Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to bring into force Schedule 3 of the Flood and Water Management Act 2010.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Following the publication of the review for making sustainable drainage systems mandatory in new developments on 10 January 2023, the Government will now give consideration to how Schedule 3 will be implemented. This will be subject to final decisions on scope, threshold and process, while also being mindful of the cumulative impact of new regulatory burdens on the development sector. A public consultation will be held later this year that will help to shape our new approach, with implementation expected during 2024.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (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 the ability of tenant farmers to benefit from Environmental Land Management Schemes.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We are designing the schemes to be simple, flexible, fair and accessible to as many types of farmers and land managers as possible, including tenant farmers. We are aiming to remove barriers to tenants entering schemes where possible, such as in the Sustainable Farming Incentive where tenants can enter 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. The independent Rock Review on the tenanted sector, led by Baroness Rock, noted that SFI’s agreement length and no penalty exits when management control of the land is lost unexpectedly have made the scheme more open to tenant farmers. The first round of Landscape Recovery was open to any land manager or groups of land managers, including tenant farmers, that could pull together a 500 to 5,000 hectare project of broadly contiguous land in England - around half of the 22 projects selected for round one involve tenant farmers. We are monitoring how these schemes are working for tenants and any impacts on tenants as part of the schemes' Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning.
The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs announced on 1st December that rather than delivering the new Local Nature Recovery scheme as previously planned, we would build on the success of the existing Countryside Stewardship scheme to achieve the ambitious outcomes we had intended to deliver through Local Nature Recovery. This evolution was recommended by the Tenancy Working Group in the early conversations with Defra, with the group stating that many tenants were comfortable and familiar with CS. We are continuing to develop the Countryside Stewardship scheme, the Sustainable Farming Incentive and Landscape Recovery schemes through co-design with stakeholders, farmers, foresters, and other experts while considering the recommendations of the Rock Review to inform our decisions on tenanted land in these schemes.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they intend to bring fully into force Schedule 3 to the Flood and Water Management Act 2010.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
HM Government is completing a review of the case for implementing Schedule 3 to the Flood and Water Management Act 2010 and will confirm the outcomes in due course.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what progress they have made in the development of a vaccine for domestic birds against avian influenza; and what assessment they have made of the entrance of vaccinated birds into the food chain.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Defra continues to invest in avian influenza research and monitors the situation in Europe and globally. In conjunction with the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD), Defra will continue to monitor the development and availability of vaccines for use to protect against avian influenza and as a control measure during avian influenza outbreaks, as they are put forward for marketing authorisation by vaccine manufacturers.
Currently, outside of zoos in England, the vaccination of birds as a routine preventative measure is not permitted. Therefore, there are no vaccinated birds entering the food chain. Any future decisions on disease prevention and control measures, including the use of vaccination, will be based upon the latest scientific, ornithological, and veterinary advice. Any proposed changes in the use of vaccination will be subject to risk assessments including in conjunction with the Food Standards Agency, assessments of their safety in the food chain.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they plan to take to encourage the restocking of domestic birds following the outbreak of avian influenza.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
When avian influenza is confirmed at a premises, in order to limit the risk of the disease spreading, all birds on the premises are humanely culled. Keepers will be paid compensation for clinically healthy birds culled by government for disease control purposes as set out in the Animal Health Act 1981. Following the completion of culling and disposal, the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) will carry out preliminary cleansing and disinfection (C&D) at the premises. The costs for culling, disposal and the preliminary C&D are paid by government. Before a premises can be restocked the keeper will either need to undertake secondary C&D at their own expense or wait 12 months from the date of preliminary C&D.
Whether to undertake secondary C&D and how quickly the process is completed, and therefore when restocking and business activity can resume is a commercial decision by the keeper. APHA will work with the bird keeper to explain the requirements and monitor the effectiveness of C&D.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the Director General of Environment in the European Commission about the creation of a common approach to the treatment of migratory birds in order to reduce avian influenza rates in the UK.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Defra’s approach to avian influenza is set out in the Notifiable Avian Disease Control Strategy for Great Britain supported by the Mitigation Strategy for Avian Influenza in Wild Birds in England and Wales.
The UK Government recognises the significant threat posed by highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), but there are limited effective actions that can be taken to control avian influenza in migratory wild birds as opposed to poultry and other captive bird flocks. We will however continue to take and recommend whatever actions we can, in accordance with international best practice and the latest evidence. International collaboration and knowledge exchange is facilitated through discussions between the UK Chief Veterinary Officer and her counterparts in the EU and globally through the World Organisation for Animal Health.
At the international level, the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) virologists and epidemiologists collaborate with colleagues in Europe and around the world to closely analyse viruses involved in outbreaks in both poultry and other captive birds and those found in wild birds, with the aim of understanding what makes these viruses different and how they might change in the future. The UK National Reference Laboratory remains informally connected to colleagues in EU laboratories, including the EU Reference Laboratory, and continue to share and gather intelligence.
The UK’s membership of the OSPAR-HELCOM-ICES Joint Working Group on Birds and the African Eurasian Waterbird Agreement are also key forums for improving collaboration, monitoring and information sharing on avian influenza in migratory birds.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (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 the impact of avian influenza on domestic poultry and what support they will provide to domestic producers.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The British poultry sector is highly resilient and plays a significant role in the production of high quality chicken, turkey, duck and geese.
The scale of Avian Influenza (AI) outbreaks occurring in the UK and Europe is unprecedented and we recognise the poultry industry is under serious pressure. In the United Kingdom, during the period 1 October to 3 November 2022, approximately 1.5 million chickens, 931,000 turkeys, 336,700 ducks, and 19,000 geese alone have died or been culled for disease control purposes because of AI. In comparison to approximately 2.4 million chickens, 351,000 turkeys, 342,500 ducks and 41,800 geese during the first year of the outbreak (October 2021 to September 2022).
