Asked by: Suella Braverman (Conservative - Fareham and Waterlooville)
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 she has had with (a) the Groceries Code Adjudicator and (b) the Agricultural Supply Chain Adjudicator on improving protections for indirect suppliers.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is clear that fair, equitable and transparent supply chain practices are essential to the long-term resilience and security of the UK food system.
We remain committed to tackling any contractual unfairness that exists in the agri-food supply chain, including any practices related to cancellations and late payments.
Both the Groceries Supply Code of Practice (GSCOP) and the sector-specific ‘Fair Dealing’ regulations made under the Agriculture Act 2020 are subject to statutory reviews, which will assess their effectiveness and inform any future developments. We maintain a regular dialogue on the relationship between the GCA and ASCA, to ensure that the system remains proportionate and fit for purpose.
Asked by: Suella Braverman (Conservative - Fareham and Waterlooville)
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 support the creation of a unified regulator for the agricultural supply chain with statutory enforcement powers.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is clear that fair, equitable and transparent supply chain practices are essential to the long-term resilience and security of the UK food system.
We remain committed to tackling any contractual unfairness that exists in the agri-food supply chain, including any practices related to cancellations and late payments.
Both the Groceries Supply Code of Practice (GSCOP) and the sector-specific ‘Fair Dealing’ regulations made under the Agriculture Act 2020 are subject to statutory reviews, which will assess their effectiveness and inform any future developments. We maintain a regular dialogue on the relationship between the GCA and ASCA, to ensure that the system remains proportionate and fit for purpose.
Asked by: Suella Braverman (Conservative - Fareham and Waterlooville)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of equitable supply chain practices on long-term food security.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is clear that fair, equitable and transparent supply chain practices are essential to the long-term resilience and security of the UK food system.
We remain committed to tackling any contractual unfairness that exists in the agri-food supply chain, including any practices related to cancellations and late payments.
Both the Groceries Supply Code of Practice (GSCOP) and the sector-specific ‘Fair Dealing’ regulations made under the Agriculture Act 2020 are subject to statutory reviews, which will assess their effectiveness and inform any future developments. We maintain a regular dialogue on the relationship between the GCA and ASCA, to ensure that the system remains proportionate and fit for purpose.
Asked by: Suella Braverman (Conservative - Fareham and Waterlooville)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress she has made on the (a) statutory review of the Groceries Code Adjudicator and (b) Farming Profitability Review.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is currently undertaking the fourth statutory review of the Groceries Code Adjudicator (GCA). The review considers the GCA’s effectiveness in enforcing the Groceries Code between 31 March 2022 and 1 April 2025.
The review commenced on 1 April and a consultation to gather stakeholder views and evidence was published on 13 May with a closing date of 5 August. The Government is currently analysing responses to the consultation and will publish a report as soon as practicable.
On the Farming Profitability Review, Baroness Minette Batters (BMB) was appointed in April as the lead reviewer. Baroness Batters will submit her report to the Secretary of State for consideration shortly.
Asked by: Suella Braverman (Conservative - Fareham and Waterlooville)
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 help tackle (a) late cancellations and (b) unfair payment practices impacting farmers and growers in the UK.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is clear that fair, equitable and transparent supply chain practices are essential to the long-term resilience and security of the UK food system.
We remain committed to tackling any contractual unfairness that exists in the agri-food supply chain, including any practices related to cancellations and late payments.
Both the Groceries Supply Code of Practice (GSCOP) and the sector-specific ‘Fair Dealing’ regulations made under the Agriculture Act 2020 are subject to statutory reviews, which will assess their effectiveness and inform any future developments. We maintain a regular dialogue on the relationship between the GCA and ASCA, to ensure that the system remains proportionate and fit for purpose.
Asked by: Suella Braverman (Conservative - Fareham and Waterlooville)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what representations her Department has received from farmers on the accessibility of the Sustainable Farming Incentive scheme.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra is working closely with farmers and industry stakeholders to design a future Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) offer that will better target the SFI in an orderly way towards our priorities for food, farming and nature. Information and plans for the next iteration of the scheme will be published in due course.
Asked by: Suella Braverman (Conservative - Fareham and Waterlooville)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what changes she plans to make to the Sustainable Farming Incentive scheme in the next financial year.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra is working closely with farmers and industry stakeholders to design a future Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) offer that will better target the SFI in an orderly way towards our priorities for food, farming and nature. Information and plans for the next iteration of the scheme will be published in due course.
Asked by: Suella Braverman (Conservative - Fareham and Waterlooville)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the UK’s food security.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK has a resilient food supply chain and is equipped to deal with situations with the potential to cause disruption.
Food security is built on supply from diverse sources, strong domestic production as well as imports through stable trade routes. 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.
The Food Sector is one of the UK's 13 Critical National Infrastructure sectors. Defra and the Food Standards Agency (FSA) are joint Lead Government Departments (LGDs), with Defra leading on supply and the FSA on food safety. We work closely with the Cabinet Office and other LGDs ensuring food supply is fully incorporated as part of emergency preparedness, including consideration of dependencies on other sectors.
Asked by: Suella Braverman (Conservative - Fareham and Waterlooville)
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 (a) support domestic food production and (b) reduce reliance on imports.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
To ensure a consistent supply of food, the UK relies upon a combination of strong domestic production from the UK’s agricultural and food manufacturing sectors, and a diverse range of overseas supply sources. Trade supports UK food supply resilience. This is due to the UK having diverse trade routes, strong international supply and purchasing power.
At home, the Government’s recently published Food Strategy identifies priority outcomes for resilient domestic production for a secure supply of healthier food, and also to create conditions for the food sector to thrive and grow sustainably, including investment in innovation and productivity, and fairer more transparent supply chains. We have allocated £11.8 billion to sustainable farming and food production over this parliament.
Asked by: Suella Braverman (Conservative - Fareham and Waterlooville)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment her Department has made of (a) trends in the level of illegal hare coursing and (b) the potential impact of illegal hare coursing on rural communities.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Wildlife crimes such as hare coursing are not ‘notifiable’ so there are no official Home Office statistics or identifiable trends to judge robustly whether such crimes are increasing or decreasing across the country. Decisions on whether to make wildlife crimes notifiable sit with the Home Office. It is reasonable to assume that measures introduced in the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022, along with improved police tactics, intelligence and information sharing as well as the use of community protection notices (CPN) and criminal behaviour orders (CBO), has had an effect in terms of reducing levels of hare coursing.