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1681064

	registered interest
	date	10/01/2024
	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 Banks: Finance
	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 take steps to provide additional financial support to foodbanks in winter 2023-2024.
	tabling member constituency	Linlithgow and East Falkirk
	tabling member printed	Martyn Day
	uin	9025
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/01/2024 answer text <p>The Government does not have any role in the operation of foodbanks. Foodbanks are independent, charitable organisations which bring people in local communities together to support one another. This is a great example of the generosity of spirit of communities across the country.</p><p>The Government is providing over £100 million of support for charities and community organisations in England to support the impacts of the increase in cost of living. This funding is supporting charities and community organisations right now through the £76 million Community Organisations Cost of Living Fund. This fund is awarding funding to frontline organisations supporting vulnerable households, including those which deliver food.</p><p>The second strand of the package, the £25.5 million VCSE Energy Efficiency Scheme, was opened in December 2023. This scheme will support frontline charities, community organisations and social enterprises across England to improve energy efficiency and sustainability.</p><p>The scheme has two main components:</p><ol><li>Independent Energy Assessment (IEA): This involves arranging an independent energy assessor to help identify energy-saving opportunities.</li><li>Capital Grants: Grants can be used to install capital energy efficiency measures, such as improving insulation or installing heat pumps.</li></ol><p>Organisations can first apply for an Independent Energy Assessment. Having completed the IEA, they can then apply, if they are eligible, for a capital grant between £2,000 and £150,000 to install capital energy measures. Applications for IEAs opened in December 2023 and applications for capital funding will be open through three rounds, starting from the second half of January 2024. All capital projects will need to be completed by March 2025.</p><p>Taken together, total support over 2022/23-2024/25 to help households with the high cost of living amounts to £104 billion – an average of £3,700 per UK household.</p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Mark Spencer grouped question UIN 9186 question first answered 19/01/2024 17:49:50 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
	tabling member	4488 label Biography information for Martyn Day

1653455

	registered interest
	date	17/07/2023
	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
	hansard heading	Animal Welfare: Fish Farming
	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 10 March 2023 to Question 158986 on Animal Welfare: Fish Farming, what discussions she has had with (a) Cabinet colleagues and (b) relevant stakeholders on the recommendations of the Animal Welfare Committee's Opinion on the Welfare of Farmed Fish at the Time of Killing 2023.
	tabling member constituency	Linlithgow and East Falkirk
	tabling member printed	Martyn Day
	uin	194436
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/07/2023 answer text <p>A range of topics are discussed with Cabinet colleagues but such discussions are confidential.</p><p> </p><p>Defra officials will engage with relevant stakeholders to discuss the recommendations in the Animal Welfare Committee’s report once it is published.</p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Mark Spencer question first answered 25/07/2023 11:08:25 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
	tabling member	4488 label Biography information for Martyn Day

1643712

	registered interest
	date	12/06/2023
	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
	hansard heading	Asulam
	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 5 June 2023 to Question 186764 on Bracken, when she plans to take a decision on the application for emergency authorisation of the use of Asulox.
	tabling member constituency	Linlithgow and East Falkirk
	tabling member printed	Martyn Day
	uin	189010
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/06/2023 answer text <p>As stated in PQ 186764, a decision on the emergency authorisation for the use of Asulox will be made as soon as possible.</p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Mark Spencer question first answered 15/06/2023 12:19:26 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
	tabling member	4488 label Biography information for Martyn Day

1640091

	registered interest
	date	24/05/2023
	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
	hansard heading	Bracken
	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 8 July 2022 to Question 28455 on Bracken: Weedkillers, whether her Department has put control measures in place to help protect (a) grazing land and (b) sensitive habitats from bracken in 2023.
	tabling member constituency	Linlithgow and East Falkirk
	tabling member printed	Martyn Day
	uin	186764
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/06/2023 answer text <p>An application for emergency authorisation of the use of Asulox as bracken control for the summer period of 2023 has been received. This application is being considered and decisions on whether to grant emergency authorisation in each of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales will be made as soon as possible.</p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Mark Spencer question first answered 05/06/2023 12:35:13 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
	tabling member	4488 label Biography information for Martyn Day

