Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he (a) has had and (b) plans to have discussions with relevant stakeholders on equine transport between Northern Ireland and Great Britain.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government engages regularly with Northern Ireland stakeholders and would welcome ongoing engagement with those transporting equines between Northern Ireland and Great Britain. Indeed, the Northern Ireland Office’s Minister of State, Steve Baker MP, recently met with the Equine and Rare Breeds Society alongside the honourable member during a visit to Northern Ireland to discuss this issue.
As said in PQ 16046, the Movement Assistance Scheme is available to reimburse costs (including veterinary checks) for horses moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland, and horses moving from Northern Ireland to Great Britain have unfettered access.
Asked by: Viscount Waverley (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to address the additional administrative burdens and costs imposed on farmers and producers due to the new import and export regulations being introduced on 30 April; and how they will ensure that international competitiveness is maintained.
Answered by Lord Douglas-Miller - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Border Target Operating Model strikes an appropriate balance between supporting business, by avoiding unnecessary regulatory burdens in the process of moving goods into Great Britain, while focusing controls on consignments proven to cause the most significant biosecurity risk.
The implementation of controls on EU goods reduces the risk of plant and animal pests and diseases reaching GB and potentially causing significant disruption to domestic production, as well as assuring the safety of all imported food.
No new export controls were introduced on 30 April.
To support British exporters, the Department for Business and Trade will continue our engagement with the 27 EU Member-States as well as the Rest-of-World to smooth trade flow and open new markets.
May. 15 2024
Source Page: CS, ES and SFI option uptake data 2024May. 15 2024
Source Page: CS, ES and SFI option uptake data 2024Asked 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 progress he has made on implementing the recommendations included in the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime report entitled Wildlife and Forest Crime Analytic Toolkit Report, published in 2021.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We welcomed the UN Office of Drugs and Crime report and the fact that it recognised the UK's global leadership in fighting wildlife and forestry crime. We invited the UN to undertake this analysis and we are proud to be the first G7 country to request this assessment.
We have carefully considered all the recommendations of the report and they are informing our work to help us build on the positive progress we have already made in tackling wildlife crime. This will include strategic engagement with our partners that have responsibilities where individual recommendations are concerned such as the devolved administrations, the Crown Prosecution Service, and the National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU).
Many of the resourcing recommendations fall outside of Defra's remit but progress has already been made in response to the report. For example, in 2022 Defra more than doubled its funding of the NWCU to £1.2 million for the three-year period from 2022 to 2025, compared to £495,000 in the three years previous. Additionally, Border Force has increased numbers in their team specialising in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
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 financial support is available to farmers impacted by flooding who are not eligible for support under the Farming Recovery Fund.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
October 2023 to March 2024 was the second wettest six-month period on record in England; recorded rainfall was nearly 60% above the average of the last decade. The impacts on farm businesses are already evident in some sectors and are likely to extend through the year. In recognition of these events, Ministers are in discussions with our stakeholders about what further support is needed.
On 9 April we opened the Farming Recovery Fund, which provides grants of between £500 and £25,000 to eligible farmers affected by the exceptional flooding. The fund provides farmers with support to recover from uninsurable damage caused by the flooding. We have listened and responded to feedback and have already removed the requirement for land affected to be within 150 metres of the main river, which will increase the number of farmers who are eligible.
We are actively reviewing the eligible areas for the Fund in England, including the eligibility within the original nine local authority areas we announced.
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: 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 recent estimate he has made of the scale of illegal hunting with dogs in (a) England and (b) Wales.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Enforcement of the Hunting Act is an operational matter for the police. This is in line with their duties to keep the peace, protect communities and prevent the committing of offences, working within the provisions of the legal framework set by Parliament.