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1361149

registered interest
date	19/10/2021
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	Walley's Quarry Landfill
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 scrutinise the Environment Agency’s strategy in respect of Walley’s Quarry landfill.
tabling member constituency	Newcastle-under-Lyme
tabling member printed	Aaron Bell
uin	59110
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/10/2021 answer text <p>Following my recent discussion with the hon. Member, I have taken a close interest in the issue of Walley’s Quarry. I am regularly updated by officials and the Environment Agency about air quality near the site, and the agency’s plans to improve it. The latest reports show a continuing reduction in hydrogen sulphide, which hopefully will improve further still as a result of the ongoing work at the site.</p> answering member constituency Bury St Edmunds answering member printed Jo Churchill question first answered 22/10/2021 13:41:38 answering member 4380 label Biography information for Jo Churchill
tabling member	4837 label Biography information for Aaron Bell

1361150

registered interest
date	19/10/2021
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	Landfill: Hydrogen Sulphide
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 World Health Organization air quality guidelines on (a) odorous annoyance and (b) health in respect of hydrogen sulphide emissions from landfill sites.
tabling member constituency	Newcastle-under-Lyme
tabling member printed	Aaron Bell
uin	59111
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/10/2021 answer text <p>The World Health Organization (WHO) air quality guidelines are internationally recognised guidelines. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has adopted the WHO air quality guidelines with respect to hydrogen sulphide for assessing odour and short-term exposure in their risk assessment for Walleys Quarry Landfill, available here: <a href="https://consult.environment-agency.gov.uk/west-midlands/walleys-quarry-landfill-sliverdale/user_uploads/walley-s-ea-aq-monitoring-health-risk--assessment-august-final.pdf" target="_blank">https://consult.environment-agency.gov.uk/west-midlands/walleys-quarry-landfill-sliverdale/user_uploads/walley-s-ea-aq-monitoring-health-risk--assessment-august-final.pdf</a>.</p><p> </p><p>The WHO guideline value of 7 µg/m3 (5 ppb) over a 30-minute averaging period is protective of odour annoyance. The WHO guideline value of 150 μg/m3 (107 ppb) as a 24-hour (average) to protect against eye irritation.</p> answering member constituency Bury St Edmunds answering member printed Jo Churchill question first answered 22/10/2021 13:48:04 answering member 4380 label Biography information for Jo Churchill
tabling member	4837 label Biography information for Aaron Bell

1361390

registered interest
date	19/10/2021
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	Aluminium: Prices
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 he has had with the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on increases in aluminium prices and the effect of those increases on the food industry.
tabling member constituency	Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport
tabling member printed	Luke Pollard
uin	59037
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/10/2021 answer text <p>Defra has well established ways of working with the industry and across Government to monitor risks that may arise. These include 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>Additionally, David Lewis has been appointed to co-chair the new Supply Chain Advisory Group and the new Industry Taskforce, providing a link between business and government to identify causes of supply chain issues and pre-empt future issues. He has been appointed until the end of the year.</p><p> </p><p>The UK has a highly resilient food supply chain, as demonstrated throughout the Covid-19 response. Our high degree of food security is built on access to a range of sources, including robust supply chains domestically, and from a diverse range of other stable countries.</p> answering member constituency Banbury answering member printed Victoria Prentis question first answered 22/10/2021 11:34:05 answering member 4401 label Biography information for Victoria Prentis
tabling member	4682 label Biography information for Luke Pollard

1361410

registered interest
date	19/10/2021
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
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 national food redistribution charities to (a) tackle food insecurity and (b) prevent surplus food waste.
tabling member constituency	St Helens North
tabling member printed	Conor McGinn
uin	58929
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/10/2021 answer text <p>The safe and speedy redistribution of surplus food is a priority, be it from retail, manufacture or the hospitality and food service sector, which all may have their own issues and challenges in their supply chains. Defra supports a range of action to overcome these challenges, reduce food waste and help get more surplus food to charities.</p><p> </p><p>Since 2017 Defra has made a series of grants available to help the redistribution sector. In total nearly £12 million has been awarded to more than 250 large and small redistribution organisations across the country for the provision of, for example, warehousing, vehicles, fridges and freezers that will support the sector for months and years to come.</p><p> </p><p>We continue to support the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) and the Courtauld 2030 redistribution working group that seeks to overcome barriers to redistribution. The most recent outputs from the group are the publication of new guidance on storing surplus food, best practice on redistributing own brand products and the tool <em>framework for effective redistribution.</em></p><p> </p><p>We remain committed to the WRAP-led food waste reduction roadmap which supports business to target, measure and specifically act on reducing food waste, for instance by making sure food surplus is redistributed.</p><p> </p><p>The amount of surplus food redistributed in 2020, over 92,000 tonnes, was worth £280 million and was the equivalent of 220 million meals. Since UK-level data was first reported in 2015, overall levels of redistribution have increased three-fold.</p><p> </p><p>Defra delivered a comprehensive package of support for vulnerable individuals to provide additional support for children and families during the winter period 2020/21. This package included £16 million of funding to FareShare to work with local charities across England to provide food for those struggling financially due to the impacts of the pandemic.</p> answering member constituency Bury St Edmunds answering member printed Jo Churchill grouped question UIN 58930 question first answered 22/10/2021 13:50:52 answering member 4380 label Biography information for Jo Churchill
tabling member	4458 label Biography information for Conor McGinn

