Asked by: Lord Redwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to support the UK fishing industry access markets.
Answered by Baroness Prentis of Banbury
Defra is working closely with industry and with other Government departments to facilitate market access for UK seafood exports globally, including through negotiating ambitious new free-trade agreements with key markets for seafood such as Japan, and through tackling specific market access barriers as they arise in countries such as Ukraine and China. Defra is also ensuring that the interests of UK seafood businesses are represented in the Government’s live trade negotiations with countries including the USA and Norway. Defra also continues to work tirelessly with other government departments, industry and the relevant authorities to ensure smooth trade flow of our goods into and out of the EU and to minimise disruption at the border.
The Defra-led ‘Food is GREAT’ campaign also plays a significant part in supporting the industry access new markets and increase its market share. The campaign, run in coordination with the Department for International Trade and Seafish, promotes our excellent UK food and drink exports, including seafood, in international markets. Running between March and April 2021; this will promote UK seafood at trade shows in the US, Canada and Japan; and will develop content and materials to help promote UK seafood in market to buyers, importers and distributors.
Asked by: Lord Redwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential to extend the UK fruit growing season; and what support his Department provides to growers to extend their season.
Answered by Baroness Prentis of Banbury
We have the ideal climate and landscape to enable us to produce a wide range of fruit, vegetables and salad crops throughout the year. Innovation such as the development of new plant varieties and growing systems has already allowed growers to extend the domestic growing season for products such as strawberries.
We will continue to encourage and support our growers to produce more high-quality home-grown fruits and vegetables, ensuring a reliable and sustainable supply of top quality and healthy home-grown fresh fruit and vegetables throughout the year, all produced to high environmental standards.
Growers of protected and salad crops are currently able to apply for financial support to help them improve their productivity via the Fruit and Vegetable Aid Scheme, and looking ahead the Agriculture Act will provide powers to offer financial support to anyone starting, or improving the productivity, of an agricultural or horticultural activity.
Later this year, growers will have the opportunity to apply for support to invest in equipment, technology and infrastructure via the new Farming Investment Fund. This will help them to boost their productivity whilst also reducing impact on the environment.
Asked by: Lord Redwood (Conservative - Life peer)
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 and support more protected growing of vegetables and salad crops to extend the UK growing season.
Answered by Baroness Prentis of Banbury
We have the ideal climate and landscape to enable us to produce a wide range of fruit, vegetables and salad crops throughout the year. Innovation such as the development of new plant varieties and growing systems has already allowed growers to extend the domestic growing season for products such as strawberries.
We will continue to encourage and support our growers to produce more high-quality home-grown fruits and vegetables, ensuring a reliable and sustainable supply of top quality and healthy home-grown fresh fruit and vegetables throughout the year, all produced to high environmental standards.
Growers of protected and salad crops are currently able to apply for financial support to help them improve their productivity via the Fruit and Vegetable Aid Scheme, and looking ahead the Agriculture Act will provide powers to offer financial support to anyone starting, or improving the productivity, of an agricultural or horticultural activity.
Later this year, growers will have the opportunity to apply for support to invest in equipment, technology and infrastructure via the new Farming Investment Fund. This will help them to boost their productivity whilst also reducing impact on the environment.
Asked by: Lord Redwood (Conservative - Life peer)
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 UK fish and meat producers to sell more of their produce in the UK.
Answered by Baroness Prentis of Banbury
As a Government, we have a manifesto commitment that we want people at home and abroad to be lining up to buy British. We welcome efforts from all parts of the food chain to promote and source British products, and work closely with industry and trade associations to engage with and support initiatives that highlight the qualities of British meat and seafood. We will always champion our farmers and producers, supporting them to grow more of our great British food, and to provide a reliable and sustainable food supply to the British public.
We want consumers to have a wide choice of products at prices which reflect the high quality of UK products and great work of our UK producers. Consumer behaviour continues to demonstrate the enduring demand for British produce. AHDB has recently launched a £1.5 million reputational campaign to encourage the role of meat as part of a healthy and balanced diet. AHDB undertakes regular marketing campaigns, including a social media campaign during July to promote lamb and working with Quality Meat Scotland and Meat Promotion Wales on a “Make it Steak” campaign during the spring lockdown.
We are working with the public sector to encourage them to buy seasonal and local produce, encourage variety in diets and support local businesses. This will include promoting the high standards of British produce. Now that we are an independent trading nation, we can align with World Trade Organisation rules which allow promotion of British products based on their own merits. Therefore, we are now working to build greater consumer awareness of the strengths of UK food and drink both internationally and at home. Officials are drilling down into the opportunities and work through the legal and operational constraints, and to make best use of our levers to ensure that more British food is consumed at home, in schools, hospitals and beyond.
