Ian Liddell-Grainger

Our existing legal requirements for imports include a ban on animal products which were produced using artificial growth hormones, and a legal requirement that imported poultry carcases can only be washed in potable water.

In addition, imports of animal products are legally required to have been subject to humane slaughter methods.

The Government’s manifesto is clear that in all of our trade deals, we will not compromise on our high environmental protection, animal welfare and food standards.

Great Britain maintains its own imports regime to protect public, animal and plant life, health, welfare and the environment.

Countries that are approved to import animal products to the UK are required to ensure that their exporting establishments meet UK import requirements, as set out in legislation including Retained Regulations 2019/625, 853/2004 and 1099/2009.

Within Great Britain, compliance with animal welfare regulations is monitored and enforced in approved slaughterhouses by official veterinarians from the Food Standards Agency and Food Standards Scotland.

The Government is committed to tackling deforestation and greening supply chains. We maintain a regular dialogue with the Brazilian government and legislators on the progress of legislation in Brazil that affects rates of deforestation. The Government will continue to support action by businesses, civil society, and members of Parliament to help reduce deforestation globally. We are committed to maintaining constructive dialogue, working to protect nature and biodiversity and support global climate objectives.

In line with recent calls to halt illegal deforestation including in the Amazon, we are introducing world-leading due diligence legislation through the Environment Bill to help address illegal deforestation across UK supply chains. Close to 90% of deforestation in some of the world’s most important forests is illegal.

We do not currently have plans to investigate the practices of JBS in the UK. However, our due diligence law will make it illegal for larger businesses operating in the UK to use key forest risk commodities produced on land illegally occupied or used. Businesses in scope will also be required to undertake a due diligence exercise on their supply chains, and to report on this exercise annually. To ensure transparency, information about businesses' due diligence exercises will be published. Businesses in scope that do not comply with these requirements may be subject to fines and other civil sanctions.

The Government is committed to tackling deforestation and greening supply chains. We maintain a regular dialogue with the Brazilian government and legislators on the progress of legislation in Brazil that affects rates of deforestation. The Government will continue to support action by businesses, civil society, and members of Parliament to help reduce deforestation globally. We are committed to maintaining constructive dialogue, working to protect nature and biodiversity and support global climate objectives.

In line with recent calls to halt illegal deforestation including in the Amazon, we are introducing world-leading due diligence legislation through the Environment Bill to help address illegal deforestation across UK supply chains. Close to 90% of deforestation in some of the world’s most important forests is illegal.

We do not currently have plans to investigate the practices of JBS in the UK. However, our due diligence law will make it illegal for larger businesses operating in the UK to use key forest risk commodities produced on land illegally occupied or used. Businesses in scope will also be required to undertake a due diligence exercise on their supply chains, and to report on this exercise annually. To ensure transparency, information about businesses' due diligence exercises will be published. Businesses in scope that do not comply with these requirements may be subject to fines and other civil sanctions.

The Government is committed to tackling deforestation and greening supply chains. We maintain a regular dialogue with the Brazilian government and legislators on the progress of legislation in Brazil that affects rates of deforestation. The Government will continue to support action by businesses, civil society, and members of Parliament to help reduce deforestation globally. We are committed to maintaining constructive dialogue, working to protect nature and biodiversity and support global climate objectives.

In line with recent calls to halt illegal deforestation including in the Amazon, we are introducing world-leading due diligence legislation through the Environment Bill to help address illegal deforestation across UK supply chains. Close to 90% of deforestation in some of the world’s most important forests is illegal.

We do not currently have plans to investigate the practices of JBS in the UK. However, our due diligence law will make it illegal for larger businesses operating in the UK to use key forest risk commodities produced on land illegally occupied or used. Businesses in scope will also be required to undertake a due diligence exercise on their supply chains, and to report on this exercise annually. To ensure transparency, information about businesses' due diligence exercises will be published. Businesses in scope that do not comply with these requirements may be subject to fines and other civil sanctions.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) and Food Standards Scotland hold information on food safety practices of food businesses based in the UK, including the ones owned by JBS.

Checks are carried out on foodstuffs imported into the UK to ensure that they meet our food safety standards. When safety risks or non-compliances are identified in food, feed or food contact materials imported into the UK, the FSA is notified and in turn notifies the country that exported the non-compliant or hazardous goods into the UK.

