Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Epping Forest)
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 potential implications for his policies of the Foot and Mouth outbreak in Germany.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Following confirmation of Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) in Germany on the 10 January 2025, the Government took rapid action to protect the UK including suspending from Germany, the commercial import of susceptible animals, their untreated meat, dairy products and animal by-products, and hay and straw, and restricting personal imports of animal products from across the EU.
The UK has been free of FMD since 2007 and has plans in place to manage the risk of this disease as set out in the Foot and Mouth Disease Control Strategy for Great Britain supported by the Contingency plan for exotic notifiable diseases of animals in England. Defra and the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) keep preparedness under continual review but are refocusing effort following the confirmation of FMD in Germany. APHA leads government action on animal disease control and is in the planning stages of a national exercise to test and validate our response to an outbreak of FMD, scheduled for 2025/26.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Epping Forest)
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 adequacy of tracing of movement of animals, animal products and vehicles to the UK, in the context of the Foot and Mouth outbreak in Germany.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Whilst we have never had an outbreak of African Swine Fever (ASF) in the UK, it remains a key priority in terms of exotic notifiable disease preparedness. The overall risk of an incursion is currently assessed to be medium, and we continue to prepare for a possible outbreak. To safeguard the UK’s pork and pig industries, Defra, Devolved Governments, together with the pig industry and veterinary bodies have been working together to raise awareness of the risks of the introduction of ASF to the UK. Defra announced further controls in September 2024, restricting the movement of pork and pork products into Great Britain.
The risk of incursion of Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) to Great Britain was increased to medium following the confirmation of disease in Germany on the 10 January 2025. The Government has taken decisive and rapid action to protect the UK by suspending the commercial import of susceptible animals from Germany and restricting personal imports of animal products from across the EU. The UK has robust contingency plans in place to manage the risk of this disease as set out in the Foot and Mouth Disease Control Strategy for Great Britain(opens in a new tab) supported by the Contingency plan for exotic notifiable diseases of animals in England(opens in a new tab).
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Epping Forest)
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 his Department has made of the adequacy of the funding allocated to local authorities to improve air quality.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The department works closely with local authorities to develop approaches to reducing air pollution.
Under the NO2 Programme, the Government’s DfT-Defra Joint Air Quality Unit has provided significant funding to support local authorities to improve air quality in areas of NO2 exceedances, for example recently agreeing Greater Manchester’s £86m Clean Air Plan. We continue to work closely with local areas as they implement their plans.
Local authorities have funding allocated to them as part of the local government settlements. Any future, additional funding for local authorities will be subject to the Government’s spending review process.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Epping Forest)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the level of capability for (a) sourcing and (b) deploying a vaccine in relation to an outbreak of foot and mouth.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK has been free of Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) since 2007 and has plans in place to manage the risk of this disease as set out in the Foot and Mouth Disease Control Strategy for Great Britain supported by the Contingency plan for exotic notifiable diseases of animals in England. Defra and the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) keep preparedness under continual review but are refocusing efforts following the confirmation of FMD in Germany.
In the event of an outbreak, alongside culling and movement controls, vaccination would be considered as a control option. To that end, the UK has a vaccine bank for a variety of FMD serotypes. Any decision to vaccinate will be based on expert advice across a range of factors.
APHA leads Government action on animal disease control and has outbreak response plans in place. These include measures to contract companies to support eradication and provide additional veterinary capacity. Response times are kept under regular review, and APHA is in the planning stages of a national exercise to test and validate our response to an outbreak of FMD, scheduled for 2025/26.
In response to the outbreak of FMD in Germany, Government has taken decisive and rapid action to protect the UK from FMD by suspending the commercial import of susceptible animals and untreated products of animal origin from Germany and restricting personal imports of animal products from across the EU. We continue to review our preparedness and will take the necessary action to protect our FMD freedom.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Epping Forest)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many (a) adult and (b) foal (i) horses and (ii) ponies have been seized at the UK border following attempts to illegally export them to Europe since 1 July 2024.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In the time period between the 1st of July 2024 and the present date, there was one case at Dover Port where an illegal consignment of horses and ponies was identified and detained by APHA.
