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1717481

registered interest
date	13/05/2024
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Members: Correspondence
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 23 April 2024 to Question 20947 on Members: Correspondence, when he plans to respond to that correspondence.
tabling member constituency	Weston-super-Mare
tabling member printed	John Penrose
uin	25818
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/05/2024 answer text <p>A response will be issued very shortly. I apologise again for the delay in responding to the hon. Member.</p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Sir Mark Spencer question first answered 20/05/2024 12:16:25 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
tabling member	1584 label Biography information for John Penrose

1717523

registered interest
date	13/05/2024
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Agriculture
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the NFU's report entitled Farming for Britain's Future, published in December 2023, what steps his Department has taken to increase confidence within the agricultural industry.
tabling member constituency	Shrewsbury and Atcham
tabling member printed	Daniel Kawczynski
uin	25817
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/05/2024 answer text <p>In 2020 we published the Agricultural Transition Plan (ATP), setting out our plan for farmers, allowing them to make business planning decisions with confidence. Since then, we have launched our reforms, aiming to give farmers more choice and ensuring there are offers available for all farm types and locations. This includes the rollout of the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) and our Innovation and Productivity schemes such as the Farming Investment Fund (FIF).</p><p> </p><p>We also continue to expand and improve our offers in response to farmers’ feedback. Recently, the Government has confirmed farmers will benefit from the improved SFI from July this year, following the announcement by the Environment Secretary Steve Barclay in January. The improved offer includes a 10% increase in the average value of agreements in SFI and Countryside Stewardship (CS); a streamlined single application process for farmers to apply for the SFI and CS Mid-Tier; and around 50 new actions that farmers can get paid for.</p><p> </p><p>Furthermore, to aid the transition, and to give farmers confidence in their choices and the best chance of benefiting from our reforms we are also providing support via the Future Farming Resilience Fund. This fund is designed to provide free business support to farmers and land managers in England during the early years of the agricultural transition.</p><p> </p><p>Lastly, on 14 May 2024 we published our Blueprint for Growing the UK Fruit and Vegetable Sector, which aims to boost production of fresh produce and reduce reliance on imports. This is backed by our new Horticulture Resilience and Growth Offer, where Defra will look to double to £80m the amount of funding given to horticulture businesses when compared to the EU legacy Fruit and Vegetable Aid Scheme, which will be replaced from 2026 onwards. We are also unlocking the opportunities of gene editing with £15m investment into Genetic Improvement Networks, helping to boost access to more resilient crop varieties, that require fewer inputs and cut farmer costs.</p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Sir Mark Spencer question first answered 15/05/2024 15:53:57 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
tabling member	1566 label Biography information for Daniel Kawczynski

1717568

registered interest
date	13/05/2024
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Plastics: Recycling
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will publish a circular economy strategy for plastics which sets (a) targets and (b) measures for the (i) elimination and (ii) recycling of single-use plastics.
tabling member constituency	Rochdale
tabling member printed	George Galloway
uin	25780
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/05/2024 answer text <p>The Resources and Waste Strategy sets out how we want to eliminate all avoidable plastic waste by 2042 and move towards a circular economy. In 2023 we published the Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP) which set out our progress in this area and future plans.</p><p> </p><p>Where the evidence supports the case, we will not hesitate to introduce bans and other measures to limit its use. We have brought in multiple bans and restrictions, including most recently in October 2023, on the supply of many unnecessary single-use plastic items. To tackle the use of virgin plastic and incentivise the use of recycled plastic, the Government brought in the Plastic Packaging Tax in April 2022.</p><p> </p><p>Meanwhile, our Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging reforms will incentivise businesses to use packaging that is more easily recyclable and where possible, eliminate single-use plastic.</p><p> </p><p>We do not currently intend to publish any further strategies as we continue to work on our plans laid out in the EIP.</p> answering member constituency Keighley answering member printed Robbie Moore question first answered 20/05/2024 13:39:43 answering member 4861 label Biography information for Robbie Moore
tabling member	609 label Biography information for George Galloway

1717579

registered interest
date	13/05/2024
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Public Lavatories: Incontinence
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the number of male incontinence bins in public toilets.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	25853
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/05/2024 answer text <p>I fully recognise the importance of ensuring that all men have access to the facilities they need so that they can dispose of their sanitary waste in a safe and dignified way. The Government encourages local authorities to consider such provision in public toilets to support those who may need them. Officials are discussing the provision of sanitary bins in public toilets with other relevant departments to ensure we are doing all we can to support this to happen.</p> answering member constituency Keighley answering member printed Robbie Moore question first answered 20/05/2024 13:56:35 answering member 4861 label Biography information for Robbie Moore
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1715061

