Asked by: Michelle Donelan (Conservative - Chippenham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to support farmers in (a) Wiltshire and (b) the UK with rising costs.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
Farming in England is going through the biggest change in a generation. These unprecedented times mean that it is all the more important that the Government's approach to working with the farming sector changes too. Defra is continuing to improve its policies and services, making them more effective, fairer, flexible, accessible and more workable for farmers. The Government has announced a range of measures in England in response to the turbulence of the current market.
In response to the global rising costs around the price of fertiliser, Defra released new guidance to help farmers in limiting their use of slurry and other farmyard manure at certain times of the year.
Defra also announced changes to the use of urea fertiliser - delaying a planned industry farm assurance scheme which was due to start this year by at least a year. This will help farmers to manage their costs, giving them more time to adapt.
Defra has set up a Fertiliser Taskforce to address the impact of global supply pressures on farming, seeking to improve market confidence, whilst providing famers with the information they need to make business decisions on fertiliser use.
Additionally, Defra announced a permanent change to the way we make payments under the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS). We know that the price of agricultural commodities has always been closely correlated to energy prices - meaning farmers carry an increased risk on their profit and loss account, creating increased pressure on short term cash flow. We will now make BPS payments in two instalments (one from the end of July, the other December). This will give farm businesses an advanced injection of cash - with the hope of enabling farmers to make business decisions with more confidence in these uncertain times. To provide further support we have also increased Countryside Stewardship rates by an average of 30%.
Farmers are now able to apply for funding under the Sustainable Farming Incentive. The initial offer pays farmers for taking care of their soil or assessing the condition of moorland. We have to set out plans to rollout payments for actions related to nutrient management, hedgerows and integrated pest management, and will confirm the full details of these standards before the end of the year.
Asked by: Michelle Donelan (Conservative - Chippenham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans he has to (a) take steps to mitigate the impact of climate change on (i) agriculture and (ii) global food security and (b) revitalise the international trade of food in the context of the effect on global food production of (A) the international response to covid-19 and (B) global warming.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The Government is committed to take action to mitigate climate change and to adapt to its impact. We are introducing three schemes that reward environmental benefits: the Sustainable Farming Incentive, Local Nature Recovery and Landscape Recovery. Together, these schemes are intended to provide a powerful vehicle for achieving the goals of the 25 Year Environment Plan and our commitment to net zero emissions by 2050, while supporting our rural economy. Through them, farmers and other land managers may enter into agreements to be paid for delivering public goods including adaptation to and mitigation of climate change.
The Government has also published the Net Zero Strategy which sets the UK on a clear path to net zero by 2050 and set out key commitments such as ensuring 75% of farmers in England will be engaged in low carbon practices by 2030, rising to 85% by 2035. More recently in the Food Strategy we have set out the funding available for innovation in farming and agriculture.
The UK announced an Agriculture Breakthrough goal at COP26 - "to make climate-resilient, sustainable agriculture the most attractive and widely adopted option for farmers everywhere by 2030" - and the intention to build country support for this in 2022. This is part of the Breakthrough Agenda which was launched at the COP26 World Leaders Summit. The Breakthrough Agenda is a commitment from countries to work together internationally this decade to accelerate the development and deployment of the clean technologies needed to meet our Paris climate goals, ensuring they are affordable and accessible for all.
The UK provides funding to the CGIAR, the world's leading agricultural science and innovation organisation, which delivers cutting edge technology and evidence-based solutions to tackle global challenges in the food system, saving and improving millions of lives. CGIAR research is projected to deliver a reduction of 0.6 gigatonnes CO2e each year by 2030. CGIAR rice innovations alone have scope to reduce global emissions by 0.5% - equivalent to 40% of total UK emissions.
The Government has also announced specific measures to support farmers with rising input costs including changes to statutory guidance to the "Farming Rules for Water"; increased grants funding to boost R&D; and bringing the Basic Payment Scheme forward so that 50% of its payments are made this summer to improve cash flow for farmers.
The Food Standards Agency has provided guidance to Trading Standards Officers and businesses setting out how flexibility in enforcement of labelling rules may be applied to alleviate supply challenges and maintain supply of foods into retail. Feedback has been that industry welcomes these actions, and the main ask going forward is for us to carefully review the supply situation before reverting to a 'full compliance' model of enforcement.
Defra is taking a number of actions to maintain food security and reduce pressures on prices. The Government launched a package of measures to reduce the impact of cost of living concerns, including: nine new GMO authorisations to provide alternative sources for maize, removing tariffs on US maize, bringing forward BPS payments for farmers and delaying measures that would have imposed costs on businesses.
Furthermore, G7 Leaders have pledged to provide increased humanitarian assistance with priority recipients should include countries facing acute food insecurity (for example Afghanistan, Somalia and Yemen), and countries facing potential food riots (such as Egypt).
