Asked by: Steve Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
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 Written Ministerial Statement of 5 February 2025, HCWS417 on the Flood Investment Announcement, whether he plans to provide additional support to local authorities impacted by increases to Internal Drainage Board special levies.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The government supports the important work internal drainage boards (IDBs) do in managing water and flood risk, benefiting communities, businesses and the environment.
The government announced as part of the 2025-26 Local Government Finance Settlement, that it will provide £5 million in funding for the local authorities most impacted by IDB levies.
On 31st March 2025 the government also announced an additional £16 million boost to the IDB Fund to support greater flood resilience for farmers and rural communities. The Fund has increased from £75 million to £91 million to provide opportunities to modernise and upgrade assets and this will help reduce future cost increases. Defra has also committed to work with the IDB sector and MHCLG to review IDBs’ current funding and costs.
Asked by: Steve Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many times his Department has met representatives of (a) Greenpeace, (b) Just Stop Oil and (c) Extinction Rebellion since 4 July 2024.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Ministers have met with Greenpeace and discussions continue at an official level. There have not been any meetings with Just Stop Oil or Extinction Rebellion.
Asked by: Steve Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the total SFI agreement uptake has been per quarter since the beginning of the launch of the 2021 pilot scheme.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The table below shows the number of Sustainable Farming Incentive agreements accepted and started per quarter since the scheme’s launch in 2021. To note that farmers can have more than one SFI Agreement. The application window was paused across Spring and early Summer in 2022.
Quarter | Number of Agreements |
Oct 21 to Dec 21 | 515 |
Jan 22 to Mar 22 | 340 |
Apr 22 to Jun 22 | 20 |
Jul 22 to Sep 22 | 6 |
Oct 22 to Dec 22 | 1144 |
Jan 23 to Mar 23 | 910 |
Apr 23 to Jun 23 | 641 |
Jul 23 to Sep 23 | 609 |
Oct 23 to Dec 23 | 4044 |
Jan 24 to Mar 24 | 9915 |
Apr 24 to Jun 24 | 9391 |
Jul 24 to Sep 24 | 2875 |
Oct 24 to Dec 24 | 6122 |
Jan 25 to Mar 25 | 4358 |
Total | 40,890 |
Asked by: Steve Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
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 29 July 2024 to Question 1488 on Agriculture: Food Supply, what preparations his Department has made for the 2025 Farm to Fork Summit.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The department is planning to engage closely with key stakeholders from across the food system over the coming months. We will confirm the details of possible future events in due course.
Asked by: Steve Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many farmers have received funding through the Farming Resilience Fund since it was established.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Farming Resilience Fund provides free business support to farmers and land managers in England to help them through agricultural transition. It was set up to available from October 2022 and will run until March 2025.
Across all three phases of the Farming Resilience Fund, our delivery partners have provided specialist one-to-one advice to 26,088 farmers (as of 25 February).
Asked by: Steve Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many Environment Agency permits allowing the importation of waste from outside the UK are in effect; and if he will provide a list of sites covered.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency currently has 208 notifications to import waste, which is recovered at 86 sites. The sites and the number of notifications to each site are listed in the table below:
Facility | Facility Postal Code | Number of notifications (permits) |
3R Technology UK Limited | PR2 5BB | 1 |
A-Gas UK Ltd | BS20 7XH | 3 |
Airbag Disposal (UK) Ltd | S9 1BG | 5 |
AO RECYCLING LIMITED T/A A O Recycling Ltd | TF7 4ER | 1 |
AREERA LTD | HX5 9JD | 1 |
AUGEAN SOUTH LIMITED | PE8 6XX | 1 |
AUGEAN TREATMENT LIMITED | BS11 0YA | 1 |
| TS2 1UE | 1 |
AVANTI ENVIRONMENTAL GROUP LIMITED T/A Tradebe Knowsley | L33 7SG | 1 |
BALCAN ENGINEERING LIMITED | LN9 6RJ | 1 |
BASF Metals Recycling Ltd | GL14 2PH | 5 |
BIP ORGANICS LIMITED | CW10 0QF | 8 |
BOC Ltd | DN41 8DZ | 1 |
Britannia Refined Metals Ltd. | DA11 9BG | 2 |
BRUCE METALS LIMITED | S9 5DQ | 1 |
CARBON LINK LIMITED | DN40 2QR | 1 |
CENTEC INTERNATIONAL LIMITED | CW10 0QF | 4 |
CHEMOXY INTERNATIONAL LIMITED | TS3 6AF | 1 |
CLEAN PAK LIMITED | HU2 0PU | 1 |
CNC RECYCLING LIMITED | TS25 2DF | 1 |
COMPUTER SALVAGE SPECIALISTS (SPECIAL WASTE) LIMITED | RG19 4ND | 1 |
