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 he has made of the implications for his policies of the impact of factory farming on (a) rivers and (b) other waterways.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is committed to minimising pollution from all types of farming, including production systems where animals are housed indoors for some or all of the year and which accumulate manures and slurries.
Our legal standards, including the Nitrates and Silage, Slurry and Agricultural Fuel Oil regulations, all require manure produced in livestock housing (including slurry) to be stored responsibly and for a long enough time to ensure it is spread in a way that minimises water pollution. The Farming Rules for Water and Nitrates regulations require these manures to be spread according to appropriate volumes, locations and timescales to minimise pollution.
In addition, our farming schemes provide revenue and capital funding to help farmers build the infrastructure necessary to manage manures to reduce pollution. For example a dairy farmer is able to utilise Sustainable Farming Incentive Funding for measures to reduce soil erosion and runoff from their fields, and Slurry Infrastructure Grant funding to expand and cover their slurry store according to best practice.
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 4 December 2023 to Question 4004 on Furs: Imports, what criteria he is using to determine when to publish a summary of responses to his Department’s 2021 Fur Market consultation.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
At this stage we do not have a confirmed date for publication of a summary of responses to the call for evidence on the fur market in Great Britain.
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, when he expects the Food Data Transparency Partnership Eco Working Group to produce its report detailing proposals to measure and communicate carbon emissions in the food system.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Food Data Transparency Partnership (FDTP) was established in early 2023, as a means to work jointly across Defra, the Food Standards Agency, the Department of Health and Social Care, industry, academia and civil society. The FDTP aims to drive positive change in the food system through better and more transparent food data. On environmental sustainability, the FDTP has focused on the approach needed to deliver consistent, accurate and accessible data on quantifying and communicating the environmental impact of food across the agri-food system. This will support our agri-food industry to remain internationally competitive in the context of global growing demand for data on environmental impacts associated with products or services sold.
The FDTP Eco Working Group continues to develop the detail of proposals to measure and communicate greenhouse gas emissions in the food system. The group has identified several interim priorities for the short and medium term. These will be communicated to industry as part of the FDTP's continued programme of engagement.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool, West Derby)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many Disabled Facilities Grants were distributed to private rented sector tenants last year.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
Government is committed to helping older and disabled people to live independently and safely. Government funding for Disabled Facilities Grant has more than doubled, rising from £220 million in 2015-16 to £623 million for 2023-24.
The Department does not hold the requested data for 2023.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool, West Derby)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many wheelchair-accessible homes have been built in England outside London in the last year.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer I gave to Question UIN 15081 on 26 February 2024.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool, West Derby)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many new M4(2) homes have been built in England outside London in the last year.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer I gave to Question UIN 15081 on 26 February 2024.
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 recent assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the potential impact of reducing meat and dairy consumption on the Government's Net Zero Strategy.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government’s preferred approach to supporting consumers to make sustainable food choices is to support sustainable food production practices and high-quality British produce, whilst maintaining people’s freedom of choice.
The Government recognises the contribution to greenhouse gas emissions made by the livestock and dairy sectors, whilst valuing the importance of our farmers in feeding the nation and managing our rural environment. Well managed livestock provide environmental benefits such as supporting biodiversity, protecting the character of the countryside, and generating important income for rural communities.
Government is focusing on productivity and innovation to help reduce agricultural emissions. The measures in the Net Zeo Growth plan aim to reduce emissions from agriculture in England through sustainable land management practices, the uptake of innovative practices and technologies, and actions to improve the productivity and profitability of the sector.
Some of the policies and proposals which will help reduce emissions from livestock include, improved health and welfare of livestock, multi-purpose breeds, and increasing the uptake of methane suppressing feed products in cattle. Additionally, the Food Data Transparency Partnership’s work on health and environmental sustainability metrics for food will help enable healthier and more sustainable diets.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool, West Derby)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what diplomatic steps his Department is taking to help make the water pipeline from Israel into northern Gaza operational.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK has raised the issue of access to water in the Occupied Palestinian Territories with the Israeli authorities. The Foreign Secretary has been clear that Israel must take steps, working with other partners including the UN and Egypt, to significantly increase the flow of aid into Gaza including allowing prolonged humanitarian pauses, opening more routes into Gaza and restoring and sustaining water, fuel and electricity. The Prime Minister pressed the urgency of getting significantly more aid into Gaza to alleviate the desperate situation in his call with Prime Minister Netanyahu on 15 February.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool, West Derby)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure protection of Palestinian communities in the West Bank.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
We urge Israel to halt settlement expansion immediately. We have already moved to ban those responsible for violence in the West Bank from the UK. We have taken further steps to hold those to account who undermine the steps to peace in the West Bank. Earlier this month the Foreign Secretary announced new sanctions designations against four extremist Israeli settlers who have violently attacked Palestinians in the West Bank.
We must also work with our allies to provide serious, practical and enduring support needed to bolster the Palestinian Authority.
We already provide technical and practical support and are ready to do more. The Palestinian Authority also must take much needed steps on reform, including setting out a pathway to democratic progress.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool, West Derby)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to help prevent (a) death and (b) serious illness of (i) mothers and (ii) babies from Group B Streptococcal Infection.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) plays a key role in combatting Group B Streptococcus (GBS) infection both through routine service activities and innovative research. Trends, characteristics, and outcomes of infection are monitored through surveillance, vital for prevention efforts, providing means to understand differential risk within our population, which has informed guidance change. Emergence of new strains is monitored at the reference laboratory, vital to understanding the potential vaccine coverage and escape once vaccines are licensed. Furthermore, genomic assessment of strains identified the presence clusters, an important finding highlighting the potential for spread of infection within hospitals.
The Vaccine Development and Evaluation Centre at UKHSA Porton Down is part of an international consortium funded by the Gates Foundation to develop standardised assays to quantify immune responses to GBS in natural immunity studies and vaccine trials.