Asked by: Kate Kniveton (Conservative - Burton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when the Government plans to publish its response to the Consistency in Household and business recycling in England consultation.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In 2021 we published a second consultation on consistency in household and business recycling in England, including on implementation dates, materials in scope and exemptions. We will publish the response to this consultation shortly.
Asked by: Kate Kniveton (Conservative - Burton)
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 will take to ensure that the planned Deposit Return Scheme will be interoperable with schemes in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Defra officials continue to work closely with colleagues in devolved administrations to promote joint working wherever possible. However, as this is a devolved area of policy, the devolved administrations are in no way required to take the same approach we do.
Asked by: Kate Kniveton (Conservative - Burton)
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 tackle potential concerns about short-term food shortages resulting from decreasing global stocks and the war in Ukraine.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Kate Kniveton (Conservative - Burton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the impact of the recent increase in fertiliser prices on farming over the next five years.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Kate Kniveton (Conservative - Burton)
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 tackle worker shortages in the pig sector.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
Defra continues to work closely with industry and other Government departments to understand labour supply and demand, including both permanent and seasonal workforce requirements, and to ensure there is a long-term strategy for the food and farming workforce, including for the pig sector. This includes a series of roundtable meetings hosted by Minister Prentis with stakeholders from across the pig sector supply chain.
Since January 2021 the Skilled Worker visa route has been open to all nationals who wish to come to the UK for the purpose of working in a skilled role – including those in butchery.
Last autumn the pig sector faced some specific challenges due to a combination of the COVID-19 pandemic, the loss of the Chinese export market for some processors, and access to labour issues. This included a shortage of skilled butchers which impacted the capacity of processors to kill and process pigs. In recognition of this, the Government announced in November 2021 that additional, temporary visas would be available for pork butchers to work in the UK for up to 6 months in addition to the existing Skilled Worker visa route. While applications for these temporary visas are now closed, pork butchers can remain in the UK for six months from the date their visa was granted.
In February 2022, the Home Office announced a series of visa concessions for temporary workers of Ukrainian nationality. Ukrainian nationals in temporary pork butcher jobs will have their leave in the UK extended to 31 December 2022 and will also be allowed to apply to the skilled worker route.
In addition, food and farming businesses can continue to rely on EU nationals living in the UK with settled or pre-settled status. Over 5.7 million EU citizens and their families have been granted status under the EU Settlement Scheme. EU nationals who have settled status can continue to travel to the UK for work in 2022 and beyond.
The Government also encourages the meat processing sector to pursue improvements to training offers, career options and wages to ensure that the sector draws on the large domestic labour pool in the UK, as well as investing in new technology across the industry.
To support these efforts Defra is working with industry and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to raise awareness of career opportunities within the food and farming sectors among UK workers.
Asked by: Kate Kniveton (Conservative - Burton)
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 ensure that food production (a) is maintained at and (b) exceeds its current 60 per cent self-sufficiency level.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The UK has a highly resilient food supply chain, as demonstrated throughout the COVID-19 response. It is well equipped to deal with situations with the potential to cause disruption. Our high degree of food security is built upon supply from diverse sources and strong domestic production as well as imports through stable trade routes. This provides us with the resilience we need in the face of risks such as adverse weather, animal or crop disease, or transport and border disruption.
Our production to supply ratio remains high in comparison with historical levels. We produce 60% of all the food we need, and 74% of food which we can grow or rear in the UK for all or part of the year, and these figures have changed little over the last 20 years. The UK's year-round production includes cereals, meats, milk and some fresh produce. We have very high production to supply ratios in poultry, turnips, carrots, swedes, eggs and beef.
Additionally, Defra has well established ways of working with the industry and across Government to monitor risks that may arise. This includes extensive, regular and ongoing engagement in preparedness for, and response to, issues with the potential to cause disruption to food supply chains. We are also working closely with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, and the Secretaries of State have regular discussions about a range of issues including land use, planning and food production.
Recognising the importance of food production and security of supply, in the Agriculture Act 2020, the Government made a commitment to produce an assessment of our food security at least once every three years. The first UK Food Security Report, published in December 2021, considers the UK's food supply sources overall, noting that domestic production and diversity of supply are both important to our food security. The Report does not contain policy recommendations but will serve as an evidence base for future policy work.
Looking forward, the Food Strategy White Paper will set out Government's ambition for the food system.
Asked by: Kate Kniveton (Conservative - Burton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what testing facilities are available for Mycoplasma Bovis within the UK.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
There are various testing facilities in the UK and more than one testing method. Post-mortem examination and sampling is the most effective way of testing for this pathogen, but blood samples and nasal or tracheal samples can be used in the live animal.
The testing facilities include:
The GB network of testing facilities can be found here: http://apha.defra.gov.uk/vet-gateway/surveillance/diagnostic/national-network.htm.
Asked by: Kate Kniveton (Conservative - Burton)
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 effect of Mycoplasma bovis on the farming industry.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
There is an ongoing assessment for the detection of, and disease due to, Mycoplasma bovis and other respiratory pathogens. This is conducted both by the network of veterinary investigation centres throughout the UK, and via samples sent by private veterinarians to Government laboratories and private laboratories.
Mycoplasma bovis is still considered to be a significant pathogen in bovine respiratory disease.
A survey is due to be published by the UK Ruminant Health and Welfare Group. This comprehensive survey of cattle farmers and cattle professionals (veterinarians and farm advisors) asked 530 cattle farmers to rank their disease concerns. Mycoplasma bovis was ranked 7th most important by professionals, 12th by dairy farmers and 9th by beef farmers.
The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) has a dedicated and specialist Mycoplasma group at its Weybridge Laboratory. This group advises veterinarians in other countries about Mycoplasma bovis and other Mycoplasmas. Respiratory samples from across England and Wales are sent to this group and the testing monitors for other Mycoplasmas, including exotic Mycoplasmas. This includes Mycoplasmas that cause Contagious Bovine Pleuro-pneumonia, which is a notifiable disease.
The results from testing across the network of veterinary investigation centres and partner post-mortem providers in England, Wales and Scotland are collated by a Veterinary Investigation Diagnosis Analysis (VIDA) database. The VIDA results indicate an increase in GB incidents (as a percentage of diagnosable submissions) from 3.5% in 2016 to 5.5% in 2020. Disease trends are summarised in the APHA Quarterly Reports which can be found here: