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1700982

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
hansard heading	Farmers: 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, what financial assistance he is making available to farmers following recent extended wet weather.
tabling member constituency	Tewkesbury
tabling member printed	Mr Laurence Robertson
uin	21522
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/04/2024 answer text <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 already been activated to help farms which have experienced the highest levels of flooding, and the eligibility for the Fund remains 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> answering member constituency Keighley answering member printed Robbie Moore grouped question UIN 21669 question first answered 23/04/2024 10:54:08 answering member 4861 label Biography information for Robbie Moore
tabling member	253 label Biography information for Mr Laurence Robertson

1700128

registered interest
date	12/04/2024
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
hansard heading	River Avon: Pollution
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 he has made of the levels of pollution in the River Avon.
tabling member constituency	Tewkesbury
tabling member printed	Mr Laurence Robertson
uin	20852
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/05/2024 answer text <p>The Government published the Plan for Water in April 2023 – our comprehensive strategy for managing our water environment, including our rivers. It brings together the significant steps we have already taken with a suite of new policy actions. It aims to change the way that we manage water, improve water quality, and continue to secure our water supply through increased investment, stronger regulation and enforcement.</p><p> </p><p>The latest Water Framework Directive (WFD) assessment of Ecological Status for rivers, including River Avon, sets out the condition of waterbodies across the country. Although none of the 6 waterbodies across the River Avon achieved Good Ecological Status – a measure of water quality – most of the underlying tests did do. Agency modelling predicts that approximately 55% of phosphates in the main River Avon arise from water company wastewater treatment works and approximately 30% arise from agriculture.</p><p> </p><p>This Government is committed to improving water quality in the River Avon and the Environment Agency continue to drive this forward by carrying out inspections at agricultural and water company sites along the river.</p> answering member constituency Keighley answering member printed Robbie Moore question first answered 14/05/2024 10:39:10 answering member 4861 label Biography information for Robbie Moore
tabling member	253 label Biography information for Mr Laurence Robertson

1700129

registered interest
date	12/04/2024
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
hansard heading	River Avon: Pollution Control
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 reduce the levels of pollution in the River Avon.
tabling member constituency	Tewkesbury
tabling member printed	Mr Laurence Robertson
uin	20853
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/05/2024 answer text <p>We are committed to continue improving water quality and are delivering record investment, stronger regulation and tougher enforcement to improve our water for our own health, for nature and the economy. In the Avon catchment area, over 60 water company assets (sewage treatment works, sewage pumping stations and combined sewer overflows) were inspected by the Environment Agency (EA) by end of February 2024 for the 2023/24 business year.</p><p> </p><p>Along the River Avon, the EA also conducts inspections at agricultural and intensive farming sites to ensure compliance with regulations. Additionally, the EA offer advice and guidance on best practices to mitigate potential pollution risks to farmers and landowners.</p> answering member constituency Keighley answering member printed Robbie Moore question first answered 14/05/2024 10:35:17 answering member 4861 label Biography information for Robbie Moore
tabling member	253 label Biography information for Mr Laurence Robertson

1694145

registered interest
date	06/03/2024
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	Water Charges
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 is taking steps with the Chancellor of the Exchequer to reduce the financial burden on families facing increased water costs.
tabling member constituency	Tewkesbury
tabling member printed	Mr Laurence Robertson
uin	17273
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/03/2024 answer text <p>The Government is mindful that consumers are concerned about their bills. For this reason, Defra expects all water companies to help consumers who struggle to pay their bills through measures such as WaterSure, social tariffs, payment breaks and holidays, and debt management support. We expect all companies to ensure households are aware of the support schemes available to them.</p><p> </p><p>We continue to work with industry and consumer groups to explore options to improve present social tariff arrangements and broader customer support, focusing on improving consistency and fairness.</p> answering member constituency Keighley answering member printed Robbie Moore question first answered 11/03/2024 17:35:46 answering member 4861 label Biography information for Robbie Moore
tabling member	253 label Biography information for Mr Laurence Robertson

