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1673104

	registered interest
	date	27/11/2023
	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
	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 recent discussions on fishing negotiations he has had with his counterparts in the Crown Dependencies.
	tabling member constituency	Romford
	tabling member printed	Andrew Rosindell
	uin	3746
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/12/2023 answer text <p>All UK Government departments are responsible for their respective policy areas towards the Crown Dependencies and engage directly with them.<strong> </strong>Defra officials discuss relevant fisheries issues, including the fisheries negotiations, with the Crown Dependencies on a regular basis<em>.</em></p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Mark Spencer question first answered 04/12/2023 17:45:57 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
	tabling member	1447 label Biography information for Andrew Rosindell

1171777

	registered interest
	date	20/01/2020
	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
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to introducing a mandatory phase-out of horticultural peat as part of their forthcoming England Peat Strategy; and when they intend to publish that strategy.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle
	uin	HL539
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/01/2020 answer text <p>The Government is committed to phasing out the use of peat in horticulture in England by 2030. In 2011, we set a voluntary target to phase out the use of horticultural peat in the amateur sector by 2020, and the professional sector by 2030. While some progress has been made, we stated in the 25 Year Environment Plan that we would consider implementing further measures if there is insufficient movement to peat alternatives by 2020. We will set out plans to speed up progress on ending the use of horticultural peat in the England Peat Strategy, which we will publish this year.</p> answering member printed Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park question first answered 29/01/2020 15:27:05 answering member 4062 label Biography information for Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
	tabling member	4719 label Biography information for Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle

1171779

	registered interest
	date	20/01/2020
	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
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to fund the provision of independent advice for farmers in any new agricultural support schemes.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle
	uin	HL541
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/01/2020 answer text <p>Our Environmental Land Management (ELM) scheme is the cornerstone of our new agricultural policy. Founded on the principle of “public money for public goods”, ELM is intended to provide a powerful vehicle for achieving the goals of the 25 Year Environment Plan and commitment to net zero carbon emissions by 2050, while supporting our rural economy. <br></p><p>ELM is looking into several options for sourcing advisors, considering both private and public sector options. The options we are considering allow flexibility to source experienced advisors in the short-term for the National Pilot, whilst building sufficient and high-quality advisor capacity to support the full roll out of ELM. The National Pilot provides an opportunity to co-design with stakeholders and land managers the most appropriate way to provide this capacity and whether it is provided from the public or private sector.</p> answering member printed Lord Gardiner of Kimble question first answered 28/01/2020 14:50:06 answering member 4161 label Biography information for Lord Gardiner of Kimble
	tabling member	4719 label Biography information for Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle

1151758

	registered interest
	date	30/09/2019
	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
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether their projections of sea level rises around the UK coast have been updated to reflect the findings of the Special Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, The Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate, approved on 24 September.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb
	uin	HL17920
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/10/2019 answer text <p>The UK Climate Projections 2018 (UKCP18), which was produced by the Met Office and other experts and co-funded by BEIS and Defra, and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report on Oceans and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate (SROCC), both drew on the previous IPCC 5<sup>th</sup> Assessment Report data, plus more recent findings on topics such as the future contribution from the Antarctic ice sheet. Since publication of the IPCC SROCC report the Met Office have released on their <a href="https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/binaries/content/assets/metofficegovuk/pdf/weather/learn-about/climate/ocean-and-cryosphere-report/srocc_sea_level_rise.pdf" target="_blank">website</a> a comparison of the main global sea-level rise results in UKCP18 and SROCC.</p> answering member printed Lord Gardiner of Kimble question first answered 28/10/2019 14:45:38 answering member 4161 label Biography information for Lord Gardiner of Kimble
	tabling member	4297 label Biography information for Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb

