Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent estimates she has made of how much and what proportion of soy imported into the UK has been produced on illegally deforested land for the most recent period in which that information is available.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In 2019, the UK imported soya and soybean products equivalent to 3.5 million tonnes of soybeans. When combined with the volume of embedded soya imported into the UK, for example in animals fed on soya, the total consumption is equivalent to the import of around 4.2 million tonnes of soybean.
In 2018, the Government convened the UK Roundtable on Sustainable Soya for industry actors to work together towards the common goal of legal and sustainable soya. Since the Roundtable’s inception, the UK has doubled the proportion of soya imports which are certified as sustainable in a two-year period, from 15% in 2017 to 32% (1.12 million tonnes) in 2019. If we also include soya sourced from areas that are considered at low risk of tropical deforestation, such as North America, and soya covered by the Amazon Soy Moratorium contract, we calculate that 62% of soya (2.17 million tonnes) consumed in the UK is either covered by a deforestation and conversion free standard or comes from an area where there is a low risk of deforestation linked to production.
The Government recognises that voluntary commitments by businesses have not been sufficient to tackle deforestation and is committed to ensuring there is no place for illegally produced commodities on our supermarket shelves. That is why we have introduced a world-leading due diligence law through the Environment Bill. The law will prohibit larger businesses from using commodities produced on land occupied or used illegally and make it mandatory for businesses to conduct due diligence on their supply chains. Once operational, it will help to eradicate illegal deforestation from our supply chains.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the 2014-2020 Rural Development Programme underspends are in the 2021-22 financial year as used to calculate the funding for agricultural support and rural development announced on 25 November 2020 in (a) Wales, (b) Scotland, (c) Northern Ireland and (d) England.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
In our 2019 manifesto we promised to maintain the current annual budget to farmers for the lifetime of this parliament. At the recently concluded Spending Review the UK Government met this commitment by providing new exchequer funding on top of the remaining EU funding in each nation to ensure that farmers receive the same total funding next year as they received in 2019 when the manifesto commitment was made.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with representatives from supermarkets on ensuring that appropriate adjustments have been made to enable as many disabled people as possible to shop safely during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The Government has been working closely with supermarkets to ensure that disabled people have access to the food and essential goods that they need.
We have published guidance online that explains what steps people can take if they are unable to access food. This guidance has been shared with local authorities, retailers and charities to help them respond to enquiries from those seeking help. The guidance can be found at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-accessing-food-and-essential-supplies.
Supermarkets have been working at pace to expand the total number of delivery and click and collect slots. We have secured a limited number of supermarket delivery slots for the dedicated use of vulnerable people who are having difficulties in securing access to food and who have no other options available to them. We are working closely with local authorities and charities to help make sure these delivery slots are made available to those who need them most. We have built a bespoke digital service to enable local authorities and a number of charities to directly refer individuals for access to the prioritised slots.
Most supermarkets also offer protected in-store shopping hours to the disabled and their carers.
All major supermarkets have introduced cashless volunteer shopping cards that can be purchased online and used by volunteers to purchase foods on behalf of those self-isolating or in vulnerable groups.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Agriculture Bill, what criteria his Department will use to determine a public good that is eligible for financial assistance; and whether stakeholders will be able to propose schemes to be considered as a public good.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The Agriculture Bill gives the Secretary of State powers to provide financial assistance for particular listed purposes, including: managing land or water to protect or improve the environment; protecting or improving the health and welfare of livestock; supporting public access to and enjoyment of the countryside, farmland or woodland; protecting or improving the health of plants; and protecting or improving the quality of soil. Funding such purposes will enable the delivery of a number of Defra’s future policies, including the Environmental Land Management (ELM) scheme, which will be the cornerstone of our future agricultural policy.
Founded on the principle of “public money for public goods”, ELM is intended to provide a powerful vehicle for achieving the goals of the 25 Year Environment Plan and commitment to net zero emissions. Land managers will be paid for delivering the following public goods set out in the 25 Year Environment Plan:
We are working closely with a range of environmental and agricultural stakeholders to collaboratively design the new scheme so that it is fit for purpose. We are currently running a programme of Tests and Trials, the priorities for which are the building blocks we will need for the National Pilot. The National Pilot will provide a critical opportunity to test and refine the scheme design prior to full rollout of the ELM scheme across England.
We are also working closely with stakeholders to inform the design of other future financial assistance schemes which we intend to introduce using the financial assistance powers during the seven-year agricultural transition period from 2021 to 2028.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many properties in (a) Fairbourne, Gwynedd, (b) Dwyfor Meirionnydd and (c) Wales have access to affordable flood insurance through the Flood Re scheme.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Flood Re (FR) covers the UK, including Wales. It is available through more than 85 insurance brands representing 94% of the home insurance market. FR does not deal directly with homeowners, but instead allows insurance companies to choose whether to pass the flood risk element over to them for a set, below market-cost, premium.
As of 30 September 2019, there were 12,567 policies in Wales backed by FR. In Dwyfor Meirionnydd, there were 388 policies. The lowest granularity FR can provide figures for is at a constituency level so FR cannot provide a number for Fairbourne, Gwynedd.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 24 October 2017 to Question 108716, on trees: imports, what powers the UK Plant Health Authority has to ban imports of trees carrying harmful organisms.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
The Plant Health (England) Order 2015 and the Plant Health (Forestry) Order 2005 provide the statutory framework for preventing the introduction of pests and control action in the event of outbreaks and cover many harmful organisms affecting tree health. Similar legislation is in place in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Under the Orders the import of harmful organisms, plants and plant products that pose a serious plant health risk is prohibited. They also provide for additional measures to be introduced, including a ban on import, where new specific threats are identified or where existing measures have proved deficient.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 24 October 2017 to Question 108716, on trees: imports, for what reasons the UK intercepts a higher proportion of harmful organisms than other EU countries.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
Since 2014, we have invested in improving border security by recruiting new inspectors, enhancing training provision and facilitating closer working with Border Force. This additional investment has allowed the UK to increase its risk based inspections on goods which are not controlled at an EU level and therefore where mandatory inspections are not required. Uncontrolled trade inspections see relatively higher interception rates than inspections of controlled trades (15% vs 3%) and this data provides helpful intelligence and evidence to support new regulations and targeted monitoring.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 16 January 2017 to Question 59111, how many CITES import permits were returned used for lion trophies, rather than live lions, in each year since 2010.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
Current records show in the calendar year 2015,19 CITES import permits were noted as ‘returned used’ for Lion (Panther leo). ‘Returned used’ is the notation used for a confirmed import into the UK.
Current records show in the calendar year 2016, 3 CITES import permits have been noted as ‘returned used’ for Lion (Panther leo).*
*It should be noted that each CITES import permit has a 6 month lifespan from date of issue to the date of expiry. A complete set of returns for permits issued in 2016 is therefore not available at this time.
It should also be noted that there has only been a requirement for Lion (Panthera leo) hunting trophies to have import permits since the beginning of 2015.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 13 December 2016 to Question 56691, what steps her Department has taken to identify the (a) country of origin of the lion trophies identified and (b) country that exported those trophies in 2015.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
Under the provisons of Article 4.(b)(i) of EC CITES Regulation 338/97 it is a requirement that an export permit is issued by the CITES Management Authority of the country exporting the specimen, and is presented before the UK CITES Management Authority issues an import permit.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many CITES import permits were noted as returned used for lion in each year since 2010.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
The UK CITES Management Authority database records show that since 2010, 2 CITES import permits have been noted as returned used for live Lions (Panthera leo) both in 2012.