Asked by: Sarah Green (Liberal Democrat - Chesham and Amersham)
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 impact of 'Not for EU' labelling requirements on small and medium-sized food producers who (a) export to the European Union and (b) sell within the UK.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
On 1 October 2023, The UK Government introduced The Northern Ireland Retail Movement Scheme to simplify movements of retail goods from GB to NI. To use the scheme businesses need to apply ‘Not for EU’ labelling to their goods.
As a result, these businesses, including small and medium-sized food producers, benefit from significantly reduced certification requirements.
The Government has also launched the £50m Windsor Framework Transitional Labelling Financial Assistance Scheme to support businesses in adjusting to these changes.
Asked by: Sarah Green (Liberal Democrat - Chesham and Amersham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much the Government has spent on protecting and restoring chalk streams in each year since 2015.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government does not record its Chalk Stream protection and restoration spend. Chalk Streams represent an important part of our national heritage, and the Government is committed to working with its stakeholders to ensure they are protected. This includes working with the Catchment Based Approach’s Chalk Stream Restoration Group to achieve the recommendations outlined in its 2021 Chalk Stream Strategy.
The Environment Agency has a £1 million annual Chalk Partnership Fund, to support projects that address water resources issues on chalk streams and contribute to the implementation of the Catchment Based Approach chalk stream restoration strategy. This may include habitat restoration and improving the monitoring of chalk streams.
Asked by: Sarah Green (Liberal Democrat - Chesham and Amersham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many licenses or permits to abstract water from chalk streams were given to each water company in each year since 2015.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Environment Agency records indicate that a total of 2 new water company licences have been issued in chalk catchments, which are both transfer licences (non-consumptive use of water) since 2015 and 16 existing time limited licences have been renewed since 2015. The table attached provides the breakdown for the relevant water companies. New licences will only be issued if there is water available to be abstracted and may be issued with conditions to prevent or limit abstraction during periods of low flow. All new licences and renewal of time limited licences will have been assessed against environmental sustainability and justification of need criteria.
Asked by: Sarah Green (Liberal Democrat - Chesham and Amersham)
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 effectiveness of product testing in controlling the import and sale of honey mixed with high quantities of sugar syrup.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
Work is being undertaken to ensure all honey meets our high standards. However, honey, is a complex natural product, meaning analysis to determine if honey has been adulterated can often be challenging. No single test can definitively determine a honey’s authenticity, and there are a range of different analytical methods available, from the well-established traditional validated methods to more recently developed advanced ‘fingerprinting’ tools such as NMR (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance).
Allegations that some honey sold in the UK may be adulterated with added sugars, including the recent Honey Authenticity Project survey, are based on results using NMR. These have been investigated by the relevant local authorities, using a weight of evidence approach, and they concluded there was insufficient evidence to indicate fraud or non-compliance.
Defra, the Food Standards Agency, Food Standards Scotland and the Government Chemist have been working together to identify areas where the Government can facilitate progress on some of the underpinning scientific issues that have emerged around honey authenticity testing, with the aim of providing further clarity to those carrying out monitoring and enforcement checks of honey, which protect consumers and legitimate businesses. Our programme of work on honey focuses on dissemination and knowledge transfer such as a webinar organised by the Government Chemist with Defra’s support. As part of our honey programme, we are also supporting work on testing methods which will look more in depth at issues such as ensuring method fitness for purpose and on standardising approaches.
Asked by: Sarah Green (Liberal Democrat - Chesham and Amersham)
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 impact of honey fraud on beekeepers and honey producers.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
We recognise the importance of quality standards for all foods, including honey. All honey on sale, regardless of where it has come from must comply with the Honey (England) Regulations 2015 which set out detailed specifications in terms of its composition, labelling, and quality criteria. Honey fraud by means of addition of sugars, or anything else to honey, is not permitted.
The UK produces a relatively small amount of the honey consumed domestically and relies heavily on imports to meet consumer demand and provide a reliable year-round supply. The UK has a thriving and diverse honey market, giving consumers access to a wide range of products, from mono-floral varieties to single origin and blended honeys, at a wide range of different price points.
Defra, along with other partners, is very active in ensuring honey, meets our high standards regardless of where it has been produced. We have an active food authenticity programme to ensure honey sold in the UK is not subject to fraud, meets our high standards and maintains a level playing field between honey producers.
Asked by: Sarah Green (Liberal Democrat - Chesham and Amersham)
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 revoke legislation implementing the EU Habitats Directive in the forthcoming Brexit Freedoms Bill announced in the Queen's Speech 2022.
Answered by Steve Double
We set out our initial proposals to reform the Habitat Regulations in the Nature Recovery Green Paper: protected sites and species. The Nature Recovery Green Paper consultation closed on 11 May and we are now in the process of analysing responses. The Government will publish a formal response in due course.
Asked by: Sarah Green (Liberal Democrat - Chesham and Amersham)
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 and promote the recycling of paper.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
All local authorities in England currently offer a kerbside collection service for paper and card.
To ensure that we recycle more paper and card, as well as other materials, we are seeking to make recycling easier by ensuring that there is a comprehensive, consistent service across England.
Following support at public consultation, the Environment Act 2021 stipulates that all local authorities, and other waste collectors, in England must make arrangements for a core set of materials to be collected for recycling from households, businesses and non-domestic premises (including paper and card). These measures will improve the quality and quantity of materials collected for recycling and increase public confidence in the recycling system.
In 2021 we published a second consultation on consistency recycling collections. This consultation closed on 4 July and sought views on increasing consistency in recycling, including the specific materials that are in scope of collection in the paper and card waste stream. We are currently analysing responses to the consultation and intend to publish our response in due course.