Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton South)
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 support the existence of hedgehogs through (a) local nature recovery strategies, (b) biodiversity net gain measures and (c) future farm subsidy payments.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Act 2021 introduced a number of policies that will support the restoration of habitat. Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG), Local Nature Recovery Strategies (LNRS) and a strengthened biodiversity duty on public authorities will work together to drive action, including to create or restore habitats that will enable wildlife, such as hedgehogs, to recover and thrive, while conservation covenants will help secure habitat for the long term. LNRSs will bring local authorities, communities, landowners and conservation groups together to agree priorities to help nature and protect locally and nationally important species. They will also map specific proposals for habitat creation and improvement such as woodland, heathland and species-rich grassland, all of which will benefit vulnerable species including hedgehogs.
In addition, agri-environment schemes have provided a significant source of funding for habitat creation and management for threatened species. Our new environmental land management (ELM) schemes will provide farmers, foresters and other land managers with an opportunity to secure financial support in return for delivering environmental benefits. Hedgerows are an important habitat for hedgehogs and their food source. Actions to fund the creation, restoration and maintenance of hedgerows are available through the Countryside Stewardship and Sustainable Farming Incentive schemes.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton South)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Summary of Responses to the Call for Evidence on Labelling for Animal Welfare, published by her Department in August 2022, whether she plans to take steps to bring forward legislative proposals to introduce labelling for animal welfare.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra’s Call for Evidence on Labelling for Animal Welfare gathered data on the impacts of different types of labelling reforms. Based on the information gathered, we will continue to work with stakeholders to explore how we can harness the market to improve food information for consumers. We will continue to gather evidence on the impacts of a wide range of market interventions, as well as how they could align with wider labelling proposals such as eco-labelling.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton South)
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 is taking steps to help reduce the number of ultra-processed foods that are consumed by the public.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton South)
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 is taking steps to help ensure that appropriate guidance is provided to new pet owners.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
Pet owners’ responsibilities are laid down in several Government codes of practice for animal welfare, which are available here: Animal welfare legislation: protecting pets - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). The codes summarise important information for owners and helps them to make decisions about how best to care for their animals.
Under the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018, licensed pet sellers are required to provide prospective owners information setting out how the animal’s health and welfare needs should be met.
In addition, my Department maintains a national communications campaign (Petfished) to raise awareness of issues associated with low-welfare and illegal supply of cats and dogs. This includes providing clear signposting on where responsible breeders and rehoming centres can be found and encouraging prospective buyers to research the seller thoroughly before they visit and decide to purchase.
Finally, my Department has also developed dog safety fact sheets in collaboration with the Child Accident Prevention Trust and animal welfare organisations to encourage safe interactions between families and dogs.
I welcome the efforts of veterinarians, animal welfare charities, breeders and other practitioners in sharing these sources of information with pet owners.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton South)
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 (a) incentivise and (b) support domestic food production.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is backing British farmers with £2.4 billion of investment every year. In May 2023 the Prime Minister and the Defra Secretary of State met with representatives from across the whole UK supply chain, from farm to fork, for a Summit on how Government and industry can work together to support a thriving UK food industry. Support for farmers includes our Environmental Land Management (ELM) schemes. These schemes will ensure our long-term food security by investing in the foundations of food production: healthy soil, water and biodiverse ecosystems. ELM schemes have been developed so that there is an offer for all farm types, including for tenant farmers.
ELM includes the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI). This pays farmers for actions that support food production and can help improve farm productivity and resilience, while protecting and improving the environment. It has been expanded and made more flexible in response to farmers’ feedback, with 23 actions on offer under the new and improved 2023 scheme, including on soil health, moorland, hedgerows, integrated pest management, farmland wildlife, buffer strips, and low input grassland. In recognition of the challenges faced with inflation and rising input costs, the Government has confirmed farmers will receive a payment in the first month of their Sustainable Farming Incentive 2023 (SFI) agreement to help with cashflow. The scheme will open for applications from 18 September. Before then farmers can contact the RPA to join the thousands of farm businesses that have already expressed their interest in applying.
ELM also includes Countryside Stewardship (CS) and Landscape Recovery (LR). CS will pay farmers and land managers to look after and improve the environment in specific habitats, features and local areas. LR is for landowners and managers who want to take a more large-scale, long-term approach to producing environmental and climate goods on their land. LR projects will demonstrate how food production and environmental delivery can go hand in hand.
The Government has also confirmed that farmers producing sustainable British food under ELM schemes will be able to use them to help meet public procurement standards, benefiting our British farmers and allowing the public sector to benefit from more excellent British food. We are providing tailored business advice to all farmers. We have cut red tape, brought in fair enforcement regimes, and helped the sector access the seasonal labour it needs. We are looking closely at the Shropshire review into labour shortages in the food chain that we commissioned to see how we can go further.
