Asked by: Lord Jones of Cheltenham (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they plan to consult with local authorities on a long-term plan for dealing with future climate change events causing (1) extreme heat, and (2) flooding.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
We are consulting local authorities on the development of the UK's third National Adaptation Programme (NAP3). This is our long-term plan for building a more climate resilient country and our response to the latest assessment of UK climate risks, which is due for publication in 2023 and will run until 2028. This programme will address the advice contained in the third and latest assessment of UK climate risk (CCRA3) from January 2022, which included 61 climate risks and opportunities to the UK, including those related to overheating and floods.
We are primarily consulting local authorities through the Local Adaptation Advisory Panel, a Defra-hosted forum focused on climate adaptation issues that brings together central and local government, as well as via the Local Government Association. We are also engaging with groups like the Environment Board of the local representative organisation the Association of Directors of Environment, Economy, Planning and Transport (ADEPT).
This work builds on previous central-local government collaboration on the development of previous NAPs, including NAP2. NAP2, published in 2018 and running until 2023, includes actions for local government
Asked by: Lord Jones of Cheltenham (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress they have made with the horse racing sector to address animal welfare issues, including fatality levels.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
The Government shares the public’s high regard for animal welfare, including the welfare of racehorses. Ensuring the welfare needs of racehorses are well met throughout their entire life, is a priority. The British Horseracing Authority (BHA), British racing’s governing and regulatory body, is responsible for the safety of racehorses at British racecourses. The BHA works alongside the RSPCA and World Horse Welfare to make horseracing as safe as possible.
The racing industry’s independent Horse Welfare Board (HWB) was formed in 2019 and includes members from across the racing industry, veterinarians and animal health and welfare experts. We have welcomed their recent publications, including “A Life Well Lived” (copy attached to this answer) which sets out a strategic plan to improve the welfare of horses before, during and after their racing career. The strategy contains 20 recommendations and 26 specific projects for the industry aimed at ensuring the best possible safety and quality of life for racehorses. The Board has subsequently produced “Euthanasis Guidelines" and published an “Aftercare Funding Review” which recommends a strategic approach to aftercare in Britain, applicable to any horse bred for racing. The public consultation on the use of the whip opened on 1 July 2021 and closed on 6 September 2021. The BHA published a “Whip Consultation Update" in January 2022 and we look forward to seeing the results of the consultation and the BHA’s recommendations.
One of the plan’s five identified outcomes (outcome 3 - 'Best possible safety') aims to reduce and minimise, as far as reasonably possible, avoidable injuries and fatalities to racehorses. This targets a reduction in injuries and fatalities on racecourses but also those that occur in, or as a result of, training or pre-training methods, or which are linked to breeding. The HWB has underlined the importance of data to better understand the causes of injuries and fatalities to help achieve this outcome. A number of projects and initiatives have been identified, at varying stages of development, aimed at capturing more information that could identify actions which would reduce the risk of racehorse injuries and fatalities.
Defra Ministers and officials will continue to engage with the sector to ensure that the welfare of racehorses and reducing the fatalities and injuries that result from racing, remain at the forefront of the BHA’s priorities in delivering the plan’s outcomes. We will be monitoring closely how the industry responds to the Board’s recommendations so that the welfare needs of racehorses are met both during and after their racing lives.
Asked by: Lord Jones of Cheltenham (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to prevent agricultural products from rotting because of a lack of agricultural workers.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government recognises the importance of a reliable source of seasonal labour for crop picking and packing, and that it is a key part of bringing in the harvest for the horticultural sector.
On 24 December 2021, the Government 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. This will provide a greater degree of certainty to the sector after a series of annual pilots between 2019 and 2021. An initial allocation of 30,000 visas was made available for 2022.
We have just announced in the Food Strategy that the Government will release an extra 10,000 visas for the Seasonal Worker visa route (bringing the total to 40,000 visas for 2022) with 8,000 of these going to the horticulture sector and 2,000 to the poultry sector. Further information on the operational details will be provided very soon.