1700737

	registered interest
	date	15/04/2024
	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
	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 impact of flooding on farmland on the likelihood of food shortages and loss of farm income.
	tabling member printed	Baroness McIntosh of Pickering
	uin	HL3773
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/04/2024 answer text <p>The UK agricultural sector is highly resilient and adaptable and operates in an open market with the value of commodities established by those in the supply chain.</p><p> </p><p>The recent prolonged period of wet weather has impacted the UK arable and livestock sectors in several ways. These include late/limited planting opportunities for arable and horticulture crops; delayed turn out of grazing animals and the associated risk of diseases in keeping animals housed indoors for longer periods than usual, concerns about the potential scarcity and cost of straw; a build-up of stored slurry and reduced application opportunities; and wider concerns about the impact on mental health of farmers. Yields and productivity will also vary depending on individual farmer decisions, region, area and in the case of the arable sector, crop and soil type amongst other factors.</p><p> </p><p>A number of individual farms have clearly been affected by the wet weather. While the current market assessment is that there may be implications over the coming months for certain commodities, particularly in the expected yield and quality of several arable crops this summer/autumn, it is still too early to predict the full impact on domestic food production, especially if the weather improves in the coming weeks.</p><p> </p><p>We continue to monitor the on-going situation, working closely with the industry and through the UK Agriculture Market Monitoring Group (UKAMMG). The UK AMMG held an interim meeting on 16 April to specifically consider the impacts of the weather on each commodity sector.</p><p> </p><p>The Farming Recovery Fund has been opened to provide farmers support to recover from uninsurable damage with grants of between £500 and £25,000 to return their land to the condition it was before exceptional flooding of Storm Henk. The fund was initially opened in nine English local authority areas where the Flood Recovery Framework has been activated to help farms which have experienced the highest levels of flooding. Eligibility for the Fund is actively under review.</p><p> </p><p>This forms part of a package of support available to farmers through the Flood Recovery Framework, including a grant of up to £2,500 through the Business Recovery Grant Scheme.</p><p> </p><p>The UK Food Security Report (UKFSR) sets out an analysis of statistical data relating to food security, fulfilling the duty in the Agriculture Act 2020 to present a report on food security to Parliament at least once every three years. It examines trends relevant to food security to present the best available understanding. The report was last published in December 2021 and will next be published by December 2024.</p><p> </p><p>Starting this year, we are strengthening our food security monitoring by producing the Annual Food Security Index. This will complement the UKFSR with a shorter and more regular report. The first version will be published at the Farm to Fork Summit in the Spring.</p><p> </p><p>The next UKFSR, which will be published later this year, will include analysis on the risk of flooding to food security as part of its assessment of longer-term climate-related trends.</p> answering member printed Lord Douglas-Miller grouped question UIN HL3774 HL3775 question first answered 24/04/2024 13:45:13 answering member 5006 label Biography information for Lord Douglas-Miller
	tabling member	384 label Biography information for Baroness McIntosh of Pickering

1173124

	registered interest
	date	23/01/2020
	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
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress they have made in eliminating Japanese knotweed.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Wilcox
	uin	HL774
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/01/2020 answer text <p>The Government recognises the threats posed by invasive non-native species including Japanese knotweed and has a comprehensive Great Britain Non-native Species Strategy designed to tackle these threats, the first of its kind in Europe.</p><p> </p><p>Local Action Groups, with support from the Government, are actively involved in reducing and eradicating Japanese knotweed. Increasing public awareness of the species and what can be done about it is an important part of tackling the problems caused by Japanese knotweed. To that aim, we launched the first Invasive Species Week in 2015, to bring together a wide range of organisations to raise awareness of invasive non-native species, to highlight work going on to tackle them and to inspire people to get involved and help prevent their spread. Invasive Species Week has gone from strength to strength, with eight administrations taking part in 2019 and 93 events held.</p><p> </p><p>Defra continues to fund a biocontrol programme through the release of a psyllid insect to tackle Japanese knotweed. The Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International (CABI) is working to establish the highly specific psyllid <em>Aphalara itadori</em> in the UK and a population of climatically suitable psyllids from Japan is being studied in CABI’s quarantine in Surrey. It is hoped this will be the key to unlocking the potential of this agent to reduce the effort and cost of managing Japanese knotweed and its invasive capacity. Research is also underway to evaluate a leaf-spot fungus for use as a mycoherbicide.</p><p> </p><p>The Government has developed guidance on how to prevent the spread of Japanese knotweed, which can be found at:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/prevent-japanese-knotweed-from-spreading" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/guidance/prevent-japanese-knotweed-from-spreading</a></p> answering member printed Lord Gardiner of Kimble question first answered 28/01/2020 17:15:32 answering member 4161 label Biography information for Lord Gardiner of Kimble
	tabling member	1727 label Biography information for Baroness Wilcox

1468023

	registered interest
	date	07/06/2022
	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
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, for what reason the Government plans to regulate only two commodities through the Environment Act 2021 in 2023 in the context of the implementation by the EU of a forest regulation to block six forest risk commodities in EU markets.
	tabling member constituency	Strangford
	tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
	uin	13717
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/06/2022 answer text <p>The UK Government has introduced world-leading due diligence legislation through the Environment Act to help tackle illegal deforestation in UK supply chains. We plan to adopt a phased approach so that we can move more swiftly with regulation to capture the most significant drivers of deforestation first. We recently ran a consultation to seek views on how we should implement the Environment Act provisions, including how many commodities we should regulate through the first round of secondary legislation, and have since published a summary of responses, available at: <a href="https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gov.uk%2Fgovernment%2Fconsultations%2Ftackling-illegal-deforestation-in-uk-supply-chains&amp;data=05%7C01%7Cpqteam%40defra.gov.uk%7Cb265e6f58dda495ed32508da4efb1c5f%7C770a245002274c6290c74e38537f1102%7C0%7C0%7C637909137664642707%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=vhy%2FGw%2B11gHSuA0YSuB24uiAwY418phT6sIutab6Cz0%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/tackling-illegal-deforestation-in-uk-supply-chains</a></p><p>We will take into account consultation responses in decisions around how many commodities to regulate and will publish the UK Government’s approach to secondary legislation in due course.</p> answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow question first answered 16/06/2022 13:36:25 answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow
	tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1172384

