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Written Question
Avian Influenza
Tuesday 27th February 2024

Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many cases of avian flu have been detected in the UK in the last 12 months.

Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

As of 21st February 2024, there have been 41 cases of avian influenza confirmed in the UK within the last 12 months (22/02/23-21/02/24). The latest case figures and information on the disease and location of the cases, are available online: Bird flu (avian influenza): latest situation in England - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).


Written Question
Bees
Monday 19th February 2024

Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of the bumble bee population in the UK.

Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

There are 24 bumblebee species in the UK. The Bumblebee Conservation Trust runs the Great Britain (GB) BeeWalk survey, which involves volunteers walking the same fixed route at least once a month between March and October (inclusive). The abundance of each bumblebee species seen is recorded in a 4m x 4m x 2m recording box to standardise between habitats and observers. The data for 2010-2019 shows that for the 20 species with enough observation data to assess trends, 8 species had positive population trends and 12 had declining trends in GB.


Written Question
Flood Control: Windsor
Thursday 8th February 2024

Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)

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 he has made of the adequacy of flood defences at Windsor Park; and if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of allocating funding to strengthen those defences.

Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Environment Agency manages a defence known as Spitalfield Reservoir on the Bourne Ditch within Windsor Great Park, on Crown Estate land. Funding is allocated for the ongoing maintenance of the reservoir. The Environment Agency maintains the embankments and penstocks within the concrete structure to manage impoundment of water and the downstream flow.

Under Section 12 of the Reservoir Act 1975, an annual inspection is required to be undertaken by a qualified Supervising Engineer. The last inspection of the Spitalfield Reservoir, in September 2023, identified a number of minor maintenance actions that will be carried out by the Environment Agency over the coming months. The Supervising Engineer did not identify issues that would reduce the standard of protection the reservoir offers to protect properties downstream.

If Measures in the Interest of Safety were found during any inspection, where the resilience of the reservoir was below its current design standard of protection, funding would be sought for works required.


Written Question
Food Supply: Inflation
Tuesday 6th February 2024

Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies on food security of trends in the level of inflation.

Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Government’s UK Food Security Report (UKFSR) contains an analysis of statistical data relating to food security.

Defra will publish the next version later this year, as required by the 2020 Agriculture Act.

It will include analysis of the trends of price inflation, international commodity prices, energy and fertiliser prices in the context of UK food security.


Written Question
Fisheries: Migrant Workers
Thursday 1st February 2024

Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has had recent discussions with the Secretary of State for the Home Department on the potential impact of increasing the minimum earnings thresholds for skilled foreign workers on the fisheries sector in Northern Ireland.

Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Secretary of State has regular discussions with Cabinet colleagues on a wide range of issues, and Cabinet discussions are considered confidential.


Written Question
Thames Water
Wednesday 31st January 2024

Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)

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 she has had with (a) Ofwat and (b) Thames Water on Thames Water's (i) financial and (ii) operational performance.

Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Secretary of State and ministerial team regularly meets representatives from all water companies, including Thames Water, regarding financial and operational performance. As part of their introductory series of meetings, the Defra Secretary of State and ministerial team will meet with all water companies on a range of issues in the coming weeks and months.

Furthermore, Minister Pow, as Minister responsible for water, met with Thames Water’s interim CEOs Alastair Cochran and Cathryn Ross and Chair Sir Adrian Montague on Tuesday 14th November to discuss both their financial and operational performance across a range of issues. Minister Moore will shortly be following up with Thames Water regarding operational performance following publication of the Thames Water Service Commitment Plan to understand how the company can accelerate action to improve performance across the business.


Written Question
Beekeeping
Thursday 25th January 2024

Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)

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 on the number of beekeepers.

Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Our annual Hive Count exercise indicates that as of October 2022 there were 48,130 beekeepers in England and Wales registered on BeeBase – the National Bee Unit’s website.


Written Question
Fly-tipping
Tuesday 19th December 2023

Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has made a comparative assessment of the level of fly-tipping in (a) England and (b) the rest of the UK.

Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Local authorities in England are required to report fly-tipping incidents and enforcement actions data to Defra, which are published annually on Gov.uk. In August, we published new league tables, providing transparency on how councils are using their enforcement powers.

Defra has not made a comparison with data from other parts of the UK.


Written Question
Food: Prices
Monday 18th December 2023

Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)

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 help ensure food is affordable in winter 2023-24.

Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

October 2023 Consumer Price Index (CPI) food price inflation reported by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) was 10.1%, down from 12.1% in September 2023 and the lowest figure since June 2022.

Overall CPI inflation dropped to 4.6% in October from 6.7% in September 2023. This is now under half the overall rate recorded by ONS at the start of the year.

Through regular engagement, Defra will continue to work with food retailers and producers to explore the range of measures they can take to ensure the availability of affordable food, for example, by maintaining value ranges, price matching and price freezing measures.

Retailers have introduced incentives for customers, such as new reward cards offering discounts on products or 'cashback' on future purchases. A number of stores are also offering meal deals either in store or within their cafes to help vulnerable groups.

The Government is providing significant support over this year and next – worth on average £3,300 per household – which includes direct cash payments to the most vulnerable households, as well as uprating benefits and the state pension by 10% in April.


Written Question
Food Banks
Monday 18th December 2023

Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has made a comparative assessment of the levels of donations to foodbanks between 2022 and 2023.

Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Government does not have any role in the operation of foodbanks. Foodbanks are independent, charitable organisations which bring people in local communities together to support one another. This is a great example of the generosity of spirit of communities across the country.