Asked by: Steve Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
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 commissioned an impact assessment on the proposed ending of the badger cull.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
I refer the Rt. Hon. Member to the reply I gave to PQ 1263.
Asked by: Steve Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, by what date he expects to have ceased badger culling.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This government will respect the advice of the widest range of expert advisers when considering the end of the badger cull.
There has not been a major bovine TB strategy review in nearly six years. The last was commissioned by the then Secretary of State Michael Gove and was carried out by Professor Sir Charles Godfray. It informs our starting point as we increase the effort to achieve bovine TB free status by 2038.
Asked by: Steve Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what his planned timetable is for (a) bringing forward and (b) implementing secondary legislation relating to the Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Act 2023; and whether he has a target date for full implementation of the Act's provisions.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Innovation is important in strengthening food security, enhancing resilience and improving agricultural sustainability.
We are considering how to take forward the regulatory framework outlined in the Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Act and will share our plans in due course.
Asked by: Steve Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what his planned timescale is for making payments under the Farming Recovery Fund to eligible applicants.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
To date all eligible farmers identified in the original Farming Recovery Fund announced in April 2024 have been offered the payment in line with the published criteria. In May, Defra announced a further expansion to the fund and further information on that will be available soon.
Asked by: Steve Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
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 increase support for farmers to mitigate the impacts of crops (a) lost and (b) not planted due to wet weather.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Farming Recovery Fund is a contribution towards uninsured costs that have likely been incurred in re-establishing productive, farmable land in areas significantly damaged by water, caused by flooding from Storms Babet and Henk or exceptional rainfall during October 2023 to March 2024.
In May Defra introduced a package of temporary adjustments and easements within the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI), SFI Pilot, Countryside Stewardship and Environmental Stewardship to support farmers and land managers dealing with the impacts of severe wet weather in England.
[Essentially, if bad weather has caused disruptions to farming activities or affected a farmer’s ability to meet the mandatory requirements set out in live agreements, the adjustments allow more time to establish or defer some activity to later in the year.] A full list of these adjustments can be found on the gov.uk website at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/wet-weather-temporary-support-for-farmers-in-2024 .
Asked by: Steve Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
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 introduce a legally binding food security target.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Food security is national security. A resilient and healthy food system, that works with nature and supports British farmers is a key element of our national food security.
That is why this Government will introduce a new deal for farmers to boost rural economic growth and strengthen Britain's food security. We will: cut energy bills by switching on GB Energy; protect farmers from being undercut in trade deals; and use the Government’s own purchasing power to back British produce.
Food security is not a binary issue but consists of complex and dynamic interactions. The Government will publish the triennial UK Food Security Report this year which will measure trends across the five categories of food security.
Asked by: Steve Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
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 continue the annual farm to fork summit.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Confidence among farmers is at an all time low. We need a resilient and healthy food system, that works with nature and supports British Farmers. The only way to do this effectively is to listen to farmers and others with a stake in our food system, countryside and nature. This Government will introduce a new deal for farmers to boost rural economic growth and strengthen Britain's food security. We will: cut energy bills by switching on GB Energy; protect farmers from being undercut in trade deals; and use the Government’s own purchasing power to back British produce.
Asked by: Steve Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
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 compatability of mandating a minimum quota of domestic products in public procurement contracts for food with Britain's membership of the World Trade Organisation.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government has ambition to source half of all food served in public sector settings from local producers or that has been produced by growers certified to higher environmental standards, where possible. We want to use the purchasing power of the public sector food supply chain to lead the way, setting the tone in delivering our wider ambitions on sustainability, animal welfare, economic growth, nutrition and health.
We are exploring innovative ways of achieving this policy aim that will help develop and support local economies and be compatible with our obligations under the World Trade Organisation Government Procurement Agreement and domestic procurement rules.
Asked by: Steve Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
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 assess the level of public confidence in Natural England's appeals process.
Answered by George Eustice
Natural England is the determining body only for appeals relating to breaches of agri-environment agreements. The process for this includes provision for matters to be referred to an independent person or body, nominated by Natural England, for further consideration. There are no plans at present to make an assessment of the level of public confidence in this process.