Asked by: Tracey Crouch (Conservative - Chatham and Aylesford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has made a recent assessment of the potential impact of the use of glyphosate in urban areas on (a) human health and (b) the environment.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
A pesticide may only be authorised and placed on the GB market once the active substance it contains has been approved. This happens following a thorough risk assessment carried out by our expert regulator, the Health and Safety Executive. Glyphosate is currently approved as an active substance for use in pesticide products in GB.
Glyphosate was reviewed in 2016 (when the UK was an EU Member State). The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) concluded that glyphosate is unlikely to pose any risks to human health and the environment. When the GB approval of glyphosate is next reviewed, we will again consider our position based on the legal requirements and a careful scientific assessment of the evidence and risks. 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.
It is for each Local Authority to decide the best way of delivering effective and cost-effective weed control in its operations without harming people or the environment. There is a legal requirement to minimise the use of pesticides along roads and in areas used by the public.
We want to address some of the key barriers to uptake of integrated pest management in the amenity sector and reduce reliance on pesticides, whilst recognising the continuing role pesticides will play, for example, in making sure public highways are accessible and safe.
Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding her Department has allocated to pancreatic cancer research in each of the last five years.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Research is crucial in tackling cancer, which is why the Department invests £1.3 billion per year in health research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The NIHR's research expenditure for all cancers was £121.8 million in 2022/23, and the NIHR spends more on cancer than any other disease group.
The NIHR funded nine research projects on pancreatic cancer since 2018/19, with a committed funding value of £4.3 million.
The following table shows NIHR spending on pancreatic cancer research for the period April 2018 to March 2023, based on contracted funding over this period, correct as of 29 April 2024:
Year commenced | Pancreatic cancer research awards actual spending |
2018/19 | £545,000 |
2019/20 | £525,000 |
2020/21 | £348,000 |
2021/22 | £145,000 |
2022/23 | £735,000 |
Total | £2.3 million |
In addition, NIHR Biomedical Research Centres and NIHR Clinical Research Facilities spent a further £6.5 million between 2018/19 and 2022/23 supporting an annual portfolio of around 85 early clinical studies in pancreatic cancer.
The NIHR also supports delivery in the health and care system of research into pancreatic cancer, funded by research funding partners in the charity and public sectors. Since 2018/19 the NIHR supported 73 clinical research studies through the Clinical Research Network.
The NIHR funds research in response to proposals received from scientists rather than allocating funding to specific disease areas. The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including pancreatic cancer. It is not usual practice to ring-fence funds for particular topics or conditions. Applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money and scientific quality.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has made a comparative assessment of the impact of ultra-processed foods on public health in (a) the UK and (b) other countries; and whether she has made an assessment of the impact of the UK exiting the EU on levels of consumption of ultra-processed food.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
United Kingdom dietary recommendations are based on independent advice from the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN). In July 2023, the SACN published a position statement on processed foods and health, summarising a scoping review of the evidence on food processing and health. The statement can be accessed via the following link:
The statement included an evaluation of the methods of applying the ultra-processed food (UPF) definition in the UK, the suitability of such methods, and consideration of the availability and quality of evidence on food processing and health.
It made reference to international policy and recommendations with respect to food processing and estimates of processed food consumption in the United States and France. The statement notes that estimated average UPF consumption in the United States was comparable to estimates conducted for the UK. Estimated average UPF consumption in France was somewhat lower than the UK. However, it is unclear if this is due to differences in dietary patterns, data collection methods, the methods used to estimate UPF consumption, or a combination of some, or all, of these issues.