	registered interest
	date	21/01/2020
	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
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government how many times OFWAT has fined Thames Water for illegal discharges of untreated sewage into rivers; and what penalties were imposed on each occasion.
	tabling member printed	Lord Bradshaw
	uin	HL608
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/01/2020 answer text <p>Ofwat has not fined Thames Water for illegal discharges of untreated sewage into rivers. Regulation of discharges of untreated sewage to the water environment is the responsibility of the Environment Agency (EA) and not Ofwat.</p><p> </p><p>In March 2017, Thames Water was ordered to pay fines of almost £20 million following a series of significant pollution incidents on the River Thames and its tributaries in 2012 to 2014. The fine, for six separate cases, was a record as the highest ever set by the courts in a prosecution brought by the EA. More recently, in July 2019, Thames Water was ordered to pay costs and fines of about £700,000 for pollution from Maidenhead Sewage Treatment Works.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park question first answered 29/01/2020 15:27:24 answering member 4062 label Biography information for Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
	tabling member	2483 label Biography information for Lord Bradshaw

1172748

	registered interest
	date	22/01/2020
	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
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential damage to the environment as a result of the three crop rule leading farmers to cultivate drenched farmland and thereby damage soil structures.
	tabling member printed	Lord Carrington
	uin	HL679
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/01/2020 answer text <p>Farmers have been experiencing difficulties with the recent prolonged wet weather and are concerned about their ability to meet Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) rules.</p><p> </p><p>Whilst we have not carried out specific assessments of the environmental impact of cultivating waterlogged farmland following the wet weather experienced so far this winter, we encourage farmers to take all the necessary and reasonable steps to protect their soils. In some cases, we understand that this may result in difficulty meeting CAP rules, including the ‘three crop rule’. The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) has recently updated its GOV.UK online guidance on flooding and wet weather so that farmers are clear on the rules and possible alternative options that will allow them to remain compliant – including alternatives to the three crop rule. This was put together in direct response to customers’ and stakeholders’ questions and concerns.</p><p> </p><p>If they are in doubt, farmers should contact the RPA to discuss possible mitigation measures where farmers are unsure of the impact that flooding will have on their ability to comply with greening, or other CAP rules, including whether they should apply for <em>force majeure</em>.</p><p><em> </em></p><p>We will continue to monitor the situation and work closely with stakeholders, including farmers, where cases of <em>force majeure</em> are put forward. We are also exploring how best to provide flexibility and support farmers affected by the recent wet weather.</p> answering member printed Lord Gardiner of Kimble grouped question UIN HL680 HL681 question first answered 28/01/2020 14:47:19 answering member 4161 label Biography information for Lord Gardiner of Kimble
	tabling member	4712 label Biography information for Lord Carrington

1172749

	registered interest
	date	22/01/2020
	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
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the weather conditions experienced by farmers this planting season, what plans they have to suspend the three crop rule.
	tabling member printed	Lord Carrington
	uin	HL680
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/01/2020 answer text <p>Farmers have been experiencing difficulties with the recent prolonged wet weather and are concerned about their ability to meet Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) rules.</p><p> </p><p>Whilst we have not carried out specific assessments of the environmental impact of cultivating waterlogged farmland following the wet weather experienced so far this winter, we encourage farmers to take all the necessary and reasonable steps to protect their soils. In some cases, we understand that this may result in difficulty meeting CAP rules, including the ‘three crop rule’. The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) has recently updated its GOV.UK online guidance on flooding and wet weather so that farmers are clear on the rules and possible alternative options that will allow them to remain compliant – including alternatives to the three crop rule. This was put together in direct response to customers’ and stakeholders’ questions and concerns.</p><p> </p><p>If they are in doubt, farmers should contact the RPA to discuss possible mitigation measures where farmers are unsure of the impact that flooding will have on their ability to comply with greening, or other CAP rules, including whether they should apply for <em>force majeure</em>.</p><p><em> </em></p><p>We will continue to monitor the situation and work closely with stakeholders, including farmers, where cases of <em>force majeure</em> are put forward. We are also exploring how best to provide flexibility and support farmers affected by the recent wet weather.</p> answering member printed Lord Gardiner of Kimble grouped question UIN HL679 HL681 question first answered 28/01/2020 14:47:19 answering member 4161 label Biography information for Lord Gardiner of Kimble
	tabling member	4712 label Biography information for Lord Carrington