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1718278

registered interest
date	15/05/2024
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	Biodiversity: Cost Effectiveness
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 he plans to take to monitor the value for money of Government-funded biodiversity projects over the next five years.
tabling member constituency	East Londonderry
tabling member printed	Mr Gregory Campbell
uin	26371
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/05/2024 answer text <p>Defra has a number of schemes which provide funding to support biodiversity projects. This includes the Landscape Recovery Scheme, The Farming in Protected Landscapes Programme, and Natural England’s Species Recovery Programme Capital Grant Scheme.</p><p> </p><p>Each individual scheme has its own monitoring and evaluation framework to evaluate the impact of the projects, and this will include evaluation of the value for money delivered. For example, the Species Recovery Programme is currently commissioning an evaluation for the current Spending Review period which will include evaluating whether the Programme is providing value for money.</p><p> </p><p>Defra is also currently developing an overarching monitoring and evaluation framework to strengthen its understanding of progress towards meeting its statutory biodiversity targets, including its target to halt the decline in species abundance by 2030. This work will include an overall evaluation of the value for money delivered by the suite of government interventions for biodiversity.</p> answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow question first answered 20/05/2024 16:15:43 answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow
tabling member	1409 label Biography information for Mr Gregory Campbell

1718319

registered interest
date	15/05/2024
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	Air Pollution: Greater London
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 he is taking to (a) work with the Mayor of London and (b) otherwise help improve air quality in London.
tabling member constituency	Hendon
tabling member printed	Dr Matthew Offord
uin	26419
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/05/2024 answer text <p>The Mayor of London is responsible for air quality in London and has devolved powers under the Environment Act 1995 allowing him to require London boroughs to take action to address local air pollution. The Mayor has received over £6.6bn of funding for transport in London since 2020, and London authorities have received further funding for specific air quality projects totalling almost £102m.</p><p> </p><p>Nationally, we are driving down emissions and concentrations of the most harmful air pollutants and reducing their impact on public health and the environment. This Government has delivered significant reductions in emissions since 2010 – with emissions of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) falling by 24%, and nitrogen oxides down by 48%. We met our targets to reduce emissions for all five key pollutants in the latest reporting year.</p><p> </p><p>PM2.5 is the most harmful pollutant to human health, which is why we have set two new targets to drive down PM2.5 concentrations under the Environment Act 2021:</p><ul><li>A maximum annual mean concentration of 10 µg m-3 by 2040</li><li>A population exposure reduction target of 35% by 2040 compared with 2018</li></ul><p> </p><p>These targets mean that on average, people’s exposure to particulate matter will be cut by over a third by 2040, compared with 2018 levels.</p> answering member constituency Keighley answering member printed Robbie Moore question first answered 20/05/2024 14:24:31 answering member 4861 label Biography information for Robbie Moore
tabling member	4006 label Biography information for Dr Matthew Offord

1718359

registered interest
date	15/05/2024
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 (Delinked Payments) (Reductions) (England) Regulations 2024
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 potential impact of the draft Agriculture (Delinked Payments) (Reductions) (England) Regulations 2024 on the incomes of farmers.
tabling member constituency	North Herefordshire
tabling member printed	Sir Bill Wiggin
uin	26372
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/05/2024 answer text <p>As part of our transition away from Direct Payments, the draft Agriculture (Delinked Payments) (Reductions) (England) Regulations 2024 will apply reductions to delinked payments in 2024. However, this money is not being lost to the sector. The overall farming budget in England is being maintained at an average of £2.4 billion per year across this Parliament. The money released from the reductions is being reinvested in our other schemes for farmers and land managers. This means farmers can access funding which will help reduce costs and improve productivity and resilience, as well as benefitting the environment.</p><p> </p><p>Analysis of the impacts of removing Direct Payments was included in the Government’s 2019 farming evidence compendium and 2021 and 2022 Agriculture in the UK Evidence Packs.</p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Sir Mark Spencer question first answered 20/05/2024 15:15:55 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
tabling member	1428 label Biography information for Sir Bill Wiggin

1718429

registered interest
date	15/05/2024
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	Glyphosate: Urban Areas
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 he has made a recent assessment of the potential impact of the use of glyphosate in urban areas on (a) human health and (b) the environment.
tabling member constituency	Chatham and Aylesford
tabling member printed	Dame Tracey Crouch
uin	26400
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/05/2024 answer text <p>A pesticide may only be authorised and placed on the GB market once the active substance it contains has been approved. This happens following a thorough risk assessment carried out by our expert regulator, the Health and Safety Executive. Glyphosate is currently approved as an active substance for use in pesticide products in GB.</p><p> </p><p>Glyphosate was reviewed in 2016 (when the UK was an EU Member State). The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) concluded that glyphosate is unlikely to pose any risks to human health and the environment. When the GB approval of glyphosate is next reviewed, we will again consider our position based on the legal requirements and a careful scientific assessment of the evidence and risks. The Government’s first priority with regard to pesticides is to ensure that they will not harm people or pose unacceptable risks to the environment.</p><p> </p><p>It is for each Local Authority to decide the best way of delivering effective and cost-effective weed control in its operations without harming people or the environment. There is a legal requirement to minimise the use of pesticides along roads and in areas used by the public.</p><p> </p><p>We want to address some of the key barriers to uptake of integrated pest management in the amenity sector and reduce reliance on pesticides, whilst recognising the continuing role pesticides will play, for example, in making sure public highways are accessible and safe.</p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Sir Mark Spencer question first answered 20/05/2024 14:37:05 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
tabling member	3950 label Biography information for Dame Tracey Crouch

