Asked by: Baroness Redfern (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they will take to ensure that (1) food production is placed at the heart of wider government policies, and (2) domestic food production does not diminish.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Food supply is one of the UK's 13 Critical National Infrastructure sectors. Defra and the Food Standards Agency (FSA) are joint Lead Government Departments (LGDs), with Defra leading on supply and the FSA on food safety. As such we work closely with the Cabinet Office and other LGDs ensuring food supply is fully incorporated as part of emergency preparedness, including consideration of dependencies on other sectors.
The Government Food Strategy was published in June 2022 setting out a plan to transform our food system to ensure it is fit for the future. The Food Strategy is a cross-departmental strategy. Therefore, Defra actively collaborated with and engaged with other Government departments in its development.
Responding to recent events, the Food Strategy puts food security at the heart of the government’s vision for the food sector. It included a commitment to broadly maintain the current level of food that we produce domestically and boost production in sectors where there are the biggest opportunities.
Setting this commitment demonstrates that we recognise the critical importance of domestic food production and the role that it plays in our food security. Domestic production figures have been very stable for most of this century. We produce 61% of all the food we need, and 74% of food which we can grow or rear in the UK for all or part of the year, and these figures have changed little over the last 20 years.
Food production is the primary purpose of farming and always will be. Our agricultural reforms in England aim to support a highly productive food producing sector, meeting our commitment to broadly maintain food production, alongside environmental improvements that benefit us all such as improving water quality and species abundance.
Balancing and integrating food production with our environmental land management will support an efficient and sustainable land use without offshoring harms associated with lower production standards. We have a legal duty to assess the impact of all environmental land management schemes, such as Sustainable Farming Incentive and Landscape Recovery, on food production.
Asked by: Baroness Redfern (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have (1) to publish an analysis of the responses to their Call for Evidence on the Fur Market in Great Britain, and (2) to ban the import and sale of fur in Great Britain.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We are carefully reviewing the evidence gathered both from our Call for Evidence and wider engagement with the fur trade and stakeholders, and a summary of responses will be published in due course.
We will use the evidence gathered to inform any future action on the fur trade in Great Britain, in line with HM Government’s commitment to improving animal welfare standards.
Asked by: Baroness Redfern (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) the business and financial challenges, and (2) the barriers to entry to the Sustainable Farming Incentive scheme, faced by tenant farmers; and what steps they intend to take in response.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Defra are aware of the challenges some tenant farmers face when seeking to enter our schemes, such as not having sufficient duration of management control to enter long scheme agreements, being limited by the terms of their tenancy agreement as to what actions they can carry out on the land and struggling to obtain their landlord's consent to enter such schemes.
We are aiming to remove barriers to tenants entering these schemes where possible and have already done so in the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI). Tenants can enter SFI without their landlord's explicit consent and tenants with annually renewing tenancy agreements can enter if they expect to have management control for the duration of their 3-year agreement. Furthermore, if a tenant unexpectedly loses management control of the land, such as when the landlord serves them a notice to quit, we do not require the tenant to pay a penalty to Defra for ending their SFI agreement early.
The recently published Rock Review led by Baroness Rock acknowledges that our policy on agreement length and no penalty exits when there is an unexpected loss of management control have made the scheme more open to tenant farmers. We are currently considering the Rock Review's recommendation that Defra must continue to design the future SFI standards so that they are open to tenant farmers and will formally respond to this recommendation in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Redfern (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Statement by the Secretary of State at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on 28 October (HCWS347), whether the delay to the publication of environmental targets related to clean water and biodiversity as required by the Environment Act 2021 will place them in breach of the Act.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer to the Written Statement HLWS449 made on 16 December 2022 and Written Statement HCWS456 made on 19 December 2022.
Asked by: Baroness Redfern (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the imposition of mandatory housing measures for poultry and other captive birds on 7 November, what plans they have, if any, to take further measures to restrict the spread of avian influenza.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The prevention measures introduced through the Avian Influenza Prevention Zones, including addition of mandatory housing measures and changes to bird gatherings general licence, are introduced in a phased and escalating manner proportionate to the escalating risk to an area and may be introduced on a regional or national basis depending on the epidemiological situation.
We continue to monitor the current situation both in Europe and globally, as well as the effectiveness of any disease control measures taken. Any future decisions on disease control measures will be based upon the latest scientific, ornithological, and veterinary advice.
Asked by: Baroness Redfern (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to review the 16 week protection period for the marketing of free range eggs on occasions when mandatory housing measures are imposed for poultry and other captive birds.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Egg Marketing Standards provides a 16-week derogation period during which the free-range description can be retained on eggs even if hens have been housed.
Defra currently has no plans to review this derogation period. However, in recognition of the pressures the egg sector is currently facing, particularly rising input costs alongside the impacts of Avian Influenza, Defra has granted a concession which will apply if the housing orders that are currently in place in England exceed the 16 week derogation period. This concession will allow producers and packers, on a one-off basis, the option to use either direct print to pack or an affixed label on free-range boxes. Accompanying clear and transparent point of sale signage should also be in place to ensure consumers are not misled and to avoid undermining consumer confidence in the free-range industry.
