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1608932

registered interest
date	30/03/2023
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	Deposit Return Schemes
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	What discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on new deposit return schemes in England.
tabling member constituency	Manchester, Gorton
tabling member printed	Afzal Khan
uin	904416
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/03/2023 answer text <p>The Government recently published its response to the 2021 consultation on introducing a Deposit Return Scheme for drinks containers in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. The Deposit Return Scheme will launch in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland from 1 October 2025. Cabinet discusses a range of issues and those discussions are confidential.</p> answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow question first answered 30/03/2023 11:52:19 answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow
tabling member	4671 label Biography information for Afzal Khan

1608933

registered interest
date	30/03/2023
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	Flood Control: North Devon
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	What steps her Department has taken to reduce storm overflows in North Devon constituency.
tabling member constituency	North Devon
tabling member printed	Selaine Saxby
uin	904418
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/03/2023 answer text <p>We are requiring water companies to deliver their largest ever infrastructure investment worth £56 billion over 25 years. South West Water are now required to undertake improvements to storm overflows in your constituency for example by increasing capacity of storm storage. I have also asked every water and sewerage company in the country to provide an action plan for every storm overflow, including South West Water.</p><p> </p><p>We are driving increases in monitoring across the country with coverage increasing from 7% in 2010 under Labour to around 90% today, and 100% by the end of this year.</p> answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow question first answered 30/03/2023 11:51:08 answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow
tabling member	4863 label Biography information for Selaine Saxby

1609174

registered interest
date	30/03/2023
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 Housing
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 she will make an assessment of the implications for her policies of the Scottish Government's planned consultation on the use of (a) cages for game birds and laying hens and (b) farrowing crates for pigs.
tabling member constituency	Glasgow Central
tabling member printed	Alison Thewliss
uin	177767
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/04/2023 answer text <p>The UK Government is committed to strengthening animal welfare standards and is currently examining the use of cages<br></p><p>Intergovernmental discussions between Defra and the devolved governments on these matters are ongoing at both ministerial and official level. While animal welfare is a devolved matter under the devolution settlements, the provisional Animal Health and Welfare Common Framework puts in place shared ways of working between Defra and the devolved governments to drive forward common approaches to animal health and welfare law and policy, where agreed by all administrations.</p><p> </p><p>Should one or more administrations propose to pursue a divergent approach, Defra and the devolved governments would undertake an assessment of the impacts of any proposed divergence in line with arrangements set out in the Framework.</p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Mark Spencer question first answered 17/04/2023 10:08:02 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
tabling member	4430 label Biography information for Alison Thewliss

1609198

registered interest
date	30/03/2023
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	Special Protection Areas: Northern Ireland
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 her Department plans to take steps with relevant authorities in Northern Ireland to help enable the establishment of two marine Special Protection Areas in East Coast and Carlingford Lough.
tabling member constituency	North Down
tabling member printed	Stephen Farry
uin	177891
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/04/2023 answer text <p>Yes, officials are working with their counterparts in Northern Ireland on these two sites.</p> answering member constituency Copeland answering member printed Trudy Harrison question first answered 17/04/2023 10:36:43 answering member 4593 label Biography information for Trudy Harrison
tabling member	4856 label Biography information for Stephen Farry

1609222

registered interest
date	30/03/2023
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	Food: Labelling
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 she is taking to ensure the accuracy of food labelling.
tabling member constituency	Ynys Môn
tabling member printed	Virginia Crosbie
uin	177902
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/04/2023 answer text <p>The UK maintains high standards on the information that is provided on food labels, whether that be mandatory or voluntary, so that consumers can have confidence in the food that they buy</p><p><br> All food sold on the UK market must comply with food labelling rules. The fundamental principle of food labelling rules is that information provided to the consumer must not mislead and must enable the safe use of food.</p><p> </p><p>Responsibility for assessing business compliance with the majority of food legislation rests with Local Authorities (LAs).<em> </em>The FSA provides a framework for LAs to regulate food businesses. A key aspect of this is the statutory Food Law Code of Practice (Code) and associated Practice Guidance, which establish a set of expectations for the activities LAs are responsible for under food law and how these are to be delivered.</p><p> </p><p>The FSA’s National Food Crime Unit (NFCU) works closely with the Food Industry Intelligence Network (FIIN), whose members include supermarkets and many businesses within their supply chains.</p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Mark Spencer question first answered 17/04/2023 08:56:34 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
tabling member	4859 label Biography information for Virginia Crosbie

1609258

registered interest
date	30/03/2023
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	Farmers: Bolton South East
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 support her Department provides to farmers in Bolton South East constituency.
tabling member constituency	Bolton South East
tabling member printed	Yasmin Qureshi
uin	177812
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/04/2023 answer text <p>We recognise that global factors outside the Government’s control are increasing farmer’s input costs, particularly fertiliser, feed, fuel and energy, and that increased input costs can be challenging to cashflow.</p><p> </p><p>To support farmers in England, the Government decided that the 2022 Basic Payment Scheme payment will be made in two instalments each year for the remainder of the agricultural transition period, to help farmers with their cashflow. We are also increasing revenue payment rates for the Countryside Stewardship scheme by ca. 30% to reflect the change in costs since 2013.</p><p> </p><p>To further help with high input costs, Government has removed the 25% tariff on maize imports from the USA to help with animal feed costs. We have also introduced measures to help with the impact of global impacts on fertiliser supply chains. These include a fertiliser industry roundtable, delayed changes to the use of urea fertiliser, encouraging use of organic fertiliser and new technologies.</p><p> </p><p>We have supported farmers through the worst global outbreak of Avian Flu in many years through an improved the Avian Flu compensation scheme for farmers and eased marketing rules to give certainty over business planning.</p><p> </p><p>Government announced 45,000 visas for seasonal workers for the horticulture sector to ensure they have the labour they need, up 15,000 from start of 2022.</p><p> </p><p>Other support includes changes to guidance on farmers using manures, increased grants for farmers and growers, boosting research and development, and supporting farmers to build the health and fertility of their soil through the Sustainable Farming Incentive.</p><p> </p><p>We have committed to spend around £600 million on grants and other support for farmers to invest in productivity, animal health and welfare, innovation over three years and paid out over £30 million so far in grants for technology and equipment, having increased the original budget from £17 million and committed £90 million to our Innovation Programme.</p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Mark Spencer question first answered 17/04/2023 10:46:13 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
tabling member	3924 label Biography information for Yasmin Qureshi

