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1240703

	registered interest
	date	06/10/2020
	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	Glyphosate
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect on the natural environment in the event that voluntary conservation groups are prohibited from using glyphosate in environmental conservation work.
	tabling member constituency	York Outer
	tabling member printed	Julian Sturdy
	uin	99605
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/10/2020 answer text <p>Pesticides regulations do not prohibit voluntary conservation groups from using glyphosate and other pesticides in environmental conservation work. Volunteers may use products that are authorised for amateur use; they may also use products that are authorised for professional use providing they are trained and hold a recognised certificate in the application of pesticides. Untrained conservation volunteers may apply pesticides that are authorised for professional use but only if they are under the supervision of a trained certificated user and are working towards gaining a recognised certificate in the application of pesticides.</p><p> </p><p>At the request of Defra, the Health and Safety Executive reviewed this aspect of the pesticide regulations and the options identified are being considered.</p> answering member constituency Banbury answering member printed Victoria Prentis grouped question UIN 99604 question first answered 13/10/2020 12:54:15 answering member 4401 label Biography information for Victoria Prentis
	tabling member	4079 label Biography information for Julian Sturdy

1240702

	registered interest
	date	06/10/2020
	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	Pesticides: Regulation
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress the Health and Safety Executive has made in their review of regulations on the use of pesticides by voluntary conservation groups for environmental conservation purposes.
	tabling member constituency	York Outer
	tabling member printed	Julian Sturdy
	uin	99604
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/10/2020 answer text <p>Pesticides regulations do not prohibit voluntary conservation groups from using glyphosate and other pesticides in environmental conservation work. Volunteers may use products that are authorised for amateur use; they may also use products that are authorised for professional use providing they are trained and hold a recognised certificate in the application of pesticides. Untrained conservation volunteers may apply pesticides that are authorised for professional use but only if they are under the supervision of a trained certificated user and are working towards gaining a recognised certificate in the application of pesticides.</p><p> </p><p>At the request of Defra, the Health and Safety Executive reviewed this aspect of the pesticide regulations and the options identified are being considered.</p> answering member constituency Banbury answering member printed Victoria Prentis grouped question UIN 99605 question first answered 13/10/2020 12:54:15 answering member 4401 label Biography information for Victoria Prentis
	tabling member	4079 label Biography information for Julian Sturdy

1240866

	registered interest
	date	06/10/2020
	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: Standards
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department has taken to ensure that UK food standards are maintained at their current level after the end of the transition period.
	tabling member constituency	Kingston and Surbiton
	tabling member printed	Ed Davey
	uin	99513
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/10/2020 answer text <p>The Government has been clear that in all trade negotiations we will not compromise on our high environmental protection, animal welfare and food standards.</p><p> </p><p>Legal protections for our standards will remain in place after the end of the transition period. The European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 retains our standards on environmental protection, animal welfare, animal and plant health and food safety. This provides a firm basis for maintaining the same high level of protection for both domestic and imported products.</p> answering member constituency Banbury answering member printed Victoria Prentis question first answered 13/10/2020 12:44:16 answering member 4401 label Biography information for Victoria Prentis
	tabling member	188 label Biography information for Ed Davey

1400454

	registered interest
	date	06/01/2022
	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	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to (a) mitigate the impact of increasing costs of food for consumers and (b) ensure that suppliers of food are adequately supplied.
	tabling member constituency	Stockport
	tabling member printed	Navendu Mishra
	uin	99081
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/01/2022 answer text <p>Consumer food prices depend on a range of factors including food import prices, domestic agricultural prices, domestic labour and manufacturing costs, and Sterling exchange rates, all of which fluctuate over time. Some of these factors are influenced by our trading arrangements with other countries.    Most food sectors businesses (retail etc) are accustomed to fluctuations in supply chain costs so they do not necessarily translate into consumer price rises. Food prices are set individually by businesses and it is not for the UK Government to set retail food prices nor to comment on day-to-day commercial decisions by companies.</p><p> </p><p>The UK has a highly resilient food supply chain, as demonstrated throughout the Covid-19 response. It is well equipped to deal with situations with the potential to cause disruption. Our high degree of food security is built supply from diverse sources; strong domestic production as well as imports through stable trade routes. UK consumers have access through international trade to food products that cannot be produced here, or at least not on a year-round basis. This supplements domestic production, and also ensures that any disruption from risks such as adverse weather or disease does not affect the UK's overall security of supply.</p> answering member constituency Banbury answering member printed Victoria Prentis question first answered 14/01/2022 14:05:47 answering member 4401 label Biography information for Victoria Prentis
	tabling member	4811 label Biography information for Navendu Mishra

