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Written Question
Fishing Catches: Import Controls
Friday 9th February 2024

Asked by: John Spellar (Labour - Warley)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many (a) documentary checks on, (b) physical checks on, (c) foreign supplier verification checks on and (d) rejections of consignments imported with a catch certificate validated by China were undertaken under the Sea Fishing (Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing) Order 2009 in 2023.

Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

This information is not held centrally by the Government.


Written Question
Marine Protected Areas
Monday 29th January 2024

Asked by: John Spellar (Labour - Warley)

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 the Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing Action Alliance has made; and what representations the UK has made at the Alliance since the Our Ocean conference in Panama in March 2023.

Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The UK Government is a founder member of the IUU Action Alliance, and as its current chair and secretariat the UK works closely with its partners globally to ensure the Alliance’s long-term success. The Alliance now contains 11 members with 9 supporters, with an ambitious work programme agreed by its members.


Written Question
Sandeels: North Sea
Friday 19th January 2024

Asked by: John Spellar (Labour - Warley)

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 protect stocks of sand eels in English North Sea waters.

Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Defra is presently preparing its response to the public consultation on the future management of sandeels in English waters of the North Sea. I am grateful to everyone who responded. A summary of responses is here: Summary of responses - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). I will announce my decision shortly.


Written Question
Pets: Veterinary Services
Friday 20th January 2023

Asked by: John Spellar (Labour - Warley)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of consolidation in the veterinary sector on veterinary costs for pet owners.

Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Defra considers the establishing and an agreement of fees to be a private agreement between the vet and the client. If unsatisfied the client can take their custom elsewhere; thus setting the market in which the veterinary business has to compete. The Competition and Markets Authority is the UK's principal competition authority, responsible among other things for enforcing the law against anti-competitive practices, and investigating mergers that could reduce competition.


Written Question
Dogs: Tagging
Friday 20th January 2023

Asked by: John Spellar (Labour - Warley)

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 estimate the number and proportion of dogs that are not microchipped; and what steps she is taking to help reduce that number.

Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Around 10% of dogs in the UK are not microchipped (PDSA, PAW Report 2022). Under the Microchipping of Dogs (England) Regulations 2015 it is an offence to not microchip a dog. The Government works with stakeholders to remind the public of this legal requirement and the benefits of microchipping.


Written Question
Fisheries: China
Monday 16th January 2023

Asked by: John Spellar (Labour - Warley)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she is taking steps through the World Trade Organisation to help restrict the size of the Chinese distant water fleet and its impact on fish stocks.

Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

WTO Members reached a landmark agreement at the 12th WTO Ministerial Conference to prohibit the most harmful fisheries subsidies contributing to Illegal, Unregulated and Unreported fishing, the fishing of overfished stocks, and fishing on the high seas. Members also committed to continue negotiations on prohibiting subsidies contributing to overfishing and overcapacity. The agreement will help improve the health of global fish stocks and the sustainable blue economy. This is also the first WTO agreement specifically addressing environmental sustainability, hopefully setting a precedent for future agreements of this kind. All members, including China, are now in the process of ratifying the agreement.


Written Question
Droughts and Rain
Wednesday 21st September 2022

Asked by: John Spellar (Labour - Warley)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what his Department's policy is on cloud seeding to encourage rainfall during drought conditions.

Answered by Trudy Harrison

Cloud seeding is not appropriate for managing droughts in England due to the weather patterns we receive. This makes it difficult to predict where the resulting rain will fall. There is a risk that the rain falls not in this country and could cause issues for neighbouring countries where rain is not needed. Cloud seeding is used in other countries around the world, but they generally have larger land masses and more stable weather patterns. There are also concerns relating to pollution that could be caused from the compounds used to create 'seed particles', depending on the nature of the particle used and the volume required to form an effective amount of rainfall.


Written Question
Food: Insects
Friday 16th September 2022

Asked by: John Spellar (Labour - Warley)

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 help remove obstacles to the growth of the edible insect industry in the UK.

Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Government recognises the role the alternative protein sector could have in contributing to UK growth. As stated in the Government's Food Strategy, through funding we will support progress on a wide range of issues, including alternative proteins. We will also work with the Food Standards Agency (FSA) to develop dedicated guidance materials for approval of new alternative protein products while reviewing our novel food regulations. This will ensure they are transparent for innovators and investors, whilst maintaining world-leading consumer safety standards.

In addition, the FSA is aiming to introduce a legislative fix this year to permit edible insect sellers to continue to sell several species while they submit applications for authorisation under the novel food regulations. Novel foods normally require pre-market authorisation but the FSA plans to fix transitional arrangements from the EU retained law to allow necessary time to demonstrate the safety of these products. There are very few restrictions required on the use of insects as feed.


Written Question
Plankton: North Atlantic Ocean
Monday 5th September 2022

Asked by: John Spellar (Labour - Warley)

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 assessment of the sustainability of plankton levels in the North Atlantic.

Answered by Steve Double

As a contracting party to OSPAR, the regional seas convention covering the North-East Atlantic, the UK contributes to the assessment of plankton in the North-East Atlantic. Although the sustainability of plankton has not been specifically addressed by research at the North Atlantic scale, abundance and diversity of plankton in the North Atlantic is. These assessments indicate that there is variability in the plankton community, which is in accordance with the published scientific literature on plankton dynamics.


Written Question
Cereals: Prices
Thursday 28th April 2022

Asked by: John Spellar (Labour - Warley)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the impact of market speculation on grain prices.

Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General

Increases in international food commodity prices have been driven by a range of factors, including rising energy prices, increased demand, and trade disruption. Russia's invasion of Ukraine has impacted the ability of Ukraine to produce and export key agricultural commodities. This suggests that the main driver of the observed price changes is due to Ukraine’s inability to export. Previous assessments by Government economists have suggested there are good reasons to be sceptical that speculation in futures markets has been a significant cause of food price spikes. The department continues to monitor market developments closely alongside international partners like the Agricultural Market Information System.