The UK’s ambitious Free Trade Agreement programme diversifies sources of supply, contributes to our food security and resilience and supplements our strong domestic production.
Asked by: Michelle Donelan (Conservative - Chippenham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if his Department will take steps to ensure that supermarket bags for life are made from fabric rather than plastic.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
The Government has no specific plans to ensure that supermarket bags for life are made from fabric rather than plastic. All bags have environmental impacts during their life cycle. The charge for single use plastic bags aims to encourage the re-use of all bags and thereby reduce waste and littering. Our 25 Year Environment Plan sets out measures to eliminate avoidable plastic waste by the end of 2042.
Asked by: Michelle Donelan (Conservative - Chippenham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure that retailers maintain publicly accessible and transparent records of how the proceeds of the 5p plastic bag levy have been used and distributed.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
Since the charge was introduced in England retailers have donated proceeds of approximately £95 million towards a variety of good causes covering the arts, education, environment, health, heritage and sports as well as local causes chosen by customers or staff.
The legislation requires large retailers to report what they do with the money from the charge and the department in line with the regulation publishes records supplied by retailers on GOV.UK website by 31 July each year.
Asked by: Michelle Donelan (Conservative - Chippenham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to encourage large retailers to minimise the amount of the 5p levy on single use plastic bags retained for administration and to maximise the amount distributed to charity.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
The regulations do not specify where the proceeds of the charge are distributed, but retailers are expected and encouraged to donate the proceeds of the charge (after deducting VAT and other reasonable costs) to good causes such as charities or community groups. Our data shows that over the 18 months since the charge was introduced at least £95 million was donated to a variety of good causes covering the arts, education, environment, health, heritage and sports as well as local causes chosen by customers or staff.
The Single Use Carrier Bags Charges (England) Order 2015 is due for review before 5 October 2020, which will require an assessment of cost and benefits. Any changes to amend the policy ahead of this timeframe will be considered as part of the Government’s forthcoming resources and waste strategy.
Asked by: Michelle Donelan (Conservative - Chippenham)
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 reduce the quantity of plastic polymers used in the production of tea bags.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
There are no specific plans for tea bags.
In December the Secretary of State chaired an industry roundtable on plastics and outlined a four point plan for tackling plastic waste that takes action at each stage of the product lifecycle – production, consumption and end of life: cutting the total amount of plastic in circulation; reducing the number of different plastics in use; improving the rate of recycling; supporting comprehensive recycling collections to make it easier for individuals to recycle.
We set out further steps in our 25 Year Environment Plan, available here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/673203/25-year-environment-plan.pdf
We will also be conducting a call for evidence this year, seeking views on how taxing and charging the most environmentally damaging single use plastics could help reduce waste.
Asked by: Michelle Donelan (Conservative - Chippenham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to encourage food manufacturers to produce tea bags without the use of polymers.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
There are no specific plans for tea bags.
In December the Secretary of State chaired an industry roundtable on plastics and outlined a four point plan for tackling plastic waste that takes action at each stage of the product lifecycle – production, consumption and end of life: cutting the total amount of plastic in circulation; reducing the number of different plastics in use; improving the rate of recycling; supporting comprehensive recycling collections to make it easier for individuals to recycle.
We set out further steps in our 25 Year Environment Plan, available here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/673203/25-year-environment-plan.pdf
We will also be conducting a call for evidence this year, seeking views on how taxing and charging the most environmentally damaging single use plastics could help reduce waste.
Asked by: Michelle Donelan (Conservative - Chippenham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to modernise the licensing scheme for dog breeding and selling to improve the welfare of dogs.
Answered by George Eustice
In February, Defra published its proposals to update the laws that regulate the breeding and selling of dogs to improve their welfare. The proposals are currently being finalised and a Statutory Instrument should be laid before Parliament next year.
Asked by: Michelle Donelan (Conservative - Chippenham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what research his Department has recently conducted into the effects of neonicotinoids on the health of the UK bee population.
Answered by George Eustice
Defra has supported a range of research relevant to improving understanding of the effects of neonicotinoids (and other pesticides) on bees. Recently completed work includes studies on: quantifying the exposure of bumblebees to neonicotinoids and mixtures of pesticides (commenced 2013), interpreting pesticide residues in honeybees (published 2015), using radio-frequency identification devices to assess effects of pesticides on foraging bees (commenced 2013), and protection goals for bee colonies (commenced 2015).
Asked by: Michelle Donelan (Conservative - Chippenham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the 25 Year Environment Plan will include measures to help manage the UK's impact on the environment in other countries through the products it imports.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
Our 25 Year Environment Plan will set out not only how we will improve the natural environment in this country, but also how we will use the UK’s position and influence to improve the environment around the globe.
We want to provide even stronger global leadership on environmental issues in the coming decades.