The SACN concluded that observed associations between UPF and health are concerning, but it is unclear whether these foods are inherently unhealthy due to processing or due to their nutritional content. Given the SACN’s concerns, the committee has added the topic of processed foods to its watching brief and will consider it at its next horizon scan meeting in June 2024. No specific assessment has been made of the impact of the UK exiting the European Union on levels of UPF consumption.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has made a recent assessment of the potential impact of consumption of ultra-processed foods on health.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
United Kingdom dietary recommendations are based on independent advice from the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN). In July 2023, the SACN published a position statement on processed foods and health, summarising a scoping review of the evidence on food processing and health. The statement can be accessed via the following link:
The statement included an evaluation of the methods of applying the ultra-processed food (UPF) definition in the UK, the suitability of such methods, and consideration of the availability and quality of evidence on food processing and health.
It made reference to international policy and recommendations with respect to food processing and estimates of processed food consumption in the United States and France. The statement notes that estimated average UPF consumption in the United States was comparable to estimates conducted for the UK. Estimated average UPF consumption in France was somewhat lower than the UK. However, it is unclear if this is due to differences in dietary patterns, data collection methods, the methods used to estimate UPF consumption, or a combination of some, or all, of these issues.
The SACN concluded that observed associations between UPF and health are concerning, but it is unclear whether these foods are inherently unhealthy due to processing or due to their nutritional content. Given the SACN’s concerns, the committee has added the topic of processed foods to its watching brief and will consider it at its next horizon scan meeting in June 2024. No specific assessment has been made of the impact of the UK exiting the European Union on levels of UPF consumption.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the projected spend by (a) central and (b) local government is on Animal and Plant Health Agency inspectors in 2024-25.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) undertakes a very broad range of statutory inspections across Great Britain to protect animal, bee and plant health. These can relate to animal welfare, TB, biosecurity of (including pests, disease outbreaks and invasive species), trade or scientific research.
These inspections can be proactive (for example a bovine TB visit) or reactive (due to an outbreak). Direct staff and employers on costs for these inspection services are £44.7m. These costs are funded by Defra and the Devolved Administrations. APHA does not have inspectors funded by local government.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West)
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 of the risk of infectious zoonotic diseases (a) mutating in and (b) spreading from fur farms to other mammals; and what steps he is taking to mitigate that risk.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government shares the British public’s high regard for animal welfare. Fur farming has been banned in England and Wales since 2000 (2002 in Scotland and Northern Ireland). Fur farming is legal in some EU countries. Where outbreaks of SARS-CoV-2 and avian influenza virus have occurred in fur farms in Europe in recent years, the governments in those countries took action to cull the affected farms to mitigate the risk of spread.
Nevertheless, together with the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) we are keeping a close eye on the findings of zoonotic pathogens such as SARS-CoV-2 and avian influenza in mink, foxes and other animals farmed for fur and the possible risk to human and animal health. We are vigilant to changes in risk and continue to use our established systems which include international disease monitoring programmes in the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) and UKHSA to monitor the situation the outcomes of which are reviewed through our Veterinary Risk Group (VRG) and the Human Animal Infections and Risk Surveillance (HAIRS) group. The HAIRS group have published a risk assessment on the transmission from animals to humans of influenza of avian origin and on the risk SARS-CoV-2 infection in UK captive or wild Mustelidae populations presents to the UK human population. There is no direct exposure to infected fur farms for kept or wild mammals in the UK and there is no evidence to suggest an increased risk to wildlife.
International collaboration and knowledge exchange on avian influenza and other zoonotic pathogens is facilitated through discussions between the UK Chief Veterinary Officer and representatives from our national and international reference laboratories, and their counterparts in the EU and globally through the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH), the QUADs alliance and allied projects. Including through the joint WOAH-FOA Scientific Network on animal influenza OFFLU.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
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 preserve psammosere environments in (a) Southport constituency and (b) across the UK.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The sand dune habitats of the Sefton Coast benefit from a range of legal protections - as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), Special Area of Conservation (SAC), Ramsar site and National Nature Reserves (NNRs).
Natural England (NE) works proactively with landowners, land managers, developers, and the public to ensure these important habitats are protected. The Sefton Coast Partnership has a key role in bringing stakeholders together to ensure dune habitats are conserved. The Sefton Coast was a location in the Dynamic Dunescapes project which actively restored dune habitats by removing scrub, helping dune re-mobilisation, and utilising livestock grazing to manage vegetation.
