Daniel Zeichner

The Government’s university research sustainability taskforce is examining how best to respond to the challenges for the sector resulting from COVID-19, with the aim of sustaining the university research base and its capability to contribute effectively to UK society and economy in the recovery from COVID-19 and beyond. Given the broader focus and urgency of addressing the impacts of COVID-19, at this time, the outcome of the UKRI Open Access Review does not form part of the taskforce's consideration.

The OA Review is independent from Plan S. Working internationally however, is important to help achieve open access. UKRI has joined cOAlition S, a consortium comprising research funders and foundations from across the world and supported by the European Commission and the European Research Council. The coalition aims to help make full and immediate Open Access to research publications a reality, and is built around the Plan S principles. UKRI will consider outcomes of the work of cOAlition S as part of its ongoing Open Access Review alongside other evidence and inputs. The outcomes of the review will determine decisions on UKRI’s OA policy.

As part of the UKRI open access review, UKRI is working with BEIS to consider implications for stakeholders. UKRI has commissioned an independent analysis to help assess the possible implications for various groups, including higher education institutions. This analysis will include direct costs and benefits and wider social and economic implications, and will be considered alongside other evidence gathered through the review, including via the consultation on a proposed UKRI policy which has recently closed. The consideration of the COVID-19 impacts on research sector, including economic implications, will be taken into account in the UKRI review.

The Government’s university research sustainability taskforce is examining how best to respond to the challenges for the sector resulting from COVID-19, with the aim of sustaining the university research base and its capability to contribute effectively to UK society and economy in the recovery from COVID-19 and beyond. Given the broader focus and urgency of addressing the impacts of COVID-19, at this time, the outcome of the UKRI Open Access Review does not form part of the taskforce's consideration.

The OA Review is independent from Plan S. Working internationally however, is important to help achieve open access. UKRI has joined cOAlition S, a consortium comprising research funders and foundations from across the world and supported by the European Commission and the European Research Council. The coalition aims to help make full and immediate Open Access to research publications a reality, and is built around the Plan S principles. UKRI will consider outcomes of the work of cOAlition S as part of its ongoing Open Access Review alongside other evidence and inputs. The outcomes of the review will determine decisions on UKRI’s OA policy.

As part of the UKRI open access review, UKRI is working with BEIS to consider implications for stakeholders. UKRI has commissioned an independent analysis to help assess the possible implications for various groups, including higher education institutions. This analysis will include direct costs and benefits and wider social and economic implications, and will be considered alongside other evidence gathered through the review, including via the consultation on a proposed UKRI policy which has recently closed. The consideration of the COVID-19 impacts on research sector, including economic implications, will be taken into account in the UKRI review.

The Government’s university research sustainability taskforce is examining how best to respond to the challenges for the sector resulting from COVID-19, with the aim of sustaining the university research base and its capability to contribute effectively to UK society and economy in the recovery from COVID-19 and beyond. Given the broader focus and urgency of addressing the impacts of COVID-19, at this time, the outcome of the UKRI Open Access Review does not form part of the taskforce's consideration.

The OA Review is independent from Plan S. Working internationally however, is important to help achieve open access. UKRI has joined cOAlition S, a consortium comprising research funders and foundations from across the world and supported by the European Commission and the European Research Council. The coalition aims to help make full and immediate Open Access to research publications a reality, and is built around the Plan S principles. UKRI will consider outcomes of the work of cOAlition S as part of its ongoing Open Access Review alongside other evidence and inputs. The outcomes of the review will determine decisions on UKRI’s OA policy.

As part of the UKRI open access review, UKRI is working with BEIS to consider implications for stakeholders. UKRI has commissioned an independent analysis to help assess the possible implications for various groups, including higher education institutions. This analysis will include direct costs and benefits and wider social and economic implications, and will be considered alongside other evidence gathered through the review, including via the consultation on a proposed UKRI policy which has recently closed. The consideration of the COVID-19 impacts on research sector, including economic implications, will be taken into account in the UKRI review.

Guidance for Local Authorities on the Local Authority Discretionary Fund was published on 13 May. This guidance can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-business-support-grant-funding-guidance-for-businesses

At this stage, there are no plans to publish further guidance.

The Government took into account people with disabilities when developing the guidance. Our guidance does not replace existing employment, health and safety or equalities legislation. It provides information to employers on how best to meet these responsibilities in the context of COVID-19.

The safer workplaces guidance provides some suggestions to help employers make their workplaces COVID-19 secure for their employees, visitors and customers. We expect all businesses to approach reopening in a sensible way, taking account of the Government’s guidance and discussing with neighbouring businesses and their local authorities where applicable.

The Government took into account people with disabilities when developing the guidance.

Our guidance does not replace existing employment, health and safety or equalities legislation. It provides information to employers on how best to meet these responsibilities in the context of COVID-19.

The safer workplaces guidance provides some suggestions to help employers make their workplaces COVID-19 secure for their employees, visitors and customers. We expect all businesses to approach reopening in a sensible way, taking account of the Government’s guidance and discussing with neighbouring businesses and their local authorities where applicable.

The Government has published two new guides to support businesses in how they can supply safe PPE, one focussed on large manufacturers and another for small producers. The Office for Product Safety and Standards has provided advice to over 300 business and is working directly with a number of small voluntary groups to assist them in understanding and meeting the requirements, including the need for third party assessment. It is also working with larger producers to see whether their approved designs could be used by small producers and community groups.

There is also separate guidance for manufacturers and makers of face coverings, not intended as Personal Protective Equipment but for general use by members of the public. All three guides can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/opss-coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-for-business-and-local-authorities.

The Government believes that the current daylight-saving arrangements represent the optimal use of the available daylight across the UK. We do not believe there is sufficient evidence to support changing the current system of clock changes, including for travel, tourism and energy usage.

The Universal Service Obligation is set out in the Postal Services Act 2011.

Ministers have no role in temporary changes to the service level. The regulatory conditions that require Royal Mail to deliver letters 6 days a week as part of the universal postal service also provide that Royal Mail is not required to sustain these services without interruption, suspension or restriction in the event of an emergency. Ofcom has acknowledged in this context that the COVID-19 pandemic is an emergency.

There is a clear and transparent process for how longer-term changes to service standards would be considered and any changes would need to be made through secondary legislation and agreed by Parliament. Ministers and officials have regular discussions with Ofcom and Royal Mail on matters relating to postal services.

Under the British Business Bank’s scheme rules, Personal Guarantees of any form cannot be requested to support a Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) facility below £250,000. This has been made clear in the guidance provided to all the CBILS accredited lenders.

Personal guarantees for facilities above £250,000 may still be required, at a lender’s discretion, but they exclude the Principal Private Residence (PPR) which cannot be used for a Personal Guarantee. Recoveries under these loans are capped at a maximum of 20% of the outstanding balance of the CBILS facility after the proceeds of business assets have been applied.

These terms were updated on 3 April 2020. The British Business Bank has communicated that the changes should be retrospectively applied by lenders for any CBILS facilities offered since 23 March 2020.

Under existing consumer law, consumers are able to choose a voucher or credit note should they wish. We are engaging with the package travel sector and others to assess the impact of the covid-19 outbreak. We recognise the extremely difficult circumstances businesses are currently facing, which is why on 17 March the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced an unprecedented package of support for businesses, in addition to the £30bn support announced in the budget.

The Government is committed to making the UK a global science superpower that attracts brilliant people and businesses from across the world.

The Global Talent route makes several changes to the Tier 1 (Exceptional Talent) route that will make it easier for the UK’s science and research community to recruit global talent. The route includes a new UKRI Endorsed Funder fast-track route for scientists, researchers, their teams and dependents. The UK’s digital technology sector will also benefit from the Global Talent route. Tech Nation will remain an endorsing body for highly-skilled entrepreneurs and employees working in digital technology. In addition, there will no longer be a cap on the number of visas available.

The table below includes grants offered to organisations within the three categories requested. This does not provide an industry sector breakdown as this information is not recorded.

Totals will not sum to 100% due to organisations outside of these categories. This also excludes funding for the Knowledge Transfer Network, Knowledge Transfer Partnerships, Catapults and other Centres, and grants provided through the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund, the Newton fund, and through programmes managed by institutes.

The figures for 2019 to 2020 show funding at the time of the question rather than final year-end figures. These are subject to change as the current financial year has not yet concluded.

The table below describes the proportion of Innovate UK projects that have an academic partner with either a large business or SME. As some projects will involve both large businesses and SMEs, the percentages will not add up to 100%. This does not provide an industry sector breakdown as this information is not recorded.

The figures for 2019 to 2020 show funding at the time of the question rather than final year-end figures. These are subject to change as the current financial year has not yet concluded.

The Secretary of State and Minister for Civil Society meet the Charity Commission on a regular basis to discuss a range of matters that are relevant to the charity sector. These have included discussions on the charity sector's financial resilience in relation to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

Charity reserves make an important contribution to charities' financial resilience and their ability to respond to financial shocks. All registered charities in England and Wales must explain their policy on reserves in their trustees’ annual report, stating the level of reserves held and why they are held. We welcome the Charity Commission's guidance on charity reserves, which was originally published in 2016 and subsequently refreshed in 2018. The guidance sets out clearly what reserves are, how to develop a reserves policy, the legal requirements for publishing the reserves policy and reporting on it, and what trustees should do to keep proper oversight of their charity’s reserves. It continued to make clear that all charities need a policy that establishes a level of reserves that is right for the charity and clearly explains to its stakeholders why holding these reserves is necessary.

Building on this guidance, the Charity Commission provided clear advice to charities on financial management in 2020, including on the appropriate use of reserves in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport has made no assessment of the specific impact of this advice.

From Thursday 5th November until Wednesday 2nd December, performing arts venues can continue to operate under Stages 1 and 2 of the performing arts roadmap. This means that professional rehearsal and training, and performances for broadcast or recording purposes, may continue as these are professional activities that cannot take place at home. However performances to live audiences cannot take place, either indoors or outdoors. During this period non-professional activity, such as amateur choirs and orchestra, cannot take place. Further information can be found in the performing arts guidance on gov.uk.

As provided in previous parliamentary responses, ARM is an important part of the UK's tech sector and makes a significant contribution to the UK economy. While acquisitions are primarily a commercial matter for the parties concerned, the Government monitors these closely. When a takeover may have a significant impact on the UK we will not hesitate to investigate further and take action. We are scrutinising the deal carefully to understand its impact on the UK. The Enterprise Act 2002 allows the government to call in transactions such as this. We will consider if and when it would be appropriate to do so.

As provided in previous parliamentary responses, ARM is an important part of the UK's tech sector and makes a significant contribution to the UK economy. While acquisitions are primarily a commercial matter for the parties concerned, the Government monitors these closely. When a takeover may have a significant impact on the UK we will not hesitate to investigate further and take action. We are scrutinising the deal carefully to understand its impact on the UK. The Enterprise Act 2002 allows the government to call in transactions such as this. We will consider if and when it would be appropriate to do so.

Ministers have regular meetings and discussions with their ministerial colleagues, on a range of issues. Details of Ministerial meetings are published quarterly on the Gov.uk website.

As you would expect, it would not be appropriate to comment on any national security concerns we may or may not have. However, we will be scrutinising the deal in close detail.

Ministers have regular meetings and discussions with their ministerial colleagues, on a range of issues. Details of Ministerial meetings are published quarterly on the Gov.uk website.

As you would expect, it would not be appropriate to comment on any national security concerns we may or may not have. However, we will be scrutinising the deal in close detail.

Ministers have regular meetings and discussions with their ministerial colleagues, on a range of issues. Details of Ministerial meetings are published quarterly on the Gov.uk website.

As you would expect, it would not be appropriate to comment on any national security concerns we may or may not have. However, we will be scrutinising the deal in close detail.

Professional Activity in line with Stage 4 of the performing arts roadmap can continue as it has done previously.

Venues such as theatres, concert halls and other entertainment venues that are already able to host larger numbers, and are Covid secure in line with the relevant guidance, will continue to be able to do so - as long as groups of more than one household are limited to six.

Venues will need to ensure that groups are kept separate from one another to ensure they do not mix and do not exceed the new legal limits. They will also need to adhere to new legal requirements around track and trace.

Ministers and officials have regular meetings and discussions with a wide range of stakeholders, on a variety of issues. Details of Ministerial meetings are published quarterly on the Gov.uk website.

The Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport has not sought exemptions from the US Office of Foreign Assets Control regime.

The UK is seeking data adequacy decisions from the EU under the GDPR and the Law Enforcement Directive (LED) and the EU’s adequacy assessment of the UK is underway. The UK remains confident that an adequacy agreement can be reached by the end of the transition period. However, we are taking sensible steps to prepare for a situation where this has not been achieved.

In such a scenario, organisations would be able to use alternative legal mechanisms to continue receiving personal data from the EU. Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) are the most common legal safeguard and will be the relevant mitigation for most organisations.The implementation cost for SCCs would vary between different organisations, in part depending on the size of the business in question.

DCMS is working with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) to ensure that all available guidance is simple, straightforward and actionable. The ICO has created an interactive SCCs tool for businesses to use and further guidance can be found on GOV.UK and the ICO’s website regarding steps organisations may be required to take relating to data protection and data flows by the end of the transition period.

The Enterprise Act 2002 allows the government to call in transactions such as this. We will consider if and when it would be appropriate to do so.

It is our intention to secure positive adequacy decisions from the EU to allow personal data to continue to flow freely from the EU/EEA to the UK. We are seeking positive adequacy decisions under both the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Law Enforcement Directive (LED), before the end of the transition period.

We see the EU’s assessment process on data adequacy as technical and confirmatory of the reality that the UK is operating the same regulatory frameworks as the EU, and the UK considers it self-evidently in the interest of both sides to have adequacy decisions in place by the end of the year. No other third country's standards have ever been closer to the EU's.

The UK-US Data Access Agreement is a vital tool to facilitate law enforcement in the prevention, detection, investigation, and prosecution of serious crime. This world-leading agreement will deliver on the people’s priorities by dramatically speeding up investigations and prosecutions of terrorists, child abusers and other serious criminals and ensuring children are protected faster.The Agreement includes significant data protection and privacy safeguards and is compatible with UK and EU data protection legislation and, therefore, is consistent with the UK seeking a positive adequacy decision from the EU.

Yes, guidance for the indoor play sector needs to be signed off by Public Health England and Health and Safety Executive. We will be working closely with both organisations to develop guidance for this sector.

The Coronavirus Community Support Fund was set up to help maintain and enhance services for vulnerable people affected by the current crisis, where delivery organisations are experiencing income disruption and/or increased demand for their services.

To date, 934 grants have been awarded to charities and social enterprises in England, totalling approximately £20m. Of this payments have been made to 463 organisations, totalling £5,163,403.

The funding is being distributed by the National Lottery Community Fund and is open for applications from small and medium charities and social enterprises.

How to apply: https://www.tnlcommunityfund.org.uk/funding/covid-19/learn-about-applying-for-emergency-funding-in-england

We have published clear and comprehensive guidance on the full £750 million package of support for charities and how organisations can apply for it on Gov.uk. This guidance will be updated frequently: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/financial-support-for-voluntary-community-and-social-enterprise-vcse-organisations-to-respond-to-coronavirus-covid-19

The Government is committed to making the UK the safest place to be online. DCMS and the Home Office are working at pace to develop the legislation. We will publish a full government response in the autumn. Following that, legislation will be ready in this session.

Our ambition is to reopen holiday accommodation, including private boats, boat hire, and caravans, for overnight stays in step three of the government's recovery strategy. All decisions on reopening will be based on the latest scientific evidence and regularly reviewed public health assessments.

The government has engaged closely with the waterways sector and the holiday & home parks sector to prepare guidance that will allow the sector to reopen safely, as quickly as possible.

The objective of the Museums and Galleries Exhibitions Tax Relief is to encourage the creation of more and higher quality permanent galleries and temporary exhibitions, as well as to support touring of the best exhibitions across the country and abroad, raising the UK’s profile internationally.

The Relief is designed for organisations which display works of historic, scientific, artistic or cultural interest.

The Government continues to monitor the take-up and impact of the relief on the museums sector and the public purse, particularly with respect to the sunset clause in the relief which means it is due to come to an end in March 2022.

As is the case right across Government, we are prioritising our handling of COVID-19 to support our citizens, sectors, and public bodies. However, DCMS and the Home Office are working at pace to minimise any delay and will publish a full government response as soon as possible, later this year.

The Government is committed to making the UK the safest place to be online. We intend to publish a full Government response to the Online Harms White Paper consultation later this year, and will follow this with legislation once parliamentary time allows.

As the national broadcaster, the BBC has a vital role to play in supplying information to the public in the weeks and months ahead. It has now announced a wide-ranging package of measures to help keep the nation informed, educated, and entertained through these unprecedented times.

Decisions on the content that the BBC decides to show, including whether or not it could replay the 1966 World Cup match, are a matter for the BBC which is independent of the government.

The funds in apprenticeship service accounts are available for levy-paying employers, including those in the NHS, to use for 24 months before they begin to expire on a rolling, month-by-month basis. Employers in the NHS can choose which apprenticeships they offer, how many apprenticeships they offer and when they offer the apprenticeships.

We do not anticipate that all employers who pay the levy will need or want to use all the funds available to them, but they are able to do so if they wish. Funds raised by the levy are used to support the whole apprenticeship system. This means that employers’ unused funds are not lost but are used to support apprenticeships in smaller employers and to cover the ongoing costs of apprentices already in training. There are no plans to introduce an NHS apprenticeship fund to retain unused apprenticeship levy funds in NHS budgets.

We will again be making available £2.5 billion for investment in apprenticeships in the 2021-22 financial year, which is double that spent in the 2010-11 financial year.

In August 2020, the government announced a new financial package worth £172 million to support healthcare employers increase participation in nursing degree apprenticeships.

In addition to this funding, NHS employers in England will benefit from £2,000 for each apprentice they hire as a new employee aged under 25, and £1,500 for those aged 25 and over, up until 31 March 2021 as part of the government’s Plan for Jobs.

We continue to work closely with the Department for Health and Social Care, employers, and stakeholders to make sure the NHS is fully supported to recruit the apprentices it needs to deliver high-quality care.

The first window for schools to claim funding back for exceptional costs due to COVID-19 incurred between March and July 2020 closed on 21 July 2020. Payments against claims made within the scope of the fund were made for schools and academies in September and November 2020.

In the first window, claims were also permitted for costs outside of the published scope of the fund. After a period of assessment, it was decided that the Department would not reimburse costs made outside of the standard categories.

A second claims window, covering the same period for the standard categories but with the additional category of summer holiday food, closed on 22 December 2020. Claims made in this window are due to be paid in March 2021.

The data in the following table shows the total value of claims made by schools in Cambridgeshire. The table also shows the value of payments made against these payments to date, the amount due to be paid, and the total amount of funding the Department will have paid to schools in Cambridgeshire following the payment of claims made in the second window.

Although exams are the fairest way we have of assessing what a student knows, we cannot guarantee all students will be in a position to fairly sit their exams this summer. In line with other UK nations, the Department has taken the decision to cancel this year's GCSEs, A and AS level exams.