The details of the animals involved in that case are as follows: 1 intercepted consignment of 20 equine animals of which 12 were horses, 7 were ponies, and 1 was a foal (less than 6 months old).
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Epping Forest)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent steps he has taken to help improve flood preparedness.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Protecting communities from flooding is a key priority for this Government. To ensure we protect the country from the devastating impacts of flooding, the Government will invest £2.4 billion in 2024/25 and 2025/26 to improve flood resilience, by building, maintaining, and repairing flood defences. The list of projects to receive Government funding will be consented over the coming months in the usual way through Regional Flood and Coastal Committees, with local representation.
The Environment Agency’s recent Flood Action Week encouraged people to prepare by checking their flood risk, signing up for warnings and knowing what to do if a flood happens. The Environment Agency offers a free flood warning service and provides information on alerts, warnings, and river level conditions via ‘check for flooding service’ on gov.uk which has seen over 2.2 million users since Sept 2024.
In addition, the Government’s new Floods Resilience Taskforce sets out a new approach to preparing for flooding by working cross-government and with external stakeholders. The Taskforce first met in September 2024 and discussions included flood preparedness. It plans to meet again in early February 2025.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Epping Forest)
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 help ensure that the Flood Re Scheme is accessible for people impacted by flooding.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Flood Re is a joint Government and industry flood reinsurance scheme established specifically to help UK households at high risk of flooding to access affordable insurance through their insurance provider.
Many household insurers also now offer Build Back Better (BBB). This can provide an additional up to £10,000 as part of a claim to enable installation of property level resilient measures, which can help properties be more resilient to future flooding. We advise that homeowner ask their insurance provider whether this is included in the policy they are considering.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Epping Forest)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with emergency services providers on the provision of services during (a) storm and (b) flooding incidents.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra regularly engages with other government departments and operational partners during flooding incidents, and storms with flooding impacts. This includes the Home Office, the Department for Health and Social Care, and National Resilience.
The National Police Coordination Centre and National Fire Chiefs Council are members of the Floods Resilience Taskforce and contribute to discussions on flood resilience, preparedness and response.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Epping Forest)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what additional checks have been put in place at UK border ports for animals, animal products and vehicles coming from (a) the area affected by Foot and Mouth disease and (b) Germany.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government has stepped up measures to prevent the spread of Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD), following a case being confirmed in Germany.
The import of cattle, pigs and sheep and their untreated products from Germany to GB have now been banned to protect farmers and their livelihoods.
GB health certificates will no longer be issued for animals susceptible to FMD including all live animals and fresh meat and relevant animal products.
Defra has issued instructions to officials at Border Control Posts in respect of import restrictions put in place following confirmation of foot and mouth disease in Germany.
These are available at APHA Vet Gateway - OVS Notes. All commodities that are impacted are being selected for checks at the border.
We will continue to keep the situation under review working closely with the German authorities.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Epping Forest)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the risk of incursion of Foot and Mouth disease to the UK.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Following the confirmation of Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) in Germany on the 10 January 2025, Government has taken decisive and rapid action to protect the UK by suspending the commercial import of susceptible animals and untreated products of animal origin from Germany and restricting personal imports of animal products from across the EU.
The risk of incursion of FMD to Great Britain has increased to MEDIUM. The Animal and Plant Health Agency has published on GOV.UK its preliminary outbreak assessment which contains further information on the evidence which supports this risk level.
The UK has been free of FMD without vaccination since 2007 and has robust contingency plans in place to manage the risk of this disease as set out in the Foot and Mouth Disease Control Strategy for Great Britain supported by the Contingency plan for exotic notifiable diseases of animals in England.
The Government will be decisive and take the necessary action to protect our farmers from FMD.