Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether class 3B agricultural land is classified as best and most versatile land in the National Planning Policy Framework.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
Best and most versatile agricultural land (BMVAL) is defined in the National Planning Policy Framework and Natural England’s ‘Guide to assessing development proposals on agricultural land’ as land in grades 1, 2 and 3a of the Agricultural Land Classification.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether it his Department's policy to reach a sanitary and phytosanitary agreement with the EU.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) remains the starting point for our new relationship. The sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) chapter of the TCA puts in place a framework that allows the UK and the EU to take informed decisions to reduce their respective SPS controls, with a commitment to avoid unnecessary barriers to trade.
We are open to discussions with the EU on steps we can take to reduce trade friction; however, these cannot be on the basis of dynamic alignment with EU rules, as this would compromise UK sovereignty over our own laws.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions his Department has had with the Canal & River Trust on securing the long-term future of canals and waterways and the wider benefits they provide.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra is working with the Canal and River Trust on the current review of the Government’s annual grant funding for the Trust, as required by the 2012 Grant Agreement. The review will inform a decision about any future grant funding from 2027.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent estimate his Department has made of the management costs of bin and ground packaging litter incurred by (a) local authorities, (b) other duty bodies, (c) litter authorities and (d) statutory undertakers.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We remain committed to making packaging producers responsible for the costs of managing packaging waste. We are reviewing responses to the consultation on Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging, and will publish a Government response in early 2022. This will detail our final policy positions, including on the approach to managing packaging deposited in bins and littered on the ground.
The Impact Assessment, that was published alongside the Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging consultation, provides details on our estimates of the costs associated with managing binned waste and ground litter. That is available here: (https://consult.defra.gov.uk/extended-producer-responsibility/extended-producer-responsibility-for-packaging/supporting_documents/Extended Producer Responsibility Impact Assessment.pdf), and will be updated as part of the Government response to the consultation.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether packaging producers will be made responsible for the full net costs of managing packaging waste, including bin and ground litter management costs, as proposed by his Department in the recent Extended Producer Responsibility consultation.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We remain committed to making packaging producers responsible for the costs of managing packaging waste. We are reviewing responses to the consultation on Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging, and will publish a Government response in early 2022. This will detail our final policy positions, including on the approach to managing packaging deposited in bins and littered on the ground.
The Impact Assessment, that was published alongside the Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging consultation, provides details on our estimates of the costs associated with managing binned waste and ground litter. That is available here: (https://consult.defra.gov.uk/extended-producer-responsibility/extended-producer-responsibility-for-packaging/supporting_documents/Extended Producer Responsibility Impact Assessment.pdf), and will be updated as part of the Government response to the consultation.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
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 introduce bylaws following the consultation on four of England’s Marine Protected Areas, published February 2021, which proposed the prohibition of the use of bottom towed fishing gear in four offshore Marine Protected Areas.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Fisheries Act 2020 introduced new powers enabling the Marine Management Organisation to implement management measures within our offshore Marine Protected Areas. The byelaws for the first four offshore sites are now in the process of being finalised.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
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 sandeel populations in the North Sea in advance of the 2022 sea bird breeding season.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The UK’s seabirds are an important part of our natural heritage, and their protection is a high priority for this Government. Forage fish such as sandeels play a crucial role in the health of the wider marine ecosystem.
Defra and the UK Fisheries Administrations recently published a call for evidence on sandeels and Norway pout to help inform decision making and to consider possible measures to manage these stocks more sustainably in the future. The responses are currently being analysed.
ICES releases its annual scientific advice about the condition of sandeel stocks in the North Sea on 25 February. We will carefully consider this advice, as well as the advice given in response to the call for evidence, in developing a UK position ahead of the negotiation with the European Union of a total allowable catch for North Sea sandeel in 2022.
Defra is also working with Natural England to develop a comprehensive and ambitious English Seabird Conservation Strategy. The Strategy will aim to assess the vulnerability of each seabird species in light of the pressures they are facing and propose actions to address them.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
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 reduce red tape for the importing of ornamental plants and trees; and if he will introduce a trusted trader scheme for that sector.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
Great Britain's (GB) plant health regime is risk-based, and the history of compliance of specific trades (where the ‘trade’ is the combination of a specific commodity from a specific origin), is a significant factor in determining biosecurity risk. Consequently, trades with a proven track record of compliance and meeting prescribed eligibility criteria may be subject to a reduced frequency and/or intensity of checks. While the biosecurity risk of imported goods is largely trade based, there are areas where trader considerations may also play a role. For example, as the phased introduction of EU-GB plant health import controls is completed in 2022, Defra is enabling the performance of plant health controls away from the border, including through increased uptake in the use of designated plant health Control Points. Eligibility criteria to be designated as a Control Point include elements consistent with a trusted trader model.
Defra officials are actively exploring with stakeholders other options for minimising the regulatory burden on individual traders in a way which maintains the high biosecurity standards the United Kingdom enjoys.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
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 (a) call a meeting of representatives of the pig sector supply chain for the purposes of investigating the take up of (i) temporary visas for skilled butchers, (ii) Private Storage Aid, (iii) slaughter incentive payments for the processing industry and (iv) other measures announced by his Department on 14 October 2021 and (b) make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a mandatory Code of Conduct for that sector.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The Secretary of State and I will be meeting with pig processors on Thursday 16 December to discuss various issues including the take up of measures that the Government announced on 14 October 2021.
The Agriculture Act 2020 contains powers to introduce statutory codes of contractual practice which would apply to businesses when purchasing agricultural products directly from farmers. We are in close touch with key representatives from the pig sector and we want to explore how best to tackle any contractual unfairness.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
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 call a meeting of representatives of the pig sector supply chain to investigate the take up of measures announced by his Department on 14 October 2021.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The Secretary of State and I will be meeting pig processors on Thursday 16 December to discuss various issues including the take up of measures that the Government announced on 14 October 2021.