In England, we have set four legally binding targets for biodiversity, to halt the decline in species abundance by 2030; to reverse species decline by 2042; to reduce the risk of species extinction; and to restore or create more than 500,000 hectares of wildlife-rich habitat, which will include psammoseres. These targets, alongside other targets on water and air quality for example, will drive action to create and restore habitats, reduce pressures on nature, and recover species.
A recently published paper, Environment Act Habitat Target – Definitions and Descriptions, developed jointly by Defra and Natural England, provides detail for those involved in on-the-ground activities to restore or create wildlife-rich habitats. It includes the list of wildlife-rich habitats, of which several are coastal, for example, littoral sand and muddy sand, coastal vegetated shingle and coastal sand dunes.
Natural flood management is a key part of our solution to tackling flood and coastal erosion risks. We will double the number of government funded projects which include nature-based solutions to reduce flood and coastal erosion risk. Actions such as dune restoration not only help to reduce flood risk, but also provide other environmental benefits to wider areas. In February we awarded £25 million of funding to 40 schemes around England for improving flood resilience through a new natural flood management programme.
The Environment Agency’s Restoring Meadow, Marsh and Reef (ReMeMaRe) initiative is working to restore our estuarine and coastal habitats, including saltmarsh, to benefit people and nature. The initiative involves Defra arms-length bodies, and a partnership network of environmental non-governmental organisations. It has a mission to restore 15% of the current extent of our key estuarine and coastal habitats (such as saltmarsh, seagrass, native oyster reefs) by 2043.
Natural England is also undertaking climate change risk and vulnerability assessments across the SSSI network and developing site adaptive plans to identify climate vulnerable habitats, including sand dunes, and guide management to improve their resilience.
Asked by: Lord McColl of Dulwich (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what current guidance they have issued about the maximum recommended dietary intake of (1) saturated, and (2) unsaturated, fat per day; and on the basis of what scientific evidence they made such a recommendation.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government encourages everyone to have a healthy balanced diet in line with the United Kingdom’s healthy eating model, The Eatwell Guide, which shows that foods high in saturated fat, salt, or sugar should be eaten less often, or in small amounts. The Government’s dietary guidelines are based on recommendations from the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) and its predecessor, the Committee on Medical Aspects of Nutrition Policy (COMA), and based on comprehensive assessments of the evidence.
In its 1994 report, Nutritional aspects of cardiovascular disease, the COMA recommended a reduction in the average contribution of total fat to dietary energy in the population to approximately 35%, and that trans fats should provide no more than approximately 2% of dietary energy. In relation to unsaturated fatty acids, the COMA concluded that: monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) had no specific recommendation; for n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), there should be no further increase in average intakes, and the proportion of the population consuming in excess of about 10% energy should not increase; linolenic acid provided at least 1% of total energy; and alpha linolenic acid provided at least 0.2% total energy. The report also included recommendations on saturated fats, which were updated by the SACN in 2019.
A joint SACN and Committee on Toxicity report, Advice on fish consumption: benefits and risks published in 2004, endorsed the recommendation that the population, including pregnant women, should eat at least two portions of fish per week, one of which should be oily. Two portions of fish per week, one white and one oily, contains approximately 0.45 grams per day of long chain n-3 PUFA. This recommendation represented an increase in the population’s average consumption of long chain n-3 PUFA, from approximately 0.2 grams to approximately 0.45 grams per day.
The SACN’s 2019 report on saturated fats and health recommended: the dietary reference value for saturated fats remains unchanged, and the population’s average contribution of saturated fatty acids to total dietary energy be reduced to no more than approximately 10%, which also applies to adults and children aged five years and older; and that saturated fats are substituted with unsaturated fats, as it was noted that more evidence is available supporting substitution with PUFA than substitution with MUFA.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
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 home grown crops are resilient to climate change, in the context of increased (a) rainfall and (b) warmer weathers.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Our fantastic British farmers are world leaders and carefully plan their planting to suit the weather, their soil type and their long-term agronomic strategy. I understand the increasing importance of farmers having access to crop varieties that are resistant to climate change and variable weather conditions, to maintain crop quality and yields.
The third National Adaptation Programme (NAP3) was published in July 2023, and addresses the 61 risks and opportunities identified in the third Climate Change Risk Assessment. NAP3 includes dedicated responses to risks to domestic agricultural productivity and UK food availability, safety and quality from climate change overseas.
One of these responses, the recent Precision Breeding Act, is a major step in unlocking growth and innovation in technologies like gene editing and supports Defra’s efforts to reinforce food security in the face of climate change. Through the Act we want to encourage researchers and commercial breeders to be at the forefront of capturing the potential benefits of precision breeding for British farmers and consumers. For instance, research into wheat that is resilient to climate change is currently underway at the John Innes Centre. Gene editing techniques have been used to identify a key gene in wheat that can be used to introduce traits such as heat resilience whilst maintaining high yield. This could help to increase food production from a crop that 2.5 billion people are dependent on globally.
Also included in the NAP3, Defra’s flagship breeding research programme, the Genetic Improvement Networks (GINs) on Wheat, Oil Seed Rape, Pulses and Vegetable crops identify genetic traits to improve productivity, sustainability, resilience and nutritional quality of our crops. The GINs also provide a platform for knowledge exchange for breeders, producers, end users and the research base, and a means for the delivery of scientific knowledge, resources and results to add value to wheat crops.
The £270 million Farming Innovation Programme also supports industry-led research and development in agriculture and horticulture. All projects support productivity and environmental outcomes that will benefit farmers and growers in England. In our latest ‘climate smart’ farming themed competition, we awarded over £11 million to projects investigating novel approaches to growing and managing crops. Previous competitions have also supported crop-related research.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has had recent discussions with the National Farmers' Union of England and Wales on steps to improve crop resilience.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Our fantastic British farmers are world leaders and carefully plan their planting to suit the weather, their soil type and their long-term agronomic strategy. I understand the increasing importance of farmers having access to crop varieties that are resistant to climate change and variable weather conditions, to maintain crop quality and yields.
The third National Adaptation Programme (NAP3) was published in July 2023, and addresses the 61 risks and opportunities identified in the third Climate Change Risk Assessment. NAP3 includes dedicated responses to risks to domestic agricultural productivity and UK food availability, safety and quality from climate change overseas.
One of these responses, the recent Precision Breeding Act, is a major step in unlocking growth and innovation in technologies like gene editing and supports Defra’s efforts to reinforce food security in the face of climate change. Through the Act we want to encourage researchers and commercial breeders to be at the forefront of capturing the potential benefits of precision breeding for British farmers and consumers. For instance, research into wheat that is resilient to climate change is currently underway at the John Innes Centre. Gene editing techniques have been used to identify a key gene in wheat that can be used to introduce traits such as heat resilience whilst maintaining high yield. This could help to increase food production from a crop that 2.5 billion people are dependent on globally.
Also included in the NAP3, Defra’s flagship breeding research programme, the Genetic Improvement Networks (GINs) on Wheat, Oil Seed Rape, Pulses and Vegetable crops identify genetic traits to improve productivity, sustainability, resilience and nutritional quality of our crops. The GINs also provide a platform for knowledge exchange for breeders, producers, end users and the research base, and a means for the delivery of scientific knowledge, resources and results to add value to wheat crops.
The £270 million Farming Innovation Programme also supports industry-led research and development in agriculture and horticulture. All projects support productivity and environmental outcomes that will benefit farmers and growers in England. In our latest ‘climate smart’ farming themed competition, we awarded over £11 million to projects investigating novel approaches to growing and managing crops. Previous competitions have also supported crop-related research.