CPL PRODUCTS LIMITED | DN40 2QR | 4 |
DARTMOUTH GLOBAL TRADING CO. LIMITED | DY2 0AF | 3 |
Eco Option (UK) Ltd | CW9 7XU | 1 |
Ecobat Resources UK Ltd | DE4 2LP | 18 |
ECOBAT SOLUTIONS UK LIMITED | WS10 8JR | 3 |
ELECTRICAL WASTE RECYCLING GROUP LIMITED | HD5 0JS | 1 |
ELG UTICA ALLOYS LIMITED | S63 5AB | 1 |
ENVA BATTERY RECYCLING LIMITED | DN40 2LF | 2 |
ENVA ENGLAND SPECIALIST WASTE LIMITED | NG22 8UA | 2 |
ENVA PLASTICS LIMITED | PE10 ODN | 2 |
ENVIRONCOM (NORTH WEST) LTD. | DY9 7DP | 1 |
EUROPEAN METAL RECYCLING LIMITED | L20 1BX | 1 |
S014 5AP | 1 | |
| WS10 8LW | 1 |
EUROPEAN METAL RECYCLING LIMITED T/A Mayer Parry Ltd | CB8 7ND | 1 |
European metal Recycling Ltd | NW10 6QY | 2 |
FBM METALS (UK) LIMITED | DN41 8DF | 3 |
FORTIS IBA (SOUTH EAST) LIMITED | ME9 8SR | 1 |
FORTIS IBA LIMITED | SO21 3QS | 1 |
GEOCYCLE UK LIMITED | ST10 3EQ | 1 |
Greenway Environmental Limited | L20 8JB | 1 |
H J Enthoven Limited | DE4 2LP | 1 |
H RIPLEY & CO. LIMITED | TN23 6LR | 1 |
IBSTOCK BRICK LIMITED | BN84BA | 1 |
INNOVATIVE ENVIRONMENTAL SOLUTIONS UK LTD | B69 3EL | 1 |
JBM INTERNATIONAL LTD | ST18 0PY | 5 |
JBR Recovery Ltd | B70 9BS | 3 |
JOHNSON MATTHEY PLC | EN3 7PW | 18 |
JSP LIMITED | OX29 7PL | 3 |
KEELING & WALKER LIMITED | ST4 4JA | 1 |
LAFARGE CAULDON LIMITED | ST10 3EQ | 2 |
MASTERMELT LIMITED | SK17 9RZ | 2 |
Mastermelt Refining Services Limited | SK17 9RZ | 11 |
MICK GEORGE LIMITED | CH65 1BL | 1 |
MIL-VER METAL COMPANY LIMITED | CV6 6AP | 1 |
MORRIS & CO. (HANDLERS) LIMITED | DN4 8DE | 1 |
N&P CRAYFORD MRF LIMITED | DA1 4QG | 1 |
NEWBURY FERTILISERS LTD | ME9 9PB | 2 |
OIL SALVAGE LIMITED | L20 1AS | 2 |
OXFORD PLASTIC SYSTEMS LIMITED | OX7 4NP | 1 |
P A MOODY RECYCLING LIMITED | NE10 0ES | 3 |
PLAZ-TEC LTD | SK11 9HS | 1 |
PORT OF TILBURY LONDON LIMITED | RM18 7EH | 1 |
Re Group (Reclaim) Ltd | HU7 1RR | 1 |
S. NORTON & CO LIMITED | L20 8RQ | 4 |
SAR RECYCLING LTD | DN40 2DW | 1 |
SIMS METAL LIMITED | CV37 8AQ | 1 |
SONOCO CORES AND PAPER LIMITED | HX4 9PY | 1 |
SUBCOAL PRODUCTION TSP LTD | TS2 1TT | 1 |
TATE MEDICAL ENGINEERING LIMITED | LS21 3BB | 1 |
TECHEMET LIMITED | B77 5DY | 1 |
TEMPLEBOROUGH BIOMASS POWER PLANT LIMITED | S60 1FA | 2 |
TRACKWORK LIMITED | DN3 1RA | 2 |
Tradebe Heysham Ltd | LA3 3JW | 6 |
TRADEBE NORTH WEST LIMITED | CH65 4EY | 1 |
Tradebe Solvent Recycling Ltd | LA3 3JW | 2 |
SL7 1EY | 1 | |
SR1 2ES | 2 | |
| TN31 7TE | 11 |
TWINWOODS HEAT & POWER LIMITED | MK44 1FD | 1 |
VEKA RECYCLING LIMITED | NN8 4PE | 1 |
VEOLIA ES (UK) LIMITED | L19 8EG | 8 |
| S21 2DR | 1 |
VEOLIA UK (UK) LIMITED | CH65 4EQ | 1 |
Tradebe Fawley Ltd | SO45 3NX | 2 |
Asked by: Steve Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of aligning the controls on shotguns with that of other firearms on financial costs to farm businesses.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The consultation on the recommendation made to the Home Office on aligning the controls on shotguns with other firearms, as set out in the Government response to the consultation, “Firearms Licensing: a consultation on recommendations for changes made to the Home Office” and published on 13 February, will be published later this year. The necessary impact assessments will be published with that consultation.
Asked by: Steve Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of recent developments in Russia's war in Ukraine on food security in the UK.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
British reliance on food supplies from Ukraine is currently low. Defra actively monitors risks to UK food security on an ongoing basis. The UK Food Security Report, which was published in December, examines past, current, and future trends relevant to food security to present a full and impartial analysis of UK food security.
Asked by: Steve Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has plans to reopen Sandeel fisheries in UK waters.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In March 2024, and following a public consultation, the UK and Scottish Governments closed English waters of the North Sea and all Scottish Waters to sandeel fishing. The closure will shield sandeel as an essential food source for threatened seabird populations, commercially valuable fish and for marine mammals. The EU has raised a dispute that the UK’s decision to prohibit fishing for sandeel within UK waters is not compliant with the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA). The UK is defending its decision. The hearing took place on 28th - 30th January and we are awaiting the tribunal's decision from the Permanent Court of Arbitration
Asked by: Steve Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much has been paid to farmers in Improving Farming Productivity grants since 4 July 2024.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Rual Payment Agency has supported the farming and rural sector through payments under a range of grants. Since 04 July 2024, £2,403,543.46 been paid to farmers for Improving Farming Productivity grants.