Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
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 implications for her Department’s policies of allowing the practice of carrying chickens by their legs.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Welfare of Animals (Transport) (Amendment) Regulations 2025 resolved a discrepancy by bringing the legislation in-line with long-standing statutory guidance. The regulations reinforce the guidance that one-leg catching is unacceptable, by specifically prohibiting one-leg catching, and allow for two-leg catching of laying hens, meat chickens, and turkeys weighing 5kg or less. This does not lower animal welfare standards in practice as the GB poultry industries catch chickens by the legs and not upright by the body.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
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 a national chemicals regulator.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Health and Safety Executive and the Environment Agency between them regulate the UK’s chemicals regimes.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she will make an assessment of the potential merits of bring forward proposals to strengthen the Hunting Act 2004 by (a) removing exemptions, (b) introducing custodial sentences for illegal hunting and (c) banning trail hunting.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government is committed to enacting a ban on trail hunting in line with our manifesto commitment. Work to determine the best approach for doing so is ongoing and a consultation seeking views on how to deliver a full ban will be held early next year.
The nature of trail hunting makes it very difficult to do safely. The use of large packs of hounds reduces the control huntsmen have, putting wild mammals, household pets and even members of the public at risk.
Trail hunting also provides a convenient cover for those seeking to participate in illegal hunting activities by obscuring their intention and enabling the inevitable chasing of animals to be labelled as ‘accidental’. This is why we want an effective, enforceable ban that truly protects our wildlife, countryside, and rural communities.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
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 plans to bring forward a public consultation on (a) banning the use of cages and (b) close confinement systems for farmed animals; and if she will make it her policy to phase out those practices.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 29 April 2025 to the hon. Member for Mid Dorset and North Poole, PQ UIN 47556.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
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 8 May 2025 to Question 49250 on Plants: Disease Control, what assessment he has made of the the potential impact of the UPOV 1991 convention on small holder and subsistence farmers globally?.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
Signatories to the 1991 UPOV convention are part of a global plant variety protection system. UPOV’s mission is to encourage the development of new plant varieties for the benefit of society. The assurance that intellectual property will be respected encourages plant breeders to invest in new varieties, critical for all in the face of climate change and food security.
Requirements under UPOV91 apply to new varieties and not existing traditional varieties. The protection of new varieties is voluntary and is a decision made by the plant breeder. To become a member, regulations must align to UPOV91, but there is some degree of flexibility in how national policies are implemented, allowing for local needs to be reflected.
Furthermore, Article 15(2) of the convention contains an optional exception to the Breeder’s Right, allowing farmers to use seed collected from their own crops for their own use with enforcement via domestic legislation.
The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, Department for Business & Trade, and Defra are working together to find a balance between protecting plant breeders’ rights, the need for smallholder farmers to have access to better seed varieties, and the sovereignty of informal seed systems, upon which many smallholder and subsistence farmers rely.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
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 bringing water companies into public ownership on (a) bills and (b) infrastructure investment.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Independent research commissioned by the Consumer Council for Water found substantial change to the industry and company ownership would not address the main problems experienced. Nationalising a water company would cost billions of pounds, and it would take years to unpick the current ownership model. It would frankly slow down our reforms, leave the sewage pollution only to get worse and stall much needed investment.
The Independent Water Commission is looking at the ownership, governance, and management of private water companies and whether more needs to be done to support transparency and accountability, which could include stronger duties for management. Further recommendations will follow in the final report.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
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 29 April to Question 20692 on food labelling, what his timescale is for a decision on (a) next steps and (b) responding to the consultation.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
A public consultation on fairer food labelling was undertaken last year by the previous Government.
We are now carefully considering all responses to the consultation before deciding on next steps. We recognise that this is an important matter and will respond to this consultation as soon as we are able to.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if his Department will launch a consultation on the (a) production, (b) import and (c) sales of eggs from caged hens.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
We remain firmly committed to maintaining and improving animal welfare and want to work closely with the farming sector to deliver high standards.
The use of cages for laying hens is an issue which we are currently considering very carefully.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what his planned timeline is to ban the import of foie gras.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
The Government shares the British public's high regard for animal welfare and has made clear that the production of foie gras from ducks or geese using force feeding raises serious welfare concerns.
We have been clear that we will use our Trade Strategy to promote the highest food production standards.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
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 UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights' publication Concluding observations on the seventh periodic report of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, published on 12 March 2025, whether he will make it his policy to adopt the Committee's recommendations on expediting the adoption of a comprehensive national strategy for the (a) protection and (b) promotion of the right to adequate food.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
The Government has committed to develop an ambitious food strategy will set and deliver clear long-term outcomes that create a healthier, fairer, and more resilient food system. The strategy will work to improve the food system to provide more easily accessible healthy food to tackle diet-related ill health, helping to give children the best start in life and help adults live longer healthier lives. It will also maintain our food security – which is national security – by building resilience in the face of climate shocks and geopolitical changes, strengthening the supply chain which operates so effectively to keep us fed.