Asked by: Lord Bishop of Norwich (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with (1) Natural England, and (2) Norfolk County Council, about the proposed construction of the Norwich West Link.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
In October 2023, the Government approved funding at Outline Business Case stage for the Norwich Western Link. This was subject to the scheme gaining the necessary planning and environmental consents. It is for the scheme promoter, Norfolk County Council, to seek those consents and to work with Natural England. The Council is still engaged in that process and has submitted a planning application for the scheme. The Council has also written to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs to seek clarity on the implications of the recent Natural England report for the scheme.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Norwich (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Natural England report Definition of Favourable Conservation Status for barbastelle bat, published on 8 March, which placed "favourable conservation status" on barbastelle bats present in the area of the Norwich Western Link, what assessment they have made of the viability of the construction of the Norwich West Link.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
In October 2023, the Government approved funding at Outline Business Case stage for the Norwich Western Link. This was subject to the scheme gaining the necessary planning and environmental consents. It is for the scheme promoter, Norfolk County Council, to seek those consents and to work with Natural England. The Council is still engaged in that process and has submitted a planning application for the scheme. The Council has also written to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs to seek clarity on the implications of the recent Natural England report for the scheme.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North 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 provide financial assistance to farmers in debt.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The recent ‘Balance Sheet Analysis’ publication highlights that average liquidity in the sector has been consistently improving over the latest five years of data and reached a ten-year high in the latest year of data (2022/23). This suggests that levels of debt in the farming sector are lower than average.
We support farmers in a range of ways to ensure they have profitable and sustainable businesses. This includes free business advice as well as access to a wide range of Government funding to improve business resilience, productivity and environmental performance.
Asked by: Judith Cummins (Labour - Bradford South)
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 adequacy of existing legislation to tackle common nuisances such as (a) smoke, (b) bonfires, (c) smells and fumes, (d) accumulation of rubbish, (e) infestations and (f) litter.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Local authorities are the main enforcers of the statutory nuisance regime under the Environmental Protection Act, 1990. The Government considers that any issues that could be the cause of statutory nuisance, including smoke, bonfire and smells are best dealt with at a local level. Local authorities need to be able to take account of local circumstances when determining how best to apply the powers available to them, such as issuing abatement orders.
Owners of industrial, trade and business premises are expected to use the best practicable means available to reduce smoke, smells and fumes and other potential sources of statutory nuisance emanating from their place of work in the first place.
The Environmental Protection Act 1990 also sets out clear responsibilities for local authorities with regards to keeping land clear of litter and refuse and provides them with strong enforcement powers to help them do this. Anyone caught littering or fly-tipping may be prosecuted which can lead to a significant fine or even imprisonment in the case of fly-tipping. Instead of prosecuting, councils may decide to issue a fixed penalty (on-the-spot fine). We increased the upper limit for fly-tipping and littering fixed penalties to £1000 and £500 respectively in July 2023 and as of 1 April 2024 councils must now reinvest income from these penalties in enforcement and clean up.
Additionally, we provide guidance on how councils can discharge their duties and use their enforcement powers and have recently consulted key stakeholders on putting our current litter enforcement guidance on a statutory footing.
The Secretary of State considers the current legislation provides local authorities with the necessary powers to deal with these types of nuisance issues.
Asked by: Jane Hunt (Conservative - Loughborough)
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 merits of introducing guidance for (a) food manufacturers and (b) hospitality venues serving food on the definition of vegetarianism.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The terms ‘Vegetarian’ and ‘Vegan’ do not currently have legal definitions in the UK, but the use of these and indeed any term on food, whether retailed from a shop or on a menu for out-of-home sale, must not be misleading to consumers.
The term ‘suitable for Vegetarians’, is used voluntarily by the food industry. There is no legal requirement to describe a product as either suitable or unsuitable for vegetarians.
There are no current plans to produce guidance specifically for food business operators on the definition of vegetarianism.
However, Defra and the FSA will continue to work with businesses and consumers to ensure everyone can make safe and informed choices when purchasing items labelled as vegan or vegetarian.
