Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department has considered the merits of launching a investigation into chemical exposure from plastics during a baby's first 1000 days.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government takes the safety of baby products seriously and has robust regulations in place requiring that all products placed on the UK market are safe. Specific rules exist under product safety regulations to address chemical exposure from baby products, and these are kept under review.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what data her department has gathered on babies' exposure to bisphenols and phthalates from feeding bottles, dummies and teethers in their first 1,000 days.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government takes the safety of baby products seriously and has robust regulations in place requiring that all products placed on the UK market are safe. Specific rules exist under product safety regulations to address chemical exposure from baby products, and these are kept under review.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she has taken to prepare for the risk of flash flooding following drought conditions.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Flood Forecasting Centre improves preparedness by providing early warnings of conditions that could trigger flash flooding, through daily flood guidance statements and the new rapid flood guidance service. Longer-term flood outlooks are improving and support flood response planning for emergency responders and the public. The Environment Agency uses the latest weather forecasts from the Met Office, and its flood forecast models to help inform incident management decisions such as issuing Flood Alerts and Warnings. The Environment Agency’s new Forecasting and Warning Service launched in May 2026 has improved our forecasting, modelling, and warning functions. It is supported by major digital updates and artificial intelligence (AI) approaches.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to train UK-based sheep shearers ahead of the closure of Seasonal Shearer Visas in 2027.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra continues to work with British Wool ahead of the 2027 shearing season to build domestic shearing capacity and to encourage promotion, take-up and delivery of domestic shearing training programmes.
During each of the last five years (2021-2025) British Wool has invested an average of £134,000 net costs in providing shearing training for between 798 and 898 people at skill levels ranging from beginners through to highly proficient commercial shearers.
The department recognises the continued challenges that the industry faces each year in sourcing sufficient numbers of trained shearers.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the end of Seasonal Shearer Visas in 2027 on sheep welfare.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The department recognises that the annual shearing of sheep is essential to managing the health and welfare of the UK flock of around 30m sheep, and the continued challenges that the industry faces each year in sourcing sufficient numbers of trained shearers.
The department is also aware that shearers from countries such as Australia and New Zealand share skills and expertise with UK sheep farmers in addition to supporting the health and welfare of the UK flock.
Visa concessions are a matter for the Home Office.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the proposed suspension of tariffs on fresh bananas on the resilience and diversity of the UK's food supply chain.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
A resilient and diverse food supply chain is important for British consumers. To assess the potential impact of the proposed tariff suspensions, announced on 21 May, we invited the public and industry to respond to a call for input. This call for input closed on 24 June and Defra is now working with other Government departments to consider the evidence provided.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of extending free school milk provision until the end of the Reception year on (a) demand for British dairy produce, (b) farm incomes and (c) the Government's objectives for strengthening domestic food production.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Nursery Milk Scheme is a statutory scheme which allows early years childcare settings to reclaim the cost of providing one-third of a pint of milk per day to children under the age of five who attend a setting for two or more hours per day. It is led by DHSC rather than Defra. DHSC have not asked for any assessment of the scheme’s impact on demand, farm incomes or food production, and accordingly no such assessment has been carried out.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to regulate the cost of Animal Health Certificates issued to pet owners travelling to the EU.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
All Animal Health Certificate (AHC) fees are set by veterinary surgeons or veterinary practices and are a private matter between individual practices and their clients and neither the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS), the UK regulator of the veterinary profession, nor Defra intervene in the level of fees that are charged.
The Competition and Markets Authority conducted a market investigation into veterinary services for household pets, which noted an above-inflation rise in fees. Defra will respond to this report in due course and set out its ambition to tackle these concerns through reforms to the Veterinary Surgeons Act 1966.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether pet travel arrangements, including the recognition of GB-issued pet passports, are being considered as part of ongoing negotiations on the UK's relationship with the European Union.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
As announced at the UK-EU Leaders' Summit on 19 May 2025, the UK and EU have agreed to work towards a common Sanitary and Phytosanitary Area, which will mean taking pets on holiday into the EU will be easier and cheaper. Instead of getting an Animal Health Certificate each time they travel, pet owners will be able to get a multiuse pet passport valid for travel to the EU.
Discussions on the SPS agreement are progressing and we have committed, with the EU, to conclude negotiations before the next UK-EU Summit. Whilst these negotiations are ongoing, we are unable to provide detailed updates on the talks.
In the meantime, owners will still need an Animal Health Certificate for their dog, cat or ferret(s) if they’re travelling from Great Britain (England, Wales and Scotland) to an EU country. Current guidance on taking pets to the EU is available at: Taking your pet dog, cat or ferret abroad: Travelling to an EU country - GOV.UK.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
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 set a timeline for the phasing out of the use of CO₂ gas chambers for pigs.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 20 May to the hon. Member for Epsom and Ewell, PQ UIN 613.