Through the Domestic Seafood Supply Scheme, we provided funding for projects that helped to increase the supply of local seafood to domestic markets and help to increase consumption of locally caught seafood in the UK. Additionally, we have worked in partnership with Seafish on the ‘Sea for Yourself’ consumer facing campaign to inspire the UK to eat more locally caught fish and shellfish from UK waters. The launch of their ‘Love Seafood’ brand in October 2020 will help consumers across the UK reconnect with the enjoyment of seafood. ‘Love Seafood’ represents an ambitious long-term initiative to reframe the nation’s view of seafood and encourage consumers in the UK to eat more seafood over the next 20 years.
Alongside domestic consumption, we are also keen to promote the strong global reputation of our food and increase its market access. Defra’s Food is GREAT campaign is raising the international profile and reputation of food and drink from across the UK. It builds global demand, drives awareness and increases positive perceptions of UK food and drink products amongst international trade audiences and consumers. The campaign promotes excellent food and drink products from across the four nations of the UK.
The Government remains committed to developing a food strategy that will support the development of a food system that is sustainable, resilient and affordable, that will support people to live healthy lives, and that will protect animal health and welfare.
Asked by: Lord Redwood (Conservative - Life peer)
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 encourage the use of UK-produced timber to reduce wood miles.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
This spring we will publish a new England Tree Strategy, setting out plans to increase tree planting in line with our manifesto commitments, and to increase the management of existing woodlands. These actions will provide more domestic timber now and, in the future, reducing our reliance on imports. To drive sustainable investment into UK woodlands we also want to see the expansion and use of the Grown in Britain Certification mark throughout the supply chain, reducing the carbon footprint of the construction industry.
Asked by: Lord Redwood (Conservative - Life peer)
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 work with Drax power station and UK forestry to source UK biomass to replace imports.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
Our woodlands provide habitats, capture carbon and provide sustainable sources of fibre and fuel. We are seeking to increase planting across the UK in this parliament, and to bring more woodlands into management. This will increase the domestic supply of wood for a range of markets.
We are also developing a Biomass Strategy for publication in 2022 and will issue a call for evidence shortly. As part of the strategy we will review the amount of sustainable biomass available in the UK, and how this could be best utilised across the economy to achieve net zero.
Asked by: Lord Redwood (Conservative - Life peer)
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 take urgent steps to help expand the UK fishing fleet.
Answered by Baroness Prentis of Banbury
The Government remains committed to supporting the fishing industry and our coastal communities. The Trade and Co-operation Agreement with the EU reflects the UK's new status as an independent coastal state, and we have taken back control of our fishing waters. By the end of the five-and-a-half-year period, the share of fish in our waters which UK boats will catch will rise from half to two thirds.
The Government is supporting the opportunities available to the UK's fishing industry and has committed to providing £100m of investment to rejuvenate the industry and coastal communities across the UK. Further details will be set out in due course.
Asked by: Lord Redwood (Conservative - Life peer)
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 (a) reduce food miles and (b) improve security of supply by increasing domestic output of food.
Answered by Baroness Prentis of Banbury
Our food security depends on supply from diverse sources, strong domestic production as well as imports from stable sources. We produce 64% of our entire food supply need, and that increases to 77% for indigenous food that we can grow or rear here in the UK for all or part of the year. These figures have been steady over the past 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 our excellent 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’s work on Agri-food chain sustainability is delivered through the ambitious WRAP-sponsored Courtauld 2025 voluntary agreement which has attracted signatories from across the food industry, and from central and local government. This work does not focus on food miles; it takes account of broader sustainability in the Agri-food chain from food waste to reduction of carbon and water. WRAP’s 2020 progress report showed that the strategies developed under Courtauld 2025 are working, including a 7% reduction in GHG emissions since the start of the programme in 2015.
Asked by: Lord Redwood (Conservative - Life peer)
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 marine conservation areas from illegal fishing by large trawlers.
Answered by Baroness Prentis of Banbury
As an independent coastal state, the UK has full responsibility over how it manages all of our fisheries. All vessels fishing in our waters have to be licensed by a UK Fisheries Administration, and abide by the licence conditions and relevant legislation. We are also committed to ensuring an effective and robust enforcement system. To ensure appropriate arrangements to enforce fisheries regulations are in place to protect our waters, including marine protected areas, the Government has put in place a significant increase in the number of personnel and surveillance assets dedicated to fisheries protection, which includes offshore patrol vessels supported by aerial and radar surveillance. This strong presence will deter against any fisheries infringements.