Asked by: Earl of Caithness (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether, as part of their rapid review of the Environmental Improvement Plan, they will consider combining all soil health measures into a Soil Health Action Plan for England.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Healthy functioning soil is at the heart of restoring natural systems and underpins our plans for environmental improvement. The Government is currently undertaking a comprehensive review of all commitments made by the last government to ensure they align with our new priorities and a decision regarding any future soil strategy or action plan will be made in due course.
Central to this is our rapid review of the Environmental Improvement Plan. We will develop a new, statutory plan to protect and restore our natural environment with delivery information to help meet each of our ambitious Environment Act targets. It will focus on cleaning up our waterways, reducing waste across the economy, planting millions more trees, improving air quality and halting the decline in species by 2030.
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 - Lord Chamberlain (HM Household)
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: Earl of Caithness (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure there are no delays by the Animal and Plant Health Agency in processing applications for new seed varieties; and when they will determine the causes of the current backlog of applications so that in future new varieties are made available to UK growers in a timely manner.
Answered by Lord Douglas-Miller
The backlog of applications for variety listing following EU exit has now largely been resolved.
The Animal and Plant Health Agency and Defra are working closely with stakeholders to monitor the processes involved in variety listing and are currently instigating improvements and resilience in the system.
The UK authorities are working together to develop the first UK Plant Variety and Seeds strategy. Following a Call for Ideas and further industry engagement, additional improvements in the plant variety listing process are anticipated.
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 progress they have made towards their national deer management strategy and their updated Grey Squirrel Action Plan, as committed to in the England Trees Action Plan 2021–2024, and when is the publication date.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Lord Chamberlain (HM Household)
We held a public consultation on key proposals for the English deer management strategy in 2022. Consultation responses have been collated, analysed and fed into the development of the deer management strategy. We are also working to refresh the Grey Squirrel Action Plan.
It is our intention to publish them as soon as we are in a position to do so.
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 advice they are giving to those who wish to feed birds in the coming winter and spring seasons to minimise the risk of transmission of avian influenza from bird feeders.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Lord Chamberlain (HM Household)
We encourage anyone feeding wild birds to do so responsibly and not feed them in the vicinity or on the same premises as poultry or other captive birds and to be aware of the risk of carrying contamination back to their poultry or other captive birds, for example on their footwear.
The feeding of wild garden birds is not prohibited by the Avian Influenza Prevention Zone (AIPZ) measures or other avian influenza disease control legislation. Where an AIPZ has been declared wild gamebirds should not be fed within 500m of a premises where more than 500 poultry or other captive birds are kept (where this area is under the control of the keeper).
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has said that avian influenza is primarily a disease of birds and the risk to the general public’s health is very low. However, members of the public should not touch, pick up or transport dead or sick birds and should keep away from bird droppings if possible, and wash their hands thoroughly if they accidentally come into contact with any bird faeces, feathers or other potentially contaminated material. The NHS website [https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/bird-flu/prevention] has further information.
Wild birds are susceptible to a range of different pathogens. The British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) provides advice about keeping bird feeders and water baths clean to prevent transmission between wild birds, this guidance will also help minimise the risk of transmission of avian influenza.
Asked by: Earl of Caithness (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park on 24 March (HL6855), in which he said that stakeholder engagement on the outline of Soil Health Action Plan for England (SHAPE) would start in the spring, and that stakeholder engagement not yet having commenced, when they will announce the timeline for that engagement.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Lord Chamberlain (HM Household)
The Government recognises the importance of stakeholder engagement for the development of a strategic and coherent plan for soil health measures. Further details regarding planned engagement with stakeholders on the importance of soil and the actions needed to ensure it remains a healthy and sustainable resource, will be published soon.
Asked by: Earl of Caithness (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park on 24 March (HL6855), when the stakeholder engagement on the outline of the Soil Health Action Plan for England (SHAPE) will start; who will be consulted; and how long the consultation will last.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
We are currently developing the stakeholder engagement plan for the Soil Health Action Plan for England and will confirm timelines in due course.
Asked by: Earl of Caithness (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they expect to announce further plans to improve soil quality and structure in England.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
A Soil Health Action Plan for England (SHAPE) is currently being developed. Stakeholder engagement on the outline of SHAPE is planned for this spring ahead of publication, which is anticipated for 2023. As part of the Soil Structure Measuring and Monitoring Scheme, methodology and guidance for arable and grassland soils is being developed and will be tested with practitioners this spring.
Asked by: Earl of Caithness (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what further steps they are taking to avoid crops having to be ploughed in due to a lack of seasonal farm workers.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Lord Chamberlain (HM Household)
The Government recognises the importance of labour to bringing home the harvest.
Defra continues to work closely with industry and other Government departments to understand labour supply and demand, and to ensure there is a long-term strategy for the food and farming workforce beyond 2021.
The expanded Seasonal Workers Pilot has provided a solution to the unskilled labour needs of the edible horticulture sector through 2021, supporting farmers growing UK fruit and vegetables. This sector of agriculture has the highest dependency on seasonal labour.
The Government has announced that the seasonal worker visa route will be extended to 2024 to allow overseas workers to come to the UK for up to six months to harvest both edible and ornamental crops. 30,000 visas will be available. This will be kept under review with the potential to increase by 10,000 visas if necessary.
In addition, food and farming businesses can continue to rely on EU nationals living in the UK with settled or pre-settled status. Over 5.5 million EU citizens and their families have been granted status under the EU Settlement Scheme.
The Government encourages all sectors to make employment more attractive to UK domestic workers through offering training, careers options, wage increases and to invest in automation technology. To support these efforts, Defra is working with industry and the Department for Work and Pensions to raise awareness of career opportunities in the food and farming sectors among UK workers.
Defra is also leading a Government review of automation in horticulture to improve our understanding of what is required to accelerate the development and uptake of automation technologies in both the edible and ornamental sectors, in England, with the view to reducing the sector’s long-term dependency on seasonal migrant labour. The review’s final report will be published shortly and will inform a range of policy decisions regarding automation and seasonal labour from 2022 onwards.
Asked by: Earl of Caithness (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether issues related to the fishing of non-quota species will be included in their assessment of the operation of the UK–EU Trade and Co-operation Agreement.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Lord Chamberlain (HM Household)
Non-quota species (NQS) fisheries in English waters are of significant interest to both UK and EU vessels, given the high value of NQS, and their importance to local communities. Despite this, NQS are in many cases data limited, and improving the robust scientific evidence base underpinning management of NQS is a priority area. Doing so will allow for improved assessments of stock status to take place.
The Fisheries Act also commits the Government to publish Fisheries Management Plans to help deliver our ambition for sustainable fisheries. These plans will set out how we can manage fishing activity to achieve our ambition for stocks to recover and be maintained within sustainable limits, while reducing the impact of fishing on the wider environment. The Joint Fisheries Statement will set out a list of proposed Fisheries Management Plans that will be published over the next five years.
The UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement outlines provisions for the management of shared non-quota species. Working with the EU, through the Specialised Committee on Fisheries, we will develop multi-year strategies for the sustainable management of shared NQS which will be key to improved data collection.