My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, confirmed in his statement on 6 January 2021 that the grades awarded to pupils will be based on a form of teacher assessment. The department and Ofqual have launched a two-week consultation on how to fairly award all pupils a grade that supports them to progress to the next stage of their lives, including consulting specifically on four different approaches for private candidates to receive a grade. The consultation can be accessed from the Ofqual website and will be open until 29 January.

Current EU principles of equal treatment will continue to apply for those covered by the citizens’ rights provisions in the Withdrawal Agreement, the European Economic Area-European Free Trade Association (EEA-EFTA) Separation Agreement and the Swiss Citizens’ Rights Agreement. This means that EEA and Swiss nationals, and their family members, who are covered by the relevant agreements, and who have been granted settled or presettled status under the EU Settlement Scheme, will be eligible for support on broadly the same basis as now, subject to meeting the residency requirements. Close family members living overseas will be able to join an EEA or Swiss citizen resident here after the end of the transition period, where the relationship existed on 31 December 2020 and continues to exist when the person wishes to come to the UK. Children born or adopted after December 2020 are also eligible if their parent is covered by one of the Withdrawal Agreements.

The first window for schools to claim funding back for exceptional costs due to the COVID-19 outbreak incurred between March and July closed on 21 July. Payments against claims made within the scope of the fund were made for schools and academies in September.

Claims were also permitted for costs outside of the published scope of the fund. An assessment is currently being undertaken to determine which of these other costs can be included. To avoid a further delay in paying the standard costs in any claim still being assessed, we paid those to schools and academies in November. We expect to write out to schools and academies in November to confirm the outcome of the assessment and will arrange further payments at that time.

The data in the following table shows the number of claims made in total in both England and Cambridgeshire. The table also shows how many of those claims have had some level of payment made against them, and how many claims contain an element that is currently being assessed. As such, there are no unsuccessful claims at this stage. As education is a devolved power, the claims data is only representative of schools in England.

EU nationals with settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme, and who meet the relevant eligibility requirements in force at the time of course commencement, will have access to home fee status and student financial support.

We have agreed with the EU that current EU principles of equal treatment will continue to apply for those covered by the citizens’ rights provisions in the Withdrawal Agreement. This means that EU nationals resident in the UK before the end of the transition period on 31 December 2020 will be eligible for support on a similar basis to domestic students. They have until 30 June 2021 to apply to the EU Settlement Scheme.

EU nationals (and their family members) living in the UK before the end of the transition period who are migrant or frontier workers, or who are self-employed, as well as those who have the right of permanent residence (settled status), will also be eligible for maintenance support, subject to meeting the usual residence requirements.

Higher education (HE) providers have a legal responsibility to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of their employees, students and other people on site.

As part of the process of opening buildings and campuses to staff and students, HE providers should produce risk assessments for both working and communal environments. These will vary significantly based on the needs and circumstances of individual providers. Risk assessments will inform the risk mitigations to ensure all areas of the institution are COVID-19 secure.

HE providers are autonomous institutions and it is not for the government to mandate publication of these risk assessments. However, on 10 September, the department published updated guidance for providers on reopening buildings and campuses which states that providers should share their risk assessments with staff and staff unions. The guidance is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/higher-education-reopening-buildings-and-campuses/higher-education-reopening-buildings-and-campuses#risk-assessments.

The information requested is not held by this Department. It does not currently collect data on numbers of home educated children.

Parents are not under a duty to register if they are home educating their children and therefore there is not a robust basis on which the Department can reliably collect statistics on home education.

In relation to the COVID-19 outbreak, the Department is working closely with local authorities to encourage a return to full attendance in school and is monitoring the situation. Initial conversations with local authorities indicate that the majority have noticed an increase in enquiries from parents about home education. Where parents are anxious about the safety of their children returning to school, local authorities and school leaders are reinforcing that it is in the best interests of pupils to return to school.

The government has been clear that our world-leading universities, which thrive on being global institutions, will always be open to international students. Engaging closely with other government departments and the higher education sector, the department is working to reassure prospective international students that the UK higher education is ‘open for business’, remains world-class and is a safe and tolerant place to study. This includes continued work with Study UK (the government’s international student recruitment campaign led by the British Council), support for the sector-led #WeAreTogether campaign and a package of bespoke communications that will directly target prospective international students, making clear our world-leading UK offer.

Furthermore, on 22 June, with my counterparts in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, I wrote to prospective international students to outline the support and guidance that is available to international students who are considering studying in the UK from the autumn: https://study-uk.britishcouncil.org/sites/default/files/letter_to_prospective_international_students.pdf. This letter reiterates a number of flexibilities that the government has already announced for international students including, amongst other mitigations, confirmation that distance/blended learning will be permitted for the 2020/21 academic year, provided that international students’ sponsors intend to transition to face-to-face learning as soon as circumstances allow, and steps to further promote the new graduate route.

The government is committed to continuing to improve our offer to international students, which is why we have announced the new graduate route, which will be introduced in summer 2021. The graduate route will be simple and light-touch and it will permit graduates at undergraduate and masters level to remain in the UK for 2 years and PhD graduates to remain in the UK for 3 years after they have finished their studies in order to work or to look for work at any skill level. This represents a significant improvement in our offer to international students and will help ensure the UK higher education sector remains competitive internationally.

The government is also in discussions with Universities UK and other sector representatives on a regular basis to ensure that we are united in welcoming international students to the UK. In particular, we expect international students - especially those who will be subject to the 14-day self-isolation period - to be appropriately supported upon arrival by their chosen university during these unprecedented times.

In addition, on Friday 5 June, the government announced Sir Steve Smith as the UK’s new International Education Champion. Sir Steve will assist with opening up export growth opportunities for the whole UK education sector, which will include attracting international students to UK Universities. Alongside Sir Steve’s appointment, our review of the International Education Strategy this autumn will respond to the new context and the challenges that are posed by COVID-19 across all education settings to ensure we can continue to welcome international students in the future.

The Department does not hold data specifically on the income schools generate through building lettings.

We know that around 4% of schools’ total income is self-generated and in 2018-19 around half of this came from facilities and services. This includes letting premises and wrap around childcare services among other things.

We recognise that over the last three months, schools may have lost some of this income and this could put pressure on budgets.

Where schools have members of staff delivering these services, we have advised that they should first look to redeploy these staff or use existing budgets to absorb the cost. Having looked at all other options, schools can then consider using the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme to ease this pressure. The Department has provided additional guidance for schools in this situation:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-financial-support-for-education-early-years-and-childrens-social-care/coronavirus-covid-19-financial-support-for-education-early-years-and-childrens-social-care.

Healthcare students will continue to be required to repay student loans for tuition fees for the current year. Students who have opted in to paid clinical placements to support the COVID-19 response are receiving a salary and automatic NHS pension entitlement at the appropriate band. Time spent on paid placements as part of the COVID-19 response counts towards the requirement for students to complete a specified number of training hours in order to successfully complete their degrees.

Student loan borrowers are only required to make repayments from the April after they have finished their course, and once they are earning over the relevant repayment threshold. The amount borrowers are required to repay each week or month is linked to their income, not the interest rate or the amount borrowed. Repayments are calculated as a fixed percentage of earnings above the repayment threshold, and any outstanding debt is written off at the end of the loan term with no detriment to the borrower.

We have published guidance on the additional funding we are providing to schools to cover unavoidable costs incurred due to the COVID-19 outbreak that cannot be met from their existing resources. The fund is targeted towards the costs we have identified as the biggest barrier to schools operating as they need to at this challenging time.

The cost categories covered by the fund are clearly set out in the guidance below - increased premises related costs of opening over school holidays; support for free school meals for eligible children who are not in school, where schools are not using the national voucher scheme; and additional cleaning costs relating to cases or suspected cases of coronavirus, above the cost of existing cleaning arrangements.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-financial-support-for-schools/school-funding-exceptional-costs-associated-with-coronavirus-covid-19-for-the-period-march-to-july-2020

Each school's circumstances will be slightly different. Any schools that cannot achieve the small group sizes set out in the protective measures guidance (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-implementing-protective-measures-in-education-and-childcare-settings) should discuss options with their local authority or academy trust. If necessary, schools have the flexibility to focus first on continuing to provide places for priority groups and then, to support children’s early education, settings should prioritise groups of children as follows:

• early years settings - 3 and 4 year olds followed by younger age groups;
• infant schools - nursery (where applicable) and Reception;
• primary schools - nursery (where applicable), Reception and year 1.

Schools will continue to receive their budgets for the coming year, as usual. We are providing additional funding to schools, on top of their existing budgets, to cover unavoidable costs incurred due to the COVID-19 outbreak that cannot be met from their existing resources.

It is reasonable for taxpayers to expect that further public funding through this period is not adding to existing surpluses that are held by schools. In this context, schools are not eligible to make a claim for additional funding if they expect to be able to add to their existing historic surpluses in their current financial year, regardless of their school context or pupil characteristics.

However, schools are eligible for reimbursement where the additional costs associated with COVID-19 would result in a school having to use historic surpluses; would increase the size of a historic deficit; or prevent the planned repayment of a historic deficit.

Where schools have exceptional circumstances, we will consider extending limits on a case by case basis. This is set out in the guidance on the fund which is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-financial-support-for-schools/school-funding-exceptional-costs-associated-with-coronavirus-covid-19-for-the-period-march-to-july-2020.

Schools will continue to receive their budgets for the coming year, as usual. We are providing additional funding to schools, on top of their existing budgets, to cover unavoidable costs incurred due to the COVID-19 outbreak that cannot be met from their existing resources.

It is reasonable for taxpayers to expect that further public funding through this period is not adding to existing surpluses that are held by schools. In this context, schools are not eligible to make a claim for additional funding if they expect to be able to add to their existing historic surpluses in their current financial year, regardless of their school context or pupil characteristics.

However, schools are eligible for reimbursement where the additional costs associated with COVID-19 would result in a school having to use historic surpluses; would increase the size of a historic deficit; or prevent the planned repayment of a historic deficit.

Where schools have exceptional circumstances, we will consider extending limits on a case by case basis. This is set out in the guidance on the fund which is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-financial-support-for-schools/school-funding-exceptional-costs-associated-with-coronavirus-covid-19-for-the-period-march-to-july-2020.

Schools will continue to receive their budgets for the coming year, as usual. We are providing additional funding to schools, on top of their existing budgets, to cover unavoidable costs incurred due to the COVID-19 outbreak that cannot be met from their existing resources.

It is reasonable for taxpayers to expect that further public funding through this period is not adding to existing surpluses that are held by schools. In this context, schools are not eligible to make a claim for additional funding if they expect to be able to add to their existing historic surpluses in their current financial year, regardless of their school context or pupil characteristics.

However, schools are eligible for reimbursement where the additional costs associated with COVID-19 would result in a school having to use historic surpluses; would increase the size of a historic deficit; or prevent the planned repayment of a historic deficit.

Where schools have exceptional circumstances, we will consider extending limits on a case by case basis. This is set out in the guidance on the fund which is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-financial-support-for-schools/school-funding-exceptional-costs-associated-with-coronavirus-covid-19-for-the-period-march-to-july-2020.

The Department has published guidance on the additional funding we are providing to schools to cover unavoidable costs incurred due to the COVID-19 outbreak that cannot be met from their existing resources. The fund is targeted towards the costs we have identified as the biggest barrier to schools operating as they need to at this challenging time.

The cost categories covered by the fund are clearly set out in the guidance: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-financial-support-for-schools/school-funding-exceptional-costs-associated-with-coronavirus-covid-19-for-the-period-march-to-july-2020.

These are increased premises related costs of opening over school holidays; support for free school meals for eligible children who are not in school, where schools are not using the national voucher scheme; and additional cleaning costs relating to cases or suspected cases of coronavirus, above the cost of existing cleaning arrangements.

During this period of partial school closures, we are asking schools to support children at home who are eligible for and claiming benefits-related free school meals, by providing meals or food parcels through their existing food providers wherever possible. We know that many schools are successfully delivering food parcels or arranging food collections for eligible children, and we encourage this approach where it is possible.

As schools prepare to open more widely, they should speak to their school catering team or provider about the best arrangements for school meals. Schools should ensure that catering teams and food suppliers are supported to return to school to provide meals both for those children attending school and for those remaining at home who are eligible for free school meals. If a school catering service cannot provide meals or food parcels for children who are at home, the school can continue to offer vouchers to families of eligible pupils if needed.

Our guidance on free school meals during this period is available here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-free-school-meals-guidance/covid-19-free-school-meals-guidance-for-schools.

These are rapidly developing circumstances; we continue to keep the situation under review and will keep Parliament updated accordingly.

We are providing additional funding to schools, on top of their existing budgets, to cover unavoidable costs incurred due to the COVID-19 outbreak that cannot be met from their existing resources. The fund is targeted towards the costs we have identified as the biggest barrier to schools during the period of partial closure, including providing free school meals to eligible children who are not in school where the national voucher scheme is not appropriate.

As this funding relates to several categories of exceptional costs that schools may face it is reasonable to limit the overall amount that each individual school can claim for all of these costs together to make sure public funding is spent appropriately.

Where schools have exceptional circumstances, we will consider extending limits on a case by case basis. This is set out in the guidance on the fund. We will continue to review the scope of the fund and the overall support available as the COVID-19 outbreak develops.

We want to get all children and young people back into education as soon as the scientific advice allows because it is the best place for them to learn, and because we know how important it is for their mental wellbeing to have social interactions with their peers, carers and teachers.

As a result of the huge efforts everyone has made to adhere to strict social distancing measures, the transmission rate of COVID-19 has decreased and the Government’s five tests have been met. Based on all the evidence, the Department asked primary schools to welcome back children in nursery, Reception, year 1 and year 6, alongside priority groups (vulnerable children and children of critical workers), from 1 June. From 15 June, secondary schools can invite year 10 and 12 pupils (years 10 and 11 for alternative provision schools) back into school for some face-to-face support with their teachers, to supplement their remote education, which will remain the predominant mode of education for these pupils this term. Priority groups can continue to attend full-time.

Our approach is in line with other countries across Europe. Schools in countries such as Germany, Denmark and France have opened to more pupils using a similar phased approach and we will continue to watch their progress closely. Official level discussions are continuing to take place with counterparts in other countries on all aspects of the education response to the outbreak.

However, each country will make their own decisions based on a range of local information, including infection rates and the structure of their education system.

Keeping people safe continues to be the Government’s main priority. We have been clear that the re-opening of schools must be done in a way that is measured, reduces risk, is guided by science and ensures that safety remains the absolute priority.

That is why, on 11 May, we published guidance for parents and carers to help them prepare for the opening of schools and educational settings to more pupils from 1 June. This guidance is clear that children and young people who live in a household with someone who is extremely clinically vulnerable and shielding should only attend school if stringent social distancing can be adhered to; and where the child or young person is able to understand and follow those instructions. The guidance is available here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/closure-of-educational-settings-information-for-parents-and-carers/reopening-schools-and-other-educational-settings-from-1-june#should-i-keep-my-child-at-home-if-they-have-an-underlying-health-condition-or-live-with-someone-in-a-clinically-vulnerable-group.

If a child or young person lives with someone who is clinically vulnerable (but not clinically extremely vulnerable), including those who are pregnant, they can attend their education or childcare setting. The Department will continue to ensure parents and carers receive clear guidance based on the latest scientific advice.

As both my right hon. Friends, the Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer have made clear, the government will do whatever it takes to support people affected by COVID-19.

Our latest guidance on for schools is set out below:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-for-schools-and-other-educational-settings.

During this period, we are asking schools to support children who are eligible for and claiming benefits-related free school meals, by providing meals or food parcels through their existing food providers wherever possible. However, we recognise that providing meals and food parcels is not a practicable option for all schools. That is why on 31 March we launched a national voucher scheme as an alternative option, with costs covered by the Department for Education.

For the national voucher scheme, our supplier, Edenred, has indicated that orders are processed within 4 days. The latest information provided by Edenred indicates that all orders received by 14 May were processed by 18 May. It is important to note that schools can place orders for voucher codes to be scheduled for future delivery dates. For example, a school could submit an order on 4 May, requesting the voucher code be delivered to a parent on the 18 May.

As of Friday 22 May, Edenred reported that over £101.5 million of voucher codes has been converted into supermarket eGift cards by schools and families. In the week commencing 11 May, Edenred issued communications to schools to address a number of incomplete orders, which require further action from the schools, and highlighting an issue in which schools have used incorrect or invalid parent email addresses. We are continuing to work very closely with Edenred to improve the performance of the national voucher scheme. In the last fortnight, waiting times that parent and schools previously experienced when accessing the website have been reduced very significantly and Edenred continue to work tirelessly to improve the service.

These are rapidly developing circumstances; we continue to keep the situation under review and will keep Parliament updated accordingly.

For funding purposes, guided learning hours are not used in the 16 to 19 system, as providers are funded based on planned hours recorded early in the academic year. The auditing of these hours is based on evidence of planned delivery (for example, with a timetable or learning agreement). In the adult education system, we do not use the planned guided learning hours recorded on the Individualised Learner Record, as the funding is based on a series of rates that are attached to each learning aim.

We have stated in our further education operational guidance that we are reviewing the impact of Covid-19 on retention in the 16 to 19 funding formula. We will provide further guidance on this and on recording leaving dates in due course.

To help manage the financial implications due to the Covid-19 outbreak, the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) will continue to pay grant-funded providers their scheduled monthly profiled payments for the remainder of the 2019 to 2020 funding year.

For 2019 to 2020 only, the ESFA will not carry out the final reconciliation for grant-funded providers who are in receipt of the ESFA-funded Adult Education Budget (AEB), which relates to adult skills, community learning, learner and learning support and 19 to 24 traineeships. These providers will be funded in line with the current agreement schedule with no claw-back, subject to the conditions stated in the operational guidance. The conditions are that these providers will be funded unless they had already forecast significant under-delivery in their mid-year returns and that they support furloughed workers to enhance existing or develop new skills. The conditions also include that providers deliver online learning wherever possible, including for ESFA-funded AEB via existing subcontracting arrangements to support existing learners to successfully complete their courses or qualifications, or retain evidence where this is not possible.

ESFA allocations for 2020 to 2021 have been confirmed and payments will be made in line with the national profile.

Looking ahead, for 16 to 19 funding, as we will use data from the 2019 to 2020 academic year to calculate allocations for 2021 to 2022, the ESFA may need to apply a different approach to a number of elements within 16 to 19 funding. Where appropriate, we will therefore use alternative data sources to calculate allocations for 2021 to 2022 to ensure, as far as possible, that there is not a disproportionate impact on funding.

For funding purposes, guided learning hours are not used in the 16 to 19 system, as providers are funded based on planned hours recorded early in the academic year. The auditing of these hours is based on evidence of planned delivery (for example, with a timetable or learning agreement). In the adult education system, we do not use the planned guided learning hours recorded on the Individualised Learner Record, as the funding is based on a series of rates that are attached to each learning aim.

We have stated in our further education operational guidance that we are reviewing the impact of Covid-19 on retention in the 16 to 19 funding formula. We will provide further guidance on this and on recording leaving dates in due course.

To help manage the financial implications due to the Covid-19 outbreak, the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) will continue to pay grant-funded providers their scheduled monthly profiled payments for the remainder of the 2019 to 2020 funding year.

