Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
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 (a) the food supply chain, (b) livestock and (c) public health from the Asian longhorned tick.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UKHSA has been running a tick surveillance scheme (TSS) since 2004 which encourages people to send in ticks for identification. The Animal and Plant Health Agency and our veterinary investigation centres are part of this scheme, particularly through our Centre of Expertise for Extensively Managed Livestock. The TSS has so far not detected the Asian Longhorned Tick.
We recognise that over the last few years there has been an expansion in certain tick populations of our livestock and managed deer populations, which can mean both public and animal health risks of tick borne diseases are increasing. In response, we have funded a £6.5 million research programme with BBSRC on vector borne diseases which includes several projects on ticks, livestock and climate impacts.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
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 increase his Department's funding to the National Wildlife Crime Unit.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU) helps prevent and detect wildlife crime by obtaining and disseminating intelligence, undertaking analysis which highlights local or national threats and directly assisting law enforcers in their investigations.
Defra supports the valuable work of the NWCU. Defra is providing £424,000 for it in financial year 2024-2025. Budgets for 2025-2026 and beyond have not yet been set.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
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 commission research into developing a vaccine to protect livestock from the Schmallenburg virus.
Answered by Mark Spencer
A vaccine for Schmallenberg virus was authorised for use in the UK in 2015. The marketing authorisations are still valid for GB and NI, but the vaccine is not commercially available in the UK at present.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
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 bring forward legislation to ban (a) new dogs and (b) cross-breeds in addition to those dogs already banned under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Government is taking urgent action to bring forward a ban on XL Bully dog types following a concerning rise in attacks and fatalities, which appear to be driven by this type of dog. We intend to have the legislation in place to deliver this by the end of the year.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking with the Health and Safety Executive to reduce (a) farm deaths and (b) farm-related work accidents.
Answered by Mark Spencer
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has responsibility for the regulation of health and safety standards on Great Britain’s farms. Agriculture has the highest rates of injury and ill health of any industry sector and the HSE is working with key stakeholders in the industry to change behaviours in order to improve the management of risks on farms. The HSE’s website - Agriculture health and safety - provides essential information and guidance on health and safety in agriculture. The industry, via the Farm Safety Partnership Farm Safety Foundation / Yellow Wellies - YellowWellies.org, is also a key partner in the HSE’s Working Minds campaign and supporting farmers to manage stress and mental wellbeing.
Defra works with the HSE to ensure that farmer feedback informs the HSE’s work.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he expects his working group on fertilisers to report; what assessment he has made of the impact of rises in fertiliser prices on farmers in Shropshire; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Jo Churchill
On 31 March Minister Prentis hosted the first meeting of the Fertiliser Taskforce with key industry bodies to discuss potential mitigations to the challenges which global supply pressures are causing. On 18 May I hosted the second Taskforce meeting. Ministers will continue to meet with key industry bodies for further Fertiliser Taskforce sessions in the coming months, to help identify and mitigate potential risks. Defra fertiliser blogs on gov.uk from 30 March and 11 May have reported on the Fertiliser Taskforce meetings.
Global gas prices have impacted production of fertilisers internationally and domestically. Some international companies halted or reduced production, and some countries such as China reduced the export of some fertiliser products to protect their domestic demands. However, supply of all fertilisers in the UK has remained available throughout the last 12 months although high prices reduced demand from farmers.
While global fertiliser prices have risen, the supply chain providing imports of fertiliser to the UK has remained dynamic. CF Fertilisers continues to produce ammonium nitrate fertiliser from its plant at Billingham.
Government actions, such as bringing forward half of this year's Basic Payment Scheme payment as an advance injection of cash to farm businesses, will help farmers deal with high fertiliser prices.
We are monitoring the situation closely, including through the UK Agriculture Market Monitoring Group. Defra is in regular contact with key industry figures including the National Farmers Union, the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board and the Agricultural Industries Confederation.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what support his Department is providing to Harper Adams University to research the potential merits of automated farms.
Answered by Jo Churchill
Defra has developed an ambitious R&D package for England which will enable more farmers and agri-food businesses to become involved in agricultural R&D.
The Government's £90 million investment in the 'Transforming Food Production' (TFP) challenge, launched by UK Research and Innovation in 2018, is already supporting ground-breaking research and development to boost productivity and encourage technological advances. The Farming Innovation Programme was launched in October 2021 to build on this effort. The programme is made up of three separate but complementary funds, that will pull through innovation in different areas, from small farmer-led innovative research projects to larger industrial R&D projects that can transform the sector.
Harper Adams, in collaboration with Precision Decisions Ltd Agri-Epi Centre, was awarded a £1,577,964 grant through the TFP to support their Hands-Free Farm project. This seeks to operate a farm autonomously, whilst developing robotic skills and technology. Oats, wheat and beans were all successfully harvested autonomously in the last season. Through TFP, Harper Adams is also involved in the Dairyvision project which looks to develop autonomous monitoring and management of dairy cows to optimise their welfare and productivity.
As announced in December 2020, Defra has undertaken a review of automation in horticulture during 2021, covering both the edible and ornamental sectors in England. It is due to be published later in 2022. Defra Ministers engage and visit Harper Adams regularly.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many successful prosecutions there were in the West Mercia Police region for (a) attacks on livestock and (b) livestock worrying in 2020-21 or the last 12 month period for which figures are available.
Answered by Victoria Prentis
The Government takes the issue of livestock worrying very seriously, recognising the distress this can cause farmers and animals, as well as the financial implications.
In West Mercia, the last 12 month period for which figures are available is 2018-2019. In that year, there was one prosecution for the offence of livestock worrying, and one conviction. Attacks on livestock and livestock worrying are both dealt with under the livestock worrying offence in the Dogs (Protection of Livestock) Act 1953.
New measures to crack down on livestock worrying in England and Wales are to be brought in through the Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill, which was introduced in Parliament on 8 June 2021.
The new measures will enhance enforcement mechanisms available to the police and expand the scope of livestock species and locations covered by the law. Improved powers will enable the police to respond to livestock worrying incidents more effectively – making it easier for them to collect evidence and, in the most serious cases, seize and detain dogs to reduce the risk of further incidents.
The Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill includes a range of ancillary orders available to the court following conviction, such as control, disqualification and destruction orders. These orders are aimed at targeting and reducing reoffending.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what support his Department is providing to Harper Adams University to research the potential merits of automated farms.
Answered by Jo Churchill
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
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 reduce the volume of low-value pig carcass imports from the European Union.
Answered by Victoria Prentis
There is currently no evidence that retailers or processors are importing more pork from Europe. At the present time, volumes of imports are at their lowest levels since 2017 and in 2021 were around 9% lower than those in 2020.
The UK is reliant on imports of around 40% to meet consumer demand for pork. UK consumer preference is also for cuts from the leg and loin and domestic production is currently insufficient to satisfy this demand.
On 10 February, I chaired a roundtable with pig industry representatives and retailers from across the UK to discuss the challenges that the sector has been facing in recent months. As part of those discussions, retailers have been encouraged to work closely with processors to access more of our great British food, providing a reliable and sustainable food supply to the British public and help to reduce the current backlog of pigs on farms. I have also been speaking directly with both retailers and the hospitality sector.
We are also launching a UK-wide review of supply chain fairness in the pig sector. We will be engaging with industry on this with a consultation expected later this year. We want to elicit industry views on improvements to fairness and transparency that could be made to ensure a profitable and productive future for our pig industry.