1609278

registered interest
date	30/03/2023
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	Food Banks
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 discussions she has had with businesses on offering surplus food stocks to food banks.
tabling member constituency	York Central
tabling member printed	Rachael Maskell
uin	177829
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/04/2023 answer text <p>The Food and Drink Waste Hierarchy includes the expectation that all businesses prioritise surplus redistribution before disposal. Government works closely with businesses through our delivery partner the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) to overcome any barriers to this requirement. This includes the development of guidance and best practice through a sector wide working group, and support for the Target Measure Act (TMA) approach to understanding and acting on food waste in supply chains, including the redistribution of any surplus should it arise.</p><p> </p><p>Since 2018, Defra funding of nearly £13m has supported both large and small redistribution organisations across the country to make sure more surplus food gets to charities.</p><p><a href="https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwrap.org.uk%2Ftaking-action%2Ffood-drink%2Factions%2Fsurplus-food-waste-redistribution&amp;data=05%7C01%7Cpqtransfers%40defra.gov.uk%7C2f584c15bb81435c0da208db31f18361%7C770a245002274c6290c74e38537f1102%7C0%7C0%7C638158685575623801%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=EMax%2B%2BVkC9FsTowWTTZC3sxRTz2s9m69vIext9unXRU%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">Surplus food redistribution | WRAP</a></p> answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow question first answered 17/04/2023 09:59:15 answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow
tabling member	4471 label Biography information for Rachael Maskell

1609343

registered interest
date	30/03/2023
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	Tuna: Quotas
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many tonnes of commercial Atlantic Blue Fin Tuna quota the Government plans to acquire; and how much and what proportion of that tonnage will be designated to Scotland.
tabling member constituency	Na h-Eileanan an Iar
tabling member printed	Angus Brendan MacNeil
uin	177728
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/04/2023 answer text <p>The UK has 65.4 tonnes of eastern Atlantic bluefin tuna quota in 2023. Currently, eastern Atlantic bluefin tuna is managed as a UK unallocated stock and is not apportioned between the UK Fisheries Administrations. Defra is considering how best to manage the UK’s eastern Atlantic bluefin tuna quota in future years.</p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Mark Spencer question first answered 17/04/2023 09:06:20 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
tabling member	1546 label Biography information for Angus Brendan MacNeil

1609352

registered interest
date	30/03/2023
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	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Disability
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 proportion of people employed within her Department have recorded that they have a disability.
tabling member constituency	Lewisham, Deptford
tabling member printed	Vicky Foxcroft
uin	177860
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/04/2023 answer text <p>As of 31<sup>st</sup> December, 16.1% of Core Defra employees have recorded that they have a disability/lifelong health condition. This representation rate has been calculated by the number of staff reporting they have a disability divided by the number who have reported their disability status, excluding those with an unknown status or prefer not to say/undeclared. This is above the last published Civil Service wide figure of 13.6% (2021) of civil servants having declared a disability <a href="https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gov.uk%2Fgovernment%2Fpublications%2Fcivil-service-diversity-inclusion-dashboard%2Fcivil-service-diversity-and-inclusion-dashboard&amp;data=05%7C01%7Ccorporatepqs%40defra.gov.uk%7Cbaef781317554599d1e108db344f1b49%7C770a245002274c6290c74e38537f1102%7C0%7C0%7C638161286580557308%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=sJtHEr4UAzQAGVHAD2G9zAF1DOznjs9mkI9%2BESN6vYI%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Dashboard - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)</a></p><p> </p><p>Defra is a Disability Confident employer (Level 3) and has many policies in place to ensure the Civil Service is an inclusive workplace for everyone, including those who have disabilities, such as Workplace Adjustments policies, Occupational Health and Employee Assistance Programme and Employee Passports.</p><p> </p><p>Defra are members of the Business Disability Forum and ensure we are always appraised of current best practice. All Defra Colleagues can also participate and receive support via our Employee led Networks, supported by our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Champions, this includes our Disability networks and Disability Boards. Defra also engages with the Cross Government Workplace Adjustments forum, to ensure we are learning from and contributing to best practice across government.</p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Mark Spencer question first answered 17/04/2023 10:59:43 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
tabling member	4491 label Biography information for Vicky Foxcroft

1609379

registered interest
date	30/03/2023
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	Hunting Act 2004
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 she will make an assessment of the potential merits of reviewing the Hunting Act 2004 to strengthen measures against fox hunting.
tabling member constituency	Ealing Central and Acton
tabling member printed	Dr Rupa Huq
uin	177875
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/04/2023 answer text <p>The Hunting Act 2004 makes it an offence to hunt a wild mammal with dogs except where it is carried out in accordance with the exemptions in the Act. Those found guilty under the Act are subject to the full force of the law.</p><p> </p><p>The Government has made it clear that the Hunting Act will not be amended – that is a manifesto commitment.</p> answering member constituency Copeland answering member printed Trudy Harrison question first answered 17/04/2023 09:27:46 answering member 4593 label Biography information for Trudy Harrison
tabling member	4511 label Biography information for Dr Rupa Huq