Asked by: David Simpson (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to protect children from the effect of toxic air on their health.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Stockton North, Alex Cunningham, on 27 November 2018, PQ UIN192868.
Asked by: David Simpson (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with fishermen in Northern Ireland on the UK's withdrawal from the EU.
Answered by George Eustice
There have been extensive, positive and productive discussions between Defra and representatives of the fishing industry in Northern Ireland, most recently following the launch of Defra’s White Paper, Sustainable fisheries for future generations, and following the introduction of the Fisheries Bill.
Asked by: David Simpson (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what checks his Department takes to ensure that no insects or pesticides are brought into the UK through food imports.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
In EU food law, the expectation is that food is not contaminated. Food must be safe and fit for human consumption. This applies to all food placed on the market (i.e. supplied for profit or not) in EU Member States.
Consumers should be provided with information about food which enables them to make safe and informed food choices.
Even where foreign bodies found in food which might not in themselves be harmful to health, including insects or other foreign bodies that should not be in the food, or are not described as being part of the food, the food would still likely be deemed ‘unfit for human consumption.’
Food imported into the EU for placing on the market within the EU must comply with the relevant requirements of food law.
Importers, distributors and retailers of food are under a statutory obligation to comply with maximum residues levels set for pesticides in food. They must put in place appropriate quality controls to ensure this. This requirement is backed up by a substantial UK Government programme of testing for residues in food and drink; results are published on the GOV.UK website.
Controlled plant products are inspected for quarantine pests on a risk basis.
Asked by: David Simpson (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what his Department's policy will be on time limits for farmers to spread fertiliser after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
We are committed to meeting our legal obligations, including having set dates for fertiliser spreading under the requirements of the Nitrates Directive. Leaving the EU provides us with an opportunity to review agricultural policy to support farmers and deliver environmental benefits in a way that better reflects UK circumstances, in line with the terms of any future agreement with the EU.
Asked by: David Simpson (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many people were employed by his Department on 19 November 2018.
Answered by George Eustice
The number of staff employed by the department as at 31 October 2018 was 4146. This will be consistent with data due to be published by 7 December 2018 at Data.Gov.UK - Dataset Workforce Management Information Defra, in line with Cabinet Office arrangements.
We are unable to provide this data as at 19 November 2018 without incurring disproportionate cost.
Asked by: David Simpson (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what his Department's policy is on financial support for farmers affected by heavy flooding.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
It is the long-standing policy of successive Governments that compensation is not paid for losses due to damage caused by flooding or coastal erosion. This is because, except in very limited circumstance, no-one has a right to flood or coastal erosion defences or, if defences are provided, there is no legal requirement to provide any particular standard of defence.
Farms are businesses and, like all businesses, should take actions to try and limit the impacts of flooding on their property or assets, and aim to have insurance in place for any losses incurred by a flood.
Asked by: David Simpson (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent steps his Department has taken to prevent fly tipping in rural areas.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
Policies to tackle fly-tipping are devolved. In England, the government is committed to tackling fly-tipping in rural and urban areas. Local authorities and the Environment Agency have a wide range of enforcement powers to tackle fly-tipping and we have recently strengthened these. In 2016 we gave local authorities the power to issue fixed penalty notices for small scale fly-tipping and enhanced local authorities’ and Environment Agency’s ability to search and seize the vehicles of suspected fly-tippers.
This year we consulted on the power to issue fixed penalty notices to householders who fail in their duty of care and pass their waste to fly-tippers. Two thirds of fly-tipping incidents involve household waste so this will help address the main source of the crime. Subject to parliamentary approval this new power will be available to local authorities and the Environment Agency later this year. We will also support local authorities in increasing householders’ awareness of their duty of care to ensure their waste is disposed of properly.
Asked by: David Simpson (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what his Department's policy is on the provision of financial support to farmers that are unable to hire seasonal workers in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a no deal.
Answered by George Eustice
We firmly believe it is in the interests of both the EU and the UK to strike a deal, and we remain confident we will agree a mutually advantageous deal with the EU.
We do not want or expect a no deal scenario. It is however the duty of a responsible Government to continue to prepare for a range of potential outcomes including the unlikely event of no deal. Defra are taking necessary steps to ensure the country continues to operate smoothly from the day we leave.
Defra understands the importance of seasonal labour in supporting a successful and effective agricultural sector, and is considering how best to support the needs of the sector both before and after the UK leaves the EU. Defra is working closely with the Home Office to ensure that there is a long term strategy for the food and farming workforce as part of the future immigration policy.
The Government will introduce a new pilot scheme for 2019 and 2020 enabling up to 2500 non-EEA migrant workers to come to the UK to undertake seasonal employment in the edible horticultural sector.
Asked by: David Simpson (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has plans to introduce legislative proposals to regulate food prices after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
No. It is not the Government's role to set retail food prices or to comment on day-to-day commercial decisions by companies. Our research has found that consumer food prices depend on a range of factors, including commodity prices, currency exchange rates, and oil prices, and this will continue to be the case when we leave the EU.
We work closely with industry to promote transparency for consumers and internationally to promote open global markets. The work we are doing helps to support a competitive domestic market so producers and retailers can offer the best prices.
Asked by: David Simpson (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union on the importation of food from EU countries after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Secretary of State has regular discussions with the DExEU Secretary and other Cabinet colleagues about our readiness for leaving the EU. In recent weeks the Government published a range of technical notices which provided information on preparations for leaving the EU, including importing and exporting.