Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)
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 consult with people who operate boarding facilities for cats and dogs on the proposed changes to licencing conditions; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Baroness Prentis of Banbury
The Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018 introduced an updated licensing system in England for specified activities including the provision of boarding for cats and dogs.
The supporting guidance for the Regulations is statutory and aims to improve consistency in interpretation and application of the licensing regime across England. Defra has not made any changes to the 2018 Regulations or brought in new legislation.
This means that the minimum welfare conditions that all operators must meet remain the same and all licences granted or renewed before the 01 February 2022 are valid for their stated licence length.
We are always seeking to learn from implementation and make improvements where necessary. The 2018 Regulations are due to be reviewed five years after they came into force and so, this will be an appropriate time to re-examine the standards, the associated guidance and consider any changes. We will be working with partners, including local authorities and stakeholder sector groups, while we undertake this review.
Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)
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 steps to ensure that businesses effected by the proposed changes to Conditions for Boarding for cats or dogs licence (England) are notified in advance of their introduction; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Baroness Prentis of Banbury
The Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018 introduced an updated licensing system in England for specified activities including the provision of boarding for cats and dogs.
The supporting guidance for the Regulations is statutory and aims to improve consistency in interpretation and application of the licensing regime across England. Defra has not made any changes to the 2018 Regulations or brought in new legislation.
This means that the minimum welfare conditions that all operators must meet remain the same and all licences granted or renewed before the 01 February 2022 are valid for their stated licence length.
We are always seeking to learn from implementation and make improvements where necessary. The 2018 Regulations are due to be reviewed five years after they came into force and so, this will be an appropriate time to re-examine the standards, the associated guidance and consider any changes. We will be working with partners, including local authorities and stakeholder sector groups, while we undertake this review.
Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)
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 prioritise environmental land management scheme funding for the Sustainable Farming Initiative in order to attract more farmers to the scheme; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Baroness Prentis of Banbury
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)
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 suspend incremental reductions in Basic Payment Scheme for 2022 and 2023 as a result of potential uncertainly and higher cost of production across all sectors.
Answered by Baroness Prentis of Banbury
We will not change the profile of Direct Payments reductions.
Area based subsidy gave half the farming budget to 10% of landowners. The Basic Payment Scheme did not support food production and did nothing to stop the decline in nature. We must seize the opportunity to establish a different system of rewards and incentives in agriculture. I am pleased that we are supporting farmers with the choices that they make for their own holdings.
Last month we announced steps to assist farmers with the availability of fertilisers for the coming growing season, to help address uncertainty amongst growers and keep costs down for farmers.
The planned changes to the use of urea fertiliser will be delayed by at least a year, helping farmers manage costs and giving them more time to adapt to pressures on the supply of ammonium nitrate fertilisers. We are also encouraging farmers to make use of organic fertilisers. Farmers will be further supported by new slurry storage grants introduced this year.
Alongside this, we have published further details of the early rollout of Sustainable Farming Incentive. The scheme will help farmers move towards more sustainable farming practices over time; supporting farmers to build the health and fertility of their soil, and to reduce soil erosion which are essential for food production, helping to bolster food security and the longer-term resilience of the sector.
Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)
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 officially define food production as a Public Good; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Baroness Prentis of Banbury
Supporting domestic food production is a priority for the Government.
The Agriculture Act 2020 includes powers to enable the Government to support farmers to invest in long-term food security by investing in the foundations of food production: healthy soil; water; and biodiverse ecosystems. Through the legal powers in the Act, the Government is also providing funding to farmers to be more productive and improve the health and welfare of their animals.
In providing this financial assistance, the Act requires the Secretary of State to have regard to the need to encourage the production of food by producers in England and its production by them in an environmentally sustainable way.
Recognising the importance of food production and security of supply, in the Agriculture Act 2020, the Government made a commitment to produce an assessment of our food security at least once every three years. The first UK Food Security Report was published in December 2021. This report provides a crucial evidence base for ongoing policy work, including around the Food Strategy.
Last month, the Government set out a package of measures to support farmers respond to some of the secondary impacts we are seeing due to the Russian Invasion of Ukraine.
In the coming weeks, the Food Strategy White Paper will set out the Government's ambition for the food system: to support exceptional British food and drink producers, and to protect and enhance the nation's health and the natural environment for generations to come.
Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)
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 he has made of the potential cost to businesses of the increase in the glass re-melt targets; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Jo Churchill
I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 27 January 2022, PQ UIN 113064.
Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)
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 he has made of the impact on businesses of the increase in price of Packaging Recycling Notes; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Jo Churchill
I understand the challenges the increase in glass re-melt Packaging Recovery pose for some businesses. We have had discussions with industry and regulators to understand the reasons for the increase and to understand their implications. As the UK operates a market-based system, price fluctuations are expected when there are supply issues – with the increased value motivating more activity by operators, and consequently increased reprocessing. This in turn makes it easier to meet recycling targets and so prices will be driven back down, which was the situation at the end of 2021.
Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)
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 publish further clarifications of the assistance that farmers will receive from the Rural Payments Agency before such changes are implemented; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Baroness Prentis of Banbury
I am happy to say that on 2 December this year , we published a document called Sustainable Farming Incentive – how the scheme will work in 2022.
The new document builds on the information we published about the scheme in the Agricultural Transition Plan: June 2021 progress update. It includes a wealth of information – including detail on eligibility, applications, payments, the Annual Health and Welfare Review and more. It also provides even more information on the standards that will be available from 2022, and how we intend to expand the scheme until the full offer is available in 2025.
This document provides the next level of detail necessary for farmers to make the right decisions for them and their business.
We will be releasing more information on the Local Nature Recovery scheme and Landscape Recovery soon.
Farmers can keep up to date on the latest information about changes to farming, including on Landscape Recovery applications and guidance, by signing up to the Defra e-alert, and subscribing to our Future Farming blog.