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Written Question
Environmental Land Management Schemes
Friday 1st March 2024

Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many farmers had agreements under the Environmental Land Management Scheme as of 26 February 2024.

Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

As of 26 February, the Rural Payments Agency had offered 14,035 Sustainable Farming Incentive (including SFI Pilot, SFI 2022 and SFI 2023) agreements with 12,903 accepted and 48,665 agreements under the Countryside Stewardship and Environmental Stewardship schemes. Farmers can have more than one agreement in schemes.

In addition, from the launch of the Farming in Protected Landscapes programme (July 2021) to the end of 2022/23 (March 2023), there were over 5,000 farmers and land managers engaged in the programme and over 2,500 projects approved.

Further to this, there are also 22 projects in Round One of the Landscape Recovery Scheme, with a combined total of 266 landowners and 51 tenant farmers. There are 34 projects in Round Two of the Landscape Recovery Scheme; however, the number of landowners and tenant farmers cannot be confirmed yet, as they are currently being enrolled onto the scheme.


Written Question
Probiotics: Labelling and Marketing
Monday 8th January 2024

Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of removing restrictions on use of the term probiotic (a) on food labels and (b) in marketing for foods containing probiotic microorganisms.

Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

‘Probiotic’ is a term commonly used to describe the effect of one or other strains of live bacteria used in food and food supplements. Food information rules require that the name given to a food, or an ingredient of a food, should be its legal name or, in the absence of this, its customary name. In the case of ingredients described as ‘probiotic’ this will be the specific strain of live bacteria used. There are no other specific restrictions within general food information rules.

Regulations governing the use of nutrition and health claims on foods, for which the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has responsibility, protect consumers from being misled by ensuring that any health claims made are backed by substantiated scientific evidence. A health claim is any claim that states, suggests or implies a relationship exists between the product or one of its constituents and health.

Under the Regulation, the term ‘probiotic’ can be considered a non-specific health claim. It can already be used, providing it is accompanied by an approved health claim for the specific strain of live bacteria. No further assessment of merit has been undertaken although the Department for Health and Social Care continues to engage with industry on any potential future application for new assessment. To date DHSC has not received any application for approving claims on specific strains of live bacteria. Companies would be required to include the specific strain in the ingredient listing.


Written Question
Livestock Worrying
Wednesday 20th December 2023

Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Answer of 18 September 2023 to Question 198983, when he plans to bring forward legislative proposals on livestock worrying.

Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Government takes the issue of livestock worrying very seriously, recognising the distress this can cause farmers and animals, as well as the financial implications. We will be taking forward measures to modernise current livestock worrying legislation as soon as parliamentary time allows. In the meantime, we will continue to work on messaging and awareness about controlling all breeds of dog around livestock.


Written Question
Livestock Worrying: Wales
Wednesday 20th December 2023

Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has had recent discussions with his counterpart in the Welsh Government on taking steps to help tackle livestock worrying.

Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Defra has regular discussions with the Devolved Administrations about a range of animal welfare topics, including livestock worrying.


Written Question
Livestock: Vaccination
Monday 10th July 2023

Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)

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 3 July 2023 to Question 191637 on Livestock: Vaccination, what the Veterinary Medicines Directorate's expected timescale is for when the manufacturing issues impacting the supplies of (a) Heptavac P Plus and (b) Bravoxin 10 vaccines will be resolved.

Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The production of veterinary medicines is complex and highly regulated. The Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) liaises closely with pharmaceutical companies and distributors of medicines to detect potential problems to support the continued availability of veterinary medicines where possible,

We understand that there is large global demand for Heptavac P Plus and Bravoxin 10 vaccines at present, compounded by manufacturing issues resulting in intermittent supply. The VMD has been working with the company concerned to support the release of further batches of vaccine to the UK market. We encourage farmers to discuss their vaccine regime with their veterinary surgeon should they have any concern. Veterinary surgeons may also speak with the Marketing Authorisation Holder MSD Animal Health for latest advice on product availability.


Written Question
Livestock: Vaccination
Monday 3rd July 2023

Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)

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 her Department has made of the adequacy of (a) Heptavac and (b) Bravoxin 10 vaccine supplies.

Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The production of veterinary medicines is complex and highly regulated, and materials and processes must meet rigorous safety and quality standards. Manufacturing difficulties can arise from time-to-time for various reasons, from malfunctioning equipment on the production line, to packaging materials that fail to meet the required specification. The Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) liaises closely with pharmaceutical companies and distributors of medicines to detect potential problems at the earliest point possible in order to support the continued availability of veterinary medicines where possible. In regards to availability issues experienced for Heptavac P Plus and Bravoxin 10, we understand that there is large global demand for these vaccines at present, compounded by manufacturing issues resulting in intermittent supply. During this time, the VMD have been working with the company concerned to support the release of further batches of vaccine to the UK market. We encourage farmers to discuss their vaccine regime with their veterinary surgeon should they have any concern. Veterinary surgeons may also speak with the Marketing Authorisation Holder MSD Animal Health for latest advice on product availability.


Written Question
Sheep: Animal Breeding
Monday 19th June 2023

Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)

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 her Department has made of the adequacy of supplies of the Cevac Chlamydia vaccine.

Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The production of veterinary medicines is complex and highly regulated, and materials and processes must meet rigorous safety and quality standards. Manufacturers can experience difficulties from time-to-time for various reasons, from malfunctioning equipment on the production line, to packaging materials that fail to meet the required specification. The Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) liaises closely with pharmaceutical companies and distributors of medicines to detect potential problems at the earliest point possible in order to support the continued availability of veterinary medicines where possible.

In regards to availability of Cevac Chlamydia vaccine, the VMD understand there to be sufficient supply to meet the current national demand, and are in close liaison with the Marketing Authorisation Holder should this status change. As always, to avoid placing undue pressure on supply chains, we encourage veterinary surgeons to continue with normal ordering patterns and to maintain appropriate and proportionate stocks of veterinary medicines.


Written Question
Livestock: Dogs
Tuesday 30th May 2023

Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress she has made on tackling the matter of dogs attacking livestock.

Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Guidance is available to educate owners about handling their dogs responsibly in the vicinity of livestock, in order to prevent the occurrence of attacks or chasing. The Countryside Code highlights that it is best practice to keep dogs on a lead around livestock.


Written Question
Meat: Origin Marking
Thursday 18th May 2023

Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will work with supermarkets to ensure that customers can filter for and select cuts of meat with (a) Welsh and (b) UK origin when shopping online.

Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Defra meets regularly with food retailers and producers to discuss a range of issues and explore the range of measures they can take to ensure the availability of food of UK origin. Current laws require origin labelling for foods where the consumer would be misled if the origin of the food were not given. In addition there are rules for compulsory origin labelling of beef, veal, lamb, mutton, pork, goat and poultry meat, fish and shellfish, honey, olive oil, wine and most fruit and vegetables. Where origin information is not required, it can still be provided as long as it does not mislead. The same level of information on a food label must be available online to the consumer, before a purchase is made.


Written Question
Water: Conservation
Tuesday 21st March 2023

Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero on the potential merits of using water efficiency technologies to help reduce household carbon emissions.

Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

We are working with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero to maximise the synergies between the Government goals to reduce water demand and achieve net zero. We consulted on introducing a mandatory water efficiency label for water using products across all UK nations and assessed that such a label could save £125 million on water bills and £147 million on energy bills over 10 years. Hot water use is the second largest use of energy in a home after space heating. For example, installing a water-efficient showerhead could save a family of four about £30 on their combined energy and water bill each year.