Asked by: Baroness Redfern (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the request by the former Secretary of State at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in September for water companies to set out their plans for improving environmental performance and infrastructure, when they plan to publish (1) the responses from water companies to this request, and (2) their analysis of the responses.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
As the Secretary of State requested, we have received letters from all water companies on how they plan to make improvements, and we are now working with them to establish where they can do more and opportunities to speed up delivery.
We will respond shortly regarding Potential infrastructure projects and opportunities.
Asked by: Baroness Redfern (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to reports that the fines paid by water companies in England and Wales will be reimbursed to customers, whether the bills that customers receive will be itemised to show the reduction on their individual bills.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
HM Government welcomes the robust regulatory response from Ofwat to incentivise water companies to deliver for their customers, the environment and wider society.
The financial penalties imposed for missing performance commitments will rightly be returned to customers in the next financial year. There is no requirement from HM Government for companies to itemise these reductions on individual customer bills and individual company billing practices will differ.
Asked by: Baroness Redfern (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the joint working of Ofwat and the Environment Agency in regulating water companies; and what assessment they have made of (1) the effectiveness of such working, and (2) whether the division of responsibilities has led to weaker sanctions being applied.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
HM Government considers that the interests of both the environment and consumers are best protected with separate bodies for environmental and economic regulation. There are regular discussions between Ofwat and the Environment Agency to facilitate regulation of water companies, as well as with the Drinking Water Inspectorate and Defra.
Ofwat’s price review process incentivises and penalises companies in relation to their performance, resulting in companies having to return money to customers where they fail to meet relevant performance commitments. Ofwat and the Environment Agency work closely to agree those performance commitments related to environmental performance.
Enforcement action against water companies is strengthened because of Ofwat and the Environment Agency having differing routes and tools for sanctions.
Ofwat can take enforcement action where companies either fail to comply with their statutory duties and licence obligations or are likely to do so. Ofwat’s enforcement sanction options include enforcement orders, and it can directly impose financial penalties, secure formal undertakings from companies (that previously included money being returned to their customers in respect of their failings) and fines paid to the Treasury’s Consolidated Fund.
The Environment Agency’s enforcement powers are focused more on individual incidents and sites and include intervention orders, civil sanctions and criminal proceedings, when fines can be imposed as part of the sentencing. Since 2015, the Environment Agency has brought 54 prosecutions against water companies, securing fines of almost £140 million.
In June 2019, Ofwat imposed a penalty package on Southern Water of £126 million for spills of wastewater into the environment from its sewerage plants and for deliberately misreporting its performance, which contravened both statutory obligations and licence conditions. £3 million was paid as a fine, while £123 million will be reimbursed to Southern Water’s customers. They received a £17 rebate in 2020/21 and will receive an £11 rebate in each of the following four years.
In parallel, the Environment Agency brought a criminal case against Southern Water for widespread and long-term breaches of environmental law. The case saw pollution offences from 16 wastewater treatment works and one storm overflow brought together in a single prosecution. The £90 million fine was the largest imposed against a water company, because of a prosecution bought by the Environment Agency.
In November 2021, the two regulators launched the largest ever criminal and civil investigations into water company operation of their sewage treatment works, considering over 2200 treatment works. This followed new data coming to light because of increased monitoring programmes the Environment Agency and Ofwat had required and funded. To date, Ofwat has opened enforcement cases with six companies, whilst all other water and sewerage companies in England and Wales remain subject to its ongoing investigation.
HM Government will always consider the learning and outcomes of reports and inquiries to ensure effective regulation and enforcement in the water sector. This will include the outcomes of the House of Lord’s Industry and Regulators Committee’s current inquiry ‘The Work of Ofwat’, which is considering the regulator’s relationship with HM Government and the other regulators.
Asked by: Baroness Redfern (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what support they will give to land managers to track the outcomes of their engagement in Environmental Land Management schemes; and how they will evaluate the impact of Environmental Land Management schemes by comparing areas where land managers (1) are, and (2) are not, participating in such a scheme.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We are building on our experience of delivering, monitoring and evaluating agri-environment schemes over the last few decades, working closely with farmers, land managers and wider industry stakeholders to test, trial and pilot our approach to scheme design and delivery, including monitoring and evaluation.
We are in the process of establishing our monitoring and evaluation plans for each of the Environmental Land Management schemes. To ensure strength in design of our monitoring and evaluation we are using a mixed methods research approach, this includes consideration of how to compare between sites that our participating in schemes and those that are not. This will help us to understand what additionality and impact our schemes are delivering.
More specifically, in the Sustainable Farming Incentive pilot, land managers will be supported through monitoring and site visits to track how they are delivering their outcomes. Similar to our approach to monitoring Countryside Stewardship, we are using a combination of physical and virtual site visits, remote monitoring, and desk-based administrative checks. We are still designing our monitoring and evaluation plans for Local Nature Recovery. In the first round of Landscape Recovery, each project will be responsible for developing their monitoring, evaluation, and learning strategy. There will also be scheme-level monitoring, evaluation and learning which will help us learn about how the scheme is working and make improvements for later rounds of Landscape Recovery projects.