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1603627

registered interest
date	13/03/2023
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 Supply
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 her Department is taking to monitor data from retail supply chains to understand the impact on food supply and consumer choice.
tabling member constituency	Huddersfield
tabling member printed	Mr Barry Sheerman
uin	163719
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/03/2023 answer text <p>The UK has a highly resilient food supply chain, as demonstrated throughout the Covid-19 response. It is well equipped to deal with situations with the potential to cause disruption. 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. We speak regularly with food industry figures, who remain confident in the food supply chain.</p><p> </p><p>We continue to keep the market situation under review through the UK Agriculture Market Monitoring Group, which monitors UK agricultural markets including price, supply, inputs, trade and recent developments. Defra has requested weekly data from supermarkets on supplies of the foods to ensure we have the latest available data. Defra’s view is that the most effective response to food supply disruption is industry-led, with appropriate support and enablement from HM Government.</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 published in December 2021. This report will serve as an evidence base for future policy work.</p><p> </p><p>In recent weeks some supermarkets applied item limits to a small number of fruit and vegetables due to poor weather affecting the harvest in Spain and North Africa, where a high proportion of produce consumed in UK at this time of year is grown.</p><p> </p><p>Defra is closely monitoring markets and supply chains to explore the factors that have contributed to ongoing supply chain pressures and is considering how government and industry can work together to mitigate them, in the short and longer term.</p><p> </p><p>Defra has requested weekly data from supermarkets on supplies of the foods affected to ensure we have the latest available data.</p><p> </p><p>Supermarkets are confident that supply will be back to normal by the end of this month.</p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Mark Spencer grouped question UIN 163720 163721 163723 question first answered 16/03/2023 15:07:02 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
tabling member	411 label Biography information for Mr Barry Sheerman

1603628

registered interest
date	13/03/2023
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 Supply
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 indicators her Department uses to determine the threshold for intervention in the food supply chain.
tabling member constituency	Huddersfield
tabling member printed	Mr Barry Sheerman
uin	163720
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/03/2023 answer text <p>The UK has a highly resilient food supply chain, as demonstrated throughout the Covid-19 response. It is well equipped to deal with situations with the potential to cause disruption. 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. We speak regularly with food industry figures, who remain confident in the food supply chain.</p><p> </p><p>We continue to keep the market situation under review through the UK Agriculture Market Monitoring Group, which monitors UK agricultural markets including price, supply, inputs, trade and recent developments. Defra has requested weekly data from supermarkets on supplies of the foods to ensure we have the latest available data. Defra’s view is that the most effective response to food supply disruption is industry-led, with appropriate support and enablement from HM Government.</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 published in December 2021. This report will serve as an evidence base for future policy work.</p><p> </p><p>In recent weeks some supermarkets applied item limits to a small number of fruit and vegetables due to poor weather affecting the harvest in Spain and North Africa, where a high proportion of produce consumed in UK at this time of year is grown.</p><p> </p><p>Defra is closely monitoring markets and supply chains to explore the factors that have contributed to ongoing supply chain pressures and is considering how government and industry can work together to mitigate them, in the short and longer term.</p><p> </p><p>Defra has requested weekly data from supermarkets on supplies of the foods affected to ensure we have the latest available data.</p><p> </p><p>Supermarkets are confident that supply will be back to normal by the end of this month.</p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Mark Spencer grouped question UIN 163719 163721 163723 question first answered 16/03/2023 15:07:02 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
tabling member	411 label Biography information for Mr Barry Sheerman

1603632

registered interest
date	13/03/2023
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: Production
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 sufficient data is available to monitor domestic food production across all agricultural sectors.
tabling member constituency	Huddersfield
tabling member printed	Mr Barry Sheerman
uin	163723
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/03/2023 answer text <p>The UK has a highly resilient food supply chain, as demonstrated throughout the Covid-19 response. It is well equipped to deal with situations with the potential to cause disruption. 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. We speak regularly with food industry figures, who remain confident in the food supply chain.</p><p> </p><p>We continue to keep the market situation under review through the UK Agriculture Market Monitoring Group, which monitors UK agricultural markets including price, supply, inputs, trade and recent developments. Defra has requested weekly data from supermarkets on supplies of the foods to ensure we have the latest available data. Defra’s view is that the most effective response to food supply disruption is industry-led, with appropriate support and enablement from HM Government.</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 published in December 2021. This report will serve as an evidence base for future policy work.</p><p> </p><p>In recent weeks some supermarkets applied item limits to a small number of fruit and vegetables due to poor weather affecting the harvest in Spain and North Africa, where a high proportion of produce consumed in UK at this time of year is grown.</p><p> </p><p>Defra is closely monitoring markets and supply chains to explore the factors that have contributed to ongoing supply chain pressures and is considering how government and industry can work together to mitigate them, in the short and longer term.</p><p> </p><p>Defra has requested weekly data from supermarkets on supplies of the foods affected to ensure we have the latest available data.</p><p> </p><p>Supermarkets are confident that supply will be back to normal by the end of this month.</p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Mark Spencer grouped question UIN 163719 163720 163721 question first answered 16/03/2023 15:07:02 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
tabling member	411 label Biography information for Mr Barry Sheerman