For 2019 to 2020 only, the ESFA will not carry out the final reconciliation for grant-funded providers who are in receipt of the ESFA-funded Adult Education Budget (AEB), which relates to adult skills, community learning, learner and learning support and 19 to 24 traineeships. These providers will be funded in line with the current agreement schedule with no claw-back, subject to the conditions stated in the operational guidance. The conditions are that these providers will be funded unless they had already forecast significant under-delivery in their mid-year returns and that they support furloughed workers to enhance existing or develop new skills. The conditions also include that providers deliver online learning wherever possible, including for ESFA-funded AEB via existing subcontracting arrangements to support existing learners to successfully complete their courses or qualifications, or retain evidence where this is not possible.

ESFA allocations for 2020 to 2021 have been confirmed and payments will be made in line with the national profile.

Looking ahead, for 16 to 19 funding, as we will use data from the 2019 to 2020 academic year to calculate allocations for 2021 to 2022, the ESFA may need to apply a different approach to a number of elements within 16 to 19 funding. Where appropriate, we will therefore use alternative data sources to calculate allocations for 2021 to 2022 to ensure, as far as possible, that there is not a disproportionate impact on funding.

As both my right hon. Friends the Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer have made clear, the government will do whatever it takes to support people affected by COVID-19.

We are encouraging schools to use existing catering arrangements to provide meals or food parcels to pupils who are eligible for free school meals while they are staying at home. Where this is not possible, the Department for Education has developed a national voucher scheme as an alternative to support schools with this process.

We are working very closely with our supplier, Edenred, to improve the performance of the national voucher scheme, including in relation to the waiting times that parents and schools have experienced when accessing the website to redeem their voucher codes or place orders. Edenred has reported that over £65 million worth of voucher codes has been redeemed into supermarket eGift cards by schools and families through the scheme as of Monday 11 May.

Once an eCode has been ordered, it will be sent within four days. Edenred is keeping schools informed of the status of orders once they have been placed. Schools can choose to ‘bulk order’ eCodes for regular distribution (e.g. on a weekly basis), in which case the eCode will be sent on or before the date specified. The eCodes must then be redeemed to create an eGift card, which will be received within 24 hours. We continue to work closely with our supplier and with schools to increase the speed at which orders can be processed.

We are very grateful to families and schools for their understanding and patience while we upgrade this service to meet increased demand.

These are rapidly developing circumstances; we continue to keep the situation under review and will keep Parliament updated accordingly.

As per published funding guidance, to count as retained:

• For academic programmes: a student must stay on or complete at least one of the academic aims in their programme in the academic year.
• For vocational programmes: a student must stay on or complete their core aim in the academic year.

Year 13 students leaving education to take up a full time job or volunteering opportunity and who do not meet the above conditions, would not be count as retained. 16 to 19 providers have been asked to continue to provide care for vulnerable students and the dependants of key workers, and provide education remotely for other students.

However, we have stated in our Further Education operational guidance that we are reviewing the impact of COVID-19 on student retention in the 16 to 19 funding formula and will provide further guidance on this and on recording leaving dates in due course. The guidance is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-maintaining-further-education-provision/maintaining-education-and-skills-training-provision-further-education-providers.

As both my right hon. Friends the Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer have made clear, the government will do whatever it takes to support people affected by COVID-19.

During this period, we are asking schools to support children eligible for free school meals by providing meals or food parcels through their existing food providers wherever possible. We know that many schools are successfully delivering food parcels or arranging food collections for eligible children and we encourage this approach where it is possible.

However, we recognise that providing meals and food parcels is not a practicable option for all schools. That is why on 31 March we launched a national voucher scheme as an alternative option, with costs covered by the Department for Education.

We understand that other approaches, such as providing food parcels or purchasing vouchers for shops currently not included in the national scheme, may mean that schools incur additional expenses. Guidance is available setting out how we will compensate schools who incur these additional costs in providing free school meals or vouchers: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-financial-support-for-schools.

We are monitoring the use of the national voucher scheme on a daily basis. As of 28 April, our supplier Edenred reported that over 16,500 schools had placed orders for the scheme and as of 11 May, Edenred reported that more than £65 million worth of voucher codes had been redeemed into supermarket eGift cards by schools and families through the scheme.

If a family does not have an email address, the school can select an eGift card on the parent or carer’s behalf and print and post the eGift card to them.

We are working very closely with our supplier, Edenred, to improve the performance of the national voucher scheme, including in relation to the waiting times that parents have experienced when accessing the website to redeem their voucher codes. We are very grateful to families and schools for their understanding and patience while we upgrade this service to meet increased demand.

These are rapidly developing circumstances; we continue to keep the situation under review and will keep Parliament updated accordingly.

As both my right hon. Friends the Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer have made clear, the government will do whatever it takes to support people affected by COVID-19.

During this period, we are asking schools to support children eligible for free school meals by providing meals or food parcels through their existing food providers wherever possible. We know that many schools are successfully delivering food parcels or arranging food collections for eligible children and we encourage this approach where it is possible.

However, we recognise that providing meals and food parcels is not a practicable option for all schools. That is why on 31 March we launched a national voucher scheme as an alternative option, with costs covered by the Department for Education.

We understand that other approaches, such as providing food parcels or purchasing vouchers for shops currently not included in the national scheme, may mean that schools incur additional expenses. Guidance is available setting out how we will compensate schools who incur these additional costs in providing free school meals or vouchers: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-financial-support-for-schools.

We are monitoring the use of the national voucher scheme on a daily basis. As of 28 April, our supplier Edenred reported that over 16,500 schools had placed orders for the scheme and as of 11 May, Edenred reported that more than £65 million worth of voucher codes had been redeemed into supermarket eGift cards by schools and families through the scheme.

If a family does not have an email address, the school can select an eGift card on the parent or carer’s behalf and print and post the eGift card to them.

We are working very closely with our supplier, Edenred, to improve the performance of the national voucher scheme, including in relation to the waiting times that parents have experienced when accessing the website to redeem their voucher codes. We are very grateful to families and schools for their understanding and patience while we upgrade this service to meet increased demand.

These are rapidly developing circumstances; we continue to keep the situation under review and will keep Parliament updated accordingly.

During this period, we are asking schools to support pupils eligible for benefits-related free school meals by providing meals or food parcels through their existing food providers wherever possible. However, we recognise that providing meals and food parcels is not a practicable option for all schools. That is why on 31 March we launched a national voucher scheme as an alternative option, with costs covered by the department.

Voucher codes are being processed and many thousands of families are redeeming them. As of Tuesday 12 May, our supplier, Edenred, reported that over £70 million worth of voucher codes have been redeemed into supermarket e-gift cards by schools and families. Edenred has confirmed that it has issued all voucher codes ordered by schools that were due for delivery between 20 April and 3 May – the period specified in this question.

Edenred is also contacting schools that have started but not yet completed the ordering process, to resolve these incomplete orders. It is also contacting schools where voucher code emails to parents have bounced back, for example, where the school has provided an invalid email address for a parent.

Since its launch, we have been working very closely with Edenred to improve the performance of the national voucher scheme, including significantly reducing any waiting times that parents and schools previously experienced when accessing the website. We are very grateful to families and schools for their understanding and patience during these upgrades to the system.

These are rapidly developing circumstances. We continue to keep the situation under review and will keep Parliament updated accordingly.

As both my right hon. Friends, the Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer, have made clear, the Government will do whatever it takes to support people affected by COVID-19.

The national voucher scheme for free school meals currently includes a variety of supermarkets. Initially, the scheme included supermarkets that already have e-gift card arrangements in place with our supplier, Edenred, including Asda, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Morrisons, Marks & Spencer and Waitrose. On Monday 27 April, we added Aldi to this list and on Wednesday 29 April, we added McColl’s. We have been working with other supermarkets to encourage them to join. Any additional supermarkets would need to have the right infrastructure to deliver e-gift cards across their network of stores.

Schools are best placed to make decisions about the most appropriate free school meal arrangements for eligible pupils during this period. This can include food parcel arrangements, alternative voucher arrangements or provision through the national voucher scheme. Our guidance for schools sets out that they can be reimbursed for costs incurred where the national voucher scheme is not suitable for their families. This can include alternative voucher arrangements with supermarkets that are not part of the national voucher scheme.

Schools are best placed to make decisions about the most appropriate free school meal arrangements for eligible pupils during this period. This can include food parcel arrangements, alternative voucher arrangements or provision through the national voucher scheme. Our guidance for schools sets out that they can be reimbursed for costs incurred where the national voucher scheme is not suitable for their families. This can include alternative voucher arrangements with supermarkets that are not part of the national voucher scheme.

We have been working closely with the Co-op and welcome their efforts to support families across the country. We thank all supermarkets for their hard work during these challenging times.

These are rapidly developing circumstances. We continue to keep the situation under review and will keep Parliament updated accordingly.

We are discussing arrangements for the Autumn GCSE and A level exam series with the exam boards and with Ofqual, the independent qualifications regulator. Ofqual will set out further proposals for consultation as soon as possible.

As both my right hon. Friends the Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer have made clear, the government will do whatever it takes to support people affected by COVID-19.

During this period, we are asking schools to support children eligible for free school meals by providing meals or food parcels through their existing food providers wherever possible. We know that many schools are successfully delivering food parcels or arranging food collections for eligible children and we encourage this approach where it is possible.

However, we recognise that providing meals and food parcels is not a practicable option for all schools. That is why on 31 March we launched a national voucher scheme as an alternative option, with costs covered by the Department for Education.

We understand that other approaches, such as providing food parcels or purchasing vouchers for shops currently not included in the national scheme, may mean that schools incur additional expenses. Guidance is available setting out how we will compensate schools who incur these additional costs in providing free school meals or vouchers: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-financial-support-for-schools.

We are monitoring the use of the national voucher scheme on a daily basis. As of 28 April, our supplier Edenred reported that over 16,500 schools had placed orders for the scheme and as of 11 May, Edenred reported that more than £65 million worth of voucher codes had been redeemed into supermarket eGift cards by schools and families through the scheme.

If a family does not have an email address, the school can select an eGift card on the parent or carer’s behalf and print and post the eGift card to them.

We are working very closely with our supplier, Edenred, to improve the performance of the national voucher scheme, including in relation to the waiting times that parents have experienced when accessing the website to redeem their voucher codes. We are very grateful to families and schools for their understanding and patience while we upgrade this service to meet increased demand.

These are rapidly developing circumstances; we continue to keep the situation under review and will keep Parliament updated accordingly.

As both my right hon. Friends the Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer have made clear, the Government will do whatever it takes to support people affected by COVID-19. We recognise that this is an extremely challenging time for leaders and staff in our education and care settings.

In the current circumstances, it is right that routine Ofsted inspections in the school, further education, early years, local authority and care sectors are suspended. Ofsted retains the power to inspect in all these areas, and will use its powers if it has significant concerns. Ofsted also continues to register and regulate children’s social care, childminding and nurseries.

No date has been set for a return to routine inspection at this time. We will continue to work closely with HM Chief Inspector, and the sectors Ofsted inspects, in determining when it will be appropriate to re-start routine inspections.

We continue to keep the situation under review and will keep Parliament updated accordingly.

Our national voucher scheme is playing a significant role in ensuring that eligible pupils can still receive free school meals while they are staying at home due to the coronavirus outbreak. The scheme offers a valuable service where schools are unable to arrange meals or food parcels through their existing food suppliers.

In the maintaining educational provision guidance, we ask schools to continue to provide care for a limited number of children, including those who are vulnerable and children whose parents are critical to the coronavirus (COVID-19) response and cannot be safely cared for at home. Some schools are making their own arrangements for vulnerable children and schools are providing funding to support this.

The value of the vouchers redeemed into gift cards by parents and schools has increased significantly since the start of the summer term. Edenred has reported that over £29m worth of voucher codes has been redeemed into supermarket eGift cards by schools and families through the scheme as of Monday 27 April. Edenred has also reported that over 15,500 schools had placed orders for the scheme as of Wednesday 22 April.

As my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, announced to the House on 18 March, the Government has taken the difficult decision to cancel all examinations due to take place in schools and colleges in England this summer, as part of the fight to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

The Department’s priority is to ensure that students can move on as planned to the next stage of their lives, including starting university, college or sixth form courses or apprenticeships, in the autumn. For GCSE, AS and A-level students, we will make sure they are awarded a grade which reflects their work. Our intention is that a grade will be awarded this summer based on the best available evidence, including any non-examination assessment that students have already completed. Students will also have the option to sit an examination, as soon as is reasonably possible after the beginning of the academic year, if they wish to do so.

The independent regulator of qualifications, Ofqual, is working urgently with examination boards to set out proposals for how this process will work and to look at the options available in relation to external candidates, including home educated students.

Further information will be published as soon as possible.

We are working hard to mitigate the impacts of COVID-19 on all parts of our society, including individuals and businesses.

Whilst individual insurance arrangements are a matter for providers to discuss with their insurers and we are unable to give legal advice on insurance cover, we understand that in many cases, the insurance that early years providers have will not cover them for income lost during COVID-19 related closures. That is one of the reasons why we announced on 17 March that we will continue to pay funding to local authorities for the early years entitlements for 2, 3 and 4-year-olds and that funding would not be clawed back from local authorities when children are unable to attend due to COVID-19.

We expect local authorities to follow the Department for Education’s position and to continue paying all childminders, schools and nurseries, for the early years entitlements – even if providers have suspended delivery of those entitlements due to COVID-19. This protects a significant proportion of early years providers’ income. The government also announced a 12 month business rates holiday for private nurseries and set out a range of wider support for businesses and workers to reduce the impact of COVID-19, which many early years providers will benefit from.

We will be keeping under close review what further support businesses and workers may require.

Guidance on closures of early years settings, including support for workers and businesses, is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-early-years-and-childcare-closures/coronavirus-covid-19-early-years-and-childcare-closures#funding.

EU Exit legislation has carried across the statutory requirements of the EU regime relating to standards of protection. We now operate an autonomous GB pesticides regime, and decisions on standards are a matter for the UK Government and Devolved Administrations. EU pesticides legislation continues to apply in Northern Ireland, under the terms of the NI Protocol.

Decisions on pesticide authorisation are based on expert assessment by the Health and Safety Executive. The independent UK Expert Committee on Pesticides advises on novel scientific issues. The scientific risk assessment relies upon detailed data requirements and processes, carried across from EU law at the end of the Transition Period.

Risk assessments made for pesticide active substance approvals are subject to public consultation. These assessments establish the key risks posed by pesticide substances in representative conditions of use. There are requirements in the retained pesticides regulation to make the applicant’s summary dossier, the draft assessment report (on which a period of time is permitted for written comments) and the conclusion publicly available. There are no similar requirements in the regulation in respect of applications for emergency authorisation. We continue making decisions on pesticides use based on scientific risk assessments, while aiming to achieve high levels of protection for people, wildlife and the environment.

The Government is committed to the continued effective implementation of our international obligations under the Aarhus Convention on access to information, public participation in decision making and access to justice in environmental matters. The Government strongly supports the contribution the Convention makes to enhancing environmental protection and remains committed to its objectives. The three pillars of the Convention have been implemented via a number of measures, including legislation such as the Environmental Information Regulations 2004.

The Food Resilience Industry Forum continues to meet on a quarterly basis, with the next meeting scheduled for 16 September.

Defra also continues to have a broad range of engagement mechanisms through which stakeholders can raise and address impacts affecting the food chain. Defra intends to continue to use focused task and finish groups as a means of bringing together representatives of the sector, and the relevant expertise from across the Government, to tackle specific issues.

No power has been conferred specifically for the purpose of abolishing all VI1 forms, and, because abolishing VI1 forms would involve the repeal of retained direct principal EU legislation, new primary legislation would be required to confer such a power. It would also be possible for new primary legislation to be made which removes the provisions requiring the use of the VI1 form directly.

The School Milk Scheme will continue to run in the 2021-22 academic year.

My Rt Hon Friend the Environment Secretary has discussed with the Secretary of State for Transport the logistical challenges for the food industry caused by a shortfall of HGV drivers.

Officials in both departments are also working together on requests from some sector industries to extend the driver delivery hours under Article 14(2) of Regulation (EC) No 561/2006 to accommodate deliveries.

In addition, officials from Defra and DfT continue to meet regularly to discuss the wider issue of driver shortfalls and the potential impact on the UK food supply chain, including food shortages and food waste. Defra is gathering regular intelligence from the food industry through engagement, including supermarkets to inform solutions. Based on Defra's evidence assessment, major supermarkets are experiencing shortages of fresh produce and increased food waste due to driver shortages. However, the level of adverse impact on their logistics operations has been minimal with no major food product shelf shortages reported.

Driver shortages is a long term issue requiring long term solutions. Options being considered in that space include the Department for Education's Large Goods Vehicles apprenticeship scheme; the Department for Work and Pensions' action to encourage more job seekers into the profession; and increased Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency testing capacity.

Overall, the impact of the EU-UK Free Trade Agreement (FTA) has had minimal impact on the UK food supply which is highly resilient. The food industry is well versed in dealing with scenarios that can impact food supply. Consumers in the UK have access to a range of sources of food, including countless domestic food producers and imports from a range of stable sources.

My Rt Hon Friend the Environment Secretary has discussed with the Secretary of State for Transport the logistical challenges for the food industry caused by a shortfall of HGV drivers.

Officials in both departments are also working together on requests from some sector industries to extend the driver delivery hours under Article 14(2) of Regulation (EC) No 561/2006 to accommodate deliveries.

In addition, officials from Defra and DfT continue to meet regularly to discuss the wider issue of driver shortfalls and the potential impact on the UK food supply chain, including food shortages and food waste. Defra is gathering regular intelligence from the food industry through engagement, including supermarkets to inform solutions. Based on Defra's evidence assessment, major supermarkets are experiencing shortages of fresh produce and increased food waste due to driver shortages. However, the level of adverse impact on their logistics operations has been minimal with no major food product shelf shortages reported.

Driver shortages is a long term issue requiring long term solutions. Options being considered in that space include the Department for Education's Large Goods Vehicles apprenticeship scheme; the Department for Work and Pensions' action to encourage more job seekers into the profession; and increased Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency testing capacity.

Overall, the impact of the EU-UK Free Trade Agreement (FTA) has had minimal impact on the UK food supply which is highly resilient. The food industry is well versed in dealing with scenarios that can impact food supply. Consumers in the UK have access to a range of sources of food, including countless domestic food producers and imports from a range of stable sources.

My Rt Hon Friend the Environment Secretary has discussed with the Secretary of State for Transport the logistical challenges for the food industry caused by a shortfall of HGV drivers.

Officials in both departments are also working together on requests from some sector industries to extend the driver delivery hours under Article 14(2) of Regulation (EC) No 561/2006 to accommodate deliveries.

In addition, officials from Defra and DfT continue to meet regularly to discuss the wider issue of driver shortfalls and the potential impact on the UK food supply chain, including food shortages and food waste. Defra is gathering regular intelligence from the food industry through engagement, including supermarkets to inform solutions. Based on Defra's evidence assessment, major supermarkets are experiencing shortages of fresh produce and increased food waste due to driver shortages. However, the level of adverse impact on their logistics operations has been minimal with no major food product shelf shortages reported.

Driver shortages is a long term issue requiring long term solutions. Options being considered in that space include the Department for Education's Large Goods Vehicles apprenticeship scheme; the Department for Work and Pensions' action to encourage more job seekers into the profession; and increased Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency testing capacity.

