Asked by: Sarah Hall (Labour (Co-op) - Warrington South)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of strengthening waste regulations (a) for the list of approved destinations of and (b) on the environmental standards for aluminium scrap exports on (i) encouraging domestic recycling and (ii) reducing carbon leakage.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We are currently considering the role of exports in dealing with the UK’s scrap aluminium and how they can complement domestic recycling efforts.
Overseas facilities receiving UK waste must be operated in accordance with standards that are broadly equivalent to those established in UK legislation. We work with the UK regulators to ensure the proper enforcement of our rules and regulations.
Defra is committed to building a circular economy that enhances industry competition and capitalises on the UK’s potential in aluminium processing, whilst realising our environmental objectives.
Asked by: Sarah Hall (Labour (Co-op) - Warrington South)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department plans to reform the (a) Packaging Recovery Note (PRN) and (b) Packaging Waste Export Recycling Note (PERN) system to (i) address market imbalances that disadvantage UK recyclers, (ii) reduce the price disparity between PRNs and PERNs, (iii) strengthen oversight of overseas export destinations and (iv) support domestic recycling infrastructure.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Yes, we have been working closely with relevant stakeholders to identify and prioritise options to reform the PRN system, including levelling the playing field between UK reprocessors and exporters, and increasing transparency in the system. We plan to consult on these shortly.
Asked by: Sarah Hall (Labour (Co-op) - Warrington South)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to support farmers to strengthen the resilience of domestic food supply chains.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Resilient domestic production for a secure supply of healthier food is one of the 10 priority outcomes that the Government announced in the Good Food Cycle in July 2025. Defra works with industry and across Government to monitor risks that may arise across the whole of the food supply chain. This includes extensive, regular and ongoing engagement in preparedness for, and response to, issues with the potential to cause disruption.
Asked by: Sarah Hall (Labour (Co-op) - Warrington South)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she plans to introduce in-ovo sexing technology to end the routine culling of day-old male chicks in the UK egg industry.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We are firmly committed to maintaining and improving animal welfare and want to work closely with the farming sector to deliver high standards.
In its 2024 ‘Opinion on alternatives to culling newly hatched chicks in the egg and poultry industries’, the Animal Welfare Committee considered a range of technologies that could help end the routine culling of male chicks by identifying or determining the sex of chick embryos before hatching. In recent years there has been rapid global progress in the development of these technologies, and we welcome the UK egg industry’s interest in the development of day zero sexing technology.
Asked by: Sarah Hall (Labour (Co-op) - Warrington South)
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 with farmers to help improve the resilience of domestic food supply chains.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Food security is national security. We need a resilient and healthy food system, that works with nature and supports British farmers, fishers and food producers.
As part of the Government’s Plan for Change we are delivering on the Government’s New Deal for Farmers which includes a raft of new policies and major investment to boost profits for farmers.
We've allocated a record £11.8 billion to sustainable farming and food production over this parliament.