1466445

	registered interest
	date	26/05/2022
	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: Subsidies
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of the number of businesses expected to receive over (a) £100,000 (b) £200,000 (c) £250,000 and (d) £500,000 in Basic Payments in (i) 2022, (ii) 2023, (iii) 2024, (iv) 2025, (v) 2026 and (vi) 2027.
	tabling member constituency	Cambridge
	tabling member printed	Daniel Zeichner
	uin	9907
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/06/2022 answer text <p>We have estimated the number of farm business in England which could receive Direct Payments above the specified amounts as follows:</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td rowspan="2"><p><strong>Payment amount</strong></p></td><td colspan="3"><p><strong>Number of farm businesses by scheme year</strong></p></td><td><p><strong> </strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2022</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2023</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2024</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>More than £100,000</p></td><td><p>1,136</p></td><td><p>701</p></td><td><p>375</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>More than £200,000</p></td><td><p>107</p></td><td><p>63</p></td><td><p>29</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>More than £250,000</p></td><td><p>99</p></td><td><p>52</p></td><td><p>32</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>More than £500,000</p></td><td><p>23</p></td><td><p>18</p></td><td><p>7</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>These estimates take account of the progressive reductions that we intend to apply to the payments, as announced in our Agricultural Transition Plan in 2020.</p><p> </p><p>We have not provided estimates for years 2025 to 2027 as the Government has not yet announced the progressive reductions which will be applied to Direct Payments in those years as we continue to phase the payments out.</p><p> </p><p>Money saved by Direct Payment reductions will be directly re-invested into English agriculture through our new schemes. These include our new environmental land management schemes as well as grants to enable farmers to invest in equipment, technology, and infrastructure. These will improve efficiency and productivity while also benefiting the climate and environment.</p> answering member constituency Banbury answering member printed Victoria Prentis question first answered 13/06/2022 16:17:01 answering member 4401 label Biography information for Victoria Prentis
	tabling member	4382 label Biography information for Daniel Zeichner

1466397

	registered interest
	date	26/05/2022
	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	Animal Feed: Prices
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government taking to tackle animal feed inflation.
	tabling member constituency	Cambridge
	tabling member printed	Daniel Zeichner
	uin	9906
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/06/2022 answer text <p>Agricultural commodity prices are closely linked to global gas prices. Farmers are facing increased input costs including for fertiliser, feed and fuel, which we recognise are creating short-term pressures on cash flow.</p><p> </p><p>On 6 May, the Government announced further steps to support farmers with cost pressures caused by demand and instability seen across the globe. Under the latest plans, Direct Payments in England will be paid in two instalments each year for the remainder of the agricultural transition period, to help farmers with their cashflow.</p><p> </p><p>Successfully concluding the removal of Section 232 tariffs on UK steel and aluminium exports to the United States (US) has allowed us to remove the 25% tariff on maize imports from the US, a key ingredient for animal feed. This is a particularly important step in opening up alternative sourcing options, relieving pressure felt elsewhere in the market. Defra continues to work on removing technical barriers to trade in sourcing maize from the US, such as GM approvals. The Food Standards Agency laid the first authorisation Statutory Instrument for nine GMO events (one soyabean and eight maize) on 28 April [in England and Wales, 21 April in Scotland] with a coming into force date of 20 May [for England and Wales, 31 May for Scotland].</p><p> </p><p>We continue to keep the market situation under review, by working closely with industry-led groups and key stakeholders to monitor the position on animal feed. This includes both availability and price of animal feed ingredients for all species and to identify where further mitigations may be available.</p> answering member constituency Banbury answering member printed Victoria Prentis question first answered 21/06/2022 10:32:18 answering member 4401 label Biography information for Victoria Prentis
	tabling member	4382 label Biography information for Daniel Zeichner

