Asked by: Lord Shipley (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Benyon on 19 January (HL4205) which noted a need for additional data on farm stage food waste, what plans they have to include farms in the mandatory reporting of food waste policy.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Defra consulted between June and September 2022 on options to improve food waste reporting, including consideration of a mandatory approach for food businesses. We received 3,851 responses to the consultation and the Government response will be published in 2023. This response will set out the Government’s plans in relation to improving food waste reporting, including food businesses in scope if a mandatory approach were to be taken forward.
Asked by: Lord Shipley (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that consideration of food waste on farms is included in financial planning and subsidy development.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government supports a productive and efficient farming sector that can prevent waste occurring in the first place. For instance, we are supporting investment in productivity-enhancing equipment, technology and infrastructure through the Farming Investment Fund. This provides grants to farmers, foresters and growers (including contractors to these sectors) that will help their businesses to prosper through improving their productivity whilst enhancing the environment.
Asked by: Lord Shipley (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to incorporate farm stage food waste into food waste reduction targets; and if so, when.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government is committed to meeting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 12.3 target. This target calls for a 50% reduction in food waste per capita at the retail and consumer levels and a reduction in food losses by 2030. This international goal has been made into a national target as part of the Government-funded Courtauld Commitment 2030. There are no plans at both SDG and Courtauld levels for targets for on-farm food waste reduction.
Asked by: Lord Shipley (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government why permission to check deep sediment samples for (1) pyridine, and (2) other dangerous substances, at dredging and digging locations on the River Tees has been refused.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The MMO have not yet received a request for a licence or for advice to sample in the relevant area. Sampling of sediment from the seabed does not necessarily require a Marine Licence from the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) if certain criteria are met. Information on when a licence from MMO may be required for sediment sampling can he found here https://www.gov.uk/guidance/marine-licensing-sediment-analysis-and-sample-plans.
Asked by: Lord Shipley (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they will publish all the evidence (1) received by, and (2) considered by, the expert panel appointed to investigate the cause of mass marine deaths between the River Tees and the River Esk.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Details of all the evidence received and considered by the panel have been published alongside the report in the document ‘Evidence gathered for the assessment of unusual crustacean mortality in the north-east of England in 2021 and 2022’ which is available on the gov.uk website. Where possible, the panel has published the evidence considered. Where this has not been possible either a link has been provided to where the data has already been published or details of the organisation which owns the evidence have been provided.
Asked by: Lord Shipley (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what evidence they have to suggest that the cause of mass marine deaths between the River Tees and the River Esk was the result of a new pathogen, given the presence of high levels of pyridine in dead crustaceans.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Crustacean Mortality Expert Panel were unable to identify a clear and convincing single cause for the unusual crustacean mortality but considered a novel pathogen or disease to be, as likely as not (33 to 66% probability), the cause of the mass mortalities reported in the north-east of England in autumn 2021. This likelihood is based on key observations including mortality over a sustained period and along 70 km of coastline, the unusual twitching of dying crabs and the deaths being predominantly crabs rather than other species.
The panel concluded it was very unlikely that pyridine or another toxic pollutant caused the crab deaths, given there could not be sources of any significant volume of pyridine during the period of the crab deaths. Seawater measurements (by the Environment Agency and by York University) could not detect levels of pyridine sufficient to cause mortality during this period. Environment Agency tests for pyridine in crab tissue in the affected north-east coastal region as well from Penzance, Cornwall, and the Norfolk Wash indicated that pyridine can be found in crab tissue in most samples regardless of location. Sediment levels of pyridine from dredged material and other toxic chemicals found in sediments were significantly lower than the levels which would cause crab mortality.
Asked by: Lord Shipley (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government why the expert panel appointed to investigate the cause of mass marine deaths between the River Tees and the River Esk did not undertake its own research into the deaths; and why it only met three times.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Crustacean Mortality Expert Panel (CMEP) were asked to review all the available evidence of the unusual crustacean mortality event in the north-east of England (between September and December 2021) using all relevant available data at the time of their investigation. The CMEP were given access to a variety of data (including imagery, monitoring surveys, logs; a full list of the evidence used in the CMEP report has been published alongside the report) and they reviewed published data on similar events from other locations globally. Using this evidence the CMEP provided an independent scientific assessment of the possible causes of the mass crustacean mortality incident. The remit of the CMEP did not include the collection of additional data.
