Asked by: Terry Jermy (Labour - South West Norfolk)
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 empower local community initiatives, farms, and schools to implement practical food and nature education; and how her Department is measuring their impact.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The food strategy recognises the key role that regional and local food systems can play in supporting delivery of the growth, health, sustainability, and food security/ resilience outcomes. Defra wants to create an environment that champions UK food cultures and celebrates British food. Connecting local communities can be a key vehicle for achieving this outcome and for harnessing a stronger food culture. As we develop the food strategy, we will be considering how we can better support local and place-based initiatives, to deliver the changes needed to deliver our outcomes. The Government will consider the approach to monitoring and evaluation as we develop the outcomes and delivery mechanisms.
Asked by: Terry Jermy (Labour - South West Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what dedicated funding streams exist across Departments to support food, nature, and sustainability education.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The majority of grant schemes administered by the department relate to Food or Nature outcomes, with grant funding being the primary funding stream used to support these outcomes.
Details of all Defra grant schemes are recorded on the Government Grants Information System (GGIS), in line with cross‑government transparency requirements.
Government grants data and statistics are published annually by the Cabinet Office in Official Statistics and are publicly available. These statistics include the full Defra portfolio.
The most recent publication covers Financial Year 2023/24, and is available on GOV.UK, at the following link: Government grants data and statistics - GOV.UK.
Data for Financial Year 2024/25 will be published later this year.
Asked by: Terry Jermy (Labour - South West Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what financial support his Department plans to provide to help farmers transition to higher-welfare, lower-input systems that are resilient to market shocks.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra offers financial support to farmers through the Animal Health and Welfare Pathway, which pays for health and welfare enhancements that will boost productivity, including funded vet visits.
Asked by: Terry Jermy (Labour - South West Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when she plans to introduce the activity regulations for the Animals (Low Welfare Activities Abroad) Act 2023.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Animals (Low Welfare Activities Abroad) Act 2023 provides a framework for the introduction of future bans on the advertising and offering for sale, in England and Northern Ireland, of low-welfare animal activities abroad.
We continue to engage with stakeholders including the tourism industry and animal welfare groups to explore both legislative and non-legislative options to stop the advertising of low-welfare animal activities abroad and will be setting out next steps in due course.
Asked by: Terry Jermy (Labour - South West Norfolk)
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 farming payments to help support animal welfare outcomes.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Since 2023, farmers in England have been able to access funding through the Animal Health and Welfare Pathway to improve livestock health and welfare while supporting farm productivity and sustainability. This support covers annual veterinary reviews, disease testing, and capital grants, including the Farming Equipment and Technology Fund (which provides animal welfare grants) and the Laying Hen Housing for Health and Welfare Grant. To date, we have funded more than 10,000 vet visits. Full details of available support are published on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Terry Jermy (Labour - South West Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if her Department will take steps to stop the expansion of low-welfare farms.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
All farms, regardless of size and type of production system, must comply with comprehensive animal welfare legislation.
Asked by: Terry Jermy (Labour - South West Norfolk)
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 ending the routine culling of day-old male chicks in the UK egg industry; and whether she plans to encourage the use of in-ovo sexing technology through the development of an animal welfare strategy.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 9 July 2025 to the hon. Member for Stockport, PQ UIN 64121.
Asked by: Terry Jermy (Labour - South West Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many incidents of animal welfare abuse have been recorded on intensive livestock farms in (a) England and (b) Norfolk in each of the last five years.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) carries out regulatory duties and monitors compliance with animal welfare legislation through proactive and reactive inspections.
The outcome of all animal welfare inspections is recorded on APHA systems according to a scoring system, where A and B scores indicate compliance, and C and D scores indicate non-compliance. The D score indicates specifically that the non-compliance identified resulted in unnecessary suffering.
This data is not in the public domain.