Overall, the impact of the EU-UK Free Trade Agreement (FTA) has had minimal impact on the UK food supply which is highly resilient. The food industry is well versed in dealing with scenarios that can impact food supply. Consumers in the UK have access to a range of sources of food, including countless domestic food producers and imports from a range of stable sources.

When the Sustainable Farming Incentive begins in 2022 it will be open to Basic Payment Scheme recipients only, but, subject to what we learn from piloting the Sustainable Farming Incentive, as the scheme expands we intend to open eligibility so that in 2024 it is open to all farmers. Our aim is to make it attractive and straightforward for everyone to take part, including the many farmers who are not currently in an agri-environment scheme.

We only monitor commercial farms,[1] which account for 98% of total agricultural activity. At this stage it is not possible to estimate how many farms with less than 5 hectares will benefit from the environmental land management schemes.

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[1] Commercial farms are those with significant levels of farming activity. These significant levels are classified as any holding with more than 5 hectares of agricultural land, 1 hectare of orchards, 0.5 hectares of vegetables or 0.1 hectares of protected crops, or more than 10 cows, 50 pigs, 20 sheep, 20 goats or 1,000 poultry.

We will soon be announcing the initial standards that we will be offering to farmers in the Sustainable Farming Incentive scheme for 2022. The scheme will expand over time and evolve to deliver continued progress against our climate and environmental priorities and reflect any changes to the regulatory baseline.

The scheme will give farmers an opportunity to secure a complementary income stream to their farm business by undertaking sustainable farming actions that benefit the wider environment.

It will be up to individual farmers to decide which standards they take up on their farm and how much of their land they decide to put into the Sustainable Farming Incentive scheme, alongside other agri-environment schemes that such as Countryside Stewardship or Environmental Stewardship.

To support the development of the environmental land management schemes, we are working with a number of stakeholders to help us understand how the building blocks of the future schemes could work in practice on common land. One of our key mechanisms for working with farmers and land managers is through our 78 tests and trials which cover a range of different geographies, sectors and farm types. We have three tests and trials focused on commons and the results of these tests and trials are feeding into the development of the Sustainable Farming Incentive and other environmental land management schemes.

As set out in the Agricultural Transition Plan this Government will provide funding to create lasting opportunities for new entrants to access land, infrastructure, and support to establish successful and innovative businesses.

We are currently engaging a wide range of stakeholders on key issues in the design of the scheme. We will report more detail of the scheme in Autumn of 2021 and aim to launch the scheme in 2022.

In addition, the Government is contributing towards the establishment of The Institute for Agriculture and Horticulture that will help make farming a more attractive industry to new entrants. It will provide a skills framework for continuing professional development creating clear career pathways and promoting the sector as a progressive career choice to those wishing to enter the industry.

We will soon be announcing the initial standards that we will be offering to farmers in the Sustainable Farming Incentive scheme for 2022. The scheme will expand over time and evolve to deliver continued progress against our climate and environmental priorities, while encouraging sustainable food production and reflect any changes to the regulatory baseline.

The scheme will give farmers an opportunity to secure a complementary income stream to their farm business by undertaking sustainable farming actions that benefit the wider environment.

It will be up to individual farmers to decide which standards they take up on their farm and how much of their land they decide to put into the Sustainable Farming Incentive scheme, alongside other agri-environment schemes that such as Countryside Stewardship or Environmental Stewardship.

The Local Nature Recovery and Landscape Recovery schemes which farmers and landowner swill also be able to take part in will be piloted in 2022, in advance of launch in 2024.

Unfortunately we cannot provide accurate estimates of the proportion of the whole farming population in England claiming Basic Payment Scheme (BPS). Estimates of the entire farming population are collected using criteria which do not correspond to those governing how BPS claimants are classified, and therefore no direct comparison can be made.

Over the last five years (2016-2020) the following numbers of farms/businesses in England received a payment from the BPS:

2016 - 85,837

2017 - 85,127

2018 - 84,020

2019 - 83,947

2020 - 83,852

BPS is a devolved matter and the information provided relates to England only and is for registered farms/businesses.

The UK retained Council Regulation (EC) No 834/2007 and Commission Regulations (EC) Nos 889/2008 and 1235/2008 for organics. These regulations state that any business involved in activities at any stage of production, preparation, import and distribution of organic products must be certified by an approved certification body. This is to ensure the integrity of organic produce from the grower to the consumer.

Defra approves six control bodies to operate in the UK. These are private bodies which set their own fee structures for certification. Any information regarding fees for particular businesses would be commercially sensitive information, private to the individual business and their control body. As a result, it would not be possible for us to make an assessment of the added costs for wine importers.

Defra is committed to supporting wine businesses across the country to adapt to new processes for importing wine into the UK as a result of new trading arrangements. Our overriding objective is to ensure these processes are as simple as possible.

We have not conducted a full assessment of any additional costs which UK wine importers may face following the end of the labelling grace period with the EU. However, transitional measures are currently in place until September 2022. This period will help minimise costs to businesses from changes stemming from our exit from the EU. This will provide us with enough time to assess the matter and understand any implications for importers.

Defra only produces statistics on farms with significant levels of farming activity (a). Farms with less than five hectares (and small levels of other farming activities) fall below these thresholds so we are unable to estimate how many farms have less than five hectares. The farms defined with significant levels of farming activity account for at least 98% of agricultural activity in the country and enable us to produce national estimates without burdening the smallest farms who do not generally produce for the market.

(a) Significant levels of farming are defined as more than five hectares of agricultural land, one hectare of orchards, 0.5 hectares of vegetables or 0.1 hectares of protected crops, or more than 10 cows, 50 pigs, 20 sheep, 20 goats or 1,000 poultry.

Where appropriate we are extending those Higher Level Stewardship agreements into 2022, and we are looking at how best to extend these further over the agricultural transition period. Agreement holders who are not offered an extension are encouraged to apply to Countryside Stewardship. When the new environmental land management schemes are fully rolled out, we will make sure there is a smooth transition for those in existing agri-environment schemes or involved in our pilots.

Defra’s approach to regulation of pesticides is underpinned by the precautionary principle. That is why, for example, we supported a ban on the use of certain neonicotinoids to treat crops including sugar beet in 2018 and removed the general authorisation for their use. Given what the current science tells us about these pesticides, they can only be authorised for use in special circumstances, where strict regulatory requirements are met, including when there is a threat of serious risk to a crop that cannot be addressed by other means. The Government took advice on this specific application from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), the Expert Committee on Pesticides and our own Chief Scientific Adviser. Emergency authorisation was granted for the use of a neonicotinoid seed treatment this year to address a potential serious risk to the sugar beet crop, with strict controls on use built in to minimise the potential risks to the environment.

The HSE advised that they considered many aspects of the environmental risk assessment met the requirements for standard authorisation. The Government concluded that the remaining potential risks could be mitigated to an acceptably low level and that, with the strict conditions of use in place, these were outweighed by the substantial benefits to crop production from the use of Cruiser SB if 2021 were to be a year of high pest pressure. One of the conditions attached was to ensure that the product would only be used if the pest pressure was predicted to pass a certain threshold. Ultimately, this threshold for usage was not met and so the neonicotinoid was not used on sugar beet crops.

The reasons for the decision to issue this emergency authorisation for the product Cruiser SB were set out more fully in the Statement on the decision to issue - with strict conditions - emergency authorisation to use a product containing a neonicotinoid to treat sugar beet seed in 2021 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

In 2019, the UK had a total area of 485,000 hectares of land farmed organically (i.e. the fully converted area and area under conversion), an increase of 2.4% compared with 2018. The organically farmed area represents 2.7% of the total farmed area on agricultural holdings in the UK. The newly updated figures from the Defra statistics team covering 2020 will be available next month.

It is difficult to make a prediction of what the figures will be in 2030 given the inherent uncertainties in predicting growth of the sector, which will ultimately be up to the business decisions of individual producers.

We believe that the best way to ensure a sustainable and productive organics sector is to take a producer led approach, allowing individual farmers to make decisions about the rate at which they want to expand their land under organic management based on their own best judgement and the market conditions. The schemes that reward environmental land management will also provide incentives for farmers to support the environment and communities.

The new environmental land management schemes will be most successful if as many land managers as possible across England take up the schemes, as this will help us to maximise the environmental benefits. More than 3,000 farmers and land managers with a wide range of farm and land types are helping to co-design the new schemes through tests and trials. Uplands provide rich opportunities for the provision of environmental public goods and participation in agri-environment schemes is currently higher for upland farmers than any other farm type, suggesting they should be well placed to participate in future agri-environment schemes. We know there have been some barriers to participation in previous agri-environment schemes for uplands land managers. Over the course of the scheme pilots we will continue to work with farmers and experts including uplands agricultural businesses to make sure we make the right offer for the environmental land management schemes.

There have been no detections of Oxamyl, the Active ingredient of Vydate 10G, in the Anglian region since April 2021. Monitoring for Oxamyl is included in the Environment Agency’s regular sample collections taken weekly at three sites in Anglian region. This will continue in 2021.

Following an assessment of all monitoring data for Oxamyl in Anglian region since 1 January 2016 (886 samples), Oxamyl is not classed as persistent in either soil or water.

There have been no detections of Oxamyl, the Active ingredient of Vydate 10G, in the Anglian region since April 2021. Monitoring for Oxamyl is included in the Environment Agency’s regular sample collections taken weekly at three sites in Anglian region. This will continue in 2021.

Following an assessment of all monitoring data for Oxamyl in Anglian region since 1 January 2016 (886 samples), Oxamyl is not classed as persistent in either soil or water.

We know that many farmers in the uplands currently rely on Direct Payments. That is why we have designed policies to allow for a managed adjustment, a seven-year transition, that will give farmers, including in upland areas, time to adapt to the changes.

Farmers will be able to offset the removal of these payments in a number of ways, including farm efficiency improvements, diversification and receiving money under our new environmental land management schemes.

There is clear evidence showing that the scope for productivity improvement would enable farms, on average, to remain profitable following the withdrawal of the current payments. We are providing grants and targeted resilience support to facilitate that, as well as investing in longer term measures such as research and development. We also anticipate rent adjustments which could benefit upland tenant farmers.

We are planning to publish further analysis by autumn this year. This will analyse farm incomes and how these will change between now and 2027.

Our latest preliminary findings are consistent with previous analysis that is publicly available, and we find that uplands farmers are reliant on Direct Payments, to the extent that their Direct Payments make up essentially all of their annual profit or farm business income.

However, the analysis also shows that there are opportunities for upland farmers. For instance, uplands farmers currently provide significant environmental benefits and will be well placed to benefit as more public money shall be provided through environmental land management payments.

The Government published a comprehensive evidence compendium, updated in September 2019. This set out the impacts of removing Direct Payments, including analysis by sector, location in England and type of land tenure. It also provided analysis on how farm businesses, across all sectors, can offset the impact of Direct Payments.

We are planning to publish further analysis by autumn this year. This will analyse farm incomes and how these will change between now and 2027.

Our latest preliminary findings are consistent with previous analysis that is publicly available. We know that those farm types which are prevalent in the uplands and areas of common land, particularly grazing livestock and tenanted farmers, currently have a high reliance on Direct Payments.

These farms can be rewarded under our new environmental land management schemes. They are therefore well placed to benefit as more public money is provided through such schemes and we will ensure that these schemes work for upland farmers. In designing these schemes, we know that the payment rates need to be attractive to achieve the levels of uptake and environmental outcomes we need to see, as well as set at a fair rate.

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 to understand labour demand and supply and help our world-leading growers access the labour they need.

The Seasonal Workers Pilot opened in 2019 and is designed to test the effectiveness of our immigration system at supporting UK growers during peak production periods, whilst maintaining robust immigration control. It is also providing a valuable source of labour for the fruit and vegetable growers of the UK helping to ensure the food security of the country. On 22 December 2020, the Government extended the Seasonal Workers Pilot for one year, and expanded the number of visas from 10,000 to 30,000.

The expanded Seasonal Workers Pilot will continue to operate in the edible horticulture sector, to support farmers growing UK fruit and vegetables. This is the sector of agriculture which has the highest dependency on seasonal labour, and is needed to ensure critical food supply chains in the UK are maintained.

This Pilot is not designed to meet the full labour needs of the horticultural sector. Rather we are seeking to evaluate the immigration pilot’s ability to assist in alleviating labour shortages during peak production periods.

In 2021 and beyond, businesses will continue to be able to rely on EU nationals living in the UK with settled or pre-settled status. Almost 4.8 million EU citizens and their families have been granted status under the EU Settlement Scheme to date, and the application deadline is 30 June 2021. EU nationals who have settled status can continue to travel to the UK to do seasonal work in 2021.

The Government is also encouraging the horticulture sector to make employment more attractive to UK domestic workers through offering training, careers options, wage increases and to invest in automation technology.

The information requested on estimates made for the amounts of horticultural produce that went to waste in 2020, or that could go to waste in 2021 is not held by Defra.

Emergency authorisation allows, in narrow circumstances, a short-term derogation from the normal requirements for pesticide authorisation. Emergency authorisation of a pesticide product for limited and controlled use may be granted in special circumstances where, strict regulatory requirements are met, and the authorisation appears necessary to control a danger that cannot be controlled by any other reasonable means. In assessing whether the requirements are met, the decision maker considers the benefit of granting an emergency authorisation and the potential harm from the proposed use of the product, taking into account relevant mitigation measures.

In the case of Vydate 10G, used to control nematodes, grower groups submitted applications earlier this year for emergency authorisation for use on a range of crops. Each of these applications were considered separately against the legal requirements and on the basis of the available information on issues including the risk to the crop, the availability of alternative means of control and the benefits and risks of use. The application for use on a small proportion of the sugar beet crop was granted, with conditions, as the requirements for emergency authorisation were considered to be met.

Emergency authorisation allows, in narrow circumstances, a short-term derogation from the normal requirements for pesticide authorisation. Emergency authorisation of a pesticide product for limited and controlled use may be granted in special circumstances where, strict regulatory requirements are met, and the authorisation appears necessary to control a danger that cannot be controlled by any other reasonable means. In assessing whether the requirements are met, the decision maker considers the benefit of granting an emergency authorisation and the potential harm from the proposed use of the product, taking into account relevant mitigation measures.

In the case of Vydate 10G, used to control nematodes, grower groups submitted applications earlier this year for emergency authorisation for use on a range of crops. Each of these applications were considered separately against the legal requirements and on the basis of the available information on issues including the risk to the crop, the availability of alternative means of control and the benefits and risks of use. The application for use on a small proportion of the sugar beet crop was granted, with conditions, as the requirements for emergency authorisation were considered to be met.

This year Defra is working closely with industry to ensure that our farmers and growers have the labour they need for 2021 and beyond. Defra is regularly speaking with recruiters, growers, unions and associations, and making use of all available information to understand the national labour supply picture.

The Seasonal Workers Pilot has been expanded for one year, with 30,000 visas granted for workers to come to the UK, from EU or non-EU countries, for a period of up to six months to pick and package fruit and vegetables on our farms.

In 2021 and beyond, food and farming businesses will continue to be able to rely on EU nationals living in the UK with settled or pre-settled status. Almost 4.8 million EU citizens and their families have been granted settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme to date, and the application deadline is 30 June 2021. EU nationals who have settled status can continue to travel to the UK to do seasonal work in 2021.

To help with these efforts, Defra will build on the success of last year’s domestic recruitment campaign, working with industry and DWP to raise awareness of career opportunities within the horticulture sector among UK workers. We will also explore the potential for automation to meet future labour demands of the sector.

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 to understand labour demand and supply and help our world-leading growers access the labour they need.

The Seasonal Workers Pilot opened in 2019 and is designed to test the effectiveness of our immigration system at supporting UK growers during peak production periods, whilst maintaining robust immigration control. It is also providing a valuable source of labour for the fruit and vegetable growers of the UK helping to ensure the food security of the country. On 22 December 2020, the Government extended the Seasonal Workers Pilot for one year, and expanded the number of visas from 10,000 to 30,000.

The expanded Seasonal Workers Pilot will continue to operate in the edible horticulture sector, to support farmers growing UK fruit and vegetables. This is the sector of agriculture which has the highest dependency on seasonal labour, and is needed to ensure critical food supply chains in the UK are maintained.

This Pilot is not designed to meet the full labour needs of the horticultural sector. Rather we are seeking to evaluate the immigration pilot’s ability to assist in alleviating labour shortages during peak production periods.

In 2021 and beyond, businesses will continue to be able to rely on EU nationals living in the UK with settled or pre-settled status. Almost 4.8 million EU citizens and their families have been granted status under the EU Settlement Scheme to date, and the application deadline is 30 June 2021. EU nationals who have settled status can continue to travel to the UK to do seasonal work in 2021.

The Government is also encouraging the horticulture sector to make employment more attractive to UK domestic workers through offering training, careers options, wage increases and to invest in automation technology.

The information requested on estimates made for the amounts of horticultural produce that went to waste in 2020, or that could go to waste in 2021 is not held by Defra.

In the early months of 2021, Defra officials have made themselves readily available to work with UK traders, EU port officials and colleagues in other Government departments to rapidly unblock issues, ensure that there is feedback from Member States and keep trade flowing.

Between January and March 2021 the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) issued 40,300 certificates for exports to the EU, although some of these may be for consignments not yet exported. We are aware of 17 consignments that were rejected at EU Border Control Posts during this period. There may be more not known to Defra or APHA. Of the 17 rejected consignments, solutions may have been found to ensure safe entry into the EU.

The Government is committed to the neonicotinoid restrictions put in place in 2018 and to the sustainable use of pesticides. Specific requirements for granting an emergency authorisation are laid out in pesticide regulations. In assessing whether the requirements are met, the decision maker considers the benefit of granting an emergency authorisation against an assessment of the potential harm from the proposed use of the product, taking into account the proposed conditions. This specific exemption refers to a non-flowering plant, grown in the East of England only, and we took advice on this from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), the Expert Committee on Pesticides and our own Chief Scientific Adviser.

The HSE advised that many aspects of the environmental risk assessment met the requirements for standard authorisation. The Government concluded that the remaining risks identified could be mitigated to an acceptably low level and that, with the strict conditions of use in place, these were outweighed by the substantial benefits to crop production from the use of Cruiser SB if 2021 were to be a year of high pest pressure. One of the conditions attached was to ensure that the product would only be used if the pest pressure was predicted to pass a certain threshold. Ultimately, this threshold for usage was not met and so the neonicotinoid was not used on sugar beet crops.

The reasons for the decision to issue this emergency authorisation for the product Cruiser SB were set out more fully in the Statement on the decision to issue - with strict conditions - emergency authorisation to use a product containing a neonicotinoid to treat sugar beet seed in 2021 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

Defra applies the precautionary principle to pesticides policy. That is why, for example, we supported a ban on the use of neonicotinoids to treat crops including sugar beet in 2018 and removed the general authorisation for its use. However, we can consider applications for emergency authorisations, just as other countries across Europe continue to do. In fact, ten EU countries have repeatedly granted emergency authorisations for use of the withdrawn neonicotinoids in sugar beet.  Emergency authorisation was granted for the use of a neonicotinoid seed treatment this year to address a potentially serious risk to the sugar beet crop.

We will only grant an emergency authorisation where the relevant statutory requirements are met. In particular, that is where use of the product is necessary because of a danger which cannot be contained by any other reasonable means and any potential risks to humans, animals and the environment (including risks to bees and other pollinators) are considered to be acceptably low.

