Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much the Animal and Plant Health Agency has spent on translation and interpretation services in each of the last five years.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) uses an external company to translate some of its correspondence, GOV.UK pages and communication products into Welsh when required. There is a charge for this translation service. Specific details of this expenditure could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many vehicles were seized for fly-tipping offences in Lincolnshire in each of the last five years.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Local authorities in England are required to report fly-tipping enforcement actions, including vehicles seized, to Defra, which are published annually here. This data is not available at a constituency level. Data for the 2024/25 reporting year is still being collected.
The Environment Agency works with local authorities and other partners through the Lincolnshire Environmental Crime Partnership (ECP). The ECP has targeted “days of action” to tackle fly-tipping, with various sanctions available – including vehicle seizure – to prevent, disrupt and tackle waste related offences.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
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 list the titles of all the events organised by Civil Service networks in his Department since 2017.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The information requested is not held centrally and to obtain it would incur disproportionate costs.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to ensure that food labelling schemes used by UK retailers provide consumers with (a) clear and (b) accurate information on (i) environmental and (ii) animal welfare standards, in the context of the Advertising Standards Authority ruling on Red Tractor.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government supports the objective of preventing misleading labelling. The fundamental principle of food labelling rules is that information provided to the consumer must not mislead and must enable consumers to make informed decisions. The rules also specify what particular information must be provided and how it must be presented.
The Government cooperates with a number of food assurance schemes, which help provide UK consumers and businesses with information about the food they buy. Whilst assurance schemes operate independently of Government, the Food Standards Agency and the Competition and Markets Authority maintain close contact with these organisations and monitors whether communications and claims made by them are accurate.
To further support transparency and prevent misleading claims, the Competition and Markets Authority has issued the Green Claims Code. This guidance is particularly relevant for businesses that make environmental claims or rely on certifications and accreditations.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
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 she has made of the adequacy of the availability of grants for farmers to support (a) sustainable and (b) regenerative agricultural practices in Lincolnshire.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government has allocated a record £11.8 billion to sustainable farming and food production across the country, including Lincolnshire, over this Parliament. All our Environmental Land Management schemes will continue, and we will continue to evolve and improve them in an orderly way.
We have committed nearly £250 million in funding up to 2030 to improve productivity, trial new technologies and drive innovation in the agricultural sector.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what measures her Department has in place to run critical services in the event of a major internet outage.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government has a robust set of policies in place to ensure there are well-defined and tested incident management processes in place, and to ensure continuity of essential functions in the event of system or service failure. In line with these policies, these arrangements are regularly tested to maintain organisational resilience and ensure readiness to manage significant disruptions effectively.
Defra undergoes Cyber Assessment Framework assessments annually and uses the results of these assessments and lessons learned from exercises/testing to help minimise the likelihood, impact, or time and cost of recovery of critical services.
The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology will publish the Government Cyber Action Plan this Winter, which will set out a clear approach for the Government and the Wider Public Sector to manage cyber security and resilience incidents.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
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 take steps to reverse the decline of the swift population in England.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The decline in swifts is likely due to the lack of insect food for chicks, poor weather, and lack of nesting spaces. However, to better understand and develop solutions to address the causes of decline, we have funded projects through Natural England's Species Recovery Programme.
Additionally, The National Planning Policy Framework explicitly promotes features which support priority and/or threatened species such as swifts. As part of our work to develop a set of national policies for decision making, we intend to consult on changes which require swift bricks to be incorporated into new buildings unless there are compelling reasons which preclude their use, or which would make them ineffective.
As an interim step ahead of the consultation we have published updated Planning Practice Guidance setting out how swift bricks are expected to be used in new development, and signposting to further guidance including the British Industry Standard, Part 2 of the National Model Design Code, the Future Homes Hub Homes for Nature Guidance, and the RSPB’s Guide to Nestboxes.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
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 publish the National Fire Chief's Council consultation response to her Department’s policy on (a) wildfires and (b) risks to firefighters.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The National Fire Chiefs Council’s response to Defra’s consultation on heather and grass burning in England is already in the public domain. This can be found on their website here: 250523-Heather-and-Grass-Burning-in-England-Consultation-Response-FINAL.pdf
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to help tackle the sources of littering in (a) Lincolnshire and (b) other rural areas.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Local councils are responsible for keeping public land clear of litter and refuse and are best placed to respond to littering problems, in a way that is tailored to the community in which they occur. They have a range of enforcement tools at their disposal, including fixed penalty notices of up to £500 and prosecution action which can lead to a criminal record and a fine of up to £2500.
The Pride in Place Strategy sets out how Government will support local action by bringing forward statutory enforcement guidance on both littering and fly-tipping, modernising the code of practice that outlines the cleaning standards expected of local authorities, and refreshing best practice guidance on the powers available to local authorities to force land and building owners to clean up their premises.
The Countryside Code makes clear visitors’ responsibilities in protecting the environment when accessing the outdoors. It includes the important headline message “Take your litter home – leave no trace of your visit”. The team at Natural England continue to work with partners to help amplify the messaging, including Keep Britain Tidy and National Highways.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many agricultural business have received Sustainable Farming Incentive grants in (a) South Holland and the Deepings constituency and (b) Lincolnshire in (i) 2024 and (ii) 2025.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
As of the 1st of January 2025, there were 32,200 Sustainable Farming Incentive agreements in England. This was made up of 25,300 agreements in the Sustainable Farming Incentive 23 and 6,900 agreements in the Sustainable Farming Incentive Expanded Offer. This includes agreements for agricultural businesses in South Holland and the Deepings constituency and (b) Lincolnshire.