1611823

	registered interest
	date	18/04/2023
	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
	hansard heading	Livestock: Antibiotics
	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 she has made of the potential merits of introducing a ban on the preventative use of antibiotics on healthy farm animals to help (a) stop antimicrobial resistance and (b) safeguard the effectiveness of lifesaving antibiotics used to treat human illnesses.
	tabling member constituency	Linlithgow and East Falkirk
	tabling member printed	Martyn Day
	uin	181367
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/04/2023 answer text <p>The Government is committed to reducing unnecessary use of antibiotics in animals while safeguarding their welfare. Changes to the law on veterinary medicines represent one tool that can be used to help effect reductions in antibiotic prescribing in animals. The Veterinary Medicines Regulations 2013 are currently under review, and the feedback from the recently closed public consultation will be analysed and considered.</p><p> </p><p>The publicly available consultation documents for the <a href="https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gov.uk%2Fgovernment%2Fnews%2Fveterinary-medicines-regulations-consultation-is-launched&amp;data=05%7C01%7Cpqteam%40defra.gov.uk%7Cdfb69f4b75164921260008db41860f8b%7C770a245002274c6290c74e38537f1102%7C0%7C0%7C638175816741334967%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=JF83p9gUFl1DeR9ZVyhw8O1kf%2FQCIcN3c%2Fmt59jrVpU%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">revision of the Veterinary Medicines Legislation</a> set out the rationale for the Government’s proposed approach to the use of antibiotics to prevent disease in animals (prophylaxis). In summary, the proposed new legal restrictions on antibiotic prophylaxis prohibit this type of use in all but exceptional circumstances in order to reduce unnecessary antibiotic use, protect animal welfare and allow changes to prescribing practices to be made sustainably.</p><p> </p><p>To date in the UK, collaborative working between the Government, the veterinary profession and the agriculture sectors to focus on these issues has already resulted in our national sales of veterinary antibiotics reducing by 55% since 2014, and in 2021 we recorded the lowest antibiotic use yet.</p><p> </p><p>The Government takes a ‘One-Health’ approach to antimicrobial resistance (AMR) as set out in the UK National Action Plan on AMR. Officials from the Department of Health and Social Care, Defra and the Veterinary Medicines Directorate meet regularly to consider appropriate actions to address AMR across the human and animal health sectors. This has included discussion on the preventative use of antibiotics in healthy farm animals.</p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Mark Spencer question first answered 25/04/2023 11:16:45 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
	tabling member	4488 label Biography information for Martyn Day

1611830

	registered interest
	date	18/04/2023
	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
	hansard heading	Livestock: Antibiotics
	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 assessment she has made of the level of risk to human health of antimicrobial-resistant superbugs originating from industrial farms.
	tabling member constituency	Linlithgow and East Falkirk
	tabling member printed	Martyn Day
	uin	181374
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/04/2023 answer text <p>Resistant bacteria and/or resistance genes can transfer between people and animals in both directions. The Veterinary Medicines Directorate, along with other governmental partners, conducts two surveillance schemes for AMR in animals, including regular monitoring of AMR in major food-producing species: pigs and poultry. The results of these surveillance schemes are published annually in the <a href="https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.publishing.service.gov.uk%2Fgovernment%2Fuploads%2Fsystem%2Fuploads%2Fattachment_data%2Ffile%2F1126450%2FFOR_PUBLICATION_-_UK-VARSS_2021_Main_Report__Final_v3_-accessible.pdf&amp;data=05%7C01%7Cpqteam%40defra.gov.uk%7Cdfb69f4b75164921260008db41860f8b%7C770a245002274c6290c74e38537f1102%7C0%7C0%7C638175816741334967%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=uPdaiTQ9Y14sMCAvtNaa1CpJMGaDPqGSk%2FOof2PY5v8%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">UK Veterinary Antibiotic Resistance and Sales and Surveillance Report</a>.</p><p> </p><p>Since 2014, the UK has reduced sales of veterinary antibiotics by 55% since 2014, and over this same period the UK have seen overall trend of decreasing antimicrobial resistance in bacteria from animals. The UK has a cross-government contingency plan in place which acts as an <a href="https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gov.uk%2Fgovernment%2Fpublications%2Fresistant-bacteria-from-animals-of-possible-risk-contingency-plan%2Fresponse-to-the-identification-from-an-animal-of-a-resistant-bacterial-isolate-of-risk-to-human-or-animal-health-contingency-plan&amp;data=05%7C01%7Cpqteam%40defra.gov.uk%7Cdfb69f4b75164921260008db41860f8b%7C770a245002274c6290c74e38537f1102%7C0%7C0%7C638175816741334967%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=cSZMn9n0yoxqJl8vzxONDwgIUFFEWnBsFC0CYTTGqNE%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">early warning system</a> for resistant bacteria found in animals with potential risk to animal and public health.</p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Mark Spencer question first answered 25/04/2023 11:37:42 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
	tabling member	4488 label Biography information for Martyn Day

