Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - North West Durham)
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 potential merits of requiring more detailed and extensive labelling of the country of origin on food products.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
In the UK we maintain high standards on the provision of information to consumers on food labels. Food is a devolved matter so I am replying in respect of England. However, the same rules currently apply across all of the UK.
Our current laws require origin labelling for foods where the consumer would be misled if the origin of the food were not given. This might happen on the label of, for example, a food clearly identified as ‘British’ by words or symbols but that was made elsewhere.
In addition there are rules for compulsory origin labelling of single ingredient foods including beef, veal, lamb, mutton, pork, goat and poultry meat, fish and shellfish, honey, olive oil, wine and most fruit and vegetables.
As of April this year the country of origin or place of provenance of a primary ingredient which is not the same as that given or indicated on a food as a whole must also be included on the label. For example, if a steak and ale pie is made by the English Pie Company but its main ingredient (beef) is from Argentina, the label must make that clear to the consumer.
Where origin information is not required but a producer wishes to provide it, it can still be on the label as long as it does not mislead the consumer.
We believe these measures together ensure that UK consumers are well informed about the true origin of the food they are eating.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - North West Durham)
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 amend the regulations on heather burning during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government has always been clear of the need to end burning of protected blanket bog to conserve these vulnerable habitats. We are looking at how legislation could achieve this and considering next steps.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - North West Durham)
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 (a) reduce the volume of (i) junk mail, (ii) charity collection bags and (iii) commercial marketing material delivered to people's homes and (b) ensure that those items are (A) recyclable or (B) biodegradable.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Resources and Waste Strategy, published in December 2018, sets out the Government’s plans to reduce, reuse and recycle more plastic than we do now and to move towards a more circular economy. Our target is to eliminate all avoidable plastic waste throughout the lifetime of the 25 Year Environment Plan.
Households can sign up to services to stop receiving unsolicited mail, such as those provided by the Direct Marketing Association or Royal Mail. A “no junk mail” notice may also be effective.
Charity textile collections offer a convenient way for people to reduce their environmental impact, reusing or recycling around 650,000 tonnes of clothing which might otherwise be sent to landfill.
In 2017, following a public consultation, the Fundraising Regulator strengthened its Code of Fundraising Practice to require charitable house to house collectors not to post collection bags to properties that indicate they should not do so by way of a notice, for example “no charity bags”. People can complain to the local council and provide feedback directly to charities. The bags can be reused for other purposes or recycled.
The Government recognises that innovation into biodegradable plastics could help reduce the environmental impact of plastic, if they are disposed of in the right way. We therefore published a call for evidence last year to help us consider the development of standards or certification criteria for bio-based, biodegradable and compostable plastics and to better understand their effects on the environment and our current waste system. We are currently analysing the responses received to inform future policy.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - North West Durham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of the average cost or saving of switching from coal to other sold fuels, by region.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government Response to the consultation on cleaner domestic burning of solid fuels and wood was published on 21 February this year. The accompanying Impact Assessment includes a table which provides a regional, energy efficiency adjusted cost analysis for coal and smokeless fuels. This indicates that savings will be made in all the regions considered if households switch from coal to the cheapest smokeless fuel.
The Impact Assessment can be viewed at:
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - North West Durham)
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 judgement in the judicial review brought by the Commons Committees for Minchinhampton and Rodborough Commons, what steps the Rural Payments Agency has taken to reduce payments in respect of Bollihope Common.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
Bollihope Common have received increased payments as a result of the Judicial Review case brought by the Commons Committees for Minchinhampton and Rodborough Commons. No grazier has received a reduced payment as a consequence of the case.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - North West Durham)
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 potential merits of preventing the live import of animals for re-homing in the UK in order to reduce the number of animals destroyed in the UK when no home for them can be found.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The Government advises against purchasing or acquiring imported dogs for rehoming, as they may carry serious diseases or have behavioural and welfare issues due to poor breeding. The Government’s recently launched “Petfished” campaign, which aims to warn people about deceitful sellers including those importing puppies and kittens includes advice on this. Rescue and rehoming centres in this country carry out important work to ensure that unwanted and abandoned animals in the UK are offered the opportunity of a forever home. We advise those seeking to acquire a new dog to first consider adopting from a reputable UK based dog rescue and rehoming centre.
Dogs for rehoming are imported under the Balai Directive, alongside all other commercial movements of dogs. As such a ban would not be appropriate as it may inhibit other commercial movements of animals.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - North West Durham)
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 ensure processed egg products imported into the UK are from hens kept to welfare standards equivalent to those in the UK.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
We have world class animal welfare standards in the UK and we will continue to be a world leader in animal welfare, maintaining and strengthening our standards now that we have left the EU. This will be reflected in our approach to future trading arrangements.
The Government will stand firm in trade negotiations to ensure that future trade deals live up to the values of farmers and consumers across the UK. We will not dilute our high standards of animal welfare, including import requirements.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - North West Durham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, for what reason the Government proposes to ban the burning of coal when its emissions levels are similar to that of burning dry wood.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
As outlined in our written ministerial statement of 24 February 2020 the purpose of our policy is to reduce people’s exposure to the most harmful pollutant to human health (PM2.5). While defined by its size, fine particulate matter in smoke from domestic combustion contains a wide range of chemical compounds, depending on what is being burnt. In developing this policy we have taken into account the clear advice of the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer, which has stated that emissions from coal combustion is a known carcinogen to humans. There is also strong evidence that burning coal can release elements and compounds into the indoor environment that are particularly harmful to human health. Based on this evidence, the World Health Organization has strongly recommended against the residential use of coal for heating.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - North West Durham)
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 remove coal from the proposed regulation of the sales, distribution and marketing of house coal and wet wood.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is committed to protecting human health, and the environment from the impacts of air pollutants. Based on the advice from the World Health Organization that emissions from coal combustion is a known human carcinogen, and that it should not be used for residential heating, we intend to continue including bituminous (house) coal in the proposed regulation of the sales, distribution and marketing of bituminous (house) coal and wet wood.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - North West Durham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of the average change in costs per household of a switch from house coal to smokeless fuel in (a) Northumberland, (b) County Durham, (c) Yorkshire, (d) Cornwall and (e) Hampshire.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra commissioned analysis of heat output from a range of fuels to determine fuel efficiency and costs to consumers. The costs of fuels were investigated across six regions in England (North East, North West, Midlands, South East including East of England, and South West) which showed that manufactured solid fuels were, in general, cheaper when heat output was taken into consideration on an open fire.