We are also reviewing supply chain fairness in the sector: the Government announced in July that it plans to introduce regulations this autumn to make sure supply contracts in the dairy sector are fair and transparent, meaning farmers can challenge prices or raise concerns with contracts more easily. This represents a key milestone in our commitment to promote fairness and transparency across food supply chains to support farmers and build a stronger future for the industry, and will be followed by reviews into the egg and horticulture sector supply chains this Autumn to ensure farmers are paid a fair price. We will also identify opportunities to remove unnecessary burdens for Small Abattoirs. We are also trying to unlock opportunities for genetic technologies.
Further information on how we are supporting farmers can be found on our webpage: Our record on farming: 30 actions we have taken to support our farmers and growers.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton South)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to ensure that dairy farmers whose herds are affected by bovine tuberculosis are provided with adequate support.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is acutely aware of the devastating impacts bTB can have on livestock owners and their families. Defra is working hard to support dairy farmers whose herds experience a bTB breakdown and ensure that information and tailored support is accessible.
Defra is committed to helping farmers and their families tackle the mental health and livelihood impacts of bTB and has provided grant funding to the Farming Community Network since 2010. The TB Advisory Service (TBAS) is a Defra funded project that by means of over-the-phone advice, farm visits and badger sett surveys offers free, bespoke, practical and cost-effective advice to all eligible farmers in England to help reduce the risks associated with TB. In late 2021, Defra launched a new, nationwide TBAS, delivered by Farmcare Solutions: Home - TB Advisory Service (tbas.org.uk)
Defra is also working in partnership with the livestock sector and a wide range of academics, charities, and other experts to deliver the Animal Health and Welfare Pathway, supporting continual improvement in farm animal health and welfare. That includes a programme of financial support for farmers in the pig, cattle, sheep, and poultry sectors, to help them continually improve animal health and welfare.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton South)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what her expected timescale is for debating the Animal Welfare (Electronic Collars) (England) Regulations 2023 in the House of Commons.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
We remain committed to introducing a ban on electronic collars controlled by hand-held devices that deliver an electric shock to cats or dogs. Parliamentary business will be scheduled and announced in the usual way.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton South)
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 (a) tackle fly tipping and (b) help local authorities to (i) prevent and (ii) prosecute fly tipping.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The PM’s Anti-social Behaviour Action Plan sets out how we will help councils take tougher action against those who fly-tip. We significantly raised the upper limit of on-the-spot fines in July, to £1,000 for fly-tipping and £600 for householders who give their waste to an unauthorised carrier. We have also increased transparency on the use of these fines by publishing league tables on fly-tipping enforcement and consulted stakeholders on ringfencing the money raised from fines for enforcement and clean up activity.
This builds on the £1.2m Defra has provided in grant funding to help more than 30 councils implement projects cracking down on fly-tipping, including Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council who received £23,000 to purchase CCTV equipment. We intend to launch another grant opportunity for councils later this year.
With the National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group, we are developing a toolkit to help councils and others tackle fly-tipping. So far, the group has published a guide on how to present robust cases to court and a new framework which sets out how to set up and run effective local partnerships. The toolkit, and other resources, are available online at https://www.keepbritaintidy.org/national-fly-tipping-prevention-group.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton South)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to help ensure that (a) river and (b) coastal communities are protected from floods this year.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is investing a record £5.2 billion in the flood and coastal erosion risk management capital programme running from 2021 to 2027, which will provide better protection from all sources of flooding. At the end of March 2023, the Environment Agency (EA) estimated that approximately £1.5 billion of this funding has been invested with around 60,000 properties better protected through over 200 completed schemes.
In addition, the Government is investing £200 million between 2021 and 2027 in the Flood and Coastal Resilience Innovation programme to support more than 25 local areas to trial innovative approaches for improving resilience for their communities. This includes £36 million support for communities in areas at significant risk of coastal erosion to transition and adapt to a changing climate.
The EA works in partnership with the Met Office as part of the Flood Forecasting Centre to provide flood warning information direct to those who have registered to receive these, as well as a five-day flood forecast through their Check for flooding service.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton South)
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 taking to ensure that households have adequate access to recycling facilities.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government is committed to ensuring residents are able to dispose of their waste for recycling in a convenient and responsible manner. As part of this commitment, Government has announced this past Sunday that householders across England will no longer be charged to dispose of DIY construction waste at Household Waste Recycling Centres. The legislative changes will be brought into force later this year.