Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many staff in their Department have been on mental health leave for six months or more; and for what reason.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Sickness absence information in the format requested is not available. The Cabinet Office publishes statistics on Civil Service sickness absence in regular reports, which can be found here: Sickness absence in the Civil Service - GOV.UK. The next release is due to be published on 18 December 2025.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much her Department has spent on social media advertising by (a) influencer and (b) organisation in each of the last five financial years.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The information requested is not held centrally and to obtain it would incur disproportionate costs.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
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 make an estimate of the proportion of food served in his Department that is British.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government, in line with manifesto commitments, is considering all lawful means of achieving its ambition that half of all food purchased across the public sector should be locally produced or certified to higher environmental standards. In order to understand where we are starting from, we are currently assessing what food the public sector buys and where it comes from. In due course, this will tell us the proportion of food served by public sector organisations, including Defra, that is British.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether officials in her Department have had (a) meetings and (b) correspondence with (i) the Carbon Trust, (ii) MyEmissions, (iii) Raynor Foods Ltd. and (iv) UK food retailers on the (A) development and (B) testing of (1) carbon scores and (2) carbon ratings on food packaging.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Eco-labels on food are used by some businesses on a voluntary basis to help consumers make more sustainable choices.
Eco-labels based on robust environmental impact data could support informed consumer choices and business competition based on sustainability. Through the Food Data Transparency Partnership, Defra have conducted engagement on eco-labelling across the food and drink sector, including the Carbon Trust and MyEmissions as well as retailers. Minutes of meetings with our industry groups can be found on Food Data Transparency Partnership - GOV.UK.
The feedback helped identify two fundamental data challenges to address. The first challenge is how to accurately quantify product level environmental impacts. The second is the insufficient availability and quality of data used to inform these assessments from product supply chains. Defra-commissioned research has therefore focused on solving these two fundamental data challenges through the LED 4 Food project. We continue to support new and existing industry-led initiatives to develop the evidence base in these areas. There are currently no plans for Government to make eco-labelling mandatory or to develop a Government eco-label.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate his Department has made of the proportion of food consumed in the UK that is produced domestically.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The food production to supply ratio compares all domestic food production to supply, including food that the UK exports instead of consuming. In 2024, the production to supply ratio was 65%. When food exports are taken into account, Defra estimates that in 2024 57% of food consumed in the United Kingdom was domestically produced. Defra publishes both of these figures annually, in its Agriculture in the UK publication.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many and what proportion of animals were slaughtered without being stunned for the production of Halal meat in the UK in each year since 2005.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
UK data regarding the number or proportion of animals slaughtered using the halal method without prior stunning is not collected.
The Food Standards Agency carries out a periodic slaughter sector survey in England and Wales, which started in 2011.
The latest 2024 survey is available: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/farm-animals-slaughter-sector-survey-2024.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions (a) his Department and (b) the Food Standards Agency have had since January 2023 with (a) the Carbon Trust and (b) major food retailers on the introduction of carbon ratings on (i) food labels, (ii) menus and (iii) product packaging; and what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact on consumers of introducing such a rating system.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Eco-labels on food are used by some businesses on a voluntary basis to help consumers make more sustainable choices.
Eco-labels based on robust environmental impact data could support informed consumer choices and business competition based on sustainability. Through the Food Data Transparency Partnership, Defra and the Food Standards Agency have conducted engagement on eco-labelling across the food and drink sector in a range of settings including packaging and menus.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the new funding formula for Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management will include a specific category for rapidly eroding coastlines.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
On 14 October, following consultation, the Government announced major changes to its flood and coastal erosion funding policy.
Under the new rules, projects will be prioritised by their benefit-to-cost ratios to drive value for money, with partnership contributions boosting a project’s prioritisation. Benefits include those of protecting coastal communities.
The new funding policy will optimise funding between building new flood and coastal erosion projects and maintaining existing defences and will ensure that deprived communities continue to receive vital investment. We will use Government funding to unlock investment from public, private and charitable sources, making every £1 of Government investment go further. We will also invest at least £300 million in natural flood management over ten years – the highest figure to date for the floods programme.
On coastal erosion, working with the Environment Agency, we will explore how we can take forward the current Coastal Transition Accelerator Programme. We will build on lessons learned, also recognising the growing source of risk in this area from the latest NCERM data.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when her Department plans to publish its final response to the consultation on the Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management funding formula.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
On 14 October, following consultation, the Government announced major changes to its flood and coastal erosion funding policy.
Under the new rules, projects will be prioritised by their benefit-to-cost ratios to drive value for money, with partnership contributions boosting a project’s prioritisation. Benefits include those of protecting coastal communities.
The new funding policy will optimise funding between building new flood and coastal erosion projects and maintaining existing defences and will ensure that deprived communities continue to receive vital investment. We will use Government funding to unlock investment from public, private and charitable sources, making every £1 of Government investment go further. We will also invest at least £300 million in natural flood management over ten years – the highest figure to date for the floods programme.
On coastal erosion, working with the Environment Agency, we will explore how we can take forward the current Coastal Transition Accelerator Programme. We will build on lessons learned, also recognising the growing source of risk in this area from the latest NCERM data.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
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 plans to take to protect properties at risk from coastal erosion in Hemsby before winter 2025-26.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Great Yarmouth Borough Council (GYBC) are the responsible risk management authority for the coast at Hemsby and have been working on erosion management issues at Hemsby for many years.
GYBC is a principal partner of the Resilient Coasts project, delivered and funded as part of the Flood and Coastal Resilience Innovation Programme. Through this project, £1.6 million has been allocated to develop plans to help people living in homes most threatened by erosion to relocate away from areas most at risk via the transfer of planning rights. The innovative approach provides some funding towards relocation for those most affected by coastal erosion.