1694146

registered interest
date	06/03/2024
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	Water Charges
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 have made an assessment of the increase in water costs for metred properties against unmetered properties.
tabling member constituency	Tewkesbury
tabling member printed	Mr Laurence Robertson
uin	17276
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/04/2024 answer text <p>Customers with water meters installed are charged based on the volume of water consumed, while those without a meter are charged for their water and sewerage services based on the rateable value of their property.</p><p> </p><p>The Government has asked water companies to increase smart metering and has enabled compulsory metering in areas of water stress, where there is consumer support and it represents value for money, as set out in the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/plan-for-water-our-integrated-plan-for-delivering-clean-and-plentiful-water/plan-for-water-our-integrated-plan-for-delivering-clean-and-plentiful-water#chapter-3-securing-a-plentiful-supply-of-water" target="_blank">Plan for Water</a>. This can allow bill payers to cut costs by using water more efficiently where possible and assist in reducing overall water consumption by enabling water companies to reduce leakage, further reducing bills for customers.</p><p> </p><p>Some water companies also offer a lowest bill guarantee for consumers who switch to a metered charge, which guarantees the best value price for the first few years of installation and the option to switch back to unmetered charges if the meter is not helpful.</p> answering member constituency Keighley answering member printed Robbie Moore question first answered 09/04/2024 09:57:29 answering member 4861 label Biography information for Robbie Moore
tabling member	253 label Biography information for Mr Laurence Robertson

1690479

registered interest
date	20/02/2024
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	Flood Re
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 have discussions with providers of the Flood Re scheme on the potential merits of extending the scheme to cover businesses.
tabling member constituency	Tewkesbury
tabling member printed	Mr Laurence Robertson
uin	14785
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/02/2024 answer text <p>The Flood Re scheme allows for insurers to offer discounted premiums to domestic properties. Flood Re is funded via a levy on UK household insurers. Expanding the scope of Flood Re to cover businesses would create a new levy on businesses, and could result in businesses across the country, and indirectly customers, subsidising profit-making organisations located at flood risk.</p><p> </p><p>There is no evidence of a systemic problem for businesses at high flood risk not accessing insurance.</p><p> </p><p>Businesses in high flood risk areas can shop around for the best insurance quote and could consider using an appropriate broker. There are a number of products being offered to businesses by the industry such as the British Insurers Brokers’ Association (BIBA) Commercial Property scheme to help small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and provide flood cover for those that are ineligible for Flood Re.</p><p> </p><p>We are working with the insurance industry and the wider commercial sector to help businesses become more resilient to flooding through the joint government and industry Property Flood Resilience (PFR) roundtable.</p> answering member constituency Keighley answering member printed Robbie Moore question first answered 29/02/2024 12:21:18 answering member 4861 label Biography information for Robbie Moore
tabling member	253 label Biography information for Mr Laurence Robertson

1690481

registered interest
date	20/02/2024
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	Business: Floods
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 estimate of the number and proportion of businesses that are (a) without flood insurance and (b) eligible for business recovery grants.
tabling member constituency	Tewkesbury
tabling member printed	Mr Laurence Robertson
uin	14786
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/02/2024 answer text <p>The Government does not collect data on the proportion of businesses that are without flood insurance.</p><p> </p><p>Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) in England are in principle eligible to receive the Department for Business and Trades Business Recovery Grant as long as they:</p><p> </p><ol><li>Are located in a geographic area which has reached the threshold to receive support under the Flood Recovery Framework and where the local authority has taken the decision to participate in the Framework; and</li><li>Satisfy the criteria for receiving a Business Recovery Grant as set out within the Flood Recovery Framework and associated guidance.</li></ol><p> </p><p>It is for a local authority to make an assessment on who qualifies for a Business Recovery Grant in the light of all the criteria and circumstances on the ground.</p><p> </p><p>If they are in an eligible area and have suffered internal flooding, they should contact their local authority to understand if they can also Defra’s Property Flood Resilience recovery grant, which provides for up to £5,000 to install measure to make eligible properties more resilient to future flooding.</p> answering member constituency Keighley answering member printed Robbie Moore question first answered 29/02/2024 10:37:38 answering member 4861 label Biography information for Robbie Moore
tabling member	253 label Biography information for Mr Laurence Robertson