My Rt Hon Friend the Environment Secretary has no specific plans to hold discussions with his EU counterpart in respect of the food safety practices of the subsidiaries of JBS. However, if any concerns are raised to Defra, he will be happy to pass them to the Food Standards Agency for consideration, as appropriate.

In order to support milk producers, we have temporarily eased some elements of competition law to make it easier for the dairy industry to come together to maximise production, processing and storage efficiency and ensure as much product as possible can be processed into high quality dairy products. This approach will allow the market for milk to adjust to the change in demand for milk while allowing production to be restored when shops, restaurants and pubs are able to open again. Exempted activities have been developed in conjunction with the dairy industry.

Beyond this immediate and temporary measure, the Government plans to launch a range of initiatives to improve the position of milk producers. Government is keen to see greater levels of collaboration between producers and will continue to support farmers who want to harness the benefits of working together. Our Agriculture Bill includes powers to introduce a new domestic system for recognising producer organisations, which will be better tailored to the requirements of UK producers.

The Bill also includes powers to introduce and enforce statutory codes of practice to address unfair trading practices which can occur between milk producers and purchasers. We will carry out a full consultation on dairy contracts to take account of the range of stakeholder views and hope to launch the consultation later this year.

Our Clean Air Strategy, published in 2019, set out the comprehensive action required across all parts of Government and society to reduce our emissions of five key pollutants, including particulates and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), to meet legally binding targets for 2020 and 2030.

Our landmark Environment Bill delivers key parts of the Strategy. It introduces a duty to set a legally binding target for fine particulate matter, in addition to a further long term air quality target. It also provides Government with new powers to enforce environmental standards for vehicles and non-road mobile machinery and ensures that local authorities have more effective powers and a clear framework for tackling air pollution in their areas.

In addition, we have recently announced plans to introduce secondary legislation to phase out the sale of traditional house coal, high-sulphur manufactured solid fuels and small quantities of wet wood; and Public Health England have published guidelines to reduce the health impacts of selected VOCs in UK homes and offices. These actions will all help tackle emissions of particulates and VOCs.

To incentivise good service quality performance for consumers, the CAA sets the following security queue standards that it expects Heathrow airport to meet under its economic licence:

- Central search security queue standards

o 95% of queue times measured once every 15 minutes that are less than 5 minutes

o 99% of queue times measured once every 15 minutes that are less than 10 minutes

- Transfer search security queue standard

o 95% of queue times measured once every 15 minutes that are less than 10 minutes

- Staff search security queue standard

o 95% of queue times measured once every 15 minutes that are less than 10 minutes

Queue times which do not meet these standards can trigger a rebate payable by Heathrow airport.

The Department for Transport keeps security at airports under constant review and is in regular contact with airports and manufacturers. Purchasing equipment however remains the decision of airports.

Any equipment in use must meet the security standards set by the European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC) and be approved for use by the Department for Transport. Approved equipment can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/aviation-security-screening-approved-equipment-list.

Supervisors must have received appropriate training in the use of security equipment. Supervisors have to complete relevant training as outlined in the training syllabi that can be found on the CAA website at https://www.caa.co.uk/Commercial-industry/Security/Training/Syllabuses/. We do not provide details of the specific training for security reasons.

The Secretary of State for Transport is responsible for setting the security measures that should be applied in the UK. The Department for Transport advises the industry on equipment that may be used for screening at an airport. This is set out in the DfT Approved Equipment List https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/aviation-security-screening-approved-equipment-list . All such equipment meets the standards set by the European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC) of which the UK is a member.

Staff must have received appropriate training in the use of equipment before they can operate in a live environment. Staff will have to complete relevant training as outlined in the training syllabi that can be found on the CAA website at https://www.caa.co.uk/Commercial-industry/Security/Training/Syllabuses/. We do not provide details of the specific training for security reasons.

Heathrow airport has met the monthly security queue standards set under its economic licence between January – August 2021, as demonstrated in its latest performance reports except for one day in July at Terminal 5 central search.

The Secretary of State for Transport is responsible for setting the security measures that should be applied in the UK. The Department for Transport advises the industry on equipment that may be used for screening at an airport. This is set out in the DfT Approved Equipment List https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/aviation-security-screening-approved-equipment-list . All such equipment meets the standards set by the European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC) of which the UK is a member.

This will be a matter for the airport depending on the configuration of the security checkpoint.

The Department for Transport does not hold this information.

