Asked by: Jenny Riddell-Carpenter (Labour - Suffolk Coastal)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of water shortages on food security.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Drought has caused an early harvest with reduced crop quality and yields. Livestock farmers face risks with forage and winter feed supplies.
The Environment Agency’s (EA) measures to support farmers include:
The EA’s upcoming Autumn prospects report will help inform farmers, improve resilience and planning for next year.
Defra assesses the potential impacts of water shortages on food supply as part of the National Risk Register (NRR) cycle. We work closely with Defra Water colleagues, the Cabinet Office (which leads on the NRR) and with the wider resilience and Critical National Infrastructure (CNI) community across Government to ensure that risks to food supply are fully considered in national risk assessments and contingency planning.
Asked by: Jenny Riddell-Carpenter (Labour - Suffolk Coastal)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to encourage investment in on-farm (a) water storage and (b) irrigation infrastructure.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency’s National Framework for water resources highlights a number of actions that will help farmers and growers improve water supply resilience. These include:
o understand near-real time water availability, to enable abstractors to take water when it is there.
o improve irrigation scheduling and sensors to optimise water use.
Asked by: Jenny Riddell-Carpenter (Labour - Suffolk Coastal)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to ensure the highest welfare standards for greyhounds (a) during racing careers and (b) after retirement.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The welfare of racing greyhounds in England is covered by the Animal Welfare Act 2006 and the Welfare of Racing Greyhounds Regulations 2010. The 2006 Act allows action to be taken where there is evidence of cruelty to an animal or a failure to provide for that animal’s welfare needs. This includes during greyhounds’ racing careers and after they have retired. Specific welfare standards at all greyhound racing tracks in England are also required by the 2010 Regulations, including having a vet present while dogs are running (with all greyhounds inspected by the vet before being allowed to run).
In addition to these statutory protections, the sport’s main regulatory body, the Greyhound Board of Great Britain (GBGB), enforces welfare standards (including those in the 2010 Regulations) at GBGB affiliated tracks, as well as at GBGB licensed trainers’ kennels. Independent, external oversight of GBGB’s regulatory work at tracks and trainers’ kennels is provided by the UK’s National Accreditation Body, the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS).
The GBGB has also undertaken a number of welfare reforms, including publishing a long term, national welfare strategy – ‘A Good Life for Every Greyhound’. The strategy focuses not only on reducing risks of injury but also developing and implementing new management practices to improve the welfare of greyhounds throughout their lives, including after they have retired.
The Government is monitoring GBGB’s progress in delivering the strategy and should further measures be required the Government will consider options which are targeted, effective, and proportionate.
Asked by: Jenny Riddell-Carpenter (Labour - Suffolk Coastal)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to publish draft legislative proposals to ban trail hunting.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Work is ongoing to determine the best approach to deliver the manifesto commitment to ban trail hunting. We have committed to running a consultation to ensure those with an interest can input. We will share further details in due course.
Asked by: Jenny Riddell-Carpenter (Labour - Suffolk Coastal)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of regulations on dog breeding; and what steps she is taking to tackle illegal puppy farming.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra undertook a post-implementation review of The Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018, which was published in December 2024. The Government is considering the findings, as well, as the recommendations in the EFRA select committee’s report into pet welfare and abuse and the Animal Welfare Committee’s Opinion on canine breeding.
As outlined in our manifesto, the Government will bring an end to puppy farming. We are considering the most effective way to deliver this commitment and will be setting out next steps in due course.
Asked by: Jenny Riddell-Carpenter (Labour - Suffolk Coastal)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department plans to bring forward legislative proposals to (a) improve the welfare of farmed animals and (b) restrict the use of cages.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government was elected on a mandate to introduce the most ambitious plans to improve animal welfare in a generation. The Prime Minister announced that we will be publishing an animal welfare strategy later this year.
Asked by: Jenny Riddell-Carpenter (Labour - Suffolk Coastal)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what his planned timeline is for introducing legislation to prohibit the import of hunting trophies.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is committed to banning the import of hunting trophies from species of conservation concern. Timeframes for introducing legislation will be provided once there is sufficient clarity on the Parliamentary timetable.
Asked by: Jenny Riddell-Carpenter (Labour - Suffolk Coastal)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what his planned timeline is for the roll-out of the new pet passport scheme.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
We have agreed to establish a UK-EU Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Zone, which will mean taking pets on holiday into the EU will be easier and cheaper.
Instead of getting an animal health certificate each time you travel, you will be able to get a multiuse pet passport valid for travel to the EU.
It’s important that we get the right agreement for the UK, so we’re not putting an arbitrary deadline on negotiations. We will provide more information on pet passports valid for travel to the EU in due course.
Asked by: Jenny Riddell-Carpenter (Labour - Suffolk Coastal)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of developing an accessible food labelling system to improve transparency.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
The availability and accessibility of essential food information to all consumers is vitally important. It is already a requirement that mandatory food information must be easily visible, clearly legible and where appropriate indelible, in addition to there being a required minimum font size for mandatory information.
We are aware of moves by some retailers to provide information on food in braille format, and the government is interested in seeing how this works.
Asked by: Jenny Riddell-Carpenter (Labour - Suffolk Coastal)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to (a) improve responsible access to nature and (b) increase the right to roam.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Our countryside and green spaces are a source of great national pride and boost public health and wellbeing, but too many across the country are left without access to the great outdoors. That is why the last Labour Government expanded public access by introducing the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000, which provided the public a right of access to large areas of mountain, moor, heath, down, registered common land and coastal margin in England.
We are continuing to increase access to nature for families to enjoy, for example through our ambitious manifesto commitments to create nine new National River Walks, plant three new National Forests, and empower communities to create new parks and green spaces in their communities with a new Community Right to Buy.
In addition, the Government has made the decision to repeal the cut-off date for the registration of historic rights of way, preventing the loss of hundreds of miles of unregistered paths. This will ensure that these paths remain available to the public for future generations.