Asked by: George Eustice (Conservative - Camborne and Redruth)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when she plans to open the industry-led Research and Development Syndicates for applications.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Industry-led Research and Development Syndicates formed part of the first competitions under the Farming Innovation Programme, launched in October 2021.
Asked by: George Eustice (Conservative - Camborne and Redruth)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when the Government plans to publish the horticulture strategy.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The domestic horticulture sector plays an important role in the resilience of our food system as well as an important part of our wider economy. We are delivering for the sector by investing more than £168 million to drive innovation and support food production, and have passed the new Genetic Technology Act to reduce the regulatory burden and unlock the potential of new technologies.
Defra regularly engages with the horticulture industry's representatives and our existing stakeholder forums help inform future policy development and support for the sector.
Later this year, we will respond to the Labour Review and we will consider if a further tailored action plan is required. I look forward to discussing this and other issues at the upcoming Farm to Fork Summit.
Asked by: George Eustice (Conservative - Camborne and Redruth)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with representatives of the horticulture industry on the development of the Horticulture Strategy.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The domestic horticulture sector plays an important role in the resilience of our food system as well as an important part of our wider economy. We are delivering for the sector by investing more than £168 million to drive innovation and support food production, and have passed the new Genetic Technology Act to reduce the regulatory burden and unlock the potential of new technologies.
Defra regularly engages with the horticulture industry's representatives and our existing stakeholder forums help inform future policy development and support for the sector.
Later this year, we will respond to the Labour Review and we will consider if a further tailored action plan is required. I look forward to discussing this and other issues at the upcoming Farm to Fork Summit.
Asked by: George Eustice (Conservative - Camborne and Redruth)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many Countryside Stewardship agreements have been made under powers conferred in regulations under Section 98 of the Environmental Protection Act 1995.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
There are a total 22,671 Countryside Stewardship agreements that have been made under powers conferred in regulations under section 98 of the Environmental Protection Act 1995.
Asked by: George Eustice (Conservative - Camborne and Redruth)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether new Countryside Stewardship agreements issued in 2023 will be made under the legal powers conferred by Section 1 of the Agriculture Act 2020.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Yes, Countryside Stewardship agreements issued in 2023 are made under the legal powers conferred by section 1 of the Agriculture Act 2020.
Asked by: George Eustice (Conservative - Camborne and Redruth)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether there are remaining provisions in retained EU law that govern the payment rates permissible under new or existing Countryside Stewardship agreements.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
There is provision for payment rates applicable to legacy EU agreements (agreements made up to 31 December 2020) under retained EU law. However, pursuant to a domestic modification to retained EU law made by regulation 5 of the Rural Development (Amendment) (No. 2) (England) Regulations (SI 2022 No. 1225), changes may now be made to payment rates applicable to legacy EU agreements without, as was previously required, having to specify them in the Rural Development Programme for England programme document.
There are no provisions in retained EU law that govern the payment rates (made from 1 January 2021) in either new Countryside Stewardship agreements or existing Countryside Stewardship agreements made under domestic legislation (the Environment Act 1995 and the Agriculture Act 2020).
Asked by: George Eustice (Conservative - Camborne and Redruth)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of using low atmospheric pressure stunning as an alternative to carbon dioxide in the slaughter of pigs.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We recognise the long-standing animal welfare concerns with high concentration carbon dioxide stunning of pigs. HM Government has supported research into use of alternatives, including inert gas mixtures, and while these do reduce the welfare impacts, there are practical constraints to their use which have so far restricted commercial uptake.
HM Government has also part-funded research into Low Atmospheric Pressure Stunning (LAPS) as a possible alternative stunning method for pigs. However, the results demonstrated that LAPS is associated with poor welfare in pigs and does not present a humane alternative to high concentration carbon dioxide stunning.
Asked by: George Eustice (Conservative - Camborne and Redruth)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of substituting the use of carbon dioxide in the stunning of pigs with alternatives such as argon, nitrogen or nitrous oxide.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We recognise the long-standing animal welfare concerns with high concentration carbon dioxide stunning of pigs. HM Government has supported research into use of alternatives, including inert gas mixtures, and while these do reduce the welfare impacts, there are practical constraints to their use which have so far restricted commercial uptake.
HM Government has also part-funded research into Low Atmospheric Pressure Stunning (LAPS) as a possible alternative stunning method for pigs. However, the results demonstrated that LAPS is associated with poor welfare in pigs and does not present a humane alternative to high concentration carbon dioxide stunning.
Asked by: George Eustice (Conservative - Camborne and Redruth)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the welfare implications of high concentration carbon dioxide stunning in the slaughter of pigs.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We recognise the long-standing animal welfare concerns with high concentration carbon dioxide stunning of pigs. HM Government has supported research into use of alternatives, including inert gas mixtures, and while these do reduce the welfare impacts, there are practical constraints to their use which have so far restricted commercial uptake.
HM Government has also part-funded research into Low Atmospheric Pressure Stunning (LAPS) as a possible alternative stunning method for pigs. However, the results demonstrated that LAPS is associated with poor welfare in pigs and does not present a humane alternative to high concentration carbon dioxide stunning.
Asked by: George Eustice (Conservative - Camborne and Redruth)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what proportion of birds slaughtered without stunning under a shackle line system are required to be individually assessed for signs of consciousness by a food business operator before birds progress to the next stage of production.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
All birds slaughtered without stunning should be assessed to ensure they do not present any sign of life before undergoing dressing or scalding. Further dressing or scalding shall only be performed once the absence of signs of life of the animal has been verified.
The European Food Standards Authority have produced guidance on monitoring procedures at slaughterhouses for poultry that recommends that all birds slaughtered without stunning should be assessed for unconsciousness and death by checking appropriate indicators.