1466387

	registered interest
	date	26/05/2022
	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: Costs
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of increases in the cost of (a) animal feed, (b) fertilisers and (c) fuel on (i) the agricultural sector and (ii) food prices.
	tabling member constituency	Cambridge
	tabling member printed	Daniel Zeichner
	uin	9905
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/06/2022 answer text <p>The turbulence of the market in light of the invasion of Ukraine, and the global spike in oil and gas prices, has brought into focus again the importance of a resilient global supply chain and the importance to our national resilience of having strong domestic food production. In the UK, we have a high degree of food security. We are largely self-sufficient in cereal production, growing 88% of all the cereals that we need. We are 86% self-sufficient in beef and fully self-sufficient in liquid milk, and we produce more lamb than we consume. We are also close to 100% self-sufficient in poultry. Sectors such as soft fruit have seen a trend towards greater self-sufficiency in recent years because of the extended UK season.</p><p> </p><p>Farmers are however facing increased input costs including for fertiliser, feed and fuel. I have already set out measures to support farmers and growers in England ahead of the coming growing season. Those measures are not a silver bullet, but they will help farmers to manage some of their input costs from fertilisers. We continue to keep the market situation under review through the UK Agriculture Market Monitoring Group, which monitors UK agricultural markets including price, supply, inputs, trade and recent developments. We have also increased our engagement with industry to supplement our analysis with real time intelligence.</p><p> </p><p>As a result of those rising input costs, there are of course also some pressures on households, predominantly as a result of energy costs. There have also been some rises in food prices in recent months, although the ferocity of retail competition means that price pressures have been contained on certain product lines.</p><p> </p><p>In March, overall food prices rose by 0.2%; the price of fruit actually fell in March by 1.2%. In April, however, food prices rose by 1.5%, which is a faster rise than we have seen in some years. If we look at the price of specific categories of food, in April, bread and cereals rose by 2.2%; sugar, jams and syrups rose by 2%; fish rose by 2%; meat rose by 1.9%; vegetables, including potatoes, rose at a lower level of 1.3%; fruit remained broadly stable; and oils and fats decreased slightly by 1.1%.</p><p> </p><p>The single most important measure of household food security and the affordability of food remains the household food survey that the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has run for many decades. That shows that, among the poorest 20% of households, the amount spent on food consumption was relatively stable at around 16% of household income between 2008 and 2016. It then fell slightly to 14.5%, but with the recent price pressures, we can expect it to return to those higher levels of around 16% in the year ahead.</p><p> </p><p>We are monitoring the situation. The Government have put in place an unprecedented package of support to help those who need it. That includes targeted cost of living support for households most in need through the household support fund, where the Government are providing an additional £500 million to help households with the cost of essentials.</p> answering member constituency Banbury answering member printed Victoria Prentis question first answered 17/06/2022 13:25:24 answering member 4401 label Biography information for Victoria Prentis
	tabling member	4382 label Biography information for Daniel Zeichner