The product will not now be used on the crop because disease levels were forecast to be below a threshold set as a condition of authorisation.

The reasons for the decision to issue this emergency authorisation for the product Cruiser SB were set out in the Statement on the decision to issue – with strict conditions – emergency authorisation to use a product containing a neonicotinoid to treat sugar beet seed in 2021 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

Any consideration of possible authorisation of a pesticide, including emergency authorisation, starts from the information provided by the applicant. Those carrying out the risk assessment will also draw on their wider knowledge. In this case, the assessment carried out by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) for Cruiser SB took account of an earlier assessment by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).

The EFSA work considered honeybees, bumblebees and solitary bees, although the available data mostly relates to honeybees. HSE’s assessment considered the risks from residues of thiamethoxam in the soil being taken up by flowering plants attractive to bees in future years. The assessment focussed on following crops such as oilseed rape, which have a greater potential to expose bees than wildflowers in field margins.

Any consideration of possible authorisation of a pesticide, including emergency authorisation, starts from the information provided by the applicant. Those carrying out the risk assessment will also draw on their wider knowledge. In this case, the assessment carried out by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) for Cruiser SB took account of an earlier assessment by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).

The EFSA work considered honeybees, bumblebees and solitary bees, although the available data mostly relates to honeybees. HSE’s assessment considered the risks from residues of thiamethoxam in the soil being taken up by flowering plants attractive to bees in future years. The assessment focussed on following crops such as oilseed rape, which have a greater potential to expose bees than wildflowers in field margins.

Any consideration of possible authorisation of a pesticide, including emergency authorisation, starts from the information provided by the applicant. Those carrying out the risk assessment will also draw on their wider knowledge. In this case, the assessment carried out by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) for Cruiser SB took account of an earlier assessment by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).

The EFSA work considered honeybees, bumblebees and solitary bees, although the available data mostly relates to honeybees. HSE’s assessment considered the risks from residues of thiamethoxam in the soil being taken up by flowering plants attractive to bees in future years. The assessment focussed on following crops such as oilseed rape, which have a greater potential to expose bees than wildflowers in field margins.

The mitigations built into the emergency authorisation to protect bees were considered sufficient to support the granting of the authorisation.

Now that the UK has left the European Union we have the opportunity to chart our own course in organic regulation, setting rules around organic production and certification that suit the needs of our domestic organics industry. We are working to streamline bureaucratic processes inherited from the EU regulatory system to allow for a more flexible and responsive way to handle our regulatory obligations while reducing costs for producers and the burden on the public purse. By reducing these administrative burdens, we hope to make conversion to organics easier and more appealing for producers.

From 1996 to 2011 Defra ran the Organic Conversion Information Service (OCIS) which provided free technical advice to farmers considering conversion via a dedicated helpline and information packs, followed up by on-site visits. As the organic market matured producers built up their own expertise and other sources of expert advice became available, meaning that it was no longer considered cost effective or necessary to continue OCIS.

Support now exists under the Countryside Stewardship scheme. Producers who want to know more about applying for an organic Countryside Stewardship agreement can book an advice session for support. In addition, any eligible application for either a Mid-Tier or Higher Tier Countryside Stewardship is guaranteed an agreement with conversion payments available for the first years of the agreement if moving from conventional to organic farming.

We work closely with organic producers and sector bodies on promoting innovation via a sector led approach. The sector has a number of exciting programmes working towards this goal, and we believe that farmer led training and support best provides for innovation that suits the needs of the industry.

The Soil Association Innovative Farmers programme brings together a network of farmers, researchers, advisors and businesses to share expertise and develop new approaches to organic farming. The English Organic Forum, Organics Research Council, National Farmers Union, and the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board, also produce research of relevance to the organics sector.

From 2022 we will launch an ambitious Innovation R&D Package, putting farming businesses at the centre of R&D for new technologies and practices - including organic farming practices - to transform the productivity, profitability and sustainability of agriculture.

As highlighted in the recently published Agricultural Transition Plan, we will build on previous R&D funding, such as the £160m 2013 Agri-tech Strategy and the £90m Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund 'Transforming Food Production' initiative, to provide additional investment. This will be administered through a new R&D funding package for England.

Application guidance will be published prior to scheme launch, including a summary of application deadlines, funding criteria, timetable and themes. Competitions are expected to open in early 2022, with communication to farmers and growers in advance, and projects are expected to begin later that year.

Both Defra and the Food Standards Agency (FSA) take this matter extremely seriously. We do not consider it acceptable for the UK to be sent poultry products contaminated with salmonella.

Following investigations linking human illness to the consumption of chicken products imported from Poland, the UK Chief Veterinary Officer wrote to the Chief Veterinary Officer of Poland in December 2020 asking that action be taken.

The Chief Veterinary Officer and the Chief Executive of the FSA have also contacted the Director General of Agriculture and Food Safety for the European Commission to raise our concerns and reiterate the need for action.

Additionally, the FSA has been working closely with Food Businesses Operators, including the major retailers, brand owners and trade associations within the UK, and with Polish competent authorities, to track down contaminated chicken products and ensure product withdrawals and recalls are undertaken when unsafe and non-compliant food has been identified.

Whilst we are working constructively with the European Commission, Polish authorities and suppliers to resolve this issue, we are keeping the possibility of the introduction of import restrictions under continual review, to ensure that UK consumers can maintain their trust in the safety of the food on their plates.

The Government is taking a multi-pronged approach to support the organic sector. We are working with organic businesses to expand organic exports, whilst working to reduce administrative burden. We are also considering how the new environmental land management schemes under development can best meet the needs of organic producers. We aim to design and administer environmental land management schemes in a way that will support farming and the countryside to make a significant and widespread contribution to environmental, biodiversity and climate change goals, which organic farming can support.

The sector is well placed to export more as UK organic produce clearly demonstrates values such as quality, traceability, and heritage combined with high environmental and welfare credentials which we know consumers across the globe want. To support this we have agreed equivalence arrangements with a number of countries to allow UK organic goods to be exported there, including a mutual recognition with the EU as part of the Trade and cooperation agreement. We are also working alongside the Department for International Trade who recently launched their new programme, Open Doors, and is working with the sector to support them with export opportunities.

The domestic market for organics is also flourishing. There are 6,000 predominantly small and medium-sized UK organic businesses, which in 2019 contributed over £2.5 billion to the UK economy, including exports worth £250 million. In 2020 the total volume of organic produce purchased in the UK rose by 12.9%. This growth in demand represents a great opportunity for UK organic producers, on top of their opportunities in the export market.

Meanwhile, we are streamlining bureaucratic processes inherited from the EU regulatory system to allow for a more flexible and responsive way to handle our regulatory obligations while reducing costs and the burden on the public purse. We intend to use powers under the Agriculture Act 2020 to amend this organics regime to support organic farmers further, benefit the environment, maintain consumer confidence, promote research and innovation in the sector, and reflect future trade agreements. We will consult with organic producers and industry bodies on how to boost innovation, improve governance of organic certification, group certification and making entry into organic production appealing for new entrants.

In November 2020 we published 'The Path to Sustainable Farming: An Agricultural Transition Plan 2021 to 2024'. This confirmed our intention to launch three schemes that will reward environmental land management: The Sustainable Farming Incentive; Local Nature Recovery and Landscape Recovery.

We are working to ensure that the design of these schemes reflects the full diversity of environmentally sustainable techniques that are already producing environmental benefits, including organics practices.

We published further detail of the Sustainable Farming Incentive pilot earlier this month. The Sustainable Farming Incentive is intended to be open and accessible to all farmers and to reward farmers fairly for environmental goods generated across all land types and farm management systems, including organic farms. Throughout the pilot, for which expressions of interest are now open, we will be working with hundreds of farmers to ensure that it works for all farming systems. We will also be working with the accreditation schemes to see how membership could help with earned recognition under the future environmental land management schemes and what role the bodies operating these accreditation schemes might play.

We will publish more information on the Local Nature Recovery and Landscape Recovery schemes later this year.

Henry Dimbleby was appointed to lead the independent review of the food system in June 2019. This review will inform the Government's Food Strategy.

Part One of Henry Dimbleby's independent review of the food system was published on 29 July 2020 and contained recommendations on trade and food security in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Government has already acted on these recommendations, with the announcement of the Covid Winter Support package on 8 November 2020 that ensured vulnerable households would not go hungry, and with announcements on trade last year, which included putting the Trade and Agriculture Commission onto a statutory footing.

Part Two of the independent review will be published in 2021. We are continuing to engage with Henry Dimbleby and his team, and are committed to responding with a White Paper within six months of the release of his second and final report.

The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) has a number of schemes providing direct payments to the rural economy. The three main land schemes, which offer an annual payment, are Basic Payment Scheme (BPS), Countryside Stewardship (CS) and the Environmental Stewardship Scheme (ES).

For the current 2020 Scheme year the figures are below:

BPS Paid Population = 83,593

CS Paid Population = 12,409

ES Paid Population = 8,300

In order to be authorised as an Official Veterinarian (OV) for export certification, a veterinary surgeon must obtain an Official Controls Qualification (Veterinary) (OCQ(V)) in the relevant field of export and revalidate these qualifications every four years. These courses, developed and approved by APHA and delivered by an international training provider, are accredited by the International School of Veterinary Postgraduate Studies (ISPVS) to ensure high standards. Veterinary Surgeons provide feedback on their learning on completion of each OCQ course, enabling the training provider and APHA to monitor effectiveness. APHA also carries out audits to assess the quality of the export certification work carried out by OVs. Any training deficiencies identified during this audit process would be addressed in the OCQ courses.

For many Export Health Certificates (EHC) the requirement to be signed by an OV is outlined in EU law. For any EHC, in order to protect animal and public health it is important that individual signing an certificate has the relevant qualifications and experience to attest to the matters concerned. We have though introduced the role of Certification Support Officer (CSO). Working under the direction of a certifying offer, a CSO can undertake administrative and preparatory work to get a consignment ready for export making the work of OVs more effective. The number of CSOs has increased from c. 100 in November 2020 to c. 500 today and continues to grow.

Based on provisional HMRC published trade data, in 2020 29% of poultry meat imported was from Poland, by volume.

We reached an agreement with the EU on SPS measures as part of the TCA in December 2020. This agreement has secured the UK's full autonomy over our public, plant and animal health regime, tailoring it to the unique circumstances of the UK. Since 1 January, there has been no role for EU law or the ECJ in these rules.

This agreement allows the UK and the EU to cooperate on avoiding unnecessary SPS barriers to trade in agri-food goods. The SPS Chapter provides for a framework to agree to trade facilitations going forward, where justified. It is in both parties’ interests to pursue this. Over time, this will help to reduce the burden on businesses from border controls and certification requirements. Taken alongside other elements of the FTA such as zero tariff, zero quota, this represents a good outcome for the UK's agri-food industry, and does not constrain our ability to legislate in these areas.

New EU rules will apply from April that will impact on traders who export certain animals, germinal products and products of animal origin, including composites. The EU has not published all of the details, however we are not aware of any changes to the rate of physical checks that will take place at the EU border. These are set out in existing EU rules. The new rules will mean there will be an increase in the number of composite product EHCs required.

Defra has provided £14 million funding to local authorities in England to support Port Health Authorities with the recruitment and training of over 500 new staff, including Official Veterinarians, for the purpose of undertaking new SPS checks on EU imports of animal products, including physical checks.

We have also taken a number of steps to increase certifier capacity to support exports. The number of Official Vets qualified to certify exports of products of animal origin has increased from 600 in February 2019 to more than 1,700 currently. The required training is still available free of charge and numbers continue to grow. This funded training is in addition to £1.095 million provided directly to local authorities to boost certifier capacity at the end of last year. Furthermore, we continue to maintain a system to provide surge capacity vets to both certification providers and local authorities if localised shortages arise. So far this has not been widely needed. We are considering what further mitigations may be necessary.

We estimate demand for Export Health Certificates (EHCs) for movements to Northern Ireland may increase by between 70,000 and 150,000 per year (taking into account the Scheme for Temporary Agri-food Movements to Northern Ireland (STAMNI under which authorised traders do not require EHCs). Up to 70 FTE Official Veterinarians (OVs) may be required to certify these EHCs. The actual OV requirement will depend on multiple factors, many of which we cannot quantify with certainty. The number of OVs qualified to certify exports of products of animal origin has increased from 600 in February 2019 to more than 1,700 currently.

New EU rules will apply from April 21, 2021 that will impact on traders who export certain animals, germinal products and products of animal origin, including composites. The EU has not published all of the details; however, we are not aware of any changes to the rate of physical checks that will take place at the EU border. These are set out in existing EU rules. The new rules will mean that certain products that do not currently require an Export Health Certificate, and therefore are not subject to checks, will require certification. These will be subject to physical checks at the rates currently outlined in EU regulation. We will continue to speak with the European Commission further to understand what their rules will mean for exporters.

It is well established that over-winter temperatures are a key determinant of aphid populations in the following year. Low temperatures, and in particular sharp frosts, will reduce aphid numbers and so the recent cold weather is likely to ease aphid pressures in 2021.

Temperature effects are built into the long-established Rothamsted model used to forecast virus pressures. That forecast will be made on 1 March and will be used to determine whether the threshold for using the neonicotinoid seed treatment Cruiser SB has been met. Once the virus forecast has been made, the British Beet Research Organisation will publish an advisory bulletin setting this out.

It is well established that over-winter temperatures are a key determinant of aphid populations in the following year. Low temperatures, and in particular sharp frosts, will reduce aphid numbers and so the recent cold weather is likely to ease aphid pressures in 2021.

Temperature effects are built into the long-established Rothamsted model used to forecast virus pressures. That forecast will be made on 1 March and will be used to determine whether the threshold for using the neonicotinoid seed treatment Cruiser SB has been met. Once the virus forecast has been made, the British Beet Research Organisation will publish an advisory bulletin setting this out.

It is well established that over-winter temperatures are a key determinant of aphid populations in the following year. Low temperatures, and in particular sharp frosts, will reduce aphid numbers and so the recent cold weather is likely to ease aphid pressures in 2021.

Temperature effects are built into the long-established Rothamsted model used to forecast virus pressures. That forecast will be made on 1 March and will be used to determine whether the threshold for using the neonicotinoid seed treatment Cruiser SB has been met. Once the virus forecast has been made, the British Beet Research Organisation will publish an advisory bulletin setting this out.

We estimate demand for Export Health Certificates (EHCs) for movements to Northern Ireland may increase by between 70,000 and 150,000 per year (taking into account the Scheme for Temporary Agri-food Movements to Northern Ireland (STAMNI under which authorised traders do not require EHCs). Up to 70 FTE Official Veterinarians (OVs) may be required to certify these EHCs. The actual OV requirement will depend on multiple factors, many of which we cannot quantify with certainty. The number of OVs qualified to certify exports of products of animal origin has increased from 600 in February 2019 to more than 1,700 currently.

Prior to 1 January 2021, queen honey bees could be imported into Great Britain, along with packages and colonies of bees. Now that we are trading with the EU as a third country, queen bees can continue to be imported into Great Britain but not packages or colonies. In 2020, more than 21,000 queens were imported in contrast to just under 1,900 packages and 400 colonies of bees.

Guidance on the new rules for importing bees was published prior to the end of the transition period. We are aware of concerns raised by some beekeepers and we continue to listen to beekeepers and their associations as part of our monitoring of the new trading arrangements.

Regular discussions take place between Defra and colleagues in the Devolved Administrations working in this policy area. We are keeping the situation under review to ensure that there are suitable trading arrangements for the UK beekeeping sector.

Prior to 1 January 2021, queen honey bees could be imported into Great Britain, along with packages and colonies of bees. Now that we are trading with the EU as a third country, queen bees can continue to be imported into Great Britain but not packages or colonies. In 2020, more than 21,000 queens were imported in contrast to just under 1,900 packages and 400 colonies of bees.

Guidance on the new rules for importing bees was published prior to the end of the transition period. We are aware of concerns raised by some beekeepers and we continue to listen to beekeepers and their associations as part of our monitoring of the new trading arrangements.

Regular discussions take place between Defra and colleagues in the Devolved Administrations working in this policy area. We are keeping the situation under review to ensure that there are suitable trading arrangements for the UK beekeeping sector.

The UK is renowned for its high food safety and quality standards. We have robust rules in place on honey which set strict composition and labelling rules to protect consumers and ensure the authenticity of honey sold in the UK. The Honey (England) Regulations 2015 include detailed specifications for honey which ensure the quality of this important commodity is maintained whether it is produced domestically or imported into the UK.

Responsibility for assessing business compliance with the majority of food legislation rests with local authorities. They will consider any areas of non-compliance with food law and take appropriate enforcement action in line with a hierarchy of enforcement powers to ensure the business takes the necessary steps to achieve compliance. Each situation will be judged on its own merits by the relevant local authority to determine the proportionate course of action.

The UK is reliant on honey imports to meet consumer demand. Our national rules mean that all honey imports must meet the same high standards as that produced in the UK. Imports are regularly checked on import and at point of sale.

This Government continues to work closely with stakeholders to ensure consumer confidence is maintained and to deter those wishing to commit fraud in the honey supply chain.

The UK is renowned for its high food safety and quality standards. We have robust rules in place on honey which set strict composition and labelling rules to protect consumers and ensure the authenticity of honey sold in the UK. The Honey (England) Regulations 2015 include detailed specifications for honey which ensure the quality of this important commodity is maintained whether it is produced domestically or imported into the UK.

Responsibility for assessing business compliance with the majority of food legislation rests with local authorities. They will consider any areas of non-compliance with food law and take appropriate enforcement action in line with a hierarchy of enforcement powers to ensure the business takes the necessary steps to achieve compliance. Each situation will be judged on its own merits by the relevant local authority to determine the proportionate course of action.

The UK is reliant on honey imports to meet consumer demand. Our national rules mean that all honey imports must meet the same high standards as that produced in the UK. Imports are regularly checked on import and at point of sale.

This Government continues to work closely with stakeholders to ensure consumer confidence is maintained and to deter those wishing to commit fraud in the honey supply chain.

Under the proposals in the current consultation, in the years 2021 and 2022, new intensive cull licences will be issued for four years. They could be revoked however, further to a progress evaluation by the Chief Veterinary Officer after two or three years.

The consultation also proposes to restrict new applications for Supplementary Badger Cull (SBC) to a maximum of two years for areas licensed for Intensive Culling (IC) up to 2020 and prohibits the issuing of SBC licenses for areas licensed for IC after 2020. SBCs licenses can already be revoked following a progress evaluation or on reasonable grounds under the Defra “Guidance to Natural England Licences to kill or take badgers for the purpose of preventing the spread of bovine TB under section 10(2)(a) of the Protection of Badgers Act 1992”.

We do not yet know how many applications there would be, nor where they would be located. Therefore, we cannot predict the maximum number of badgers that could be culled in this time period.

We are currently consulting the public on the draft Revised National Action Plan for Sustainable Use of Pesticides (NAP) and will be receiving responses until 26 February 2021. The draft NAP outlines how we plan to improve regulation, support the uptake of Integrated Pest Management, improve safe use, improve metrics, and review the governance and implementation of UK pesticides policy.

The consultation is an opportunity for all interested parties to voice their opinion. We will finalise the NAP once we have analysed all the responses.