1361479

registered interest
date	19/10/2021
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	Pollinators
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 analysis his Department has undertaken on the long term impacts of historical pesticide usage on (a) bee and (b) wild pollinator numbers.
tabling member constituency	Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey
tabling member printed	Drew Hendry
uin	58931
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/10/2021 answer text <p>Linking pesticide usage directly to changes in pollinator numbers remains challenging because of the range of pressures which affect pollinators. In 2019, alongside leading academics, we published evidence statements on what is known, and not known, about the status and responses to pressures and management of pollinators, including in relation to pesticide use. We are currently funding research looking at how we could develop our monitoring to better understand the effects of pesticides on pollinators, as well as routes of exposure.</p><p> </p><p>Defra is developing a Pesticide Load Indicator which takes account of both the chemical properties of pesticides used and the weight applied. This uses pesticide usage data, ecotoxicity and environmental data to better understand how the pressure from pesticides on the environment, including bees, has changed over time. Much of this research will be published in 2022.</p><p> </p><p>We also publish an indicator of the status of pollinating insects, which measures how widespread each of almost 400 species is in each year since 1980. It shows long-term decline, but little change over the short term. Although not yet definitive, there are encouraging signs of improvement, for example the average distribution of wild bees has shown some stability over recent years. We are keeping these trends under review.</p> answering member constituency Banbury answering member printed Victoria Prentis question first answered 22/10/2021 11:13:41 answering member 4401 label Biography information for Victoria Prentis
tabling member	4467 label Biography information for Drew Hendry

1361480

registered interest
date	19/10/2021
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: 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, for what reason he has not extended his Department’s Food Waste Fund to help charities redistribute surplus food to communities and prevent it going to waste.
tabling member constituency	St Helens North
tabling member printed	Conor McGinn
uin	58930
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/10/2021 answer text <p>The safe and speedy redistribution of surplus food is a priority, be it from retail, manufacture or the hospitality and food service sector, which all may have their own issues and challenges in their supply chains. Defra supports a range of action to overcome these challenges, reduce food waste and help get more surplus food to charities.</p><p> </p><p>Since 2017 Defra has made a series of grants available to help the redistribution sector. In total nearly £12 million has been awarded to more than 250 large and small redistribution organisations across the country for the provision of, for example, warehousing, vehicles, fridges and freezers that will support the sector for months and years to come.</p><p> </p><p>We continue to support the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) and the Courtauld 2030 redistribution working group that seeks to overcome barriers to redistribution. The most recent outputs from the group are the publication of new guidance on storing surplus food, best practice on redistributing own brand products and the tool <em>framework for effective redistribution.</em></p><p> </p><p>We remain committed to the WRAP-led food waste reduction roadmap which supports business to target, measure and specifically act on reducing food waste, for instance by making sure food surplus is redistributed.</p><p> </p><p>The amount of surplus food redistributed in 2020, over 92,000 tonnes, was worth £280 million and was the equivalent of 220 million meals. Since UK-level data was first reported in 2015, overall levels of redistribution have increased three-fold.</p><p> </p><p>Defra delivered a comprehensive package of support for vulnerable individuals to provide additional support for children and families during the winter period 2020/21. This package included £16 million of funding to FareShare to work with local charities across England to provide food for those struggling financially due to the impacts of the pandemic.</p> answering member constituency Bury St Edmunds answering member printed Jo Churchill grouped question UIN 58929 question first answered 22/10/2021 13:50:52 answering member 4380 label Biography information for Jo Churchill
tabling member	4458 label Biography information for Conor McGinn