1718616

registered interest
date	15/05/2024
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	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 (1) to strengthen the resilience of the UK's food supply chain, and (2) to enhance food security, in the face of external disruptions and challenges.
tabling member printed	Lord Taylor of Warwick
uin	HL4718
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/05/2024 answer text <p>The UK has a highly resilient food supply chain and is well equipped to deal with situations with the potential to cause disruption.</p><p> </p><p>Our high degree of food security is built on supply from diverse sources; strong domestic production as well as imports through stable trade routes. We produce 60% of all the food we need, and 73% 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.</p><p> </p><p>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><p> </p><p>Defra has well established ways of working with the industry and across Government to monitor risks that may arise. This includes extensive, regular and ongoing engagement in preparedness for, and response to, issues with the potential to cause disruption to food supply chains.</p><p> </p><p>Recognising the importance of food security, in the Agriculture Act 2020, 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 produced in 2021 and the next will be published by December 2024. This report serves as an evidence base for policy work.</p><p> </p><p>Starting this year, the government is also strengthening our food security monitoring by introducing the annual Food Security Index in addition to the three-yearly UKFSR.</p><p> </p><p>Published to coincide with the second UK Farm to Fork Summit on 14 May 2024, the 2024 Food Security Index sets out how Government will track UK-wide food security on an annual basis, monitoring domestic food production, land use, input costs, and farmer productivity.</p><p> </p><p>The Index looks at shorter-term trends that change year on year, complementing the UKFSR’s comprehensive assessment and attention to longer-term trends. The 2024 Index shows that the UK farming sector is at its most productive since records began.</p><p> </p><p>A further package of measures to support farmers and grow the UK’s farming and food sector was announced by the government at the Farm to Fork Summit on 14th May 2024.</p><p> </p><p>This includes a <a href="https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gov.uk%2Fgovernment%2Fpublications%2Fa-blueprint-to-grow-the-uk-fruit-and-vegetable-sector&amp;data=05%7C02%7Cpqteam%40defra.gov.uk%7Ca6bcce62eca54b98c7e208dc75998dde%7C770a245002274c6290c74e38537f1102%7C0%7C0%7C638514549574220446%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=EPMGmy06utGwoW2ak97LftPPf0kq62W6%2FnmT7isxfXs%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">new Blueprint for Growing the UK Fruit and Vegetable Sector</a> (see attached), setting out how industry and government can work together to increase domestic production and drive investment into this valuable sector. The plan involves ensuring the sector has access to affordable and sustainable energy and water, cutting planning red tape to make it easier and quicker to build glasshouses, and looking to double to £80 million 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.</p> answering member printed Lord Douglas-Miller question first answered 20/05/2024 14:32:21 answering member 5006 label Biography information for Lord Douglas-Miller attachment 1 file name HL4718 - A blueprint to grow the UK fruit and vegetable sector.pdf title blueprint - growing UK fruit and vegetable sector
tabling member	1796 label Biography information for Lord Taylor of Warwick

1717922

registered interest
date	14/05/2024
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: Livestock
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 he is taking to help support the transition to (a) humane and (b) sustainable livestock farming.
tabling member constituency	Crawley
tabling member printed	Henry Smith
uin	26115
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/05/2024 answer text <p>We are committed to investing in targeted schemes that support sustainable farming whilst improving the viability of farming businesses, delivering environmental outcomes and supporting sustainable food production.</p><p> </p><p>Through the Animal Health and Welfare Pathway we are providing support directly to farmers in England to deliver gradual, continual improvement against a series of livestock health and welfare priorities, including tackling key endemic diseases alongside a range of welfare issues whilst ensuring that farmers can produce good quality food for the nation.</p><p> </p><p>The Animal Welfare (Livestock Exports) Bill is now awaiting Royal Assent; this will ban the export of cattle, sheep, goats, pigs and horses for slaughter and fattening from Great Britain, stopping unnecessary stress, exhaustion and injury.</p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Sir Mark Spencer question first answered 20/05/2024 14:14:29 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
tabling member	3960 label Biography information for Henry Smith

1717937

registered interest
date	14/05/2024
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: Waste
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 steps his Department has taken to (a) improve recycling infrastructure and (b) reduce plastic waste exports.
tabling member constituency	Slough
tabling member printed	Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi
uin	26208
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/05/2024 answer text <p>In the Resources and Waste Strategy, we have committed to taking actions which will help to stimulate private investment in reprocessing and recycling infrastructure.</p><p> </p><p>We are introducing Collection and Packaging Reforms made up of Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging, Simpler Recycling and a Deposit Return Scheme for drinks containers. Through these reforms we want to significantly increase domestic reprocessing and recycling capacity by both increasing investors’ confidence and improving the competitiveness of UK reprocessing.</p><p> </p><p>Our existing Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations have led to investment in waste infrastructure to process end of life electrical and electronic equipment.</p><p> </p><p>We encourage the development of infrastructure for plastic reprocessing to ensure the UK meets its recycling targets as well as supporting these collection and packaging reforms.</p><p> </p><p>Additionally, HM Treasury’s plastic packaging tax is expected to increase demand for secondary material plastic and increasing reprocessing infrastructure will help meet this demand. Reprocessing infrastructure enables the value of resource use to be maximised as well as waste arisings and its impact on the environment to be minimised.</p><p> </p><p>These actions are all intended to increase the amount of plastic waste we recycle domestically so we can reduce our dependency on plastic waste exports.</p> answering member constituency Keighley answering member printed Robbie Moore question first answered 20/05/2024 14:10:54 answering member 4861 label Biography information for Robbie Moore
tabling member	4638 label Biography information for Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi

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

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