1581202

registered interest
date	26/01/2023
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	Fireworks: Animals
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 she has made a recent assessment of the potential benefits for vulnerable animals of introducing firework control zones.
tabling member constituency	Huddersfield
tabling member printed	Mr Barry Sheerman
uin	133537
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/02/2023 answer text <p>Defra has not made an assessment of the benefits of introducing firework control zones. However, the Government takes the issues associated with the sale and use of fireworks seriously. There is a comprehensive regulatory framework already in place for fireworks which aims to strike the right balance for people to enjoy fireworks, while aiming to reduce risks and disturbances to the welfare of animals.</p><p> </p><p>It is an offence under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 to cause an animal unnecessary suffering - and this includes through the misuse of fireworks. Users of fireworks need to use them responsibly and be aware of animals close by, and those found guilty of causing animals unnecessary suffering can face up to five years’ imprisonment.</p> answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow question first answered 02/02/2023 16:21:30 answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow
tabling member	411 label Biography information for Mr Barry Sheerman

1568715

registered interest
date	19/01/2023
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	Air Pollution: West Yorkshire
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 levels of air particulate matter (PM2.5) pollution at drive-thru points in (a) Huddersfield and (b) West Yorkshire.
tabling member constituency	Huddersfield
tabling member printed	Mr Barry Sheerman
uin	127700
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/01/2023 answer text <p>Defra has not made an assessment of the levels of air particulate matter (PM2.5) pollution at drive-thru points in Huddersfield or West Yorkshire. Data on the location of monitoring sites, as well as the air pollutant concentrations recorded by these sites, is available on the UK Air website.</p> answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow question first answered 26/01/2023 18:22:24 answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow
tabling member	411 label Biography information for Mr Barry Sheerman

1568717

registered interest
date	19/01/2023
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	Air Pollution: West Yorkshire
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 levels of air particulate matter (PM10) pollution at drive-thru points in (a) Huddersfield and (b) West Yorkshire.
tabling member constituency	Huddersfield
tabling member printed	Mr Barry Sheerman
uin	127701
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/01/2023 answer text <p>Defra has not made an assessment of the levels of air particulate matter (PM10) pollution at drive-thru points in Huddersfield or West Yorkshire. Data on the location of monitoring sites, as well as the air pollutant concentrations recorded by these sites, is available on the UK Air website.</p> answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow question first answered 26/01/2023 18:25:38 answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow
tabling member	411 label Biography information for Mr Barry Sheerman

1568720

registered interest
date	19/01/2023
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	Water: 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 she has made on the impact of tyre wear on water pollution in (a) West Yorkshire and (b) England.
tabling member constituency	Huddersfield
tabling member printed	Mr Barry Sheerman
uin	127702
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/01/2023 answer text <p>No assessment has been being carried out specifically in West Yorkshire. However, more widely in 2020, Defra published the findings from research (<a href="https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdeframedia.blog.gov.uk%2F2020%2F05%2F28%2Ftyre-particles-reach-rivers-and-ocean%2F&amp;data=05%7C01%7Cpqteam%40defra.gov.uk%7C687e7cb93baf428b79fe08dafb07a347%7C770a245002274c6290c74e38537f1102%7C0%7C0%7C638098307482137283%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=BGqqjwttwYHO0cPuTrZpNgcFKJIrJlu7rOFR5LtndcE%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">Tyre particles reach rivers and ocean - Defra in the media (blog.gov.uk)</a> it has funded with Plymouth University and others investigating the sources and pathways of synthetic fibre and vehicle tyre wear contamination into the marine and river environment. Researchers are also currently undertaking work for Defra to develop and test a new methodology to analyse vehicle tyre ware products in river sediments.</p><p><br> In addition, the Environment Agency contributed to research (<a href="https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gov.uk%2Fgovernment%2Fnews%2Ffirst-phase-of-research-paves-the-way-for-further-studies-on-microplastics-pollution&amp;data=05%7C01%7Cpqteam%40defra.gov.uk%7C687e7cb93baf428b79fe08dafb07a347%7C770a245002274c6290c74e38537f1102%7C0%7C0%7C638098307482293526%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=4KsdkeOfFU39l%2BzQdAyiC%2F32cNVWlrwK9Q60qv6iq0g%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">First phase of research paves the way for further studies on microplastics pollution - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)</a>) undertaken by Highways England and industry experts on the extent of microplastic pollution from run-off from the major road network.</p><p><br> The outcomes from these research projects will be used in the development of policy options to help mitigate the impact of microplastics on the aquatic environment and provide design guidance for the major road network.</p> answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow question first answered 26/01/2023 18:12:38 answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow
tabling member	411 label Biography information for Mr Barry Sheerman