We recognise that these outbreaks are very distressing for the individual poultry farmers and businesses that are affected. However, the overall impact on food supply is relatively small, with approximately 1.1 billion chickens and 11 million turkeys alone usually sold in Great Britain each year.
Defra's objective in tackling any outbreak of Avian Influenza is to eradicate the disease as quickly as possible. Our approach considers the latest ornithological, epidemiological, veterinary and other scientific advice. Where necessary, we are also able to introduce Avian Influenza Prevention Zones (AIPZ) and mandatory housing measures within AIPZs in order to reduce the risk of further disease spread. A national housing order in England was announced on 31 October and will come into force on 7 November.
On 28 October we announced a new package of measures to support domestic producers with the impacts of AI. This included changes to the compensation scheme allowing compensation to be paid to farmers from the outset of planned culling rather than at the end. This will allow us to give earlier certainty about entitlement to compensation, better reflect the impact of outbreaks on premises and lead to swifter payments to help stem any cash flow pressures.
In consultation with the Food Standards Agency, an easement to marketing rules is also being introduced in England. The measures mean that farmers who breed turkeys, geese, ducks or capons for their meat will have the option to slaughter birds early, and to freeze them, which can then be defrosted and sold to consumers between the period 28 November and 31 December 2022. This option is being introduced to give producers certainty over business planning.
Defra continues to monitor the situation and is working closely with the poultry sector.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (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 the low level of self-sufficiency in fruit and vegetables in England; and what steps they will take to increase domestic production.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We have a high degree of self-sufficiency in many of those fruit and vegetables suited to our growing conditions. For example, in 2021 we were able to provide 57% of our vegetable needs, and 72% of the strawberries consumed. Our innovative and enterprising farmers and growers are now exploring ways to maximise this further by optimising growing conditions to increase yields. With advances in technology, they have already extended the growing seasons of a variety of crops through the adoption of Controlled Environmental Agriculture (CEA) technologies enabling crops to be grown and harvested year-round in a climate-controlled environment.
Our plan to help our fruit and vegetable growers to increase productivity and domestic production was outlined in the Government Food Strategy, launched earlier this year, which announced the development of a new Horticultural Strategy for England. This will cover a range of growing models including high-tech controlled environment growing to increase domestic production.
Defra has committed £98 million for the first round of the Farming Investment Fund which provides grants to farmers and horticultural growers so that they can invest in the equipment, technology and infrastructure that will help improve their productivity while enhancing the environment. We have also invested significant funding to provide grants for industry-led innovation across the farming sectors, including CEA, through UKRI's £90 million Transforming Food Production programme, and more recently through the £270 million Farming Innovation Programme with over £70 million of competition funding committed to date.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what progress they have made in rolling out the Environment Land Management Schemes; and how will those schemes benefit (1) tenant farmers, (2) smallholdings, and (3) upland farmers.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Following extensive testing and piloting, we began the successful roll out of the Sustainable Farming Incentive to eligible farmers in June 2022. We opened the scheme with two soils standards and a moorland standard, providing the opportunity for many thousands of farmers to be rewarded for taking care of their soil or assessing the condition of moorland. The scheme will expand each year, with the full set of standards available by 2025. As of 18th October 2022, over 4,450 farmers had started their applications, of which 1,980 had been submitted to the Rural Payments Agency and these are swiftly moving to live agreements. We will continue to expand the scheme as more funds are released from Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) reductions.
We are continuing to design the successor to Countryside Stewardship through co-design with stakeholders, farmers, foresters and other experts. We have used the outputs of a range of tests and trials to inform the design of the scheme, as well as working collaboratively with farmers and other land managers to design the actions we will pay for to ensure that they are less prescriptive and more flexible than current Countryside Stewardship options. We published some information about the likely shape of the scheme in August 2022, and we will publish more detailed information on what we will pay for later this year.
In February 2022 we launched the first Landscape Recovery competition. We confirmed the 22 successful projects from the first round of applications on 2nd September. Collectively, the successful projects aim to restore nearly 700km of rivers and protect and enhance 263 species such as water vole, otter, pine marten, lapwing, great crested newt, European eel and marsh fritillary.
We are working to make the Environmental Land Management schemes accessible to all kinds of farmers, foresters and other land managers who can deliver the land management activities the schemes pay for, including tenant farmers, small holdings and upland farmers. We are working with farmers, farming organisations and other experts, and reviewing the recommendations in the Rock Review by the Tenancy Working Group to achieve this.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their current estimate of the cost of leaving the EU REACH programme and creating an alternative UK Register for chemicals.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
UK REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and restriction of Chemicals) aims to ensure that companies putting chemicals on the market understand and manage the risks they might pose. Under UK REACH, manufacturers and importers have a duty to register chemicals to access the GB market.
The transition to UK REACH has presented some challenges for the chemicals industry, particularly the cost of having to negotiate and potentially pay for access to data needed to support a UK REACH registration. In response to this, in December 2021, we committed to exploring alternative arrangements for UK REACH transitional registrations, aiming to significantly reduce industry costs whilst ensuring high standards to safeguard public health and the environment. This work is still in progress.
Our estimated cost to industry of registering under the original UK REACH model is £2 billion over six years; however, this estimate is uncertain and actual costs would be a matter of commercial negotiation. We have recently consulted on extending the existing deadlines for the transition to UK REACH so companies do not incur these costs while we complete the work to develop an alternative transition model.