All security equipment and associated processes are required to meet security standards sufficient to ensure that prohibited articles are not taken beyond the airport search point. For security reasons we do not provide details of such arrangements.

I refer my hon Friend to my answers on 8 March to Questions UIN 159245 and UIN159246, which made clear that the Government welcomed the views of all those interested in the proposals, including local residents, town and parish councils, businesses and the voluntary sector; the process is not a poll or referendum, and hence there were no limitations on who was able to respond, nor is there a process of validating the details of respondents.

Those responding to the consultation on Citizen Space, the Department's online platform which is used widely across the public sector for consultation activities, were required to declare whether they were responding as a resident (and if so whether they are resident in the area concerned or elsewhere including overseas) or whether they were responding on behalf of an organisation and in which case the type of organisation. They were also asked to provide the name of the organisation on whose behalf a response is being made and the email address of the respondent. No further details about a respondent's personal or family's interests were requested.

Thousands of responses have been received to the consultation on local government reorganisation in Somerset which closed on Monday 19 April. The Secretary of State will now be carefully considering the reorganisation proposals for Somerset to decide which, if any, should be implemented, subject to Parliamentary approval. In doing so he will have regard to all relevant information available to him, including the representations from the consultation which are now being analysed, and all other representations he has received.

He intends before the summer to announce his decisions on the unitary proposals and publish a summary of consultation responses.

Thousands of responses have been received to the consultation on local government reorganisation in Somerset which closed on Monday 19 April. The Secretary of State will now be carefully considering the reorganisation proposals for Somerset to decide which, if any, should be implemented, subject to Parliamentary approval. In doing so he will have regard to all relevant information available to him, including the representations from the consultation which are now being analysed, and all other representations he has received.

He intends before the summer to announce his decisions on the unitary proposals and publish a summary of consultation responses.

Thousands of responses have been received to the consultation on local government reorganisation in Somerset which closed on Monday 19 April. The Secretary of State will now be carefully considering the reorganisation proposals for Somerset to decide which, if any, should be implemented, subject to Parliamentary approval. In doing so he will have regard to all relevant information available to him, including the representations from the consultation which are now being analysed, and all other representations he has received.

He intends before the summer to announce his decisions on the unitary proposals and publish a summary of consultation responses.

Thousands of responses have been received to the consultation on local government reorganisation in Somerset which closed on Monday 19 April. The Secretary of State will now be carefully considering the reorganisation proposals for Somerset to decide which, if any, should be implemented, subject to Parliamentary approval. In doing so he will have regard to all relevant information available to him, including the representations from the consultation which are now being analysed, and all other representations he has received.

He intends before the summer to announce his decisions on the unitary proposals and publish a summary of consultation responses.

Thousands of responses have been received to the consultation on local government reorganisation in Somerset which closed on Monday 19 April. The Secretary of State will now be carefully considering the reorganisation proposals for Somerset to decide which, if any, should be implemented, subject to Parliamentary approval. In doing so he will have regard to all relevant information available to him, including the representations from the consultation which are now being analysed, and all other representations he has received.

He intends before the summer to announce his decisions on the unitary proposals and publish a summary of consultation responses.

Thousands of responses have been received to the consultation on local government reorganisation in Somerset which closed on Monday 19 April. The Secretary of State will now be carefully considering the reorganisation proposals for Somerset to decide which, if any, should be implemented, subject to Parliamentary approval. In doing so he will have regard to all relevant information available to him, including the representations from the consultation which are now being analysed, and all other representations he has received.

He intends before the summer to announce his decisions on the unitary proposals and publish a summary of consultation responses.

We will publish the Government’s response to the consultation as soon as practicable following the consultation. The Government welcomes the views of all those interested in the proposals for local government reorganisation in Somerset, including local residents, town and parish councils, businesses and the voluntary sector.

The Secretary of State will have regard to all the representations received from the consultation, along with all other relevant representations and information available to him when deciding subject to Parliamentary approval which, if any, of the proposals are to be implemented, with or without modification.

The Government has allocated over £11 billion directly to councils this year and next to tackle the impacts of COVID-19, the majority of which is unringfenced funding

Councils are primarily accountable to local residents for the delivery and quality of services, and are therefore responsible for their own governance, setting their own budgets and for prudent financial planning and management of their resources. MHCLG does not performance manage councils. They are instead subject to internal scrutiny arrangements and external audit.