Asked by: Jane Hunt (Conservative - Loughborough)
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 defines vegetarian food; and whether restaurants using the same gloves to prepare food for (a) vegetarians and (b) non-vegetarians are defined as vegetarian.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The terms ‘Vegetarian’ and ‘Vegan’ do not currently have legal definitions in the UK, but the use of these and indeed any term on food, whether retailed from a shop or on a menu for out-of-home sale, must not be misleading to consumers.
In order not to mislead, manufacturers, retailers and caterers should be able to demonstrate that where foods are presented as 'vegetarian' reasonable steps have been taken to avoid cross-contamination with non-vegetarian foods during storage, preparation, cooking or display. Food law provides a robust framework that protects public health and consumer interests and requires food businesses that produce, process, and distribute food to apply food safety controls that ensure food they place on the market is safe and is what it says it is. This includes avoiding cross contamination of foods including ensuring that work areas, surfaces and equipment used for raw and ready-to-eat food are adequately separated.
While it may not be possible to avoid cross-contamination in a busy kitchen, it is incumbent on a food business to ensure that all reasonable steps are taken to avoid cross-contamination and where appropriate, to inform customers where there is a risk
Trading standards officers attached to the Local Authority are responsible for checking compliance with the food information requirements.
Asked by: Earl of Caithness (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what percentage of Grade 1 and 2 lowland peat is let on annual farm business tenancies; and what steps they are taking to ensure this land is not being farmed in a manner that is accelerating its degradation and threatening future food security.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Peat policy is a devolved matter and the information provided therefore relates to England only.
Defra does not have any data on the percentage of Grade 1 and 2 lowland peat let on annual farm business tenancies.
In the Environmental Improvement Plan, we said that we are committed to halting the degradation of our lowland peat soils which causes such significant harm to the environment.
We have also agreed to take forward action on all recommendations of the Lowland Agricultural Peat Task Force Chair's report, recognising the vital role that lowland peat soils play in producing food for our nation and supporting our rural economies.
We are currently funding approximately £12.5million on projects on paludiculture, local collaboration, and water management, as first steps towards a more sustainable future for lowland agricultural peat.
We are also developing a new England Peat Map that will help us identify areas for future intervention.
Asked by: Keir Mather (Labour - Selby and Ainsty)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent discussions she has had with Ofcom on the adequacy of the provision of postal services in rural areas.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Ofcom, as the independent regulator, is responsible for the provision of a universal postal service. Its regulatory framework requires Royal Mail to ensure that, for the UK as a whole, the premises of not less than 98% of users of postal services are within half a mile of a post box and, in all postcode areas, the premises of 95% of users of postal services are within 3 miles of an access point (such as a post box, a Post Office or a Customer Service Point within a Delivery Office).
As part of its 2022 review of postal regulation, Ofcom considered accessibility of the service, including for rural users, and decided to maintain the existing regulations.
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 assessment he has made with Cabinet colleagues of the potential impact of the time taken to implement health and safety checks on EU imports on (a) inventory levels for, (b) costs incurred by and (c) business continuity planning by the retail sector in Slough constituency in each of the last three years.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
There is no assessment specific to the retail sector in Slough. Overall, the new Border Target Operating model will not reduce choice for domestic consumers and will lead to an approximate increase in consumer food price inflation of less than 0.2 percentage points over a 3-year period. The proposed regime aims to balance the impact on traders with the need to maintain UK biosecurity, which is essential to ensuring a supply of safe food to consumers. We are working closely with traders and the border industry to implement the new regime and minimise impact.
Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many staff left his Department in each year since 2015.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We centrally hold some of the information requested.
In as far as data is centrally held, I refer the hon. Member to the Civil Service statistics, for Defra, at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/civil-service-statistics
The Declaration on Government Reform (2021) stated: "There is however more we must do to attract a broader range of people to the privilege of public service... It should be natural for people with careers and skills built in business to serve in government for a period, and for those in public service to spend time in organisations which are not dependent on public money... We will develop new entry routes from industry, academia, the third sector and the wider public sector, with flexibility to suit those who want to build a career in government and those who want a shorter tour of duty."