Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
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 (a) monitor and (b) ensure compliance with pesticide regulations.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
A pesticide may only be placed on the market in GB if the product has been authorised by the GB regulator, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), following a thorough scientific risk assessment, that concludes all safety standards are met. Pesticides that pose unacceptable risks are not authorised. Pesticide authorisations normally set conditions on the use of the pesticide. Pesticide users are also required to have relevant training and for the equipment they use to be tested regularly.
The HSE undertakes compliance and enforcement activities, to ensure that where pesticides are used, they are used safely and in accordance with the law. The supply of professional pesticide products and the use of pesticides in agriculture, horticulture, and parts of the amenity sector is enforced by HSE’s Pesticide Enforcement Officers, following a risk-based approach to compliance established under the Official Controls (Plant Protection Products) Regulations 2020.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
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 he has made of the potential impact of permitted pesticides on pollinator populations in England.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government’s first priority with regard to pesticides is to ensure that they will not harm people or pose unacceptable risks to the environment.
Defra funds research projects examining the impacts of pesticide use on honeybees and the environment. As part of the National Honey Monitoring Scheme, we fund the analysis of honey samples aimed at assessing levels of pesticides in honey across England, Wales, and Scotland. This provides an estimated level of honeybee exposure to pesticides across different land uses.
In addition, Defra contributes funding to the Pollinator Monitoring Scheme (POMS) which tracks changes in pollinator numbers, including the abundance of bees, hoverflies, and other flower-visiting insects across the UK.
Pollinators are a priority for this government, and we are taking action alongside many partners to implement the National Pollinator Strategy’s provisions. The National Pollinator Strategy Action Plan was published in May 2022 and sets out more specifically how we will continue to act to fulfil the vision, aims and objectives of the Strategy, over the period 2021-2024.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
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 support farmers to adopt (a) integrated pest management and (b) other alternative pest management approaches.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The forthcoming UK National Action Plan on the Sustainable Use of Pesticides (NAP) will set out Defra’s ambition to minimise the risks and impacts of pesticides to human health and the environment. Within the NAP we will set out our policies to increase the uptake of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) across all sectors.
We have not waited for the publication of the NAP to move forward with work to support sustainable pest management. We introduced new paid IPM actions within the SFI scheme in 2023. Farmers are now paid to complete an IPM assessment and produce an IPM plan; establish and maintain flower-rich grass margins, blocks, or in-field strips; establish a companion crop and move towards insecticide-free farming. Paid actions for precision application of herbicides will be available from this year.
Defra has recently funded a package of research projects that will bring together scientific evidence underpinning IPM to look at ways of further encouraging its uptake. This work will support farmers’ access to the most effective IPM tools available and ensure that we understand changing trends in pest threats across the UK.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to publish the National Action Plan for the Sustainable Use of Pesticides.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We will publish the National Action Plan for the Sustainable Use of Pesticides (NAP) shortly. It will set out Defra’s ambition to minimise the risks and impacts of pesticides to human health and the environment and the actions that need to be taken to deliver those goals.
We have not waited for the publication of the NAP to move forward with work to support sustainable pest management. Defra has recently funded a package of research projects that will bring together scientific evidence underpinning Integrated Pest Management (IPM), a sustainable way of managing pests, in order to look at ways of further encouraging its uptake. This work will support farmers’ access to the most effective IPM tools available and ensure that we understand changing trends in pest threats across the UK.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of inspection fees on food from (a) Eastern Europe and (b) other countries under the Border Target Operating Model on the cost of food.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Our analysis has shown a minimal impact on food prices and consumers. Our new risk-based model has been designed to minimise costs for traders and consumers. Government analysis estimates the cost of the new model to be £330m per annum overall, across all EU imports. Traders will save around £520m per annum versus the model originally proposed, while the inflationary impacts on food for consumers will be, at most, less than 0.2 percentage points over a 3-year period.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he is taking steps to mitigate the potential impact of increases in import costs at Dover on the efficiency of haulage operations.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The new import health control regime aims to achieve the lowest regulatory obligation for businesses, consistent with the need to protect biosecurity and public health and to safeguard the UK’s reputation for high regulatory standards. The additional costs for businesses associated with the BTOM are substantially less than they would have been if we had extended the inherited EU 3rd country model, currently applied to non-EU goods, to all imports.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
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 22 April 2024 to Question 21236 on Livestock: Exports, if he will make an assessment of the reasons for the change since 2020.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Exports of livestock by sea to continental Europe have not been viable since 2020, due to the lack of Border Control Posts designated to accept this trade in receiving EU Member States.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of the potential cost to the public purse of Operation Timber.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Fundamentally the company is responsible for raising capital, be it equity or debt – not the regulator or the Government. There are a variety of avenues to explore, which it is vital the company must do, while continuing to fulfil its statutory obligations of providing water and wastewater services to customers.
The Government and Ofwat will always act to protect consumers as a priority and any intervention that would put pressure on the public purse would be considered very seriously and as a last resort.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
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 has undertaken consultations with (a) stakeholders and (b) investors in relation to Operation Timber in the last 12 months.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Fundamentally water companies are commercial entities, and it would be inappropriate to comment further on the specific situation of any individual company.
The Government and Ofwat – the financial regulator for the water sector – are carefully monitoring the situation, and Ofwat continues to engage with Thames Water to support it in improving its financial resilience within the context of its licence and broader statutory obligations.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether it remains his policy that the new health and safety checks for EU imports will begin on 30 April 2024.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Yes, the guidance for businesses, Government IT systems and infrastructure are in place, or are on track, to ensure delivery of the BTOM milestones.
Checks are commencing from 30 April and medium and high-risk goods posing the greatest biosecurity risk are being prioritised as implementation builds up to full check rates and high levels of compliance. DEFRA will gradually increase changes in controlled stages to balance biosecurity risk and maintain trade flows whilst minimising disruption risk at the border. Current check rates applied to rest of world consignments will be maintained, or set to agreed BTOM levels, and will not be impacted by this incremental approach.