The Government’s first priority with regard to pesticides is to ensure that they will not harm people or pose unacceptable risks to the environment. We operate a strict system for regulating pesticides where a pesticide can only be placed on the market if the product has been authorised following a thorough risk assessment by our expert regulator, the Health and Safety Executive.

We are currently consulting the public on the draft Revised National Action Plan for Sustainable Use of Pesticides (NAP) and will be receiving responses until 26 February 2021. The draft NAP outlines how we plan to improve regulation, support the uptake of Integrated Pest Management, improve safe use, improve metrics, and review the governance and implementation of UK pesticides policy.

The consultation is an opportunity for all interested parties to voice their opinion. We will finalise the NAP once we have analysed all the responses.

The Government’s first priority with regard to pesticides is to ensure that they will not harm people or pose unacceptable risks to the environment. We operate a strict system for regulating pesticides where a pesticide can only be placed on the market if the product has been authorised following a thorough risk assessment by our expert regulator, the Health and Safety Executive.

We are currently consulting the public on the draft Revised National Action Plan for Sustainable Use of Pesticides (NAP) and will be receiving responses until 26 February 2021. The draft NAP outlines how we plan to improve regulation, support the uptake of Integrated Pest Management, improve safe use, improve metrics, and review the governance and implementation of UK pesticides policy.

The consultation is an opportunity for all interested parties to voice their opinion. We will finalise the NAP once we have analysed all the responses.

The Government’s first priority with regard to pesticides is to ensure that they will not harm people or pose unacceptable risks to the environment. We operate a strict system for regulating pesticides where a pesticide can only be placed on the market if the product has been authorised following a thorough risk assessment by our expert regulator, the Health and Safety Executive.

We are currently consulting the public on the draft Revised National Action Plan for Sustainable Use of Pesticides (NAP) and will be receiving responses until 26 February 2021. The draft NAP outlines how we plan to improve regulation, support the uptake of Integrated Pest Management, improve safe use, improve metrics, and review the governance and implementation of UK pesticides policy.

The consultation is an opportunity for all interested parties to voice their opinion. We will finalise the NAP once we have analysed all the responses.

The Government’s first priority with regard to pesticides is to ensure that they will not harm people or pose unacceptable risks to the environment. We operate a strict system for regulating pesticides where a pesticide can only be placed on the market if the product has been authorised following a thorough risk assessment by our expert regulator, the Health and Safety Executive.

We are currently consulting the public on the draft Revised National Action Plan for Sustainable Use of Pesticides (NAP) and will be receiving responses until 26 February 2021. The draft NAP outlines how we plan to improve regulation, support the uptake of Integrated Pest Management, improve safe use, improve metrics, and review the governance and implementation of UK pesticides policy.

The consultation is an opportunity for all interested parties to voice their opinion. We will finalise the NAP once we have analysed all the responses.

The Government’s first priority with regard to pesticides is to ensure that they will not harm people or pose unacceptable risks to the environment. We operate a strict system for regulating pesticides where a pesticide can only be placed on the market if the product has been authorised following a thorough risk assessment by our expert regulator, the Health and Safety Executive.

We are currently consulting the public on the draft Revised National Action Plan for Sustainable Use of Pesticides (NAP) and will be receiving responses until 26 February 2021. The draft NAP outlines how we plan to improve regulation, support the uptake of Integrated Pest Management, improve safe use, improve metrics, and review the governance and implementation of UK pesticides policy.

The consultation is an opportunity for all interested parties to voice their opinion. We will finalise the NAP once we have analysed all the responses.

The Government’s first priority with regard to pesticides is to ensure that they will not harm people or pose unacceptable risks to the environment. We operate a strict system for regulating pesticides where a pesticide can only be placed on the market if the product has been authorised following a thorough risk assessment by our expert regulator, the Health and Safety Executive.

We are currently consulting the public on the draft Revised National Action Plan for Sustainable Use of Pesticides (NAP) and will be receiving responses until 26 February 2021. The draft NAP outlines how we plan to improve regulation, support the uptake of Integrated Pest Management, improve safe use, improve metrics, and review the governance and implementation of UK pesticides policy.

The consultation is an opportunity for all interested parties to voice their opinion. We will finalise the NAP once we have analysed all the responses.

The Government’s first priority with regard to pesticides is to ensure that they will not harm people or pose unacceptable risks to the environment. We operate a strict system for regulating pesticides where a pesticide can only be placed on the market if the product has been authorised following a thorough risk assessment by our expert regulator, the Health and Safety Executive.

We are currently consulting the public on the draft Revised National Action Plan for Sustainable Use of Pesticides (NAP) and will be receiving responses until 26 February 2021. The draft NAP outlines how we plan to improve regulation, support the uptake of Integrated Pest Management, improve safe use, improve metrics, and review the governance and implementation of UK pesticides policy.

The consultation is an opportunity for all interested parties to voice their opinion. We will finalise the NAP once we have analysed all the responses.

The Government’s first priority with regard to pesticides is to ensure that they will not harm people or pose unacceptable risks to the environment. We operate a strict system for regulating pesticides where a pesticide can only be placed on the market if the product has been authorised following a thorough risk assessment by our expert regulator, the Health and Safety Executive.

Current regulations only authorise the use of pesticides where that will not harm people. Decisions are based on comprehensive scientific assessment covering all situations where people may be exposed to pesticides. This assessment specifically addresses the situation of people, including children, who may find themselves near to where pesticides are used. Authorisations are frequently refused and, if granted, are regularly reviewed. Conditions may be attached to an authorisation if that is necessary to ensure that people are protected.

Anyone using an authorised pesticide is legally required to ensure that all reasonable precautions are taken to protect human health and the environment, and that the pesticide is confined to the area to be treated.

Under the terms of the emergency authorisation for the neonicotinoid seed treatment Cruiser SB, no sugar beet seed will be treated unless the forecast level of virus yellows in the national sugar beet crop exceeds a threshold value. Sugar beet growers are able to choose whether they wish to take treated seed, if and when it becomes available. Untreated seed will be available for those who prefer that option.

No formal impact assessment has been made.

My department made extensive guidance available and held webinars and meetings with exporters and trade associations to help businesses prepare for the new rules from 01 January. We continue to work closely with traders to support businesses as they adjust to the new arrangements.

It is vital that traders ensure that their exports have the correct paperwork to comply with new animal and animal product checks when they cross the EU border.

No formal impact assessment has been made.

My department made extensive guidance available and held webinars and meetings with exporters and trade associations to help businesses prepare for the new rules from 01 January. We continue to work closely with traders to support businesses as they adjust to the new arrangements.

It is vital that traders ensure that their exports have the correct paperwork to comply with new animal and animal product checks when they cross the EU border.

These three questions seek clarification regarding the Government-wide management of the issue of food insecurity.

In 2019, the Government asked Henry Dimbleby to carry out an independent review of the entire food system. Part One of that review was published in July 2020 and Part Two will be published in 2021. The Government has committed to responding to the review and its recommendations in the form of a Food Strategy White Paper within six months of the release of the second and final report.

The Food to the Vulnerable Ministerial Taskforce was set up in spring 2020 to respond to some of the initial challenges of Covid-19, for a limited time and with a defined remit. The taskforce was instrumental in putting in place support for the most vulnerable individuals. This included £63 million for the Local Authority Grant Scheme, £10.5 million to the food redistributor FareShare, £1.8 million to the Covid-19 emergency food redistribution scheme, and £3.4 million to support individual charities through the Food Charity Grant Scheme.

Since then, ministers across departments have continued to meet to discuss the steps needed to mitigate the impacts of food insecurity. This includes through the newly established Cost of Living roundtable, where food vulnerability is discussed alongside other aspects of poverty. The results of these conversations have led to the overnment putting in place a winter package of support for the most vulnerable. This package includes a £170 million Covid Winter Support Grant to local authorities to support households with food and other costs and £16 million of funding for Defra to support charities with food distribution to the vulnerable.

Government departments will continue to meet at both official and ministerial level discuss the best ways to support and monitor this important area of work.

These three questions seek clarification regarding the Government-wide management of the issue of food insecurity.

In 2019, the Government asked Henry Dimbleby to carry out an independent review of the entire food system. Part One of that review was published in July 2020 and Part Two will be published in 2021. The Government has committed to responding to the review and its recommendations in the form of a Food Strategy White Paper within six months of the release of the second and final report.

The Food to the Vulnerable Ministerial Taskforce was set up in spring 2020 to respond to some of the initial challenges of Covid-19, for a limited time and with a defined remit. The taskforce was instrumental in putting in place support for the most vulnerable individuals. This included £63 million for the Local Authority Grant Scheme, £10.5 million to the food redistributor FareShare, £1.8 million to the Covid-19 emergency food redistribution scheme, and £3.4 million to support individual charities through the Food Charity Grant Scheme.

Since then, ministers across departments have continued to meet to discuss the steps needed to mitigate the impacts of food insecurity. This includes through the newly established Cost of Living roundtable, where food vulnerability is discussed alongside other aspects of poverty. The results of these conversations have led to the overnment putting in place a winter package of support for the most vulnerable. This package includes a £170 million Covid Winter Support Grant to local authorities to support households with food and other costs and £16 million of funding for Defra to support charities with food distribution to the vulnerable.

Government departments will continue to meet at both official and ministerial level discuss the best ways to support and monitor this important area of work.

These three questions seek clarification regarding the Government-wide management of the issue of food insecurity.

In 2019, the Government asked Henry Dimbleby to carry out an independent review of the entire food system. Part One of that review was published in July 2020 and Part Two will be published in 2021. The Government has committed to responding to the review and its recommendations in the form of a Food Strategy White Paper within six months of the release of the second and final report.

The Food to the Vulnerable Ministerial Taskforce was set up in spring 2020 to respond to some of the initial challenges of Covid-19, for a limited time and with a defined remit. The taskforce was instrumental in putting in place support for the most vulnerable individuals. This included £63 million for the Local Authority Grant Scheme, £10.5 million to the food redistributor FareShare, £1.8 million to the Covid-19 emergency food redistribution scheme, and £3.4 million to support individual charities through the Food Charity Grant Scheme.

Since then, ministers across departments have continued to meet to discuss the steps needed to mitigate the impacts of food insecurity. This includes through the newly established Cost of Living roundtable, where food vulnerability is discussed alongside other aspects of poverty. The results of these conversations have led to the overnment putting in place a winter package of support for the most vulnerable. This package includes a £170 million Covid Winter Support Grant to local authorities to support households with food and other costs and £16 million of funding for Defra to support charities with food distribution to the vulnerable.

Government departments will continue to meet at both official and ministerial level discuss the best ways to support and monitor this important area of work.

From our market monitoring over recent weeks, I am aware that the pig sector is currently facing a number of challenges. Ministers have received the request for a round table and I would be pleased to meet with representatives from the industry. I have asked my officials to set this up.

It has not been the practice of the UK Expert Committee on Pesticides (ECP) to publish the exact text of its advice to Ministers, although its published minutes have always provided a clear view of the Committee’s conclusions. However, in view of the interest in neonicotinoid pesticides, related advice to Ministers from the ECP was published on a total of seven occasions in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018.

As noted in the answer of 18 January 2021 to Questions 137225 and 137226, the ECP’s advice on the application for use in 2021 of the neonicotinoid product Cruiser SB is set out in full in the minutes of the ECP’s 24 November 2020 meeting.

The advice of the UK Expert Committee on Pesticides (ECP) on the application for use in 2021 of the neonicotinoid product Cruiser SB is set out in full in the minutes of the 24 November 2020 meeting https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/946083/ecp-201124-fullminutes.pdf, which are linked to on the ECP’s website https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/expert-committee-on-pesticides. There is no separate document containing the ECP’s advice on this application.

Building on the significant support given to the most vulnerable during the initial months of the pandemic, the Government has announced a winter support package of interventions to support the economically vulnerable. This package includes increasing the value of Healthy Start Vouchers, the national rollout of the Holiday Activities and Food programme, and a £170m Covid Winter Support Grant to local authorities which started in December to support households with food and other essential costs.

The winter package also includes £16m of funding for Defra to support food charities with the purchasing and distribution of food to the vulnerable over a 12-week period starting from the beginning of December. This funding stream is being managed by the food redistributor FareShare.

After 8 weeks of the scheme, FareShare have purchased 4,391 pallets of food which is equivalent to approximately 6.8 million meals. The food has so far been distributed directly to 3,942 charities across England.

3,449 of these are within the FareShare network. These organisations have received 1,762 tonnes of food, which is equivalent to around 4.2 million meals.

493 organisations from outside of FareShare's network have also been supported. These organisations have received 435 tonnes of food, which is equivalent to around 904,000 meals.

Data from the 2020 badger control operations have been published by Natural England on GOV.UK:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/bovine-tb-summary-of-badger-control-monitoring-during-2020

Those figures exclude Supplementary Badger Culling which will be available later in the year.

All applications for emergency authorisation follow the same process within the legal framework. Each application for emergency authorisation is assessed by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), with independent scientific advice from the UK Expert Committee on Pesticides. Pesticides regulation is devolved and so each of the four UK administrations may take a decision on applications for emergency authorisation within their territory or may leave the decision with HSE. There are no plans to alter these arrangements following the end of the transition period.

The assessment carried out by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) included consideration of risks to the environment. Potential risks to mammals, soil-dwelling organisms and aquatic invertebrates were included in that assessment. In respect of aquatic invertebrates, the HSE assessment indicated that the normal standards for authorisation under the relevant legislation were met.

The assessment carried out by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) included consideration of risks to the environment. Potential risks to mammals, soil-dwelling organisms and aquatic invertebrates were included in that assessment. In respect of aquatic invertebrates, the HSE assessment indicated that the normal standards for authorisation under the relevant legislation were met.

Young sugar beet plants are vulnerable to competition from weeds and so effective weed control is a normal part of growing this crop. The measures proposed as requirements for the emergency authorisation are in line with normal guidance to growers and so will not have additional effects on pollinators or other invertebrates.

The emergency authorisation will limit the application rate to 45 grammes of thiamethoxam per 100,000 seeds. There is evidence that this rate, which is 25% less than that previously authorised, will be sufficiently effective in controlling the target pest. The consequence of the lower rate will be that less thiamethoxam will remain in the soil and water and so the potential for harm to aquatic invertebrates and other creatures will be reduced.

Husbandry approaches and alternative pesticides were considered in the assessment of the application for emergency authorisation of the neonicotinoid product Cruiser SB. The evidence, including experience in 2020, suggests that these will not be adequate to protect the emerging sugar beet crop this year.

The incidence of virus yellows in sugar beet was low in 2019 and consequent production losses are estimated to have been low. Virus levels were much higher in 2020 and yields are expected to be down by around 25%, equating to an economic loss of the order of £50 million. Other factors may have contributed to this loss, but the level of virus infection was key.

At this stage, it is not possible to assess the economic impact virus yellows will have in 2021. If, as is likely, winter temperatures are not sufficiently low, the high virus reservoir legacy numbers from 2020 could mean that the incidence rate remains high in 2021. Without effective aphid control, that is likely to translate to significant economic loss. The authorisation provides that likely pest pressures for 2021 will be modelled using data on temperatures over this winter. Only if this indicates that crop infection rates are expected to exceed a 9% threshold will the seed treatment be permitted for use.

Husbandry approaches and alternative pesticides were considered in the assessment of the application for emergency authorisation of the neonicotinoid product Cruiser SB. The evidence, including experience in 2020, suggests that these will not be adequate to protect the emerging sugar beet crop this year.

The incidence of virus yellows in sugar beet was low in 2019 and consequent production losses are estimated to have been low. Virus levels were much higher in 2020 and yields are expected to be down by around 25%, equating to an economic loss of the order of £50 million. Other factors may have contributed to this loss, but the level of virus infection was key.

At this stage, it is not possible to assess the economic impact virus yellows will have in 2021. If, as is likely, winter temperatures are not sufficiently low, the high virus reservoir legacy numbers from 2020 could mean that the incidence rate remains high in 2021. Without effective aphid control, that is likely to translate to significant economic loss. The authorisation provides that likely pest pressures for 2021 will be modelled using data on temperatures over this winter. Only if this indicates that crop infection rates are expected to exceed a 9% threshold will the seed treatment be permitted for use.

The sugar beet industry has been developing alternative approaches including improved husbandry, plant breeding to develop new varieties and potential new insecticide products. Their forward plan, included in their application for emergency authorisation, maps out the route to develop each of these areas further so that economic production is possible without neonicotinoid seed treatments.

There is no conflict between the positions of Defra and HSE on the issue of repeat emergency authorisations. Emergency authorisations reflect special circumstances and so should not be repeated indefinitely; those seeking emergency authorisations need to formulate a clear plan to find a permanent solution. It is, however, accepted that it will not always be possible to deliver that plan in a single year.

The sugar beet industry has been developing alternative approaches including improved husbandry, plant breeding to develop new varieties and potential new insecticide products. Their forward plan, included in their application for emergency authorisation, maps out the route to develop each of these areas further so that economic production is possible without neonicotinoid seed treatments.

There is no conflict between the positions of Defra and HSE on the issue of repeat emergency authorisations. Emergency authorisations reflect special circumstances and so should not be repeated indefinitely; those seeking emergency authorisations need to formulate a clear plan to find a permanent solution. It is, however, accepted that it will not always be possible to deliver that plan in a single year.

Husbandry approaches and alternative pesticides were considered in the assessment of the application for emergency authorisation of the neonicotinoid product Cruiser SB. The evidence, including experience in 2020, suggests that these will not be adequate to protect the emerging sugar beet crop this year.

The incidence of virus yellows in sugar beet was low in 2019 and consequent production losses are estimated to have been low. Virus levels were much higher in 2020 and yields are expected to be down by around 25%, equating to an economic loss of the order of £50 million. Other factors may have contributed to this loss, but the level of virus infection was key.

At this stage, it is not possible to assess the economic impact virus yellows will have in 2021. If, as is likely, winter temperatures are not sufficiently low, the high virus reservoir legacy numbers from 2020 could mean that the incidence rate remains high in 2021. Without effective aphid control, that is likely to translate to significant economic loss. The authorisation provides that likely pest pressures for 2021 will be modelled using data on temperatures over this winter. Only if this indicates that crop infection rates are expected to exceed a 9% threshold will the seed treatment be permitted for use.

The sugar beet industry has been developing alternative approaches including improved husbandry, plant breeding to develop new varieties and potential new insecticide products. Their forward plan, included in their application for emergency authorisation, maps out the route to develop each of these areas further so that economic production is possible without neonicotinoid seed treatments.

There is no conflict between the positions of Defra and HSE on the issue of repeat emergency authorisations. Emergency authorisations reflect special circumstances and so should not be repeated indefinitely; those seeking emergency authorisations need to formulate a clear plan to find a permanent solution. It is, however, accepted that it will not always be possible to deliver that plan in a single year.

The restrictions on the planting of following crops mean that no flowering crop will be planted until spring 2023 and no oilseed rape will be planted until spring 2024 (as oilseed rape is overwhelmingly autumn-sown, little will be planted until August/September 2024). There is data on the rate at which thiamethoxam breaks down in soil over time and so we know that these periods will result in substantial reductions in the quantities available for uptake by flowering crops.