We have also been working closely with the operators of the Seasonal Worker visa route to ensure that they can source potential workers in spite of the war in Ukraine. Operators are currently confident that they will be able to replace affected workers by recruiting from other countries.
The recently announced Food Strategy addresses the challenges faced by the food and farming sector, including a commitment to deliver an independent review to tackle labour shortages in the food supply chain, considering the roles of automation, domestic labour and migration routes.
Defra’s Review of Automation in Horticulture will also be published in early summer, to be followed by a formal Government response. Defra continues to work with other Government departments to ensure that opportunities for domestic recruitment are optimised.
Asked by: Lord Jones of Cheltenham (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they will take to prevent the discharge of raw sewage into the River Chelt (1) near Charlton Kings, (2) at St Peter’s Park, and (3) at Hatherley Brook.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
We are the first government to take concerted action to reduce storm sewage discharges. The current use of sewage discharges is unacceptable, which is why this government is committed to a step change on action to protect public health and the environment from storm overflows.
The Strategic Policy Statement for Ofwat sets an expectation on water companies to make progressive reductions in the adverse impacts from storm overflows, including reducing their frequency and volume, and the landmark Environment Act has placed this ambition on a statutory footing. The Environment Act also places new duties on water companies to monitor water quality upstream and downstream of overflows, which will drive further environmental protections and help hold water companies to account.
We recently consulted on the largest programme to tackle storm overflows in history, and proposed targets will see an 80% reduction in all discharges. If we do not see progress, we will not hesitate to take further action.
Since privatisation of the water industry, around £30 billion has been invested to reduce pollution. Water company investment is being scaled up to a further £7.1 billion, in the current five-year price review period.
Asked by: Lord Jones of Cheltenham (Liberal Democrat - 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 proposal by The Wildlife Trusts on 18 December 2021 to ban peat imports; and what plans they have, if any, to introduce measures to prevent offshoring of peatland damage to countries with less stringent legislation.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
We are currently consulting on measures to end the use of peat in horticulture in England and Wales. This includes a ban on the retail sale of peat, which would see domestic peat and imports of peat treated alike. In 2020, bagged growing media containing peat in the retail sector accounted for almost 70% of peat sold in the UK.
Our focus on ending the use of peat in horticulture in England and Wales not only protects UK peat bogs but recognises that two thirds of peat sold in the UK is imported from the rest of Europe.
We welcome views from our stakeholders and encourage them to respond to the consultation, which is open for responses until 18 March 2022.
Please follow the link to the consultation:
Asked by: Lord Jones of Cheltenham (Liberal Democrat - 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 amount of the neonicotinoid insecticide thiamethoxam able to be readily purchased online; and what plans do they have, if any, to ban its import from China.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Thiamethoxam is listed under the Prior Informed Consent Regulation (PIC) which regulates the export and import of certain hazardous chemicals, for which the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has policy responsibility. Every year, GB companies need to submit to HSE details of the quantities of PIC-listed chemicals they have exported and imported in the previous calendar year. For imports, this includes the country of origin of the chemical.
Thiamethoxam is approved for use as an insecticide under the Biocidal Products Regulations in the UK. Thiamethoxam is not permitted for use as an agricultural pesticide. However, Defra have granted an emergency authorisation for the limited and controlled use of thiamethoxam in a neonicotinoid seed treatment on the 2022 sugar beet crop. Emergency Authorisations for pesticides are only granted where strict legal requirements are met, including a danger such as diseases or pests that cannot be controlled by other reasonable means.
As such, there are no plans to ban the import of thiamethoxam.
The HSE has not made an assessment of the thiamethoxam available for purchase online. However, Defra is aware of the risk of online purchasing of pesticides and plans to review policy in this area as part of National Action Plan for Sustainable use of Pesticides, due for publication later this year.
Asked by: Lord Jones of Cheltenham (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to assist local authority waste and recycling departments with driver shortages.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
We are aware of some current impacts driver shortages are having on local authorities. We continue to work with the Department for Transport and the other departments to resolve this.
The Government recently announced a significant package of measures, including plans to streamline the process for new drivers to gain their HGV licence, and increased capacity for HGV driving tests. As driver shortages across Europe demonstrate, this is a widespread problem caused by a range of factors, including an ageing workforce.
