Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
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 his Department has made of the potential contribution of the yoghurt industry to economic growth in the dairy sector.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
No such assessment has been made. We have a vibrant, resilient and productive dairy sector which produces a range of healthy nutritious products which bring value of £5-£6 billion at farm level, and many times higher when that milk is processed into a diverse range of products and commodities, such as yogurt. This has helped make the dairy industry the UK’s largest agricultural sector accounting for 19% of total 2023 UK agricultural output, bringing significant value to our economy.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has considered introducing a farm business investment loan scheme with a subsidised interest rate; and if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of doing so on (a) resilience and (b) productivity in farming businesses facing (i) commercial and (ii) weather-related pressures.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
Defra officials regularly engage with financial institutions providing farm lending, and we will continue to work to explore further opportunities to improve farmers' access to finance.
This builds on the £110 million in farming grants announced earlier this year starting in 2025/6. These grants aim to support innovation and productivity investment within the farming sectors.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has made a recent assessment of the potential impact of climate-related events in 2023–24 on the financial resilience of farm businesses; and whether he plans to provide additional support to assist recovery.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
We know climate change presents challenges to the agricultural sector. The government is offering a New Deal for Farmers to help address this.
We are providing farmers and land managers with the support needed to help restore nature, which is vital to safeguard our long-term food security and build resilience to climate change. In the recent spending review we committed to carrying on the transition towards paying to deliver public goods for the environment, with over £7 billion directed into nature’s recovery between 2026 and 2029. This includes environmental farming schemes (£5.9 billion), tree planting (£816 million) and peatland restoration (£85 million).
To address the impacts of flooding on farmers and rural communities, we will be investing £4.2 billion over three years in flood defences across the country – an average of £1.4bn each year and a 5% increase compared to the current spending review period.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans he has to ensure that food producers are not undercut by imports produced to lower standards.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
The Government shares the public’s high regard for the UK’s environmental protections, food standards and animal welfare. We recognise farmers’ concerns about imports produced using methods not permitted in the UK. We have been clear that we will use our Trade Strategy to promote the highest food production standards. We will protect farmers from being undercut by low welfare and low standards in trade deals.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans he has to help improve the (a) recording and (b) traceability of farm animals through the Livestock Information Service.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
The Government’s ambition is to achieve a comprehensive, multispecies Livestock Information Service, allowing disease to be identified and controlled more effectively, helping to meet our key priority of supporting farmers to boost our food security.
Through its Livestock Information Transformation Programme (LITP), Defra will replace existing livestock traceability systems across England, enhancing digitisation of livestock movement reporting, reducing paper use, and introducing electronic cattle tagging by 2027. It will deliver near real-time, accurate data to improve traceability, accelerate disease response, and better protect public and animal health.
We are working with the devolved Governments to ensure that similar changes being made in Scotland and Wales work together effectively across Great Britain.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
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 (a) capacity and (b) capability of the Animal and Plant Health Agency to respond to a major outbreak of exotic animal disease.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) leads Government action on animal disease control and has outbreak response plans in place. These include measures to contract companies to support eradication and cover such matters as the deployment of non-Government vets and experts in culling and disposal. APHA also work closely with other agencies from within the Defra group to provide additional capacity.
Response capabilities are kept under regular review and appropriate action initiated where additional operational support is required, including the potential to make a request for assistance under the military aid to the civil authorities (MACA) process.
Additionally, to safeguard and enhance the internationally recognised position of the APHA Weybridge laboratory as a hub of scientific excellence for high-risk animal diseases, £208 million of funding for the next stage of the laboratory’s redevelopment up to 2026 has been approved.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
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 considered introducing a centrally-funded veterinary surveillance scheme to support early detection of animal disease.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
Our existing animal health surveillance arrangements are robust and we monitor for new and emerging threats to our biosecurity through our Veterinary Risk Group (VRG) and the Human and Animal Infections Risk Surveillance (HAIRS) Group. We are not considering a new centrally funded veterinary surveillance scheme at this time, outside of those for specific diseases where reasons for government intervention have been identified. However, the scope of our veterinary surveillance schemes are kept under regular review by the United Kingdom Surveillance Forum (UKSF)
Keepers, vets in practice and farmers have a crucial role in surveillance as the 'eyes and ears' of animal health and welfare, investigating herd and flock health and production problems on a daily basis across the country. The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) leads government action on animal disease. In addition to APHA’s work to monitor and respond to reports of notifiable disease in animals, APHA offers services to vets and animal keepers on behalf of Defra through a national network of Veterinary Investigation Centres (VICs), which can provide diagnostic tests, post-mortem examinations and advice from their resident veterinary investigation officers and through surveillance pathology partners, independent institutions which also offer subsidised post-mortem examinations.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
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 help increase the number of veterinary professionals in the farming sector; and what plans he has to reform the Veterinary Surgeons Act 1966 to enable more use of paraprofessionals.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
Defra is exploring various avenues to improve the short- and long-term capacity issues in the veterinary sector. We have engagement with the veterinary profession and other relevant stakeholders, including veterinary schools and government organisations to work together to find sustainable solutions, ensuring the ongoing provision of high-quality veterinary surgeons both in the private and public sectors.
The Government is also engaged with the veterinary profession and stakeholders to review opportunities for reform of the Veterinary Surgeons Act 1966 (VSA), including the role of allied professionals.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
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 his speech at the NFU conference on 25 February 2025, whether the requirement for government catering contracts to favour high-welfare products will be determined with reference to the highest welfare tiers set out in his Department's proposed animal welfare label in the Fairer Food Labelling consultation which closed in May 2024.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
The National Procurement Policy Statement underscores the Government's commitment to increasing the procurement of food that meets higher environmental standards, supporting local suppliers and upholding ethical sourcing practises across public sector contracts. This includes sourcing products from all farmed animals which have been raised to high UK welfare standards as defined in current animal welfare legislation.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what (a) resources, (b) mechanisms and (c) funding his Department plans to make available to enable effective (i) monitoring and (ii) enforcement of on-site biodiversity net gain.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government has provided over £35 million of new burdens funding to Local Planning Authorities (LPAs), county councils and combined authorities thus far to help them implement mandatory biodiversity net gain (BNG). The uses to which the funding can be put are broad and there is no definitive list as requirements will differ across authorities. Some of this funding may be used for monitoring and enforcement responsibilities, including for ‘on-site’ BNG requirements. Decisions on any further funding are subject to the outcome of the spending review.
All significant on-site BNG must be legally secured by a planning condition, planning obligation or conservation covenant for 30 years. If a developer does not meet BNG requirements they may be in breach of the planning condition or legal agreement, and the LPA has a range of planning enforcement powers and may take enforcement action. Where significant on-site gains are secured by a conservation covenant, the responsible body is responsible for enforcing the agreement.