Asked by: Virginia Crosbie (Conservative - Ynys Môn)
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 impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on UK food security; and what steps he is taking to assist farmers to find alternatives to the use of fertiliser made from fossil fuels.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
Food prices are influenced by a range of factors - from currency fluctuations to commodity prices. While recent pressures have been sustained, we have a highly resilient food supply chain. Direct food imports from Eastern Europe are low, and we do not expect any significant direct impact on UK food supply. However, we will continue to speak with the industry to understand any potential pressures.
The UK sources fertiliser from a wide range of countries and also produces fertiliser such as ammonium nitrate domestically. The situation and impacts on farmers in particular, and industry more widely, from current high fertiliser prices, are being monitored closely.
There are nutrient management techniques and technologies that can be used alongside fertiliser products that help the efficacy of fertilisers and help maintain high yield and good quality produce. Support in the form of guidance from fertiliser suppliers and agricultural organisations such as the National Farmers Union (NFU) can be found from various public sources. Defra is aware that the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board has published many helpful public pieces of guidance, advice and webinar recordings on mitigating high fertiliser prices.
Defra is in regular contact with key industry figures including the NFU, fertiliser producers and importers, and the key sector representative body for fertilisers, the Agricultural Industries Confederation. We are continuing to monitor the security and stability of fertiliser and other supply chains, and working closely with colleagues across Government and devolved administrations as well as industry figures to share knowledge and discuss all options available to tackle these issues. This will help inform how Defra and other industry bodies can best support farmers.
Defra is committed to promoting the use of less environmentally damaging fertilisers and better nutrient use efficiency. The current shortage of inorganic fertilisers provides an opportunity for farmers to continue exploring increasing their use of environmentally sustainable products and more efficient nutrient management methods.
Asked by: Virginia Crosbie (Conservative - Ynys Môn)
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 acres of grassland and arable land that will be required to sustainably feed the projected population of the UK over the next (a) 10, (b) 25 and (c) 50 years.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The UK's high degree of food security is built on supply from diverse sources, including strong domestic production as well as imports through stable trade routes. We produce 60% of all the food we need, and 74% of food which we can grow or rear in the UK for all or part of the year, and these figures have changed little over the last 20 years. In addition, the UK has nearly 100% sufficiency in poultry, carrots, and swedes.
Recognising the importance of food production, the Government made a commitment to produce an assessment of our food security at least once every three years. The first UK Food Security Report was published in December 2021. It recognised the contribution made by British farmers to our resilience, and the importance of strong domestic production to our food security. This report will serve as an evidence base for future policy work.
The Food Strategy White Paper will set out Government's ambition and priorities for the food system - to support our exceptional British food and drink producers, and to protect and enhance the nation's health and the natural environment for generations to come. The Government will consider the evidence of Henry Dimbleby's independent review throughout the development of Food Strategy. Given ongoing wider circumstances we are postponing publication of the food strategy until after the pre-election period for the local elections.
Asked by: Virginia Crosbie (Conservative - Ynys Môn)
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) work with international counterparts on tackling plastic pollution and (b) implement the Deposit Return Scheme.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Plastic pollution is a global challenge, and the UK engages across multilateral forums and organisations to raise global ambition and drive action to minimise plastic pollution from both land and sea-based sources, including the G7 and G20, the OSPAR Convention, the World Trade Organisation and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
Through the £500 million Blue Planet Fund the UK is funding developing countries to protect the marine environment and reduce poverty, including the Global Plastic Action Partnership to address plastic pollution. Through the UK and Vanuatu-led Commonwealth Clean Ocean Alliance, 34 Commonwealth nations have now committed to taking action on plastic pollution in the ocean.
The UK co-sponsored the ambitious proposal that led to the resolution adopted at the United Nations Environment Assembly in March 2022 to develop a legally binding treaty to end plastic pollution, and the UK has joined the High Ambition Coalition to End Plastic Pollution to drive a comprehensive and effective treaty.
A second consultation on introducing a deposit return scheme in England, Wales and Northern Ireland was published in 2021 and is now closed. The Government is analysing the responses to that consultation, with a view to publishing a Government response soon.
Asked by: Virginia Crosbie (Conservative - Ynys Môn)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he is taking steps to support farmers with the rising cost of (a) red diesel and (b) other input costs as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
We are very much aware of the disruption to supply chains that the Russian invasion of Ukraine will have both globally and here in the UK and are closely monitoring the market situation.
The UK food chain is very robust and adaptable. Our initial assessment is the principal impact on UK farmers will be an increase in the cost of a range of inputs including red diesel, animal feed, fertiliser, and energy.
We are working with the industry to identify where mitigations are available and continue to keep the situation under review.