1506873

	registered interest
	date	20/09/2022
	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	Horticulture: 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, with reference to the independent report entitled Automation in Horticultural Review, published in July 2022, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of that report's recommendation on establishing a long-term seasonal workers' scheme to stabilise workforce pressures in the sector, help growers evaluate their labour needs, and incentivise long-term capital investments in automation technology.
	tabling member constituency	Linlithgow and East Falkirk
	tabling member printed	Martyn Day
	uin	51839
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/09/2022 answer text <p>The Government recognises the importance of a reliable source of seasonal labour for horticulture and the poultry sector and the role of automation in the food supply chain.</p><p>The Government’s forthcoming response to the review of automation in horticulture will therefore outline actions to complement the immediate need for seasonal workers and help attract more residents of the United Kingdom into agricultural work – the overall aim of both being to, over time, reduce the sector’s dependency on seasonal migrant labour.</p><p> </p><p>Following an announcement in the Government Food Strategy, an extra 10,000 visas have been released for the Seasonal Worker visa route - bringing the total for this year to 40,000 visas.</p><p> </p><p>Under current agreement with the Home Office a similar number will be rolled forward for 2023. Defra are discussing with them precisely what the number will be, using evidence from the NFU and other stakeholders provided in 2022 and having regard to the Prime Minister’s stated support for a short term expansion of the visa route.</p><p> </p><p>As announced in the Government Food Strategy in June, the Government has now commissioned an independent labour review which will consider how automation, domestic labour and migrant labour can contribute to tackling labour shortages in the food supply chain.</p><p> </p><p>The review will focus on farming, processing, and food and non-alcoholic drink manufacturing as sectors which are critical for food production and food security. The review is being chaired by John Shropshire, an industry veteran who stepped down from his role as CEO of major horticulture producer G’s Group last year. He will be supported by an expert panel drawing in expertise from across the sectors covered by the review.</p><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. Defra is also working closely with the Home Office to ensure that the requirements for these sectors are understood across Government.</p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Mark Spencer question first answered 28/09/2022 15:32:35 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
	tabling member	4488 label Biography information for Martyn Day

1507011

	registered interest
	date	20/09/2022
	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	Marine Protected Areas: Fisheries
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has assessed the potential merits of introducing amendments to fishing licenses to prohibit all types of destructive fishing in Marine Protected Areas.
	tabling member constituency	Linlithgow and East Falkirk
	tabling member printed	Martyn Day
	uin	51844
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/09/2022 answer text <p>Marine conservation is a devolved competence and the following information on Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) therefore relates to England only.</p><p> </p><p>The Fisheries Act 2020 requires that all vessels fishing commercially in UK waters must have a licence to do so. All licences have a set of conditions which specify the area in which fishing is authorised, the time period permitted for fishing, the quantities and description of which species may be caught and the permitted fishing method. These conditions are subject to periodic review and are based on scientific evidence.</p><p> </p><p>98 MPAs in English inshore waters already have byelaws in place to protect sensitive features from damaging fishing activities and the first four offshore byelaws have now been established. The Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authorities and Marine Management Organisation continue to assess and implement measures to manage damaging fishing within MPAs. We are aiming to have all MPAs in English waters protected from damaging fishing activity by 2024.</p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Mark Spencer grouped question UIN 51857 52063 question first answered 23/09/2022 13:46:00 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
	tabling member	4488 label Biography information for Martyn Day

1506391

	registered interest
	date	08/09/2022
	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	Pigmeat: Preservatives
	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 is taking to support the production of nitrite-free (a) bacon and (b) ham in the UK.
	tabling member constituency	Linlithgow and East Falkirk
	tabling member printed	Martyn Day
	uin	49736
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/09/2022 answer text <p>Nitrites are an approved food additive for use in bacon and ham products. The HM Government considers that existing levels of nitrites and nitrates in food products are sufficiently protective of consumers. Where individual companies decide to use authorised alternatives to nitrites, this is ultimately a commercial decision as to what products they bring to market.</p><p> </p><p>Existing requirements on the control of additives in food production ensure that food is produced safely and is labelled to enable consumers to make informed choices on the food they buy and consume. The HM Government is always looking for ways to support innovation in the food industry but takes the position that intervention should be restricted only to areas where there are food safety or health concerns based on available evidence.</p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Mark Spencer question first answered 28/09/2022 16:52:50 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
	tabling member	4488 label Biography information for Martyn Day