registered interest
date	30/04/2024
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Agriculture: Plastics
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the use of oxo-degradable film, which breaks down into microplastics in the soil, in farming, given that the EU only permits biodegradable film, which breaks down into carbon dioxide and water.
tabling member printed	Lord Shipley
uin	HL4242
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/05/2024 answer text <p>Healthy soil underpins a range of ecosystem services including food production, biodiversity, carbon storage and flood risk mitigation. Addressing contaminants in soil, including microplastic pollution, is vital for protecting and improving soil health. We are working to build an understanding of the impact of microplastics to soil and to develop mitigation capabilities.</p><p> </p><p>The plastic problem is one of management not eradication, to reduce, reuse, and recycle the material we have and not let it escape into, and damage, our environment. We have focused our efforts in tackling the most commonly used and littered plastic items, but we are aware of concerns with the use of agri-plastics too, particularly with single-use types such as mulch films.</p><p> </p><p>We are concerned about the potential for oxo-degradable plastic to release microplastics. In 2021, we published our response to a call for evidence which also covered oxo-degradable plastics. Most respondents objected to their use and supported introducing a ban. A review by the Hazardous Substances Advisory Committee (HSAC) showed there is no environmental benefit to oxo-degradable plastic, and they are likely to be harmful when released into the environment. This year, Defra has commissioned a second HSAC review and are minded to introduce a ban on this material pending evidence from the review.</p><p> </p><p>The UK Government continues to take a cautious approach to biodegradable plastics. The UK standard for biodegradable plastics (EN13432) allows for contaminants in the final output: “no more than 10% contaminants to pass through a 2mm sieve”. This means that microplastics less than 2mm could be produced by a biodegradable plastic mulch film that meets the standard and be spread to land. Additionally, while we are not aware of any biodegradable plastic that can reach levels of 100% biodegradation, evidence used to inform the European Union’s legislation around biodegradable plastics in agricultural applications may not apply to the UK. The UK has differing conditions, such as temperatures and humidity levels, which affect biodegradability.</p><p> </p><p>We will continue to review the evidence around both types of plastic to take a systematic approach to reducing the use of unnecessary and harmful single-use plastics.</p> answering member printed Lord Douglas-Miller question first answered 20/05/2024 13:54:20 answering member 5006 label Biography information for Lord Douglas-Miller
tabling member	4176 label Biography information for Lord Shipley

1715068

registered interest
date	30/04/2024
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Food: Prices
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have undertaken a risk assessment of the impact of import controls on food prices; and whether they are taking any steps to mitigate any inflationary pressures on consumers.
tabling member printed	Viscount Waverley
uin	HL4252
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/05/2024 answer text <p>We have introduced controls which are more proportionate to risk, with low-risk animal products not requiring certification or checks at the border by default. This approach will apply to all our trading partners, meaning a direct removal of burdens for certain Rest of World importers.</p><p> </p><p>Compared with the import model that was originally scheduled to have been introduced in July 2022, we believe that this new model will reduce costs to businesses by around £500 million per annum by reducing the complexity and volume of paperwork associated with importing.</p><p> </p><p>The Government’s modelling of the inflationary impact of the Border Target Operating Model (BTOM) has been undertaken through a peer-reviewed econometric model.</p><p> </p><p>For consumers, the implementation of the BTOM should have minimal impact on food price inflation. Initial analysis has indicated that the policies introduced under the BTOM would lead to an approximate increase in consumer food price inflation of less than 0.2 percentage points over a three-year period.</p> answering member printed Lord Douglas-Miller question first answered 20/05/2024 15:18:41 answering member 5006 label Biography information for Lord Douglas-Miller
tabling member	1744 label Biography information for Viscount Waverley

1715070

registered interest
date	30/04/2024
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Food Supply
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to monitor and address any disruptions in the flow of essential food and agricultural products resulting from the introduction of import controls, particularly in the event of unforeseen logistical challenges.
tabling member printed	Viscount Waverley
uin	HL4254
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/05/2024 answer text <p>We have introduced controls which are more proportionate to risk and worked with port and airport operators, traders, Port Health Authorities (PHAs) and the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) to make sure we have the right infrastructure, systems and resources in place.</p><p> </p><p>This has culminated in recent months with an extensive period of operational testing. Collaborating with several ports, PHAs, APHA and traders, we have used these tests to ensure that stakeholders are prepared for the new controls.</p><p> </p><p>Defra is confident that existing and new Border Control Posts infrastructure will have sufficient capacity and capability to handle the volume of expected checks outlined in the Border Target Operating Model, with robust, dynamic and effective operational measures ready to call upon if needed.</p> answering member printed Lord Douglas-Miller question first answered 20/05/2024 15:12:41 answering member 5006 label Biography information for Lord Douglas-Miller
tabling member	1744 label Biography information for Viscount Waverley