Asked by: Graham Leadbitter (Scottish National Party - Moray West, Nairn and Strathspey)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate his Department has made of the value of single malt Irish whisky produced in Northern Ireland to the economy.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Irish Whiskey Association, representing 95% of Irish Whiskey producers across the island of Ireland, report that Irish Whiskey exports exceeded €1billion in 2024 and reached 114 markets around the world.
Irish Whiskey produced in Northern Ireland is an important part of that economic impact. The oldest Irish Whiskey distillery in NI, Bushmills, reported a 9.7% rise in volume sales in 2022, reaching 1 million nine-litre cases for the first time. In 2024 the newest Irish Whiskey distillery in NI, McConnell’s, opened its £12m distillery in Belfast which is expected to produce half a million litres of alcohol and attract 100,000 visitors annually.
Asked by: Graham Leadbitter (Scottish National Party - Moray West, Nairn and Strathspey)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate his Department has made of the value of single malt Scotch whisky to the economy.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
No formal assessment has been made by the department, but a report by the Scotch Whisky Association, using figures from industry and the Government from production to employment, concluded that Scotch Whisky’s contribution to the UK economy reached £7.1 billion in 2022.
Exports of Scotch Whisky were valued at £5.4 billion in 2024, of which £1.7 billion was Single Malt Whisky.
The entire country is proud of Scotch Whiskey as one of the world’s most loved products.
SOURCE:
https://www.scotch-whisky.org.uk/newsroom/2024-export-figures/
https://www.scotch-whisky.org.uk/newsroom/scotch-whisky-boosts-uk-economy-by-71bn/
Asked by: Graham Leadbitter (Scottish National Party - Moray West, Nairn and Strathspey)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate his Department has made of the value of single malt English whisky to the economy.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
No formal assessment has been made by the department, but the English Whisky Guild forecast the volume of spirit produced by English distilleries to grow by 189% from 2019-2024. They forecast that there would be 50,000 maturing casks by 2024 with a value of £1 billion.
English Whisky distilleries welcomed over 250,000 visitors in 2023, and English Whisky is exported to more than 30 countries worldwide.
SOURCES:
https://www.englishwhiskyguild.com/annual-review
Asked by: Graham Leadbitter (Scottish National Party - Moray West, Nairn and Strathspey)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate his Department has made of the value of single malt Welsh whisky to the economy.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
No formal assessment has been made by the department, but upon registration of Single Malt Welsh Whisky as a geographical indication in 2023, it was forecast to generate a revenue of £23 million in the 2023-24 financial year and is exported to more than 45 countries.
SOURCE: https://businesswales.gov.wales/foodanddrink/news-and-events/news/single-malt-welsh-whisky-protected
Asked by: Graham Leadbitter (Scottish National Party - Moray West, Nairn and Strathspey)
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 made an estimate of the quantity of (a) commercial forest timber and (b) waste wood products that will be needed to achieve the government’s target of 1.5million homes in this parliament; and what proportion of these products can be sourced domestically.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We do not yet have an estimate of the required timber and waste wood required to meet the Government's housing targets. The current forecast of softwood availability for Great Britain is a total average of 25.2 million cubic metres of softwood timber per annum over 50 years (2013-16 to 2057-61) from public and private estates.
We are aiming to increase softwoods to at least 30% of total planting and bring more hardwoods to market through increased woodland management. To support this goal, the Government launched the Timber in Construction Roadmap on 27 February 2025 which sets out our vision for a sustainable, integrated industry that meets the needs of the future.
Asked by: Graham Leadbitter (Scottish National Party - Moray West, Nairn and Strathspey)
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 align the UK’s regulations with the EU’s recent prohibition on exporting banned chemicals to countries where they remain permitted.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is committed to protecting human health and the environment.
Requirements for the export of hazardous chemicals are agreed at the international level under the Rotterdam Convention. In GB, the export of certain hazardous chemicals is regulated through the GB Prior Informed Consent (PIC) Regulation.
The regulatory requirements under GB PIC are the same as under the EU PIC Regulation but the UK now makes its own decisions under PIC and other chemicals legislation.
We continue to monitor developments in other countries and learn from their experiences.