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 he is taking to support the growth of the hedgehog population.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is committed to taking further action to recover threatened native species. In England, we have set four legally binding targets; to halt the decline in species abundance by 2030; then to reverse declines by 2042; to reduce the risk of species extinction by 2042; and restore or create more than 500,000 hectares of wildlife-rich habitat, also by 2042. We have set out our plan to deliver on these ambitious targets, along with our other environmental targets, in the revised Environmental Improvement Plan.
The Environment Act 2021 introduced several policies, such as Biodiversity Net Gain, Local Nature Recovery Strategies, and a strengthened biodiversity duty on public authorities, which will work together to will support the creation and restoration of habitat which will benefit native species. In addition, our environmental land management schemes will provide farmers, foresters, and other land managers with financial support for a wide range of measure which will deliver positive benefits for native species, including hedgehog. For example, as hedgerows are an important habitat for hedgehogs, funding the creation, restoration, and maintenance of hedgerows through the Countryside Stewardship and Sustainable Farming Incentive schemes, will support the recovery of the species.
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 he is taking to work with supermarkets to help reduce food waste.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is investing over £2 million this year to combat food waste. That includes funding the Waste and Resources Action Plan (WRAP) and through them we work to address food waste in households and supply chains.
We support the Courtauld 2030 Commitment, managed by WRAP. Courtauld 2030 is a voluntary agreement with industry to tackle food waste, which includes a target of a 50% per capita reduction in food waste by 2030 against a 2007 baseline. Action through Courtauld includes working with businesses, including all the major retailers, to measure and reduce food waste through the Food Waste Reduction Roadmap and the key tool to Target Measure and Act on waste. Courtauld signatories also play a key role in providing consumers with support in reducing food waste at home for instance through offering storage advice and appropriate labelling. Recent data from WRAP showed food waste for the retail sector was 26% lower in 2021 than in 2007.
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, whether he has had discussions with representatives of supermarkets on introducing Buy British sections.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra officials regularly engage with major supermarkets to understand the work they are doing to promote British produce. We welcome their efforts to promote British food and the innovative ways to make it easier for consumers to pick British and back our farmers, who produce some of the best food in the world. I congratulate the hon. Member for Bosworth whose campaign on this matter has seen some supermarkets adding British sections to their websites. We encourage other supermarkets to follow suit with similar initiatives.
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 progress he has made on long-term strategic maintenance plans for flood defences in Lincolnshire.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
At the last spending review the government increased funding for maintenance of flood defences by £22 million per year. This results in an investment of £201 million for 2022/2023 and an allocation for 23-24 of over £220 million.
The EA has allocated £10.05m for the maintenance of flood defences in Lincolnshire for 2023/24. This funding covers routine maintenance such as the maintenance of water management control structures, riverbanks, and works to keep rivers flowing. The work is prioritised to the highest consequence watercourses first so that it benefits the most properties. The funding also covers intermittent works to repair failing flood defences and incident response activities when they arise.
Local Internal Drainage Boards and local authorities also have responsibilities for the management and maintenance of watercourses and their own flood risk assets.
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 he is taking to work with (a) the agriculture sector and (b) farmers to (i) raise awareness of cyber security and (ii) tackle cyber crime.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra works closely with the National Cyber Security Centre to engage with industry partners and provide guidance on cyber security. Additionally, Defra engages across Government to mitigate the impacts of a cyber incident affecting agriculture and food supply.
Defra and the Food Standards Agency are producing dedicated advice for the food and drink industry to help guard against cyber attacks. This is expected to be published next year and will support businesses across the food supply chain.
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 his Department has spent on promoting awareness of the ban on American Bully XL dogs.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra has produced detailed guidance for owners, vets and animal welfare charities on the XL Bully ban, and this is available on Gov.uk. Defra has been working to promote awareness of the ban, including spending £70,000 on search engine and social media advertising that directs people to this guidance.
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 his Department spent on Henry Dimbleby's independent review of England's food chain.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We are unable to provide this information as it is not disaggregated in the manner requested and manually calculating it in the time available 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, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to amend the list of animals which are protected in Schedule 5 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 to include hedgehogs.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Where there is evidence to show that it is necessary and effective to do so, the Government may consider providing protection through legislation to regulate activities impacting on our native species. In doing so it is important to consider whether the legislation will deliver the intended effects or whether there are more appropriate routes to delivering the same outcomes.
With regard to hedgehogs, while we are concerned about their conservation status, there is no clear evidence to indicate additional protection by adding them to Schedule 5 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 will be effective in supporting recovery of the species. It does not regulate the activities linked to its decline which, rather than intentional or reckless killing, are primarily caused by habitat loss and fragmentation due to removal of field margins, hedgerows and scrub; the use of herbicides and insecticide; and road traffic.
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, whether he has had discussions with the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities on the use of hedgehog-friendly fencing for new-build housing.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Secretary of State has regular discussions with Cabinet colleagues on a wide range of issues, and Cabinet discussions are considered confidential.
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 his Department is taking to reduce cat and kitten smuggling from overseas.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Criminal offences already exist for cats and kittens brought into this country in breach of current import requirements.
In autumn 2021 we consulted on further proposed changes to the rules governing the commercial and non-commercial movement of cats, dogs and ferrets into Great Britain.
The consultation sought views on whether maintaining the existing requirements in relation to cats was the right approach. We are carefully reviewing the feedback from our consultation and wider engagement with stakeholders in the animal welfare sector, including Cats Protection, and a summary will be published in due course.