1685910

registered interest
date	30/01/2024
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	Groceries Code Adjudicator
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 he has made of the effectiveness of the Groceries Supply Code of Practice for (a) farmers and (b) others impacted.
tabling member constituency	Tewkesbury
tabling member printed	Mr Laurence Robertson
uin	11934
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/02/2024 answer text <p>The Groceries Supply Code of Practice (GSCOP) sets out how designated retailers should manage their relationship with suppliers and was intended to protect food and drink suppliers to major supermarkets from being treated unfairly. It is enforced by the Grocery Code Adjudicator (GCA), and the most recent review published in July 2023 found the GCA to be an effective regulator.</p><p>However, most farmers do not supply supermarkets directly and so they are not covered by the GSCOP. As a result, powers were introduced in the Agriculture Act 2020 to enable the introduction of statutory codes of contractual practice to protect farmers. Since then we have been undertaking supply chain fairness reviews into different sectors of farming to understand the specific issues that farmers face.</p><p>Using these powers, we will be introducing new regulations on contractual standards for the dairy sector. We plan to introduce these into to Parliament before the Easter Recess. We expect to introduce regulations relating to the pork sector later in 2024. Two new supply chain fairness reviews were announced at the UK Farm to Fork summit on 16 May 2023, into the egg and fresh produce supply chains. We will analyse the responses and provide a summary of the findings and set out next steps.</p><p>This issue was also discussed in a parliamentary debate that took place on 22 January in which Government set out its plans for supporting farmers.</p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Mark Spencer question first answered 06/02/2024 14:29:11 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
tabling member	253 label Biography information for Mr Laurence Robertson

1685912

registered interest
date	30/01/2024
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: 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, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the Red Tractor Assurance Scheme on the competitiveness of British farmers relative to food producers overseas.
tabling member constituency	Tewkesbury
tabling member printed	Mr Laurence Robertson
uin	11935
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/02/2024 answer text <p>While Red Tractor is not a Government scheme, we recognise how important it is to work closely with industry, which is why the Food Standards Agency has an earned recognition relationship with Red Tractor. We will continue to work with industry bodies on the vital role they play in helping farmers do the right thing – giving communication and advice as well as upholding standards.</p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Mark Spencer question first answered 06/02/2024 14:26:50 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
tabling member	253 label Biography information for Mr Laurence Robertson

1685913

registered interest
date	30/01/2024
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: 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, whether he is taking steps to increase the information provided by food labelling.
tabling member constituency	Tewkesbury
tabling member printed	Mr Laurence Robertson
uin	11936
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/02/2024 answer text <p>As the Secretary of State discussed in his speech at the Oxford Farming conference, we think there is an opportunity to improve transparency for consumers and ensure fairness for producers, so consumers can be fully confident about what they’re buying. We therefore intend to launch a rapid consultation on clearer labelling.</p><p> </p><p>The consultation will explore options for improving method of production labelling and country-of-origin labelling.</p><p> </p><p>It will explore how we can better highlight imports that do not meet UK welfare standards, and, in terms of country-of-origin labelling, look at improving how and where origin information is displayed - including for minimally processed meat, such as bacon and ham - and what products should be in scope.</p><p> </p><p>The exact details of the consultation will be published in due course.</p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Mark Spencer question first answered 06/02/2024 13:47:01 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
tabling member	253 label Biography information for Mr Laurence Robertson