Asked by: Virginia Crosbie (Conservative - Ynys Môn)
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 bringing forward legislative proposals to ban the use of cages in the breeding of game birds; how many animal welfare inspections of game bird farms in England and Wales were undertaken in 2021; how many of those visits resulted in action being taken against the person responsible for a welfare breach; and whether follow up inspections were carried out in those circumstances.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government shares the public's high regard for animal welfare. We are delivering a series of ambitious reforms, as outlined in the Action Plan for Animal Welfare. We are actively exploring options for improving the welfare of farmed animals and are considering the case for introducing further reforms, in areas such as the use of cages for gamebirds.
We need to gather evidence on the welfare of gamebirds and the use of cages in the sector to inform future policy development. The expectation is that we will be calling for evidence later this year.
The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) carry out targeted inspections on gamebird breeding and rearing units in response to intelligence received. Intelligence led monitoring and offering advice on compliance are key components of all APHA inspections. Where welfare regulations are breached, appropriate action is always taken.
According to APHA records, 10 inspections took place in England and Wales in 2021. One inspection in England resulted in non-compliances being identified and a follow up inspection was carried out to ensure corrective action had been taken.
Asked by: Virginia Crosbie (Conservative - Ynys Môn)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with regard to the Code of Practice for the Welfare of Gamebirds Reared for Sporting Purposes, what his Department's policy is on the acceptable temperature range inside the units that are used to house breeding game birds, in relation to the provision in that Code on protection from adverse weather conditions and extremes of temperature.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
It remains the farmer/keeper’s responsibility to ensure that birds are kept in a suitable environment, as required by Section 9 of the Animal Welfare Act 2006, which includes the provision of suitable protection from adverse weather conditions.
The Code of Practice for the welfare of Gamebirds reared for Sporting Purposes states that when birds are housed or penned, the accommodation should be well constructed and managed and of sufficient size to ensure good health and welfare; which is best achieved by ensuring protection from adverse weather conditions and extremes of temperature. The code also states that there should be a contingency plan to prevent or deal with emergencies which would include extremes of temperature.
The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) carry out targeted inspections on gamebird units in response to intelligence received. In determining whether a temperature range is suitable, APHA inspectors conduct a case-by-case assessment based on the birds’ environment, including any clinical signs in the birds, to verify compliance with the legislation. APHA also assess stockmanship and contingency actions that have been put in place to protect bird welfare.
Asked by: Virginia Crosbie (Conservative - Ynys Môn)
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 manage fishing in Marine Protected Areas around the coast of the UK; and what assessment he has made of the potential merits of banning supertrawlers and fly shooting vessels from fishing in Marine Protected Areas to allow fish stocks to recover and to support the UK fishing industry.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are a devolved competency and the information provided therefore relates to England only.
The UK is at the forefront of marine protection with 372 MPAs protecting 38% of UK waters. We have built a comprehensive network of MPAs and are focusing on making sure they are protected properly. Ninety-eight of our inshore English MPAs now have management measures in place to protect sensitive features from bottom towed fishing gears. We are also developing an ambitious three-year programme for assessing sites and implementing byelaws, where necessary, to manage fishing activity in all English offshore MPAs.
Asked by: Virginia Crosbie (Conservative - Ynys Môn)
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 amending the Hunting Act to reduce the incidence of foxes being killed; and what steps he is taking to ban trail hunting on Government-owned land.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Our manifesto was clear that no changes will be made to the Hunting Act. The Hunting Act 2004 makes it an offence to hunt a wild mammal with dogs, except where it is carried out in accordance with the exemptions in the Act. Those found guilty under the Act are subject to the full force of the law.
Issuing a license or giving permission for trail hunting is an operational matter for the landowner and those organisations with a land lease or agreement in place for Government land.
Asked by: Virginia Crosbie (Conservative - Ynys Môn)
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 take steps to require supertrawlers operating within UK waters to (a) publish catch records, including species discard, (b) report dolphin or other sensitive species bycatch and (c) be transparent with data so that consumer labelling can accurately identify seafood caught using sustainable fishing methods and minimised bycatch.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The Marine Management Organisation publishes annual statistics on catch, effort and fleet data in aggregated from which includes catch by gear type:
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/marine-management-organisation/about/statistics. The UK discard/bycatch information, derived from scientific fisheries observer programmes in each of the UK administrations, is the EU Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries (STECF) database. Data collected up to the end of 2020 have been submitted to the EU STECF in accordance with UK obligations and can be found here: Fisheries Dependent Information - European Commission (europa.eu)
All wild-capture commercial fishers are required to report incidental mortality or injury (bycatch) of marine mammals during fishing operations to the Marine Management Organisation. These data are used in UK bycatch monitoring programmes to help identify and where possible reduce potential impacts with sensitive marine species. The UK government funds a comprehensive and well-respected bycatch monitoring programme, which provides essential observer data on incidents of sensitive species bycatch. Annual reports are published online here: Defra, UK - Science Search.
UK regulations require fishery and aquaculture product labelling to indicate the production method, area where the product was caught or farmed, and category of fishing gear used in capture of fisheries.