1551133

registered interest
date	13/12/2022
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	Pollution: Research
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 has conducted any research into the relationship between air and water pollution in the last 12 months.
tabling member constituency	Huddersfield
tabling member printed	Mr Barry Sheerman
uin	109441
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/01/2023 answer text <p>Defra assesses the relationship between air and water pollution pathways across a range of policy areas. For example, the impact assessment for the proposed Environment Act targets on water quality took into account possible air quality benefits and the newly launched slurry infrastructure grant schemes considered the impact on both water and air quality in the targeting of the scheme. Moreover, Defra has supported projects that improve the evidence base on these pollution pathways. This includes Defra funding for the Uplands Water Monitoring network which delivers a long-term data set on water quality and biodiversity in upland water bodies threatened by air pollution, climate change and land use, and the development of and updates to the Farmscoper tool which has the ability to look at impacts on both water and air quality as well as greenhouse gas emissions.</p><p>We annually publish emissions data for all key air pollutants on a 1km grid square for all the UK in our National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory (NAEI). We also assess the concentrations of air pollutants across the whole UK and publish this information in our Air Pollution in the UK report (https://naei.beis.gov.uk/https://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/library/annualreport/viewonline?year=2021_issue_1#report_pdf).</p> answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow question first answered 17/01/2023 13:08:35 answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow
tabling member	411 label Biography information for Mr Barry Sheerman

1551134

registered interest
date	13/12/2022
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	Pollution: West Yorkshire
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 has conducted any research into (a) air pollution, (b) water pollution and (c) potential relationships between different types of pollution in West Yorkshire in the past five years.
tabling member constituency	Huddersfield
tabling member printed	Mr Barry Sheerman
uin	109442
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/01/2023 answer text <p>Defra assesses the relationship between air and water pollution pathways across a range of policy areas. For example, the impact assessment for the proposed Environment Act targets on water quality took into account possible air quality benefits and the newly launched slurry infrastructure grant schemes considered the impact on both water and air quality in the targeting of the scheme. Moreover, Defra has supported projects that improve the evidence base on these pollution pathways. This includes Defra funding for the Uplands Water Monitoring network which delivers a long-term data set on water quality and biodiversity in upland water bodies threatened by air pollution, climate change and land use, and the development of and updates to the Farmscoper tool which has the ability to look at impacts on both water and air quality as well as greenhouse gas emissions.</p><p>We annually publish emissions data for all key air pollutants on a 1km grid square for all the UK in our National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory (NAEI). We also assess the concentrations of air pollutants across the whole UK and publish this information in our Air Pollution in the UK report (https://naei.beis.gov.uk/https://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/library/annualreport/viewonline?year=2021_issue_1#report_pdf).</p> answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow question first answered 17/01/2023 13:11:19 answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow
tabling member	411 label Biography information for Mr Barry Sheerman

1551136

registered interest
date	13/12/2022
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	Pollution: Research
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 consider the potential merits of establishing a commission on (a) air pollution, (b) water pollution and (c) potential relationships between different types of pollution.
tabling member constituency	Huddersfield
tabling member printed	Mr Barry Sheerman
uin	109443
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/01/2023 answer text <p>Defra takes an evidence-led approach to policy development, and engages with the academic community on an ongoing basis. This includes Defra’s Air Quality Expert Group and the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology. Defra does not consider that a commission on air and water pollution is necessary at this time.</p> answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow question first answered 17/01/2023 13:21:59 answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow
tabling member	411 label Biography information for Mr Barry Sheerman