Asked by: Richard Tice (Reform UK - Boston and Skegness)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many staff in his Department are responsible for (a) processing and (b) responding to Freedom of Information Act requests; and if he will make an estimate of the annual cost to the public purse of this work.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Each team within the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) that holds information relevant to a request is responsible for providing responses in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (EIRs). These teams receive guidance on the application of the legislation from Defra’s Information Rights Team, which is responsible for processing such requests. The Information Rights Team consists of six staff members.
Defra does not maintain a cost accounting system to track staff time spent responding to information requests; therefore, no annual cost figure is available.
Asked by: Richard Tice (Reform UK - Boston and Skegness)
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 implications for his policies of long-term health concerns associated with the use of 3-Nitrooxypropanol in cattle feed.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
3-Nitrooxypropanol is the active ingredient in a methane suppressing feed product commercially known as Bovaer.
The Food Standards Agency has advised milk from cows given Bovaer, an authorised feed additive used to reduce methane emissions, is safe to drink. Bovaer has undergone a rigorous safety assessment and is approved for use in Great Britain.
Asked by: Richard Tice (Reform UK - Boston and Skegness)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what national framework contractors have been appointed for flood management; and how and on what criteria they were appointed.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The information requested can be found in the attached document.
Asked by: Richard Tice (Reform UK - Boston and Skegness)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many enforcement actions his Department has taken against foreign fishing vessels operating illegally in UK waters in each of the last five years.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) is responsible for licensing foreign vessels to fish in English waters and for fisheries enforcement of vessels within English waters. The MMO has boarded and inspected foreign vessels at sea on 1451 occasions since the start of 2019 to the 31 October 2024. Infringements were detected during 585 of these inspections. In addition to these inspections at sea, 36 infringements by foreign vessels were detected remotely. The number of enforcement actions the MMO has taken against foreign fishing vessels operating illegally in English waters in each of the last five years is:
2024(YTD 31 October) | 156 |
2023 | 115 |
2022 | 127 |
2021 | 127 |
2020 | 47 |
2019 | 112 |
Fisheries control and enforcement is a devolved matter and, as such, Fisheries Authorities in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are responsible for managing fisheries risk and conducting inspections in their respective waters.
Asked by: Richard Tice (Reform UK - Boston and Skegness)
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 potential impact of the Autumn Budget 2024 on the (a) resilience of the agricultural supply chain and (b) ability of the sector to meet domestic food demand.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Part (a) - The UK has a resilient food supply chain and is equipped to deal with situations with the potential to cause disruption. We produce 62% of all the food we need, and 75% of food which we can grow or rear in the UK for all or part of the year. Food security is built on supply from diverse sources, strong domestic production as well as imports through stable trade routes.
UK consumers have access through international trade to food products that cannot be produced here, or at least not on a year-round basis. This supplements domestic production, and also ensures that any disruption from risks such as adverse weather or disease does not affect the UK's overall security of supply.
Defra works with industry and across Government to monitor risks that may arise. This includes extensive, regular and ongoing engagement in preparedness for, and response to, issues with the potential to cause disruption to food supply chains.
Part (b) - Farmers are the backbone of Britain, and we recognise the strength of feeling expressed by farming and rural communities in recent weeks. We are steadfast in our commitment to Britain’s farming industry because food security is national security.
Around 500 claims each year will be impacted and farm-owning couples can pass on up to £3m without paying any inheritance tax.
Not only is the Government confident that these reforms will not impact food production, our Budget has set out a £5 billion farming budget over two years – dedicating more money than ever before to sustainable food production.
Asked by: Richard Tice (Reform UK - Boston and Skegness)
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 plans to take to support people living in rural areas with limited public transport links with the potential financial impact of increases in fuel duty.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
People living in rural areas often have greater distances to travel to access essential services, employment, education and other social and recreational activities. We know that this can make it more costly and time consuming for rural communities.
As announced in the King’s Speech, the Government will introduce a Buses Bill later this parliamentary session, which will put decision-making into the hands of local leaders, including in rural areas across England. This will allow local areas to determine how best to design their bus services so that they have control over routes and schedules.
The Government has made a commitment that all policy decision-making should be rural proofed. Defra leads on rural proofing, but individual departments are responsible for ensuring that their policy decision-making delivers for rural communities.
Decisions on tax policy, including fuel duty rates, are made by the Chancellor at fiscal events.
The Rural Fuel Duty Relief Scheme was introduced in 2011 to provide a 5p reduction to motorists buying fuel in certain areas. The areas included in the scheme demonstrate certain characteristics such as: pump prices much higher than the UK average, remoteness leading to high fuel transport costs from refinery to filling station, and relatively low sales meaning that retailers cannot benefit from bulk discounts.
Asked by: Richard Tice (Reform UK - Boston and Skegness)
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 support farmers and the agricultural industry with (a) challenges related to fluctuating market prices, (b) improving access to modern technology and (c) ensuring the long-term sustainability of the sector.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK agricultural sector is both robust and adaptable and operates in an open market with the value of commodities established by those in the supply chain. We have seen evidence of this particularly in recent years following global events such as the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine.
Recognising that farmers should always receive a fair price for their products, the Government is committed to tackling contractual unfairness wherever it exists.
Innovation is key in supporting our efforts to improve agricultural sustainability. The Government wants the UK to be a great place for technology innovators to start and grow their businesses, and access both domestic and international market adoption opportunities. We have already announced our intention to bring forward the secondary legislation needed to implement the Precision Breeding Act.
The Government is also fully committed to Environmental Land Management schemes and will optimise them so they produce the right outcomes for all farmers, while delivering food security and nature recovery in a just and equitable way.
Defra will continue to work closely with stakeholders from all farming sectors on the best way to support farmers and the agricultural industry over the long-term, designing our policies in partnership.