Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they will answer the letters that he wrote to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, dated 8 and 16 March.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
A reply was sent to the Noble Lord on 13 April 2021.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the estimated projected output of (1) cereals, (2) fruit and vegetables, (3) potatoes, (4) meat, (5) poultry meat, (6) dairy and eggs, and (7) fish, in the UK between 2030 and 2050.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The UK has the climate, the natural resources and entrepreneurial farmers and food producers to equip us to produce a wide range of commodities. 64% of the food that we consume is already home-grown, and we remain confident in the resilience of our leading agricultural sectors. Productivity is a key driver of long-term economic growth and prosperity and we will support our hard-working farmers and growers to continue to produce a reliable and sustainable supply to high environmental, food safety and animal welfare standards. Through our Environmental Land Management scheme, we will also support farmers to invest in the foundations of food production - healthy soil, clean and plentiful water and thriving wildlife.
We have agreed a new settlement with the EU and the Fisheries Act 2020 will ensure that our fisheries are managed in a sustainable way - balancing social, economic, and social benefits while preventing the over exploitation of fish stocks.
The Seafood Industry Leadership Group leads and supports the work of the Seafood 2040 Strategic Framework for England (SF2040). Seafood 2040 aims to achieve a 75% increase in UK Seafood consumption by 2040. As part of Seafood 2040, the English Aquaculture Strategy published in November 2020 sets out plans for the sustainable development of English aquaculture over the next twenty years, including a tenfold increase in production volume to around 90,000 tonnes by 2040.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she will ensure that any forthcoming environmental legislation (a) sets out legally binding targets for environmental protection, the progress of which must be reported on annually by Government, (b) incorporates a non-regression principle to prevent backward steps in the adoption and implementation of environmental laws and (c) establishes an independent and adequately resourced environmental watchdog.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
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 Department's policy on bovine TB to (a) end badger culling, (b) introduce risk-based cattle trading, (c) improve cattle testing and (d) roll-out badger vaccination programmes.
Answered by George Eustice
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many trees will be planted in order to reach the Government’s target of 11 million trees in each year from July 2019 to the end of this Parliament.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Between 1st April 2017 and 31st March 2019 we have planted 3.64 million trees towards our target of 11 million by the end of this Parliament, and we are on track to meet the target.
The Woodland Carbon Fund, Woodland Creation Planning Grant and Countryside Stewardship initiatives are already in place to support land managers to plant trees. They are demand-led grant schemes for independent landowners. It is therefore not possible to have exact annual planting figures for future years.
In order to increase tree planting rates, we have simplified the application process for our grant schemes, and made them open for applications year-round. We have also announced £5.7 million to kick start a new Northern Forest, as well as £50 million for the Woodland Carbon Guarantee scheme, which will open for applications this year.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the progress made in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland on meeting the 2011 Bonn Challenge; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Forestry is a devolved matter and the information provided therefore relates to England only.
Although not formally signed up to the Bonn challenge, we share its aims and are fully committed to woodland creation and restoration. Our 25 Year environment Plan has a goal of increasing tree cover in England from 10% to 12% by 2060. Recently we have funded £5.7 million to kick start the Northern Forest, announced a £10 million Woodland Carbon Guarantee fund, and launched a £10m fund for new trees in our towns and cities through the urban trees challenge fund. Since 1995 we have supported the National Forest Company in establishing woodlands to restore large areas of industrially impacted land in central England.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 18 June 2019 to Question 264330, when his Department plans to publish an update on the afforestation programmes that are being undertaken to achieve the Government’s commitment to be net zero in emissions by 2050.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Our English Tree Strategy will provide further details of our afforestation programme in light of the Government’s commitment to net zero emissions by 2050.
The consultation for the English Tree Strategy will be launched later this year. Our recently reappointed Tree Champion is leading our engagement with forestry, environmental and other stakeholders, to inform our development of the Strategy.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to his Oral Statement of 12 June 2019, Official Report, column 661, what reafforestation programme the Government plans to adopt to reach net zero by 2050; and whether that programme will implement the recommendation of the Committee for Climate Change on planting 30,000 hectares of trees each year.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
On 12 June, the UK announced that we will end our contribution to the most serious environmental challenge we face - climate change, by legislating the introduction of a net zero emission target for 2050, following the Committee on Climate Change’s advice. We are one of the first major economies in the world to legislate for a net zero target. Meeting this target will require us to build on the progress already made, by further reducing emissions across all sectors of the economy.
Forests are vital in the fight against climate change and we are determined to grow woodland cover. The Government is delivering on a range of afforestation commitments including contributing £5.7M to kick start planting in the Northern Forest, £10 million for trees in towns and cities through the Urban Tree Challenge Fund and £50 million for new woodland through the Woodland Carbon Guarantee. There is now guidance to ensure better recognition of the wider natural capital benefits that trees can provide and we have just reappointed our Tree Champion for a further year to continue to lead engagement on a new England tree strategy, which we will consult on later this year.
The Committee for Climate Change’s recent report recognises the work we have done to lay the foundations to build a net zero economy. The Committee’s indicative recommendations on tree planting are ambitious, and we know we need to go further and faster to plant more trees.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to reduce levels of plastic consumption in the UK.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
This Government is taking action to tackle all avoidable plastic waste. We have introduced one of the world’s toughest bans on microbeads in rinse-off personal care products and significantly reduced the use of plastic bags by around 86% with our 5p carrier bag charge. New measures to ban the distribution and/or sale of plastic straws, stirrers, and plastic-stemmed cotton buds have been announced which will come into force from April 2020. We have consulted on plans to extend the charge to all retailers, and consulted on increasing the minimum 5p charge to at least 10p.
Earlier this year, we published consultations on measures to significantly change the way that we deal with our waste in the UK, helping to cut plastic pollution as we move towards a more circular economy. These included proposals to: reform the existing packaging waste regulations; introduce a deposit return scheme for drinks containers; and to increase consistency in the recycling system. Legislative proposals will be developed taking account of the consultation responses.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of a ban on all caged farming.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government shares the public’s high regard for animal welfare and the welfare of our farmed livestock in all systems is protected by comprehensive and robust legislation. This is backed up by statutory species specific welfare codes, which encourage high standards of husbandry and which keepers are required by law to have access to and be familiar with. Defra’s Animal and Plant Health Agency inspectors and local authorities conduct inspections on farms to check that the animal welfare standards are being met.
Whatever the system of production, the most important factor in determining animal welfare is good stockmanship and the correct application of husbandry standards. This reflects the advice of the Farm Animal Welfare Committee.
We have already banned cages or close confinement systems where there is clear scientific evidence that they are detrimental to animal health and welfare. For example, we banned the keeping of sows in close confinement stalls in the UK in 1999, and the use of conventional (‘battery’) cages for laying hens in 2012.