We are moving to a high wage, high skilled economy and the government is encouraging all sectors to adapt and make employment more attractive to UK domestic workers through offering training, careers options and wage increases. The waste sector is already making good strides in this, highlighting that many rounds can be conducted close to home with defined hours, promoting a healthy work/life balance.
More information about the measures we are taking to tackle the haulier shortage is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/more-support-to-help-people-to-become-hgv-drivers-among-package-of-government-measures-to-ease-risk-of-shortages
Asked by: Lord Jones of Cheltenham (Liberal Democrat - 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 quantity of (1) brassicas, (2) salad foodstuffs, (3) fruit, and (4) vegetables, that remain unpicked due to a shortage of workers; and what impact they expect this to have on (a) food prices, and (b) the Consumer Price Index.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government recognises the importance of a reliable source of labour for crop picking and packing, and that it is a key part of bringing in the harvest for the horticultural sector. Defra is working closely with industry and other Government departments to understand labour supply and demand, and to help our world-leading growers access the labour they need to ensure our crops are picked and not wasted.
On 22 December 2020, the Government extended the Seasonal Workers Pilot into 2021, with up to 30,000 visas available, granted for workers to come to the UK, from EU or non-EU countries, for a period of up to 6 months to pick and package fruit and vegetables on our farms.
In 2021 and beyond, agricultural and food businesses continue to be able to rely on EU nationals living in the UK with settled or pre-settled status. Over 5.3 million EU citizens and their families have been granted status under the EU Settlement Scheme and EU nationals who have settled status can continue to travel to the UK to do seasonal work in the horticulture sector in 2021.
Defra is working with industry and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to raise awareness of career opportunities within the food and farming sectors among UK workers. All horticultural and agricultural businesses are encouraged to advertise roles through DWP’s Find A Job website, where they can upload and manage their vacancies. The DWP does not charge for this service and it is available across the United Kingdom.
Defra is leading on a review of automation in horticulture, which will cover both the edible and ornamental sectors in England. The review will work alongside the extended and expanded Seasonal Workers Pilot - and Defra’s efforts to attract more UK residents into agricultural work – to support the overall aim of reducing the sector’s dependency on seasonal migrant labour.
Defra monitors both wholesale fruit and vegetable prices, and food prices on a weekly basis using the Office for National Statistics’ experimental food price indices, as well as on a monthly and annual basis using Consumer Price Index (including Housing Costs). Consumer food prices depend on a range of factors including agri-food import prices, domestic agricultural prices, domestic labour and manufacturing costs, and Sterling exchange rates. Changes in food prices are dependent on changes in any of these factors.
Asked by: Lord Jones of Cheltenham (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they expect to meet their target for planting trees outlined in the Queen’s Speech.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
The Government has committed to increasing tree planting in the UK to 30,000 hectares per year by the end of this Parliament. The England Trees Action Plan (ETAP), which was published in May, sets out our target of trebling woodland creation in England to reflect its contribution to that target. The ETAP is supported through £500 million from the Nature for Climate Fund. This funding will support tree planting and protection during this Parliament.
We also continue to work closely with the Devolved Administrations to ensure we are on track collectively to deliver the commitment.
Asked by: Lord Jones of Cheltenham (Liberal Democrat - 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 reported comments made by the Chief Executive of the National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations that the UK–EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement is a “betrayal” of the fishing industry.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement sets our future relationship with the EU as an independent coastal State and reflects the UK’s regulatory autonomy to manage fisheries within our waters.
The agreement also provides for an uplift in UK shares of quota equal to 25% of the value of the average annual EU catch from UK waters, and will be phased in over five years with the majority of this value (15%) being transferred in the first year (2021). Based on Total Allowable Catch and prices at the time the negotiations concluded, it is estimated that the full quota uplifts in 2026 could provide around £146 million more quota than the UK had as a Member State.
The agreement provides for an adjustment period in which there will be continued access to fish in UK and EU waters. From 1 July 2026, access will be a matter for negotiation as is normal for coastal States.