These restrictions will be manageable for most growers within their own crop rotation plans. Where this is not the case, farmers have the option not to grow sugar beet or to do so without the neonicotinoid seed treatment.

The restrictions on the planting of following crops mean that no flowering crop will be planted until spring 2023 and no oilseed rape will be planted until spring 2024 (as oilseed rape is overwhelmingly autumn-sown, little will be planted until August/September 2024). There is data on the rate at which thiamethoxam breaks down in soil over time and so we know that these periods will result in substantial reductions in the quantities available for uptake by flowering crops.

These restrictions will be manageable for most growers within their own crop rotation plans. Where this is not the case, farmers have the option not to grow sugar beet or to do so without the neonicotinoid seed treatment.

The process for considering emergency authorisation for a pesticide is derived from the legislation and includes consideration of potential risks to people and to the environment. This process was followed for an application to use the neonicotinoid seed treatment Cruiser SB on sugar beet in 2021. The Secretary of State decided that the criteria for an emergency application have been met and that the application should be granted to protect the 2021 crop from significant yield losses. His decision was informed by assessments and advice from the Health and Safety Executive, the UK Expert Committee on Pesticides (ECP) and Defra’s Chief Scientific Adviser.

The ECP publishes the minutes of its discussions, and its advice on the Cruiser SB application is contained in the minutes from the 24 November 2020 meeting https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/946083/ecp-201124-fullminutes.pdf. Other advice on pesticide authorisations is not normally published.

The process for considering emergency authorisation for a pesticide is derived from the legislation and includes consideration of potential risks to people and to the environment. This process was followed for an application to use the neonicotinoid seed treatment Cruiser SB on sugar beet in 2021. The Secretary of State decided that the criteria for an emergency application have been met and that the application should be granted to protect the 2021 crop from significant yield losses. His decision was informed by assessments and advice from the Health and Safety Executive, the UK Expert Committee on Pesticides (ECP) and Defra’s Chief Scientific Adviser.

The ECP publishes the minutes of its discussions, and its advice on the Cruiser SB application is contained in the minutes from the 24 November 2020 meeting https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/946083/ecp-201124-fullminutes.pdf. Other advice on pesticide authorisations is not normally published.

In March 2020, as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Government announced a support package of £16m to provide food for vulnerable individuals.

The programme of measures was designed to provide millions of meals over the summer period and was broken down into three separate parts:

1. FareShare received £10.5m of the £16m allocation;
2. A Food Charity Grant Scheme was set-up for individual charities to apply for grants for up to £100,000; and
3. £1.8m was awarded to the Covid-19 emergency food surplus redistribution programme, which was administered by the Waste and Resource Action Programme (WRAP).

In total 6,802,260kg of food was purchased and allocated to 3,201 frontline food aid providers which fall within the FareShare network, equivalent to 16.1 million meals. FareShare also received £386,444 of the £1.8m awarded to the Covid-19 emergency food surplus redistribution programme.

In total 19,010,83kg of food was purchased and allocated to 1,339 frontline food aid providers which fall beyond the FareShare network, equivalent to 3.3 million meals. Other redistribution charities received £1,413,556 of the £1.8m awarded to the Covid-19 emergency food surplus redistribution programme.

As a result of the £10.5m grant, the equivalent of around 20 million meals were purchased and distributed to charities across England, including charities supporting refuges, homeless shelters and rehabilitation services. It covered rural areas as well as cities and targeted all those who were struggling to get food.

Exporters can and may choose to request EHCs in bulk for future export use, therefore the total number of daily EHC applications submitted via EHC Online will not directly equate to the number of exported consignments each day.

The UK has a highly resilient food supply chain and the food industry is well-equipped to respond to disruption as was demonstrated during the initial Covid-19 response. Defra has well established ways of working with the food industry on preparedness for and response to potential food supply chain disruptions.

The Government carried out a worst-case scenario analysis to ensure there was sufficient waste management capacity to handle any additional waste arising. Over a 6 month period the Reasonable Worst Case Scenario (RWCS) for perishable goods including food, feed and drink was 142 KT and to date disruption has been minimal. The UK Government also published on Gov.uk planning assumptions on border flows for imported goods at the end of the transition period.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/920675/RWCS_for_our_borders_FINAL.pdf

To support the smooth flow of produce across the border and help prevent food wastage, the Government has put in place traffic management mitigations such as Operation Brock, published a Border Operating Model which prioritises border flow in the early months of 2021, and worked with ports to provide additional inland sites for customs checks. The Government has also implemented a ‘fast-track’ service for Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGV) arriving at the Kent border with a negative Covid-19 test worked closely with retailers to establish upstream testing to facilitate traffic flow.

The UK Government has always been clear that we seek a free trade agreement with the EU.

At the end of 2020 the UK will transition to Most Favoured Nation (MFN) terms with all those nations that it does not have a free trade agreement with. The UK’s new MFN schedule, the UK Global Tariff has been designed to protect UK sensitive tariff lines and certain domestic industries, with tariffs retained for products such as pork, lamb, beef and poultry.

In a non-negotiated outcome implementing the UK’s tariff schedule will most likely mean that agricultural prices for our domestic producers will increase for many livestock sectors (such as beef, pork and poultry meat).

In making any decision on tariffs the Government must regard the five principles set out in the Taxation (Cross-border Trade) Act 2018 which includes the interests of producers and the desire to maintain and promote trade and productivity.

The Government will publish more detail of the economic analysis in the Tax Information and Impact Note in due course, as is standard practice to support tax policy decisions.

The UK Government has always been clear that we seek a free trade agreement with the EU.

At the end of 2020 the UK will transition to Most Favoured Nation (MFN) terms with all those nations that it does not have a free trade agreement with. The UK’s new MFN schedule, the UK Global Tariff has been designed to protect UK sensitive tariff lines and certain domestic industries, with tariffs retained for products such as pork, lamb, beef and poultry.

In a non-negotiated outcome implementing the UK’s tariff schedule will most likely mean that agricultural prices for our domestic producers will increase for many livestock sectors (such as beef, pork and poultry meat).

In making any decision on tariffs the Government must regard the five principles set out in the Taxation (Cross-border Trade) Act 2018 which includes the interests of producers and the desire to maintain and promote trade and productivity.

The Government will publish more detail of the economic analysis in the Tax Information and Impact Note in due course, as is standard practice to support tax policy decisions.

We have always acknowledged that there would need to be some additional controls on agri-food movements from Great Britain to Northern Ireland to reflect the island of Ireland’s existing status as a Single Epidemiological Unit. But we have also been clear that these new processes could never be allowed to put food supplies to Northern Ireland at risk. That is why the deal we have reached with the EU and the support that we have put in place do what is necessary to protect and preserve GB-NI agri-food trade from 1 January 2021.

Authorised traders, such as supermarkets and their trusted suppliers, will benefit from a grace period, through to 1 April 2021, from official certification for products of animal origin, composite products, and food. The UK Government and Northern Ireland Department for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs will engage in a rapid exercise to ensure these traders are identified prior to 31 December so they can benefit from the grace period. We will not discriminate against small suppliers or between different companies in implementing these practical measures.

Any deferral of imports or exports between the UK and the EU would be a decision for individual businesses. The economic impact of any deferrals would be determined not only by the volume but by their duration, and by the nature of the commodities whose movement was being deferred.

Given this complexity, it is not possible accurately to assess either the potential scale of any deferrals or their economic impact. My department engages regularly with stakeholders to support them in meeting any new requirements applicable to trade with the EU.

We believe it is still possible to reach an agreement with the EU and that this can be done quickly. However, if this cannot be achieved, we are prepared for the effects of a non-negotiated outcome. The food supply chain has demonstrated its resilience, responding to unprecedented challenges over the last year. The Government is confident that it will continue to be resilient after 31 December.

The economic impacts of no Free Trade Agreement with the EU have been much debated in the last four years and there are many economic studies on this issue. The Prime Minister has been clear that we will embrace our new future and prosper as an independent free trading nation, controlling our own borders, and setting our own laws.

From January, we will be able to design our own rules in ways that best support UK businesses to recover from the pandemic. We can benefit from new free trade deals, and open up new markets with other like-minded trading partners. We’ll also be able to target our support in the UK to where it is needed most, to level up our economy.

Defra continues to engage productively with food and drink businesses from across the industry as they prepare for the end of the transition period. As part of this, Defra regularly holds numerous forums and bilateral meetings with trade associations, manufacturers, processors, wholesalers and retailers and SMEs.

We continue to work with the industry to understand their readiness and to address concerns. In this, we have provided tailored guidance and support outlining what action businesses should consider taking regardless of the outcome of negotiations. Guidance continues to be updated and shared through the GOV.UK website and digital resources. Defra also works across Government to support businesses through initiatives such as the Trader Support Service, industry days and webinars.

The Government has been clear that it seeks a free trade agreement with the EU, based on friendly cooperation and maintaining tariff and quota free access. As any responsible Government would, we have plans in place to minimise disruption for the farming sector if a deal is not reached with the EU. We have been reviewing and updating the analysis we undertook as part of our no deal preparations in 2019 and Defra is looking at specific interventions which will help to mitigate impacts for sheep farmers. No decisions have been taken on any sector specific interventions, including the sheep sector, post the end of the transition period as any possible intervention must be dictated by the actual market situation at the time. Producer price impacts would also affect EU producers in a non-negotiated outcome scenario. For example, the EU is heavily reliant on the UK as an export market for Danish pork and bacon. In 2018, the UK purchased 81% of Denmark’s total exports of bacon and ham. This trade was worth £100 million to Denmark.

The UK Government has always been clear that we seek a Free Trade Agreement with the EU similar to the one that they have with Canada.

At the end of 2020 the UK will transition to Most Favoured Nation terms with all those nations that it does not have a free trade agreement with.

The Government will publish more detail of the economic analysis in the Tax Information and Impact Note in due course, as is standard practice to support tax policy decisions.

The Government has been clear that it seeks a free trade agreement with the EU, based on friendly cooperation and maintaining tariff and quota free access.

The UK has a highly resilient food supply chain. We have carried out extensive planning with industry and the Devolved Administrations to prepare for the end of the year, and we are committed to ensuring the continued supply of agri-food goods across the UK. We are equally committed to minimising disruption to movement of goods from Great Britain to Northern Ireland.

There are a number of factors which can affect consumer food prices, including agri-food import prices, domestic manufacturing costs and currency exchange rates. Many of these factors will continue to apply at the end of the transition period whatever the outcome of trade negotiations with the EU. Most food sectors are accustomed to fluctuations in supply chain costs, and this does not necessarily translate into consumer price rises. We will of course continue to monitor market prices of agricultural commodities including meat, dairy products, eggs, cereals and fruit and vegetables.

The UK has a highly resilient food supply chain and the food industry is well-equipped to respond to disruption as was seen during the initial Covid-19 response earlier this year.

Defra has well established ways of working with the food industry on preparedness for and response to potential food supply chain disruptions. Defra Ministers and officials meet regularly with the food industry, including the retailers, to support contingency planning by the industry.

Our thorough preparations for leaving the EU in 2019, alongside the lessons we have learned from, and the range of interventions deployed during the Covid-19 response provide a robust foundation for planning on food supply at the end of the transition period.

The Government made a new temporary relaxation of UK competition law for groceries-chain suppliers on 17 December 2020 - the Competition Act 1998 (Groceries) (Public Policy Exclusion) Order 2020. This relaxation will help grocery retailers and their suppliers to collaborate effectively to prepare for, and if required, respond to potential disruption.

The UK has a highly resilient food supply chain and the food industry is well-equipped to respond to disruption as was seen during the initial Covid-19 response earlier this year.

Defra Ministers and officials meet regularly with the Agri-food industry to support contingency planning by the industry. This includes working closely with those sectors who may be particularly affected by concurrent impacts of end transition disruption and Covid-19 impacts.

There are a number of factors which can affect consumer food prices, including agri-food import prices, domestic manufacturing costs and currency exchange rates. Many of these factors will continue to apply at the end of the transition period whatever the outcome of trade negotiations with the EU. Most food industry sectors are accustomed to fluctuations in supply chain costs, and this does not necessarily translate into consumer price rises.

We are working hard to increase the number of Official Veterinarians to meet demand for certification post transition period, to ensure that the food industry can take advantage of the opportunities and changes that the UK’s new chapter will bring. There are a range of challenges in estimating the number of OVs that will be needed but, based on our modelling of a central scenario, we expect numbers to be sufficient.

The number of Official Veterinarians qualified to sign Export Health Certificates (EHCs) for animal products has grown from approximately 600 to approximately 1300 since February 2019. The training required has been available free of charge since October 2020 and 468 vets are currently enrolled on the relevant training course via this scheme. In addition to this we are providing funding for surge capacity veterinarians as short-term support for the end of the transition period should localised shortages arise.

We have put in place a range of mitigations to simplify processes, including the development of EHC Online and the launch of the Groupage Export Facilitation Scheme for products packaged for the final consumer from stable supply chains.

We are working hard to increase the number of Official Veterinarians to meet demand for certification post transition period, to ensure that the food industry can take advantage of the opportunities and changes that the UK’s new chapter will bring. There are a range of challenges in estimating the number of OVs that will be needed but, based on our modelling of a central scenario, we expect numbers to be sufficient.

The number of Official Veterinarians qualified to sign Export Health Certificates (EHCs) for animal products has grown from approximately 600 to approximately 1300 since February 2019. The training required has been available free of charge since October 2020 and 468 vets are currently enrolled on the relevant training course via this scheme. In addition to this we are providing funding for surge capacity veterinarians as short-term support for the end of the transition period should localised shortages arise.

We have put in place a range of mitigations to simplify processes, including the development of EHC Online and the launch of the Groupage Export Facilitation Scheme for products packaged for the final consumer from stable supply chains.

We are working hard to increase the number of Official Veterinarians to meet demand for certification post transition period, to ensure that the food industry can take advantage of the opportunities and changes that the UK’s new chapter will bring. There are a range of challenges in estimating the number of OVs that will be needed but, based on our modelling of a central scenario, we expect numbers to be sufficient.

The number of Official Veterinarians qualified to sign Export Health Certificates (EHCs) for animal products has grown from approximately 600 to approximately 1300 since February 2019. The training required has been available free of charge since October 2020 and 468 vets are currently enrolled on the relevant training course via this scheme. In addition to this we are providing funding for surge capacity veterinarians as short-term support for the end of the transition period should localised shortages arise.

We have put in place a range of mitigations to simplify processes, including the development of EHC Online and the launch of the Groupage Export Facilitation Scheme for products packaged for the final consumer from stable supply chains.

We are working hard to increase the number of Official Veterinarians to meet demand for certification post transition period, to ensure that the food industry can take advantage of the opportunities and changes that the UK’s new chapter will bring. There are a range of challenges in estimating the number of OVs that will be needed but, based on our modelling of a central scenario, we expect numbers to be sufficient.

The number of Official Veterinarians qualified to sign Export Health Certificates (EHCs) for animal products has grown from approximately 600 to approximately 1300 since February 2019. The training required has been available free of charge since October 2020 and 468 vets are currently enrolled on the relevant training course via this scheme. In addition to this we are providing funding for surge capacity veterinarians as short-term support for the end of the transition period should localised shortages arise.

We have put in place a range of mitigations to simplify processes, including the development of EHC Online and the launch of the Groupage Export Facilitation Scheme for products packaged for the final consumer from stable supply chains.

Defra is facilitating the employment of Certification Support Officers by both Official Veterinarians and local authorities to assist with export health certification ahead of the end of the transition period. Since October 2020 the training that is needed for an individual to qualify as a CSO has been available free of charge and CSO numbers GB wide have grown by over 50%. My officials have made webinars available to certifiers where the value of CSO role in assisting OVs and LA certifiers in their work is emphasised. Follow up Q&A sessions are being held this week.

The UK has a highly resilient food supply chain and a food industry which is experienced in dealing with disruptions to food supply. This includes establishing alternative supply routes and suppliers, where appropriate, and other measures to minimise disruption. The Government has well established ways of working with the food industry including in situations with the potential to disrupt supply.

The Government has carried out extensive planning with the food industry and the Devolved Administrations to prepare for the end of the year. This includes planning for risks that might arise at the end of the transition period, whether or not there is an agreement on the future relationship with the EU. Our overall assessment of risks to food supply at the end of transition is that there may be disruption to some products but there will not be an overall shortage of food in the UK.

There are a number of factors which can affect consumer food prices, including agri-food import prices, domestic manufacturing costs and currency exchange rates. Most food sectors are accustomed to fluctuations in supply chain costs, and this does not necessarily translate into consumer price rises.

The UK has a highly resilient food supply chain and a food industry which is experienced in dealing with disruptions to food supply. This includes establishing alternative supply routes and suppliers, where appropriate, and other measures to minimise disruption. The Government has well established ways of working with the food industry including in situations with the potential to disrupt supply.

The Government has carried out extensive planning with the food industry and the Devolved Administrations to prepare for the end of the year. This includes planning for risks that might arise at the end of the transition period, whether or not there is an agreement on the future relationship with the EU. Our overall assessment of risks to food supply at the end of transition is that there may be disruption to some products but there will not be an overall shortage of food in the UK.

There are a number of factors which can affect consumer food prices, including agri-food import prices, domestic manufacturing costs and currency exchange rates. Most food sectors are accustomed to fluctuations in supply chain costs, and this does not necessarily translate into consumer price rises.

The number of Export Health Certificates (EHCs) required for exports of products of animal origin to the EU at the end of the transition period will vary depending on a number of factors. Our best estimate is the additional need will be five times the 57,000 EHCs issued in 2017 for third country trade, with up to half of these relating to exports of fish. The other half will be split across different product categories, including meat and dairy.

Haulage firms operate on a commercial basis with the food industry. The haulage business model approaches pricing with consideration from a supply versus demand position. Changes in operation from 1 January may increase road haulage costs in the short-term for the food industry.

Current disruption at the port of Felixstowe is due to global supply chain pressures rather than our trading relationship with the EU. The food industry is resilient and alternative routes are available. Although there may be some impact to shelf-life of ambient food products, there has not been any evidence to suggest shortages as a result of this global shipping situation. We will continue to monitor impact on food supply as a result of disruption.

Defra consulted with industry stakeholders on which commodities should be prioritised in the event of severe traffic disruption for those travelling via the Short Straits.

Three criteria were identified to inform that decision, two of which had to be met for prioritisation of any commodity to be agreed:

i) The goods are highly perishable and will lose most of or all their value within five days or less;

ii) The ‘perishable’ goods concerned are live animals and would give rise to animal welfare concerns if not moved in a timely manner and;

iii) The goods would give rise to a disproportionate economic impact on a geographical area of the UK.

Meat and dairy products did not meet two out of the three criteria set out above and were therefore not identified as prioritised commodities. We did consider whether a number of perishable commodities beyond those identified could be added to the list of those being prioritised. However, there is an additional capacity issue with respect to the numbers of vehicles and the overall traffic management in Kent, which if exceeded would put at risk the feasibility of the wider prioritisation contingency plan.

On the issue of prioritising goods at ports, the prioritisation contingency described above focuses on the journey to port within the Kent strategic road network, specifically the M20. Defra and other Government departments are working intensively with the relevant ports to minimise further delays at those locations.

Scheduling for that Committee is a matter for the EU.