1361481

registered interest
date	19/10/2021
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: 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 steps his Department is taking to support the agricultural industry to minimise food waste.
tabling member constituency	Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey
tabling member printed	Drew Hendry
uin	58932
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/10/2021 answer text <p>This is a devolved matter and the information provided therefore relates to England only.</p><p> </p><p>The Government funds the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) to administer the Courtauld Commitment 2030 voluntary agreement, including the Food Waste Reduction Roadmap (FWRR), which aims to reduce food waste from farm to fork through collaboration with businesses.</p><p> </p><p>Included in the FWRR is a practical model for how farmers and growers can be supported to measure on-farm food surplus and waste and take action to reduce it. WRAP estimates that around 50 farm businesses have undertaken measurements to date, with most of those in the last two years. The aim is to provide support for another 30 farmers and growers.</p><p> </p><p>We are also supporting WRAP’s and the Institute of Grocery Distribution’s Whole Chain Food Waste Reduction Plans (WCP). A toolkit is available to help businesses across the supply chain work together to understand waste hotspots for a food product and to identify ways to reduce these. The Roadmap has a target of at least 50 active WCPs in place by 2022.</p><p> </p><p>WRAP has also supported farmer-led pilots to understand how food waste measurement and reduction can be best implemented in primary production as well as resources for farm advisers to deliver similar projects with their clients.</p><p> </p><p>Since 2017, Defra has provided around £12 million of grants to the redistribution sector to increase the diversion of surplus food for human consumption from waste destinations. Some of these grants were used to harvest and collect surplus from farms, minimising food waste.</p><p> </p><p>Furthermore, the Government’s Food Strategy White Paper will cover the entire food system from farm to fork, building on work already underway in the Agriculture Act, Fisheries Act, and Environment Bill as well as docking into wider Government priorities, including Net Zero, the 25 Year Environment Plan, and Build Back Greener. As part of this, Defra is exploring options to reduce carbon emissions from food production including food waste, as well as to incentivise land use change to sequester more carbon and restore nature, and preserve natural resources.</p> answering member constituency Bury St Edmunds answering member printed Jo Churchill question first answered 22/10/2021 14:31:10 answering member 4380 label Biography information for Jo Churchill
tabling member	4467 label Biography information for Drew Hendry

1361525

registered interest
date	19/10/2021
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	Dogs
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 representations his Department has received on the maximum number of dogs that a professional dog walker should walk at any one time.
tabling member constituency	Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport
tabling member printed	Luke Pollard
uin	59038
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/10/2021 answer text <p>Professional dog walkers should comply with all relevant legislation, including the Animal Welfare Act 2006, Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and others. They should also comply with any relevant local authority requirements, not walk more dogs at any one time than their insurance policy allows, and ensure that the dogs are kept under control at all times.</p><p> </p><p>The Canine and Feline Sector Group, which includes in its members the UK’s most significant animal welfare organisations, has published guidance to assist professional dog walkers in ensuring the welfare of animals in their care. Their guidance has formed the basis for guidance owned and issued by several local authorities and recommends that no more than four dogs are walked at any one time.</p> answering member constituency Bury St Edmunds answering member printed Jo Churchill question first answered 22/10/2021 13:52:33 answering member 4380 label Biography information for Jo Churchill
tabling member	4682 label Biography information for Luke Pollard

1360834

registered interest
date	18/10/2021
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	Ivory
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 he has made of the potential merits of creating an ivory surrender scheme.
tabling member constituency	Ealing Central and Acton
tabling member printed	Dr Rupa Huq
uin	58459
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/10/2021 answer text <p>The Ivory Act will not affect the ownership of ivory items and as such we have no plans for a Government surrender scheme at this time. We recognise that for some low value items, owners may decide it is not cost-effective to register them for sale. This will be a decision for individual owners. Such items may of course be gifted, donated or bequeathed rather than discarded. We will explain to owners the options available to them as part of our awareness-raising campaign.</p> answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow question first answered 21/10/2021 15:58:24 answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow
tabling member	4511 label Biography information for Dr Rupa Huq

1359392

registered interest
date	15/10/2021
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	Meat: Ritual Slaughter
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 ensure the Jewish community's supply of kosher meat is uninterrupted.
tabling member constituency	Leeds North East
tabling member printed	Fabian Hamilton
uin	56354
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/10/2021 answer text <p>The Government is committed to protecting the rights of the Jewish community to eat meat prepared in accordance with their religious beliefs. This is a fundamental issue of religious freedom and belief, which the Government upholds. As the global economy has rebounded from the pandemic, we have seen pressures placed on supply chains across sectors and across countries. The UK has a highly resilient food supply chain which has coped well in responding to unprecedented challenges and we have been taking decisive action to ease these pressures where immediate interventions have been required, including making available temporary visas in some sectors such as HGV drivers and the poultry sector. We have well-established ways of working with the food industry to address potential food supply chain disruptions and that hasn’t changed. As such we are confident the supply of kosher meat will continue uninterrupted.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Banbury answering member printed Victoria Prentis question first answered 21/10/2021 10:42:14 answering member 4401 label Biography information for Victoria Prentis
tabling member	415 label Biography information for Fabian Hamilton