To match an exact phrase, use quotation marks around the search term. eg. "Parliamentary Estate". Use "OR" or "AND" as link words to form more complex queries.

Keep yourself up-to-date with the latest developments by exploring our subscription options to receive notifications direct to your inbox

Written Question
Pigs: Animal Housing
Wednesday 2nd April 2025

Asked by: Juliet Campbell (Labour - Broxtowe)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress he has made on discontinuing the use of gestation cages for pigs.

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

We are firmly committed to maintaining and improving animal welfare and want to work closely with the farming sector to deliver high standards. The UK banned gestation crates (also known as sow stalls) in 1999.

The use of farrowing crates for pigs is an issue we are currently considering very carefully.

Written Question
Food: Imports
Wednesday 2nd April 2025

Asked by: Juliet Campbell (Labour - Broxtowe)

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 an assessment of the adequacy of standards of food and drink imports.

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

The UK maintains high standards on food that is offered to consumers. For example, all food sold in the UK must comply with food compositional standards and labelling legislation whether it is produced domestically or imported into the UK. These rules protect consumers from lower quality products and enable them to make informed choices.

Defra periodically reviews and updates food compositional standards regulations to ensure they remain fit for purpose and reflect innovation in food production and changing consumer preferences.

Written Question
Flood Control: Nottinghamshire
Monday 17th February 2025

Asked by: Juliet Campbell (Labour - Broxtowe)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what flood prevention and relief measures have been considered for Nottinghamshire.

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

The Environment Agency (EA) is making plans to allocate £20 million to schemes in Nottinghamshire.

This includes:

  • £10 million for ‘Cocker Beck, Lowdham’, aiming to better protect 191 properties.
  • £8 million for ‘Holme Sluices Urgent Works’, repairs to gates to improve functionality and extend the asset life.
  • £0.7 million for ‘Property Flood Resilience Nottinghamshire Post Winter 2023 Storms’, aiming to use property flood resilience measures to better protect more than 40 properties.
  • Approx. £10 – 20,000 inspecting seals on the Attenborough flood gates, replacing them if damaged, and repairing a flap valve in Toton.

The EA is also working with other Risk Management Authorities to deliver:

  • Woodborough Natural Flood Management (NFM): a £197,000 project aiming to better protect 6 properties through natural flood management (NFM) measures.
  • Gotham Lead Local Flooding Authorities NFM: a £35,000 project aiming to better protect 15 properties through NFM.
  • Southwell Flood Alleviation Scheme: the final phase of this scheme aims to better protect another 120 properties with a 250m bund across parkland near Southwell Minster.
  • Updating hydraulic models for the Erewash. This will improve flood outlines, increase accuracy of flood warnings, and increase accuracy of the floodmap for planning. It will also allow for investigations into future flood alleviation measures.
Written Question
Japanese Knotweed: Nottinghamshire
Tuesday 11th February 2025

Asked by: Juliet Campbell (Labour - Broxtowe)

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 assessment of the potential merits of increasing funding to help tackle the knotweed in Nottinghamshire.

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

The Government recognises the impacts caused by invasive species, including Japanese knotweed.

Funding is available for control and management of Japanese knotweed and other invasive plant species through Defra’s Environmental Land Management (ELM) Countryside Stewardship scheme. Furthermore, Defra funds research to identify cost and time effective ways of managing this species through biocontrol. Information about the research can be found on CABI's website.

Additionally, the Government has developed guidance on how to prevent the spread of Japanese knotweed and other harmful weeds, as well as how to treat and dispose of them, which can be found on GOV.UK: How to stop invasive non-native plants from spreading - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).