The panel were asked to conduct and complete their work in a timely fashion. The full CMEP met on three occasions between December 2022 and January 2023, with subgroups meeting to analyse aspects of the issue between meetings.
Asked by: Lord Shipley (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government why the expert panel appointed to investigate the cause of mass marine deaths between the River Tees and the River Esk did not take evidence from scientists who considered that the cause was industrial toxins, rather than natural algal toxins.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Crustacean Mortality Expert Panel (CMEP) actively sought data and input from external scientists (including scientists from Universities) who have investigated this issue and did consider the evidence they provided. The scientists were invited to submit any evidence they thought relevant throughout the review period, including on industrial toxins. This evidence was shared with the independent expert panel to consider as part of their assessment and formed an active part of their consideration. The CMEP followed up with questions and communication via written correspondence.
Asked by: Lord Shipley (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the World Wildlife Fund’s estimate that around seven billion meals' worth of food are disposed of as waste each year by UK farmers who cannot recruit enough workers to pick crops.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The recent estimate of 3.3 million tonnes in WWF's Hidden Waste Report is consistent with the range of estimates the Defra funded Waste and Resource Action Programme (WRAP) have reported previously.
WWF have reported that 2.9 million tonnes of edible food goes to waste on farms each year, which would equate to 6.9 billion meals if it is assumed that a 'meal' equates to 420g. In this context 'edible food' is used as a technical term to distinguish the proportion of any item of food which was intended for human consumption as distinct from the 'associated inedible parts' (e.g. shells, bones). It does not mean that the 2.9 million tonnes of waste were fit and ready for human consumption i.e. not requiring further processing. At a national scale, there is insufficient data to understand how much of the food wasted on farm was fit for consumption when it was wasted.
The WWF reported waste on farm is not caused solely by a lack of labour, this is the total estimated amount of edible food waste on farm. There are many causes of food waste on farm including the weather, fluctuations in supply and demand and failure to meet quality specifications This year the NFU have reported the results of a members' survey which suggests that 40% of UK farms experienced crop waste due to labour shortages. Other than this, the government is not aware of any quantified data linking volumes of waste to specific causes.
More can be done to reduce food waste in the primary production stage. Conversations with industry have suggested that a potentially significant cause of food waste on farm are unfair business practices at the point of first sale, where unreasonably late cancellations or late specification changes, among others, can lead to produce being left unharvested or rotting in the field. We have taken powers to clamp down on these kinds of unfair contractual practices through the 'fair dealings' powers contained in the Agriculture Act 2020 and intend to work with stakeholders to explore how these powers could be exercised to address such concerns.
Defra is aware of the impact that labour shortages are having in the horticulture sector and we continue to work closely with industry to monitor the situation and to help our world-leading farmers and growers access the labour they need. To inform future decisions on labour across the sector, Defra recently launched an independent review into labour shortages in the food supply chain, it will report in spring 2023.
The Seasonal Worker visa route was specifically designed to support the UK horticulture sector where growers typically require higher volumes of labour, for relatively short-term periods of time, in line with seasonal production peaks. On Friday 16 December, the government announced that an allocation of 45,000 visas will be made available to businesses in the horticulture sector to recruit foreign workers for up to six months to work in both the edible and ornamental sectors. This is an uplift of 15,000 visas compared to the allocation at the start of 2022. A further 10,000 visas will be available should there be demand and contingent on sponsors and growers continuing to improve worker welfare standards. This announcement will provide clarity to businesses, who are seeking to plan for 2023 harvests.
Asked by: Lord Shipley (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of current legislation protecting animal (1) welfare, and (2) rights; and whether they plan further legislation in respect of animal welfare in the current session.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government's Action Plan for Animal Welfare was published in May 2021 and can be found at: Action Plan for Animal Welfare - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). A copy is attached to this answer.