closer to being able to vaccinate cattle across England and Wales than we have ever been before but there is still a lot of work to do. Deployment relies on the success of the field trials, achieving Marketing Authorisations from the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (for both CattleBCG and the new DIVA skin test), gaining international recognition for both products, an IT system to record and trace vaccinates and acceptance of vaccination from across the range of stakeholders.

Close partnership working with industry is also an essential component of the TB vaccine programme. A Government-industry working group has been established to co-design initial deployment policy proposals. These proposals will then be further developed with wider stakeholders before going to public consultation.

Vaccinating cattle against TB will be a valuable addition to the measures available to achieve bovine TB eradication but will not replace existing control measures. Maintaining biosecurity measures on farm, avoiding risky movements of cattle, and complying with TB testing protocols remain as important as ever in the fight against bovine TB.


Written Question
Flood Control: Finance
Thursday 30th March 2023

Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when she plans to announce the eligible communities for the Frequently Flooded Allowance.

Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

In July 2022 the Government announced the £100 million Frequently Flooded Allowance to support communities that have experienced repeated flooding. The allowance will help schemes that already qualify for Defra’s Flood Defence Grant-in-Aid funding under the current capital programme but have not been able to secure all the funding necessary to progress their scheme. The Secretary of State has written to all MPs with successful bids in their constituencies. Further details will be set out next week.