EHC Online is a new digitised service which supports exports from Great Britain. The 126 new Export Health Certificates required for exporting goods to the EU at the end of the transition period are already available within the system. To help prepare businesses for the changes in how they trade with the EU, EHC Online has been open for registration to EU exporters since 8 October 2020 and this has been supported by webinars to more than 1000 businesses, in which EHC Online and the new EU forms have been demonstrated.

The Government takes wildlife crime seriously and that is reflected in the penalties provided by legislation. Poaching is one of the UK's six wildlife crime priorities, which are set by the UK Wildlife Crime Tasking and Co-ordination Group.

The Game Act 1831 forms only one part of a wider set of legislative measures to protect wildlife and biodiversity from poaching and other harm. Offences under it carry a level 3 fine, with the maximum currently being £1,000. There are currently no plans to change this.

The Government takes wildlife crime seriously and that is reflected in the penalties provided by legislation. Poaching is one of the UK's six wildlife crime priorities, which are set by the UK Wildlife Crime Tasking and Co-ordination Group.

The Game Act 1831 forms only one part of a wider set of legislative measures to protect wildlife and biodiversity from poaching and other harm. Offences under it carry a level 3 fine, with the maximum currently being £1,000. There are currently no plans to change this.

The Government takes wildlife crime seriously and that is reflected in the penalties provided by legislation. Poaching is one of the UK's six wildlife crime priorities, which are set by the UK Wildlife Crime Tasking and Co-ordination Group.

The Game Act 1831 forms only one part of a wider set of legislative measures to protect wildlife and biodiversity from poaching and other harm. Offences under it carry a level 3 fine, with the maximum currently being £1,000. There are currently no plans to change this.

Defra is monitoring the situation carefully and working closely with the Department of Health and Social Care, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and Public Health England.

Our Chief Veterinary Officer and other officials have been having regular interactions with the Danish technical experts to understand better the mink cases and the implications of the new variant virus strains. They also have regular contact with our European neighbours who farm mink for fur. FCDO have been leading on our interactions further afield, with Defra support.

We have published a cross-Government risk assessment for the UK on this situation:

www.gov.uk/government/publications/hairs-risk-assessment-on-sars-cov-2-in-mustelinae-population

Mink farming is banned across the UK. The legislation came into force in England and Wales in 2000 and in Scotland and Northern Ireland in 2002.

Defra is monitoring the situation carefully and working closely with the Department of Health and Social Care, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and Public Health England.

We have been having regular interactions with the Danish technical experts to understand the situation with the mink cases and the implications of the new variant virus strains.

Our Chief Veterinary Officer and officials have regular contact with our European neighbours who farm mink for fur.

We have published a cross-Government risk assessment for the UK on this situation.

www.gov.uk/government/publications/hairs-risk-assessment-on-sars-cov-2-in-mustelinae-population

The UK has a highly resilient food supply chain based on strong domestic production, and supply from a diverse range of sources. The Government has well established ways of working with the food industry to support their contingency planning in circumstances with the potential to cause disruption.

The restrictions on freight movement from Denmark do not represent a risk to overall food supply. We produce 66% of our supply requirements for pork in the UK (this figure includes the pork that we export). Supply from Denmark, which makes up 31% of our pork imports, is mainly transported by unaccompanied freight and is continuing to operate as usual.

We are investing in a three-year National Pilot which will begin in 2021 and will run for three years ahead of the full scheme rollout. We are working to ensure that Phase 1 of the National Pilot will begin on the ground from late 2021.

The National Pilot will test our proposed approaches to ELM and underlying scheme mechanics, including land management options, payment rates, guidance, application and agreement process, and risk-based compliance and improvement. Building on the findings emerging from Tests and Trials, the Pilot will test how these components operate together in the context of farmers and land managers applying them in real situations. The aim is to learn with National Pilot participants in order to improve these components as the Pilot progresses to ensure that the scheme is in the best possible place ahead of the full launch in 2024.

All farmers and land managers are expected to comply with all relevant regulation whether or not they are participating in the Environmental Land Management (ELM) scheme. The ELM will run alongside an effective regulatory regime to ensure legal regulatory requirements are met. This is the same for any transitional schemes.

The ELM is founded on the principle of paying “public money for public goods” to help achieve the goals of the 25 Year Environment Plan and commitment to net zero carbon emissions by 2050 and will therefore not simply pay for compliance with legal regulatory standards.

We are working closely with a range of environmental and agricultural stakeholders to collaboratively design the new ELM scheme, including to determine exactly what the ELM will pay for.

Uptake of the latest round of Countryside Stewardship (CS) has been encouraging and Defra has committed to offering a further round of CS in 2022.

CS is a proven mechanism for delivering environmental outcomes. The 2022 CS offer will remain familiar to farmers and land managers, but with improvements. This includes making it easier and simpler to apply, making modest changes to keep the scheme relevant to current environmental priorities and providing flexibility for customers to move to the new Environmental Land Management scheme, when it is rolled out. We will make more details available in due course.

ELM is being designed to contribute towards a range of national environmental priorities that relate to the goals in the 25 Year Environment Plan and other Government commitments including Net Zero. More details on the priorities for the ELM scheme, including the contribution that ELM will make to delivering the goals in the 25 Year Environment Plan, will be published in due course.

We will continue to offer an improved and simplified Countryside Stewardship scheme until 2024. We continue to see a sustained high level of engagement with the Countryside Stewardship Scheme, and it provides a stepping stone to the Environmental Land Management (ELM) scheme. From next year, as well as supporting farmers through schemes including a farming resilience fund and sustainable productivity programme, we will be testing and piloting ELM. We are considering what elements of ELM we could make available as part of the transition to the full rollout of ELM in 2024, which could include incentives for sustainable farming. We are currently working up these proposals in more detail.

As we phase out direct payments ahead of the full roll out of our Environmental Land Management scheme in 2024, we will offer financial assistance to help farmers prepare, and invest in ways to improve their productivity and manage the environment sustainably.

We will set out further information on funding for the early years of the agricultural transition period, including Direct Payments, later in the year after the comprehensive spending review.

Badgers in Woodchester Park are not vaccinated against bovine TB and therefore a no-cull zone was not established around Woodchester Park in 2019.

Vaccination sites within Edge Area counties and that meet specific criteria will have no-cull zones surrounding them if a Badger Disease Control licence is issued for land adjacent to such a vaccination site. Specific details on no-cull zones can be found in Defra’s guidance to Natural England published on GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-to-natural-england-preventing-spread-of-bovine-tb.

The minimum and maximum number of badgers to be culled in 2020 can be found on GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/advice-to-natural-england-on-setting-minimum-and-maximum-numbers-of-badgers-to-be-controlled-in-2020.

The number of badgers culled between 2013 and 2020 is as follows:

The estimated badger population of England in 2011-2014 was 424,000. The number of badgers culled each year to 2019 has varied between 0.1% and 8.3% of this estimate.

We have no information on the numbers of badgers culled in Gloucestershire in 2019 that may have been previously vaccinated. From this year vaccination sites located wholly or partially in the TB zone designated as the Edge Area that meet minimum criteria can benefit from no-cull zones around the vaccination site. Although vaccination with BCG will not guarantee protection from infection, meaning some badgers may still become infected, various studies provide good evidence of beneficial effects. Relevant information can be found on the TB Hub website.

Existing Government-funded badger edge vaccination schemes will be able to continue operations where licensing conditions for vaccination are met. Scheme holders should continue to work with land owners to expand their operations in the areas agreed with Defra.

It is the decision of farmers and landowners as to whether they utilise badger vaccination or culling to help control bovine TB. Vaccination may be used independently or in combination with culling as part of a package of measures to prevent or control bovine TB.

There are currently 47 active vaccination sites within Derbyshire, 10 of which are eligible for a buffer and 37 sites are ineligible for no-cull zones.

Our trade agreements will respect the regulatory autonomy of the Parties and decisions on standards remain a matter for the UK Government and devolved administrations, including on pesticides.

Decisions on which pesticides can be authorised for marketing and use in each part of the UK are already within the competence of each devolved administration.

We will maintain our high human health and environmental standards when operating our own independent pesticides regulatory regime, after the transition period. We will ensure decisions on the use of pesticides are based on careful scientific assessment and will not authorise pesticides that may carry unacceptable risks. The statutory requirements of the EU regime on standards of protection will be carried across unchanged into domestic law.

This Government is clear that in all of our trade negotiations we will not compromise on our high environmental protection, animal welfare and food standards.

There are a range of management mechanisms currently in place aimed at maintaining or restoring protected wildlife sites in or to a favourable condition. These include those delivered through Countryside Stewardship and broader strategic action such as catchment sensitive farming, to improve air and water quality in high priority areas. Natural England is also working to improve the efficiency of SSSI monitoring, which will make better use of new technologies, such as remote sensing and greater partnership involvement.

We are exploring the use of powers in the Environment Bill to strengthen our commitment to improving the condition of our protected sites on land and in the sea by setting a target in law, as set out in our recently published policy paper on environmental targets. In addition, we plan to publish a Nature Strategy in 2021, following the agreement of the post-2020 global framework under the Convention of Biological Diversity, which will set out further detail on our action for protected sites.

The 25 Year Environment Plan will be adopted as the first statutory Environment Improvement Plan (EIP) in the Environment Bill. The Bill also establishes a new, independent statutory body – the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) – which will have a statutory duty to monitor and report on the Government’s progress in improving the natural environment in accordance with the EIP.

The Bill also makes provision for a cycle of monitoring, planning and reporting on EIPs that comprises annual progress reports by the Government to Parliament, regular scrutiny by the OEP and five-yearly reviews of the EIP.

The Government’s annual reports will include an assessment of the steps taken to implement the EIP, as well as an assessment of environmental improvement. The OEP will scrutinise the Government’s annual report and may recommend how progress could be improved, to which the Government must respond.

Every five years, the Government must review its EIP and consider whether further measures need to be adopted. If the EIP is revised, the updated EIP must be published, alongside a statement explaining the revisions, and laid before Parliament.

The Secretary of State and his counterpart at the Department for International Trade regularly consulted one another throughout the development of the UK Global Tariff (UKGT)

The Government has sought a balance between the interests of domestic production, processing and developing country preferences. To achieve this balance, the UKGT retains tariffs on sugar products, while opening a new Autonomous Tariff Quota (ATQ) of 260,000 tonnes that will apply from 1 January 2021, for 12 months, with an in-quota rate of 0.00%.We are proud of the high food safety and production standards that underpin our high-quality Great British produce. We have no intention of undermining our own reputation for quality by lowering our food and animal welfare standards. We have been clear that we will remain committed to high standards. We always committed to reviewing this ATQ and will write to you in due course.

The number of live pheasants and partridges, and the number of pheasant-hatching eggs imported into the UK from the EU in 2018 and 2019 can be found below. There were no imports of partridge-hatching eggs recorded during this period:

The data was extracted from TRACES (Trade Control and Expert System) which is a European Commission system employed by EU member states to facilitate and record animal and animal product movements throughout the EU.

It is not possible to differentiate between poults and adult birds using TRACES. It is also not possible to identify how many of these imports came from breeding birds kept in cages.

The information provided is a true reflection of the data available. This is entered into TRACES by a third party, and therefore we cannot verify its accuracy.

The Government shares the public’s high regard for animal welfare and is examining the evidence around the use of cages in farming, including their use for breeding partridges and pheasants. We are exploring the options and will work with the industry to improve animal welfare in a sustainable way.

The welfare of gamebirds is currently protected by the Animal Welfare Act 2006 which makes it an offence to cause unnecessary suffering. This is backed up by the statutory Code of Practice for the Welfare of Gamebirds Reared for Sporting Purposes, which recommends that barren cages should not be used for breeding birds and that any system should be appropriately enriched. Keepers are required by law to have access to, and be familiar with this code, which encourages the adoption of high standards of husbandry. Failure to observe the provisions of a code may also be used in support of a prosecution.

Defra does not hold information on mortality rates for breeding pheasants and partridges or their offspring.

The Government shares the public’s high regard for animal welfare and is examining the evidence around the use of cages in farming, including their use for breeding partridges and pheasants. We are exploring the options and will work with the industry to improve animal welfare in a sustainable way.

The welfare of gamebirds is currently protected by the Animal Welfare Act 2006 which makes it an offence to cause unnecessary suffering. This is backed up by the statutory Code of Practice for the Welfare of Gamebirds Reared for Sporting Purposes, which recommends that barren cages should not be used for breeding birds and that any system should be appropriately enriched. Keepers are required by law to have access to, and be familiar with this code, which encourages the adoption of high standards of husbandry. Failure to observe the provisions of a code may also be used in support of a prosecution.

Defra does not hold information on mortality rates for breeding pheasants and partridges or their offspring.

Game-rearing businesses play an important role in our rural economy. As with other businesses they have, where eligible, been able to apply for public support through the various Covid-19-related Government schemes including the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, business rates relief, the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme and the Bounce Back Loan Scheme. Defra does not hold a record of the nature of businesses applying for these schemes and is therefore unable to provide details of the number of game-rearing businesses in receipt of support and the amounts paid from the public purse.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Lancaster and Fleetwood on 30 June, PQ UIN 62498.

The new Dairy Response Fund which opened for applications on 18 June will help support those dairy farmers who have seen decreased demand for their products as bars, restaurants and cafes have been closed.

The deadline for applications to the fund is 14 August. Details of the number of eligible applicants to the fund will be available in due course.

Our Farming for the Future policy statement, published in February 2020, sets out the maximum reductions that will apply to Direct Payments for 2021. This includes a maximum reduction of 25% for the portion of the payment which exceeds £150,000. Based on 2018 data, we estimate that around 1,000 farmers will fall into this category. No farmers will receive an overall reduction of 25%.

The food parcels delivered to people who are clinically extremely vulnerable and shielding are subject to quality control. The contract with Brakes and Bidfood includes several Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), which are reported against regularly, and are used to manage the current service and improve service in the future. Two of these KPIs relate to food box product quality and food box satisfaction, which is assessed partly through a user survey.

We regularly engage with other departments across Government in supporting the interests of rural business. The Government has made available a full range of support measures to businesses during these unprecedented times, including the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant Fund, the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme and Bounce Back Loans. These schemes are available to businesses based in rural areas.

The UK food sector has adapted quickly to unprecedented challenges during the Covid-19 outbreak to ensure people have the food and products they need. With counterparts across Whitehall, and through ongoing engagement with industry, we are closely monitoring the potential impacts of Covid-19 on the food and drink wholesale sector. This includes regular meetings with food and drink wholesalers and their representative bodies.

To help industry, the Chancellor of the Exchequer has set out a package of temporary, timely and targeted measures to support public services, people and businesses through this period of disruption caused by Covid-19. The measures available to food and drink wholesale businesses depend on their size, and includes the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme for furloughing of staff; the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan; the Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan; the Covid-19 Corporate Financing Facility; a Statutory sick pay relief package for SMEs with fewer than 250 employees; Value Added Tax (VAT) deferral to the end of June; the HMRC Time To Pay Scheme; Eviction protection for commercial tenants; a £10,000 cash grant for all business in receipt of Small Business Rates Relief and Rural Rates Relief; and the Bounce Back Loan Scheme.

We remain committed to working in partnership with industry to respond to these challenges as they evolve and to assess whether current support mechanisms continue to be sufficient and effective.

There are large numbers of charities across the country who are supporting vulnerable people, including those who cannot afford food as a consequence of Covid-19. Defra is working closely with these charities to estimate the supply of food to charities and demand for food from users of those charities.

The food industry has pledged food and financial donations for charities to support vulnerable people's access to food by helping to fill the gap between supply and demand.

On 3 April Defra launched a £3.25 million grant opportunity to help surplus food redistributors with infrastructure and associated support to help get more food to charities working on the front line in supporting vulnerable people in need. Wrap are delivering the grant opportunity for Defra and report as of 30 April £402,000 has been awarded to 46 charities pending final compliance checks, with further applications being assessed.

Defra is working through our stakeholder forum of 43 charities, who provide services to vulnerable people, to identify what more needs to be done to ensure that people who are vulnerable have access to food during Covid-19.

All pesticides are subject to strict regulation and can only be sold and used if they are authorised following an assessment of risks to people, wildlife and the environment. In December 2018, the Government took the decision to prohibit the sale and use of metaldehyde products other than in greenhouses. Following a legal challenge based on the decision-making process, the Government agreed to withdraw the prohibition.

The Government is now required to make a fresh decision on whether the sale and use of metaldehyde products should continue to be authorised. This decision will be taken as soon as possible and will be taken on the basis of the legal requirements and the assessment of the scientific evidence on risks to people, wildlife and the environment. The economic effects on producers of metaldehyde and on water companies are not considered as part of this assessment.

In line with guidance on Government consultations we plan to publish the summary of responses to the call for evidence within three months of the consultation closing.

The Government is committed to continuing to support rural areas, for example through its manifesto pledge to maintain the current annual budget to farmers in every year of this Parliament. We have also confirmed that all Rural Development Programme projects that have funding agreed before 31 December 2020 will be fully funded for their lifetime. The Government considers that the benefits that rural areas will gain from the new schemes now being developed for England will substantially outweigh those they receive from the current complex and bureaucratic arrangements. In England, these new schemes include Environmental Land Management and Future Farming Productivity Grants.

The information requested at this level of detail is not held by Defra. However, we can provide information taken from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) Annual Population Survey which shows the number of EU/European Economic Area (EEA) nationals working permanently in the agricultural sector for the whole of the UK. These figures will not include seasonal workers living in communal or temporary accommodation.

The ONS Annual Population Survey showed that the number of EEA nationals working permanently in UK agriculture in each of the last three years was approximately 33,000 in 2017, 19,000 in 2018 and 18,000 in 2019.

The Government has sought a balance between the interests of domestic production and processing, and developing country preferences.

To achieve this balance, the UK Global Tariff (UKGT) retains tariffs on sugar products, while opening a new Autonomous Tariff Quota (ATQ) of 260,000 tonnes that will apply from 1 January 2021, for 12 months, with an in-quota rate of 0.00%. We always committed to reviewing this ATQ and we will do so in due course.

We are proud of the high food safety and animal welfare standards that underpin our high-quality Great British products. We have no intention of undermining our own reputation for quality by lowering our food and animal welfare standards. Existing UK import standards will still apply – the level of tariff applied does not change what can and can not be imported. We have been clear that we will remain committed to high standards.

Tariffs are a tax, therefore the Government will publish a Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) alongside the legislation, as is standard practice. We have committed to reviewing this Autonomous Tariff Quota (ATQ) and we will do so in due course.

Tariffs are a tax, therefore the Government will publish a Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) alongside the legislation, as is standard practice. We have committed to reviewing this Autonomous Tariff Quota (ATQ) and we will do so in due course.

Tariffs are a tax, therefore the Government will publish a Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) alongside the legislation, as is standard practice. We have committed to reviewing this Autonomous Tariff Quota (ATQ) and we will do so in due course.

As announced as part of the UK Global Tariff (UKGT), the Government has sought a balance between the interests of domestic production and processing and developing country preferences. To achieve this balance, the UKGT retains tariffs on sugar products, while opening a new Autonomous Tariff Quota (ATQ) of 260,000 tonnes that will apply from 1 January 2021, for 12 months, with an in-quota rate of 0.00%. This will ensure that supply is maintained while protecting developing country preferences. We also committed to reviewing this ATQ and we will do so in due course.