Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has made an estimate of the potential impact of avian flu on the change in the cost of a turkey since the 2021-22 financial year.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
There are many factors, including the impact of Avian Influenza, that will influence the cost of a turkey. To support the seasonal poultry sector, Defra announced on 28 October a flexibility to marketing rules in England so that farmers who breed turkeys, geese, ducks or capons for the Christmas market have the option to slaughter their flocks early and freeze these products, which can then be defrosted and sold to consumers between the period 28 November and 31 December 2022. These changes have given farmers certainty over business planning and have helped secure the supply of turkeys this Christmas.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much his Department has spent on flood defences since 2019.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Information on HM Government spending on Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management (FCRM) is publicly available: Central Government Funding for Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management in England, March 2022.
Environment Agency FCRM Capital Programme government spend since 2018/19:
2018/19 £m | 2019/20 £m | 2020/21 £m |
453 | 501.3 | 610.4 |
Note these figures are for Environment Agency FCRM Capital programme spend only.
(Source: Central Government Funding for Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management in England, March 2022)
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
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 make an estimate of the total number of farms in England in each of the last five years.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Statistical estimates of the number of commercial agricultural holdings in England in each of the last five years are shown in the table below.
Commercial holdings are those registered with the Rural Payments Agency for payments or livestock purposes and with significant levels of farming activity (as recorded in responses to the Defra June Survey of Agriculture or the Cattle Tracing System). Holdings are only included if they have more than five hectares of agricultural land, one hectare of orchards, 0.5 hectares of vegetables or 0.1 hectares of protected crops, or more than 10 cows, 50 pigs, 20 sheep, 20 goats or 1,000 poultry.
Year | Number of commercial holdings |
2017 | 105,925 |
2018 | 106,035 |
2019 | 106,100 |
2020(a) | 107,079 |
2021 | 105,220 |
(a) It was not possible to run a full-scale June Survey in 2020 due to the Coronavirus outbreak. A small-scale survey was run instead to allow us to produce national estimates of key crop areas and livestock populations. As a result, it was not possible to update the survey population and figures for 2020 are less robust and should be treated with caution.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what percentage of stock buybacks in the last financial year were made by water companies.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
There are three publicly listed water companies operating in England: United Utilities; Pennon Group; and Severn Trent. Listed water companies publish details of their decisions relating to share issuance and repurchasing in their annual reports.
These reports are available online (links below):
United Utilities - United Utilities Group PLC - Year in Review 2022 (annualreport2022.com)
Pennon Group - Pennon Group PLC - Annual Report and Accounts 2022 (pennon-group.co.uk)
Severn Trent - Results, reports and presentations | Investors | Severn Trent Plc
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what proportion of Grade (a) 4 and (b) 5 land would be suitable for building of solar farms.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Agricultural Land Classification uses grades 1 to 5 to determine the quality of agricultural land. A combination of climate, topography and soil characteristics and their unique interaction determines the limitation and grade of the land. The highest quality agricultural land is known as ‘Best and Most Versatile Agricultural Land’, defined in the National Planning Policy Framework and Natural England’s guide to assessing development proposals on agricultural land as land in grades 1, 2 and 3a.
Grades 4 and 5 fall outside this definition as they are classed as poor and very poor-quality agricultural land respectively. This means that the land has severe limitations, which significantly restricts the range and level of yield of crops. Defra does not hold data on the generic suitability of grades 4 and 5 for solar farms.
The development of large-scale ground-mounted solar photovoltaic farms is regulated through the planning system. Planning policy is clear that there is preference to use poorer-quality agricultural land over higher quality. There is also a need through planning guidance to show that any development of agricultural land is necessary.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has plans to bring forward legislative proposals on tackling deforestation in supply chains.
Answered by Scott Mann - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
We have put into statute world-leading due diligence legislation, through the Environment Act, to help tackle illegal deforestation in UK supply chains.
Between December 2021 and March 2022, we ran a consultation to seek views on the detail of regulations that will implement the Environment Act provisions and published a summary of responses to this consultation on 1st June 2022.
We are committed to implementing due diligence provisions at the earliest opportunity, through secondary legislation.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
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 make it his policy to publish a consultation on the keeping of caged animals.
Answered by Steve Double
The Government are committed to phasing out confinement systems and supporting the industry to do so, not least to underpin UK food security. However, as reiterated by the Minister for Farming, Fisheries and Food at the ‘End the Cage Age’ debate held in June, we do need to work carefully and sensitively with the pig and poultry sectors as any transition must be done with, rather than against, these industries.
This is an extremely challenging time for Britain’s farmers, with enormously increased input costs — of food, fuel and fertiliser — affecting almost all production systems to a greater or lesser extent, and of course for the general public who are faced with significant challenges around the cost of living.
So, any decisions by Government on this issue, including timing of consultations, must be carefully considered in light of these wider, and clearly highly important, priorities. We have a course of action in play and will progress with our plans to transition away from use of cages in farming systems as soon as the time is right.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department (a) has made an assessment of the environmental impact of disposable vapes and (b) plans to introduce recycling schemes designed to reduce the amount of electrical waste produced by those products.
Answered by Steve Double
The Department has not undertaken an assessment of the environmental impact of disposable vapes in the UK.
The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) regulations place obligations on producers of electrical products to finance the collection and treatment of those products when they become waste. This would include disposable vapes.
At present, consumers are able to dispose of their electrical waste at a local household recycling centre or via retailer take back channels, where these are available.
Cigarette butts are one of the most frequently littered items. In a recent survey commissioned by Defra, they accounted for 66% of the total number of litter items collected.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
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 merits of including glass bottles in the Deposit Return Scheme.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government has consulted twice on the introduction of a Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) and given careful consideration to the inclusion of glass bottles as part of the scheme. Feedback from stakeholders including representatives of the glass industry, raised concerns including glass in a DRS could reduce recycling, reduce the products that can be made from recycled glass and increase overall carbon emissions. A full response to the consultation will be published in due course.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
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 has taken to support pigeon racing across the English Channel.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Following successful discussions between Defra and the European Union (EU) Commission, supported by sector campaigning here and on the continent, the EU has recently introduced amendments to Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/692 ('entry to the Union') together with an associated Export Health Certificate (EHC) to enable cross-channel pigeon racing to restart. Prior to these changes racing pigeons were within the scope of the EU's definition of 'captive birds' following the introduction of the Animal Health Regulation (AHR) in the EU on 21 April 2021. The requirements of this, including quarantine on arrival in the EU, had made racing non-viable for the sector and were disproportionate to the animal health risk posed to the EU by this activity.
To enable pigeon fanciers to utilise the derogation provided by the EU a registration system for establishments (pigeon lofts) will be made available from 24 May 2022. In addition, the new EHC for racing pigeons from Great Britain (GB) sent to the EU or Northern Ireland (NI) for the purpose of immediate release for racing back to GB, will be available on Gov.uk on the 24 May 2022.
Establishments must be registered with the competent authority if keepers want to use the new EHC and move racing pigeons from that premises in GB to the EU or NI for the purpose of immediate release for racing back to GB. Pigeon lofts that do not wish to engage in racing from the EU or Northern Ireland are unaffected by these changes.