Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
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 has he had with water companies on tackling river pollution.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Secretary of State frequently meets representatives from water companies and the wider water industry to discuss environmental performance.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
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 has has discussion with Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs in Northern Ireland on the provision of additional mental support for older people and families living in rural areas.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
We are not aware of any discussions having taken place on the provision of additional mental support for older people and families living in rural areas between Defra officials and their NI counterparts in the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs in Northern Ireland. Both rural policy and healthcare are devolved issues.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
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 made an estimate of the levels of tuberculosis testing taking place across the UK.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra publishes official national statistics on tuberculosis in cattle (i.e. bovine TB) in Great Britain on a quarterly basis. These include, among other headline statistics, the actual numbers (not estimates) of TB tests performed in cattle herds and on individual animals. The latest quarterly release of these national statistics was published on 8 March and contained data up to the end of 2022. This is publicly available at GOV.UK.
Specifically, the monthly and annual numbers of all types of cattle TB tests, broken down by country of GB and by bovine TB risk regions of England and Wales, are available here:
For a county-by-county breakdown of the monthly and annual numbers of TB tests performed on cattle please go to:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/tuberculosis-tb-in-cattle-in-great-britain
The next quarterly set of the national bovine TB statistics for GB is scheduled to be released on 14 June.
Bovine TB statistics for Northern Ireland are compiled separately by the Department for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs of Northern Ireland and can be downloaded from the following link:
https://www.daera-ni.gov.uk/articles/tuberculosis-statistics-northern-ireland
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of staff shortages on the range of food available in Northern Ireland in the next five years
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra is working closely with industry to help our world-leading growers, farmers and food producers access the labour they need.
The Seasonal Worker visa route is currently available to the horticulture and poultry sectors across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland through to the end of 2024. The visa route allows overseas workers to come to the United Kingdom for up to six months to harvest both edible and ornamental crops and to help with the pre-Christmas surge in demand for poultry.
For 2023 and 2024, 45,000 visas have been made available to the horticulture sector (plus 2,000 for poultry), with the potential for a further 10,000 visas available for horticulture if necessary. The additional 10,000 visas are contingent on sponsors and growers improving and abiding by worker welfare standards as previously agreed.
This visa allocation will provide clarity and confidence to Northern Ireland businesses, who are seeking to plan for 2023 and 2024 harvests.
We will keep labour market data under very careful scrutiny to monitor any pressures in key sectors. Defra is also working closely with the Home Office to make sure that the requirements for these sectors are understood across Government.
The UK has a highly resilient food supply chain, as demonstrated throughout the Covid-19 response. It is well equipped to deal with situations with the potential to cause disruption.
Our high degree of food security is built on supply from diverse sources; strong domestic production as well as imports through stable trade routes. We produce 61% of all the food we need, and 74% of food which we can grow or rear in the UK for all or part of the year, and these figures have changed little over the last 20 years.
UK consumers have access through international trade to food products that cannot be produced here, or at least not on a year-round basis. This supplements domestic production, and also ensures that any disruption from risks such as adverse weather or disease does not affect the UK's overall security of supply.
Defra has well established ways of working with the industry and across Government to monitor risks that may arise. This includes extensive, regular and ongoing engagement in preparedness for, and response to, issues with the potential to cause disruption to food supply chains.
Recognising the importance of food security, in the Agriculture Act 2020, the Government made a commitment to produce an assessment of our food security at least once every three years. The first UK Food Security Report was published in December 2021. It considers the UK's food supply sources overall, noting that domestic production and diversity of supply are both important to our food security.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has made a recent assessment of the potential risks to animals from unregulated animal sanctuaries.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Action Plan for Animal Welfare includes commitments to pursuing the licensing of animal sanctuaries and rescue and rehoming centres including for cats, dogs and horses. Defra has been engaging with relevant organisations to monitor trends in the sector and to understand the possible impacts of regulating the sector. Any proposals to bring forward licensing regulations will be subject to a consultation.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make an assessment of the implications for her policies of trends in the number of butterflies.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Government’s indicators of the abundance of UK butterflies show that since 1976, populations of habitat specialists have declined significantly, though species of the wider countryside show no significant change. Since 2014, both trends show no significant change. We are keeping these trends under review as encouraging but not yet definitive signs of progress.
