Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential impact global deforestation and desertification on the UK’s national food security, supply chains and food prices.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK imports 40% of its food and is therefore exposed to supply chain risks such as deforestation and desertification via food security and price impacts associated with food imports.
Defra routinely conducts and updates assessments on a range of threats. HMG pub-lishes assessments in the National Risk Register and Chronic Risks Analysis, includ-ing on biodiversity loss and its interactions with ecosystems, on gov.uk.
The Government is committed to supporting sustainable production, trade and use of deforestation linked products. The Joint Nature Conservation Committee, sponsored by Defra, have created the Global Environmental Impacts of Consumption indicator, an indicator which includes analysis of the impact of forest risk commodities in global supply chains. The indicator estimates that UK consumption drove 29,300 hectares of deforestation in 2023.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the answer of 20 November 2025 to question 91282, what assessment she has made of the relative merits of (a) the forest-risk commodities regime and b) the approach of the EU Deforestation Regulations.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK and the EU share the common commitment to tackle deforestation in supply chains. The UK is continuing to monitor and engage with international frameworks on deforestation, including measures such as the EU Deforestation Regulation, and their impact on global supply chains which will inform any UK measure.
We recognise the urgency of taking action to ensure that UK consumption of forest risk commodities is not driving deforestation. The Government is currently considering its approach to forest risk commodities and will set out plans in due course.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the answer of 31 October 2025 to question 85098, when she will bring forward due diligence measures on forest-risk commodities.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK recognises the urgency of taking action to ensure that UK consumption of forest risk commodities is not driving deforestation.
The Government is carefully considering the best regulatory approach to address deforestation in UK supply chains; we will set out this approach in due course. We need to balance a range of factors, including the broader policy landscape and relevant international frameworks.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when she will publish in full the Global Ecosystem Assessment report.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra routinely conducts and updates assessments on a range of threats. The Government publishes assessments in the National Risk Register and Chronic Risks Analysis, including on biodiversity loss and its interactions with ecosystems, on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the closure of the EU legacy Fruit and Vegetable Aid Scheme on UK growers, fresh food supply chains and consumers; and what plans she has to support the fresh food sector after that scheme ends.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is committed to our horticulture sector and its role in providing fresh home-grown produce that helps to feed the nation. The EU Fruit and Vegetable Aid Scheme was limited to Producer Organisations, with only about 20% of the sector benefitting. Future support for the sector will include Defra’s work to rationalise agricultural grant funding, ensuring that grants deliver maximum benefit for food security and the taxpayer. Significant investment is already underway – of the £200 million allocated to The Farming Innovation Programme through to 2030, nearly £40 million—- 26% of total awards—has funded research projects helping fruit and vegetable businesses become more profitable, resilient, and sustainable. Government has also put in place a five-year extension to the Seasonal Worker visa route, providing stability for growers, and an extension of easements on import checks for medium-risk produce ahead of the new SPS agreement with the EU.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
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 that trail hunting is not used as a cover for the illegal hunting of wild mammals with dogs.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government is committed to enacting a ban on trail hunting in line with our manifesto commitment. Work to determine the best approach for doing so is ongoing and we will consult on how to deliver a ban in the new year.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
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 has received recent representations on breaches of the Hunting Act 2004.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Enforcement of the Hunting Act is an operational matter for the police. Those found guilty under the Act are subject to the full force of the law.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress she has made on supporting the Fungal Conservation Pledge since the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP16) in 2024.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
To deliver against the statutory targets for biodiversity, in England, we are taking action at scale to create, restore, manage, and protect wildlife-rich habitats, reduce pressures on biodiversity, and take targeted action for species. This includes actions which support conservation and recovery of fungi.
Natural England’s Species Recovery Programme plays a vital role in taking targeted action for threatened species, including fungi. Additionally, we are aware of the initiative led by Plantlife and Natural England to develop a national fungi conservation plan, and we will continue to engage as this plan evolves.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
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 potential merits of (a) issuing a moratorium on intensive poultry-farming units and (b) lowering the population threshold at which an environmental permit to operate is required.
Answered by Mark Spencer
The British poultry industry is resilient and operates in an open market. Environmental permits require intensive poultry farms with more than 40 000 bird places to mitigate the environmental risks of their operations. Over 80% of poultry birds and nationally are raised on farms which require an environmental permit to operate. Impacts on habitats are also considered when planning consents are issued to both permitted farms and to smaller poultry units.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
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 (a) preserve and (b) expand blue carbon habitats.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
The Government recognises the important role that blue carbon habitats such as saltmarsh and seagrass can play in climate change mitigation, adaptation and resilience. These richly biodiverse habitats also provide a crucial buffer from coastal flooding, benefit fish stocks and improve local water quality.
The UK is a global leader in ocean protection and we have taken a number of steps to support blue carbon habitats. In England, we have established a comprehensive network of 181 Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), which cover the majority of our saltmarsh and seagrass habitats. MPAs are intended to protect designated features listed within the MPA target. While blue carbon habitats may not always be an explicitly designated feature, MPA protection may still yield benefits. Our focus is now on ensuring that these MPAs are effectively protected to allow the designated features to achieve favourable condition. The first three Highly Protected Marine Area (HPMAs) designations in English waters came into force in summer 2023. Two of the three designated sites, Allonby Bay and North East of Farnes Deep, contain blue carbon habitats. Defra is exploring identifying additional candidate HPMA sites.
The Environment Agency’s Restoring Meadow, Marsh and Reef (ReMeMaRe) initiative is working to restore seagrass meadows, saltmarsh and native oyster reefs. Working in partnership with environmental non-government organisations, industry, community groups, and academia, the initiative aims to identify innovative funding opportunities, streamline regulatory processes, build capacity and share knowledge with partners to facilitate a larger programme of restoration.
Defra has set up the UK Blue Carbon Evidence Partnership in partnership with the Devolved Administrations to address evidence gaps that currently prevent the inclusion of blue carbon habitats in the UK Greenhouse Gas Inventory (GHGI). Inclusion of these habitats in the GHGI will allow blue carbon to be marketed and traded as a carbon offset, leveraging private investment into these vital natural carbon stores.