Asked by: Michael Payne (Labour - Gedling)
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 reduce sewage discharges into the River Trent and its tributaries in Nottinghamshire; and how the Government is holding water companies accountable for improving water quality and reducing pollution incidents.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Through the Sewage Overflow Programme the Environment Agency has required the water company to implement 38 projects to address overflow issues on the Trent.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential risks to food supply chains arising from cyber-attacks on large-scale remote temperature-monitoring systems used in food refrigeration and storage.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra is working closely with the National Cyber Security Centre and our own industry engagement forums to highlight cyber risks and raise resilience with key providers. This includes working on a range of policy approaches to ensure that significant parts of the wider food sector are aware of cyber security concepts and are taking action to understand and mitigate risks.
Asked by: Lord Cameron of Dillington (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many small abattoirs have closed in England in each of the past 10 years; what assessment they have made of the effect of those closures on livestock transport distances, animal welfare, and access to local slaughter facilities; and what steps they are taking to prevent future closures.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government does not hold data on the closure of small abattoirs in England, however the FSA publish monthly data on all abattoirs in England Approved Food Establishments in England and Wales. Despite facing some challenges in recent years, the abattoir network has continued to process high-quality products ensuring the supply of food and maintaining food security. All animal transport must comply fully with legal requirements aimed at protecting welfare, including minimising journey durations where possible and observing rest periods. Defra engages regularly with representatives from the small and medium-sized abattoir sector through formal groups to understand the challenges facing the industry and consider what support may be required.
Asked by: Catherine Fookes (Labour - Monmouthshire)
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 impacts of the Poultry Growth Plan on levels of water pollution.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Poultry Sector Growth Plan is being developed by industry, supported by Government and the Farming and Food Partnership Board, to identify opportunities for the sector to improve its productivity and profitability. There is clear demand for high quality, domestically produced chicken meat and eggs. The plan will identify ways that enable our domestic poultry sector to meet this challenge sustainably. In doing so, it will strengthen national food security while balancing wider environmental and animal welfare objectives.
Asked by: Victoria Atkins (Conservative - Louth and Horncastle)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make it her policy to provide sufficient funding to the Sustainable Farming Incentive 2027 to cover expiring agreements and to meet the expected level of demand from farmers seeking to deliver environmental outcomes.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We have allocated a record £11.8 billion to sustainable farming and food production over this Parliament. We are investing more than £2.7bn a year in farming and nature recovery. Overall farmers and land managers will benefit from an average of £2.3bn a year for farming schemes. This includes funding for the Environmental Land Management schemes paid to farmers increasing by around 150%, rising from £800m in 2023/24 towards £2bn by 2028/29. There will be future Sustainable Farming Incentive offers and, in keeping with the Farming Roadmap 2050, we plan to make an SFI27 offer available.
Asked by: Aphra Brandreth (Conservative - Chester South and Eddisbury)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether three year Sustainable Farming Incentive agreements are counted in a single year's farming budget or divided across three years of payments.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The budget for new SFI26 agreements is £310 million a year. Nearly all SFI26 agreements will last for three years, meaning the total value of new SFI26 agreements, assuming the full annual budget is spent, would be around £930 million over three years.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has made an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of recent reports suggesting animal welfare breaches at dairy farms supplying Arla Foods.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government remains firmly committed to maintaining high animal welfare standards across the livestock sector. Farm animals are protected by robust animal health and welfare legislation, and we keep the effectiveness of animal welfare inspection, monitoring and enforcement arrangements under review.
Any potential breaches of animal health and welfare legislation are taken seriously. Defra's Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) investigates allegations of non-compliance, undertakes on-farm inspections, monitors compliance with welfare legislation and where necessary, will co-ordinate with enforcement bodies such as local authorities.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will review the effectiveness of animal welfare inspection, monitoring and enforcement arrangements within the dairy sector.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government remains firmly committed to maintaining high animal welfare standards across the livestock sector. Farm animals are protected by robust animal health and welfare legislation, and we keep the effectiveness of animal welfare inspection, monitoring and enforcement arrangements under review.
Any potential breaches of animal health and welfare legislation are taken seriously. Defra's Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) investigates allegations of non-compliance, undertakes on-farm inspections, monitors compliance with welfare legislation and where necessary, will co-ordinate with enforcement bodies such as local authorities.
Asked by: Victoria Atkins (Conservative - Louth and Horncastle)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make her policy to opening the Sustainable Farming Incentive 2027 in sufficient time to allow agreements to commence from 1 April 2027.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
There will be future Sustainable Farming Incentive offers and, in keeping with the Farming Roadmap 2050, we plan to make an SFI27 offer available. Following the closure of SFI26 Window 2, we are working with farming representative organisations and the wider sector to consider how we refine the scheme for SFI27. We will share further details as early as possible.
Asked by: Victoria Atkins (Conservative - Louth and Horncastle)
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 will take with that part of the Sustainable Farming Incentive 2026 budget that was not spent.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Around £3 million of the SFI26 Window 1 budget remained following the closure of that window. This funding was rolled forward into Window 2. The full budget for SFI26 has now been allocated.