Butterflies are important pollinators. We are taking action alongside many partners to implement the National Pollinator Strategy’s provisions as recovering the numbers of declining pollinator species is a priority for this government. In England, we have set a legally binding target to halt the decline in species abundance by 2030 and action towards this target includes specific action which will help butterflies. We are restoring and creating habitat for wild and managed pollinators to thrive; addressing pressures including by supporting Integrated Pest Management (IPM); raising awareness across society so that people can take action themselves; and supporting monitoring and research.
To strengthen our pollinator evidence base we work closely with leading academics and have introduced a national pollinator monitoring scheme across the whole of the UK, with trend estimates published annually as official statistics. Trends in the abundance of butterflies are also reported in the England and UK biodiversity indicators, based on data collated through the UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme (UKBMS).
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
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 policies of rising sea levels.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
UK marine and coastal areas are being impacted by climate change, including through sea level rise. These impacts have consequences throughout the UK on livelihoods, ecosystems, communities and society.
In the UK we are committed to ensuring that climate change adaptation, resilience and mitigation are fully considered and integrated in our policies. Under the Climate Change Act, government committed to laying policies and proposals before parliament to address risks identified by the third Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA3). It will do so through the third National Adaptation Programme (NAP), due to be published in 2023.
Through the Marine Climate Change Impacts Partnership (MCCIP) we are also improving our understanding of the impact of climate change and rising sea levels. MCCIP engages with a wide range of scientific authors to supply policy makers and the public with updates on the current and predicted impacts of climate change.
As climate change leads to sea level rise and more extreme rainfall, the number of people at risk from flooding and coastal erosion is likely to grow. The Government announced in March 2020 a record £5.2 billion investment over 6 years in flood and coastal erosion schemes to better protect communities across England. In July 2020, the government published a long-term Policy Statement, which sets out our ambition to create a nation more resilient to future flood and coastal erosion risk.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to promote healthy food and diets.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
A healthy diet is a key component of good health and the Government advises people to follow the Eatwell Guide. Encouraging more people to follow the Eatwell Guide will have a substantial benefit on health as well as the environment.
The Department for Health and Social Care leads on healthy diets and health disparities. Defra works closely with Departments across Whitehall to join up the impacts of Government policy on the food system.
The Government Food Strategy set out a plan to transform our food system to ensure it is fit for the future. It set out long-term measures to support a food system that offers access to healthy and sustainable food for all, complementing the measures we had already taken to support those struggling to afford food and help them eat healthily – including through the Healthy Start Scheme, breakfast clubs, and the Holiday Activities and Food Programme.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make a comparative assessment of the potential benefits of grouse moor management on the (a) abundance and (b) breeding success of (i) grouse and (ii) hen harriers.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
Shooting sports bring a range of conservation and economic benefits to rural communities and we therefore continue to support shooting as a legitimate activity, which provides jobs and investment in some of our most remote areas.
There is evidence that sustainable control of predators on shooting estates can play a role in the recovery of rare or declining species, particularly ground nesting birds, such as lapwing and curlew.
We take the decline in the hen harrier population in England seriously and we are committed to securing the future of this bird. That is why we took the lead on the Hen Harrier Action Plan. The plan sets out what will be done to increase hen harrier numbers in England and aims to restore hen harrier populations alongside the continuation of driven grouse shooting. The 2022 breeding season was the first time in over 100 years that more than 100 hen harrier chicks successfully fledged in England, showing real progress in efforts to protect and restore their numbers.
We recognise that it is vital that wildlife and habitats are respected and protected, and we will continue to work to ensure a sustainable, mutually beneficial relationship between shooting and conservation.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the Windsor Framework on the equitability of the trading relationship between farmers and major retailers.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Windsor Framework benefits farmers and retailers by restoring the free flow of trade from GB to NI with a first-of-its-kind green lane that will enable goods destined for NI to move easily without burdensome customs bureaucracy; guarantees unfettered access for Northern Ireland’s businesses to the UK market on a permanent basis; and ensures Northern Irish businesses have continued access to the EU market, as they requested.