Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
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 impact of the levels of palm oil used in food products sold in the UK on farmers in South Suffolk.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is committed to supporting sustainable production, trade, and use of palm oil, not reducing it.
Leading by example, The Government Buying Standards for Food and Catering Services (GBSF) require in-scope public sector procurers to ensure that all palm oil (including palm kernel oil and products derived from palm oil) used for cooking and as an ingredient in food must be sustainably produced.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what guidance her Department has provided to food manufacturers on local alternatives to palm oil.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is committed to supporting sustainable production, trade, and use of palm oil, not reducing it.
Leading by example, The Government Buying Standards for Food and Catering Services (GBSF) require in-scope public sector procurers to ensure that all palm oil (including palm kernel oil and products derived from palm oil) used for cooking and as an ingredient in food must be sustainably produced.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
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 reduce the use of palm oil in food products sold in the UK.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is committed to supporting sustainable production, trade, and use of palm oil, not reducing it.
Leading by example, The Government Buying Standards for Food and Catering Services (GBSF) require in-scope public sector procurers to ensure that all palm oil (including palm kernel oil and products derived from palm oil) used for cooking and as an ingredient in food must be sustainably produced.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
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 ban the use of electric shock collars.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is currently considering available evidence around the use of hand-controlled e-collars and their effects on the welfare of animals. We will be outlining more detail on next steps in due course.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to protect UK sovereign innovation on gene editing in (a) current and (b) future trade deal discussions.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra has been clear, including in initial SPS agreement discussions with the EU, on the importance of supporting the use of new and innovative technologies such as precision breeding. Defra remains committed to the Precision Breeding Act 2023, and the secondary legislation needed to implement the Act for plants is due to commence in November 2025.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to support farmers who incurred costs based on an expectation of acceptance to the Sustainable Farming Incentive scheme.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) 2024 was an uncapped scheme aimed at mass participation of farm businesses, despite a finite farming budget. This large-scale uptake of the scheme meant it reached its upper limit in March 2025.
We have allocated a record £11.8 billion to sustainable farming and food production over this parliament. We are investing more than £2.7 billion a year in farming and nature recovery, the largest budget for sustainable food production in our country’s history to put healthy, nutritious food on our tables. We are working closely with farmers and industry stakeholders to design a future SFI offer that fairly and responsibly directs funding. Further details about the reformed SFI offer will be announced in summer 2025.
That's only part of our commitment to farmers.
We have also protected farmers in trade deals and provided a five-year extension to the Seasonal Worker route, giving farms certainty to grow their businesses.
We are using our own purchasing power to back British produce, with an ambition, where possible, for half of food supplied into the public sector to be produced locally or certified to high environmental standards.
We are reforming the planning system to support clean energy projects that align with our Clean Power 2030 ambitions, helping farm businesses to become more profitable and resilient.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
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 plans to review the consistency of Sustainable Farming Incentive application decisions made after the scheme was closed.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We do not propose to review decisions. We clearly set out the rationale for the reopened Sustainable Farming Incentive scheme. The Rural Payments Agency wrote to all those applicants who were eligible to apply. We worked with stakeholders and partner organisations to ensure transparency of approach and decision making.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, for what reason his Department selected 12 January 2025 as the deadline for the started but not submitted applicant group for the Sustainable Farming Incentive scheme.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
When farmers started an application and saved without submitting, they were shown a message that said "Your application will be available for 2 months for you to continue. If you have not submitted your application by then, we will delete it". This is why applicants who started an application before 12 January 2025 were not eligible for the reopened SFI as they had exceeded that 2 months.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to support the sugar beet industry in South Suffolk constituency.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
The Government is committed to supporting and promoting growth in the UK sugar beet industry, including in South Suffolk. For example: we are funding research into crop resilience and sustainable practices through the Farming Innovation Programme. The Government continues to work with industry stakeholders to ensure fair market conditions and is monitoring challenges faced by the industry.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to promote growth in the UK sugar beet industry.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
The Government is committed to supporting and promoting growth in the UK sugar beet industry, including in South Suffolk. For example: we are funding research into crop resilience and sustainable practices through the Farming Innovation Programme. The Government continues to work with industry stakeholders to ensure fair market conditions and is monitoring challenges faced by the industry.