We do, however, consider the financial stability and service delivery of individual authorities as part of our oversight of the functioning of the local government system. Our accountability system includes a range of checks and balances on local authorities that provides assurance that there is effective governance and that the funds they receive are spent properly.

The Department welcomes the views of all those interested in the proposals, including local residents, town and parish councils, businesses and the voluntary sector. The process is not a poll or referendum, and hence there are no limitations on who is able to respond, nor is there a process of validating the details of respondents.

Those responding to the consultation are asked to declare whether they are responding as a resident (and if so whether they are resident in the area concerned or elsewhere including overseas), or whether they are responding on behalf of an organisation.

The Department’s online platform, Citizen Space, which is used widely across the public sector for consultation activities, requires a response to this question, and asks the name of any organisation on whose behalf a response is being made and the email address of the respondent; no further details about a respondent’s personal or family’s interests such as employment status are requested.

The Department welcomes the views of all those interested in the proposals, including local residents, town and parish councils, businesses and the voluntary sector. The process is not a poll or referendum, and hence there are no limitations on who is able to respond, nor is there a process of validating the details of respondents.

Those responding to the consultation are asked to declare whether they are responding as a resident (and if so whether they are resident in the area concerned or elsewhere including overseas), or whether they are responding on behalf of an organisation.

The Department’s online platform, Citizen Space, which is used widely across the public sector for consultation activities, requires a response to this question, and asks the name of any organisation on whose behalf a response is being made and the email address of the respondent; no further details about a respondent’s personal or family’s interests such as employment status are requested.

The Department welcomes the views of all those interested in the proposals, including local residents, town and parish councils, businesses and the voluntary sector. The process is not a poll or referendum, and hence there are no limitations on who is able to respond, nor is there a process of validating the details of respondents.

Those responding to the consultation are asked to declare whether they are responding as a resident (and if so whether they are resident in the area concerned or elsewhere including overseas), or whether they are responding on behalf of an organisation.

The Department’s online platform, Citizen Space, which is used widely across the public sector for consultation activities, requires a response to this question, and asks the name of any organisation on whose behalf a response is being made and the email address of the respondent; no further details about a respondent’s personal or family’s interests such as employment status are requested.

The Department welcomes the views of all those interested in the proposals, including local residents, town and parish councils, businesses and the voluntary sector. The process is not a poll or referendum, and hence there are no limitations on who is able to respond, nor is there a process of validating the details of respondents.

Those responding to the consultation are asked to declare whether they are responding as a resident (and if so whether they are resident in the area concerned or elsewhere including overseas), or whether they are responding on behalf of an organisation.

The Department’s online platform, Citizen Space, which is used widely across the public sector for consultation activities, requires a response to this question, and asks the name of any organisation on whose behalf a response is being made and the email address of the respondent; no further details about a respondent’s personal or family’s interests such as employment status are requested.

The Department welcomes the views of all those interested in the proposals, including local residents, town and parish councils, businesses and the voluntary sector. The process is not a poll or referendum, and hence there are no limitations on who is able to respond, nor is there a process of validating the details of respondents.

Those responding to the consultation are asked to declare whether they are responding as a resident (and if so whether they are resident in the area concerned or elsewhere including overseas), or whether they are responding on behalf of an organisation.

The Department’s online platform, Citizen Space, which is used widely across the public sector for consultation activities, requires a response to this question, and asks the name of any organisation on whose behalf a response is being made and the email address of the respondent; no further details about a respondent’s personal or family’s interests such as employment status are requested.

We will publish the Government’s response to the consultation as soon as practicable following the consultation. The Government welcomes the views of all those interested in the proposals for local government reorganisation in Somerset, including local residents, town and parish councils, businesses and the voluntary sector.

The Secretary of State will have regard to all the representations received from the consultation, along with all other relevant representations and information available to him when deciding subject to Parliamentary approval which, if any, of the proposals are to be implemented, with or without modification.

We will publish the Government’s response to the consultation as soon as practicable following the consultation. The Government welcomes the views of all those interested in the proposals for local government reorganisation in Somerset, including local residents, town and parish councils, businesses and the voluntary sector.

The Secretary of State will have regard to all the representations received from the consultation, along with all other relevant representations and information available to him when deciding subject to Parliamentary approval which, if any, of the proposals are to be implemented, with or without modification.

There is no specific budget for the consultation, the resources for which are provided by the Department’s administration budget.