Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
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 help ensure that farmers are fairly remunerated for their produce.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
The Government will deliver a resilient and healthy food system, with a new deal that ensures fairness in the supply chain across all sectors. Farmers should always receive a fair price for their products and the Government is committed to tackling contractual unfairness wherever it exists.
Defra will continue the work closely with stakeholders from all farming sectors on the best way to achieve this.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how his Department plans to spend its budget allocated to agriculture in the 2024-25 financial year; and how much and what proportion of that budget will be spent on support for farmers in South Shropshire constituency.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
We will deliver a resilient and healthy food system, with a new deal for farmers that works for farmers, food security and nature.
The only way to do this effectively is to listen to farmers and others with a stake in our food system, countryside and nature. Defra are doing this and assessing data and information about what’s working and what isn’t before setting out detailed plans. The Department will confirm plans for further optimisation and rollout of farming grants and schemes shortly.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department is taking steps to improve access to nature reserves for people in densely populated urban communities.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
The Government’s 25 Year Environment Plan sets out its ambition to connect more people from all backgrounds with the natural environment for their health and well-being and we recognise the role that parks and green spaces, including in our urban areas, play in the nation’s wellbeing and are committed to improving access and safeguarding our green spaces.
We are developing the Levelling Up Parks Fund which will create parks and green spaces on urban land which has become unused, undeveloped or neglected.
As set out in the England Trees Action Plan we will continue to support community orchards and forests which sit alongside other funds such as the Urban Tree Challenge Fund, which will make our towns and cities greener and help give more people nature on their doorstep.
Natural England's England-wide map of green infrastructure launched in December 2021 as part of the emerging Green Infrastructure Framework will help local areas identify priorities for creation and enhancement, including to address inequalities in access to greenspace. The full Framework to be launched later this year will include a green infrastructure design guide with advice on designing to promote access and to maximise the benefits that access provides. The provision of more and better quality green infrastructure will make towns and cities attractive places to live and work, promote engagement with nature, enable local social interaction and help to develop strong community networks through participation and shared achievements.
This Government is firmly committed to protecting and enhancing the Green Belt. National planning policy includes strong protections to safeguard this.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that UK dairy farmers benefit from trade agreements and that UK industry standards are retained in those agreements.
Answered by Baroness Prentis of Banbury
Global demand for British food and drink is enormous, because British food and drink is the best in the world. We are an independent trading nation and have already started seizing new opportunities for British farmers that were previously denied to us. Recent Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with Australia and New Zealand have achieved complete tariff removal for exports of our dairy products into those countries. We aim to deliver the export potential in international markets by further improving access for UK dairy products, by raising awareness, and by encouraging broader participation in exporting in both scale and variety.
The Government will help our farmers capitalise on global demand and will support companies through all stages of the export journey. Our online platform GREAT.gov.uk, the Export Support Service, Export Academy, UK Tradeshow Programme and UK Export Finance all serve our desire to grow UK exports.
In September last year, to mark Back British Farming Day, Government announced a package of support including establishment of a new UK-wide Food and Drink Exports Council to bring together industry and governments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to boost exports from all parts of the UK and building export capability in the sector (especially in SMEs); and the appointment of dedicated agri-food attachés, providing on-the-ground support to unlock and drive export opportunities from strategic locations around the world, covering the growth markets of the Gulf, Africa, South America, and the Asia-Pacific region.
The UK Government has made a clear manifesto commitment that in all of our trade negotiations, we will not compromise on our high environmental protection, animal welfare and food standards. The independent Trade and Agriculture Committee (TAC) recently published their report into the Australia free trade agreement, concluding that the deal reinforces our statutory protections in these areas.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Education on ensuring conservation education is taught in schools in England.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
I recently met with DfE's Minister Walker to discuss the importance of increasing children's connection and access to nature and to expand educational opportunities to support green skills and jobs. Defra and DfE worked closely on the Sustainability and Climate Change Strategy which was published on Thursday 21 April. The strategy includes the following commitments where conservation education will play a key role in delivery:
1. A commitment from DfE to increase opportunities for all children and young people to spend time in nature, learn more about it, and get involved in improving their local environment.
2. A commitment to build on the investment into the Children and Nature Programme by engaging with Defra on more research into outdoor learning and how to help schools deliver it. DfE also commit to embedding the learning from the Children and Nature Programme into their two new initiatives - the National Education Nature Park and the Climate Leaders Award. By 2030, they anticipate that participation in the National Education Nature Park, and increased opportunities to connect with nature, will increase the number of young people who become data scientists, ecologists and biologists.
3. A goal to introduce a new natural history GCSE by 2025, which will include developing a deeper understanding of conservation. This will be accompanied by a pathway of learning for children up to GCSE level so that they have the knowledge and skills to undertake the GCSE. This includes a new Primary Science Model Curriculum with an emphasis on nature. This will raise the profile of education on nature and climate change and help to ensure that young people have the right skills to progress into a career in green jobs if they choose to do so.
4. The Strategy recognises the 25 Year Environment Plan as a driver of green jobs and skills needs alongside the Net Zero Strategy and sets out the natural environment training on offer. DfE have also committed to working with Defra to help develop this offer where gaps are identified through the Green Jobs Delivery Group.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
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 to encourage self-sufficiency in food production.
Answered by Baroness Prentis of Banbury
The UK has a highly resilient food supply chain, as demonstrated throughout the COVID-19 response. Our high degree of food security is built on supply from diverse sources; strong domestic production as well as imports through stable trade routes. We produce 60% of all the food we need, and 74% of food which we can grow or rear in the UK for all or part of the year, and these figures have changed little over the last 20 years.
Strong domestic food production supports our food security. The UK enjoys considerable self-sufficiency in food, with nearly 100 percent sufficiency in poultry, carrots and swedes. 88% of cereals consumed in the UK in 2020 were produced domestically.
In addition, UK consumers have access through international trade to food products that cannot be produced here, or at least not on a year-round basis. This supplements domestic production, and also ensures that any disruption from risks such as adverse weather or disease does not affect the UK's overall security of supply.
Recognising the importance of food production, the Government has set out a legal obligation on the Government to produce an assessment of our food security at least once every three years. The first UK Food Security Report was published in December 2021. It recognised the contribution made by British farmers to our resilience, and the importance of strong domestic production to our food security. This report will serve as an evidence base for future policy work.