Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the average cost to the public purse was of vets fees for testing cattle herds for bovine tuberculosis in 2023 and 2024.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) holds contracts with regional Delivery Partners to deliver the TB Eradication Strategies across England and Wales respectively. Each regional Delivery Partner maintains its own network of subcontracted veterinary practices who deliver TB skin testing on farms following TB Test allocation by APHA. Contract costs between APHA and its Delivery Partners include TB test delivery on farm, quality assurance, administration, travel, and a contribution to overhead costs of both the Delivery Partner organisations and their subcontractors.
For England:
This information does not include costs of Gamma Interferon testing.
* A TB test event may include the whole herd (usually all the animals of at least 42 days of age), a proportion of a herd, or a few individual animals in a herd.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of farm diversification on the working hours of farmers.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra does not hold information on the impact of diversification on the working hours of farmers. Annual statistics on farm diversification of farm businesses in England are published. The latest results cover 2023/24 (Chapter 5: Diversification - GOV.UK) and include the proportion of farms engaging in diversified activities, the type of activities and the average income produced. They show that the proportion of farm businesses in England that have some diversified activity has gradually increased since 2014/15 and in 2023/24 was 71% of farms; these farms had an average (mean) income from diversified activities of £26,900.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the the adequacy of the implementation of the Rock Review.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra works closely with the Farm Tenancy Forum and together have delivered the majority of the Rock Review recommendations. These include making Environmental Land Management schemes more accessible for tenants, setting the standard for landlord, tenant and agent behaviour with a new Code of Practice and announcing England’s first Commissioner for the Tenant Farming Sector. Defra continues to ensure that the unique needs of the sector are accounted for in policy design.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the methodology used to calculate the carbon sequestration generated by cattle.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra has evaluated the methodologies used in on-farm carbon calculators to assess greenhouse gas emissions and carbon sequestration on-farm. This found that methodologies differed between these calculators. For example, there was no consistent, agreed approach taken to assess and report carbon removals or emissions from soil, land use or land use change. This divergence and a lack of verification has driven confusion, reducing trust and confidence in the resulting figures.
Building on the recommendations from the above research, Defra remains committed to developing a harmonised approach for measuring carbon emissions from farms. This will increase consistency and comparability across tools, thereby reducing uncertainty for farmers and the rest of the supply chain.
Defra also funds research to establish the impacts of farm systems, including bringing the latest cutting-edge science into the UK’s Greenhouse Gas Inventory.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of levels of water pollution in Yeovil constituency.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
For too long, customers have been let down and water companies have discharged record levels of sewage into our rivers, lakes and seas.
That is why we are placing water companies under special measures through the Water (Special Measures) Bill, which will strengthen regulation, including delivering new powers to ban the payment of bonuses for polluting water bosses and bringing criminal charges against persistent law breakers.
On 23 October, the Secretary of State, in conjunction with the Welsh Government, launched an Independent Commission on the water sector regulatory system, to fundamentally transform how our water system works to put people and the environment first and clean up our rivers, lakes and seas for good.
To date this financial year the Environment Agency’s Wessex Area (which covers Yeovil) has delivered over 200 water company industry inspections, as well as inspections of non-water company permitted discharges throughout Wessex. This risk-based inspection programme is strengthening oversight of companies.