1466385

	registered interest
	date	26/05/2022
	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: Subsidies
	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 provide details of his Department's expenditure on all agricultural support schemes in (a) 2020, (b) 2021 and (c) 2022.
	tabling member constituency	Cambridge
	tabling member printed	Daniel Zeichner
	uin	9904
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/06/2022 answer text <p>We have committed to maintain the farming budget for England at £2.4 billion for every year of this parliament. We are repurposing that budget to better support our farmers, but the amount spent will be the same.</p><p>Spend for the financial year 2020-21 is summarised in the table below against the buckets of spend outlined in the Agricultural Transition Plan, published in November 2020.</p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Scheme costs £m</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>20/21</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Direct Payments</p></td><td><p>1,873</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Environmental and animal welfare outcomes</p></td><td><p>457</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Improving farm prosperity</p></td><td><p>120</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Total scheme costs</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2,450</strong></p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The Department, as required by section 5 of chapter 1 of the Agriculture Act 2020, will prepare an annual report about the financial assistance given during each financial year, starting with financial year 2021-22. The first report will be laid before Parliament and published before 1 October 2022.</p> answering member constituency Banbury answering member printed Victoria Prentis question first answered 13/06/2022 17:08:52 answering member 4401 label Biography information for Victoria Prentis
	tabling member	4382 label Biography information for Daniel Zeichner

1466384

	registered interest
	date	26/05/2022
	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: Subsidies
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, where the funds removed from the basic payment scheme in (a) 2021 and (b) 2022 were reallocated.
	tabling member constituency	Cambridge
	tabling member printed	Daniel Zeichner
	uin	9903
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/06/2022 answer text <p>Defra reports expenditure under agricultural support schemes by financial year rather than calendar year.</p><p> </p><p>The Department, as required by section 5 of chapter 1 of the Agriculture Act 2020, will prepare an annual report about the financial assistance given during each financial year, starting with financial year 2021-22. The first report will be laid before Parliament and published before 1 October 2022. It will contain details of where funds freed up from BPS have been spent.</p><p> </p><p>We will have the same requirement in 2022-23, where the reduction in basic payments will enable the launch of the Sustainable Farming Incentive in June 2022, an increase of Countryside Stewardship payment rates and a rise in demand for the scheme from farmers, and the continued rollout of other schemes to improve prosperity and reward environmental delivery including forthcoming grants for slurry stores.</p> answering member constituency Banbury answering member printed Victoria Prentis question first answered 06/06/2022 15:44:57 answering member 4401 label Biography information for Victoria Prentis
	tabling member	4382 label Biography information for Daniel Zeichner

1466381

	registered interest
	date	26/05/2022
	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: Seasonal Workers
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of whether the 30,000 visas available under the Seasonal Workers Pilot scheme will meet the labour needs of the agricultural sector.
	tabling member constituency	Cambridge
	tabling member printed	Daniel Zeichner
	uin	9902
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/06/2022 answer text <p>Defra continues to speak regularly with the agriculture sector and other government departments to understand labour supply and demand, including for both permanent and seasonal workforce requirements, and to ensure there is a long-term strategy for the farming workforce.</p><p>Whilst numbers vary year on year, we estimate approximately 50,000 - 60,000 seasonal workers are needed annually across the horticulture sector to bring in the harvest. Defra statistics from the Annual June survey of Agriculture and Horticulture provide seasonal, casual and gang labour workforce numbers for England, Scotland and Northern Ireland at 57,000 in 2020.</p><p>The need for seasonal labour is met through various sources, primarily migrant labour and EU citizens with settled status. Over 5.8 million EU citizens and their families have been granted status under the EU Settlement Scheme.</p><p>The Seasonal Worker visa scheme, which has been extended to 2024, allows overseas workers to come to the UK for up to six months to harvest both edible and ornamental crops. 30,000 visas will be available in 2022, and this was being kept under review with the potential to increase by 10,000 visas if there was evidence of need.</p><p>The recently announced Food Strategy White Paper will also seek to address challenges faced by the sector, including through an independent review to tackle labour shortages in the food supply chain, considering the roles of automation, domestic labour and migration routes. To support the sector, the Government will also release 10,000 visas for the seasonal worker visa route, with 2,000 of these going to the poultry sector.</p><p>On 24 February the Government announced that all Ukrainian nationals on an existing seasonal worker visa will have their leave in the UK extended to 31 December 2022 and can now switch to the Ukraine Extension Scheme visa if eligible.</p> answering member constituency Banbury answering member printed Victoria Prentis question first answered 17/06/2022 13:48:32 answering member 4401 label Biography information for Victoria Prentis
	tabling member	4382 label Biography information for Daniel Zeichner