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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

1717488

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	BSE
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 hold discussions with his counterparts in the devolved Administrations on bovine spongiform encephalopathy.
tabling member constituency	East Londonderry
tabling member printed	Mr Gregory Campbell
uin	25781
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/05/2024 answer text <p>The UK has a comprehensive surveillance programme in place to monitor the level of BSE over time and check on the continued effectiveness of our BSE controls. It was the effectiveness of these controls that recently identified a case in Scotland. Defra officials have engaged closely with Scottish counterparts on this matter, as they do regularly on animal disease issues more broadly with officials from all UK administrations under the Animal Health and Welfare Framework.</p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Sir Mark Spencer question first answered 17/05/2024 12:44:47 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
tabling member	1409 label Biography information for Mr Gregory Campbell

1717075

registered interest
date	10/05/2024
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	Furs: Overseas Trade
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 estimate he has made of the volume of (a) imported and (b) exported animal (i) fur and (ii) fur products in the last 10 years.
tabling member constituency	Newport West
tabling member printed	Ruth Jones
uin	25710
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/05/2024 answer text <p>i) We are continuing to build our evidence base on the fur sector, which will be used to inform any future action on the fur trade.  We have also commissioned a report from our expert Animal Welfare Committee into the issue of what constitutes responsible sourcing in the fur industry. This report will support our understanding of the fur industry and help inform our next steps.</p><p>ii) HMRC statistics for the import and export of fur and fur products over the 10-year period 2014-23 are available online and can be accessed at <a href="https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.uktradeinfo.com%2Ftrade-data%2Fots-custom-table%2F&amp;data=05%7C02%7Cpqteam%40defra.gov.uk%7Cbb32ac8c707044759a8c08dc7594b7f7%7C770a245002274c6290c74e38537f1102%7C0%7C0%7C638514528801907679%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=e2J9Klf1dDbRlXeluzBGfXwbfMKXzNa70Qb1xOlWAf8%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">Overseas trade data table - UK Trade Info</a> using the relevant HS4 codes (4301, 4302 and 4303).</p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Sir Mark Spencer question first answered 20/05/2024 14:47:57 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
tabling member	4716 label Biography information for Ruth Jones

1717136

registered interest
date	10/05/2024
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	Swimming
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to announce his decision on bathing water designation; and for what reason this announcement has been delayed.
tabling member constituency	Cambridge
tabling member printed	Daniel Zeichner
uin	25649
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/05/2024 answer text <p>The summary of responses and government response to the consultation on 27 proposed bathing water sites was published on GOV.UK on 13 May: <a href="https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gov.uk%2Fgovernment%2Fconsultations%2Fbathing-waters-proposed-designation-of-27-new-bathing-waters-in-england&amp;data=05%7C02%7Cpqteam%40defra.gov.uk%7C404196442f8d414e022208dc740b11cf%7C770a245002274c6290c74e38537f1102%7C0%7C0%7C638512838087285306%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=Vr%2FBR3pGmcHwTJxF3EbcL7QGsmdU38l%2BbDKSYePi3yQ%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">Bathing waters: proposed designation of 27 new bathing waters in England - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)</a>. The newly designated sites will be added to the <a href="https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gov.uk%2Fgovernment%2Fpublications%2Fbathing-waters-list-of-designated-waters-in-england&amp;data=05%7C02%7Cpqteam%40defra.gov.uk%7C404196442f8d414e022208dc740b11cf%7C770a245002274c6290c74e38537f1102%7C0%7C0%7C638512838087297379%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=F3lf7s%2FxwmaS%2FRNag6rLO44Ca0DsOqSWdKPeR50PKSU%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">list of bathing waters</a> with effect from the 2024 bathing season. Defra received 10,962 responses to the consultation on designating these sites, and ensured the confirmation of designations was made before the start of the bathing season, which begins on 15 May.</p> answering member constituency Keighley answering member printed Robbie Moore question first answered 20/05/2024 10:11:39 answering member 4861 label Biography information for Robbie Moore
tabling member	4382 label Biography information for Daniel Zeichner

1716799

registered interest
date	09/05/2024
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	Natural England: Dorset Wildlife Trust
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 much Natural England paid the Dorset Wildlife Trust for land in the last three years.
tabling member constituency	West Dorset
tabling member printed	Chris Loder
uin	25583
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/05/2024 answer text <p>Natural England has not paid Dorset Wildlife Trust (DWT) for any land in the last three years.</p><p> </p><p>Natural England’s Nutrient Mitigation Scheme (NMS) has recently purchased the rights to nutrient mitigation credits being created by DWT at Lyscombe Farm in Dorset. This £5m investment is securing mitigation for an estimated 3,700 homes, with costs to be fully recovered through the sale of these credits by the NMS to housing developers.</p> answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow question first answered 20/05/2024 09:58:31 answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow
tabling member	4751 label Biography information for Chris Loder

1716800

registered interest
date	09/05/2024
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	Animal Experiments
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 end the use of LD50 testing on animals.
tabling member constituency	Glasgow North
tabling member printed	Patrick Grady
uin	25499
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/05/2024 answer text <p>The UK supports work to develop New Approach Methodologies which can provide information on chemical hazards and risk assessment without the use of animals.</p><p>The Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) is the UK regulatory authority for veterinary medicines. The VMD assesses applications submitted by the veterinary pharmaceutical industry in line with national and international regulations and guidance to ensure safe and effective veterinary medicines of good quality are marketed. These requirements may therefore necessitate animal testing either to develop and register new veterinary medicines or for routine product quality control, to ensure the continued quality, safety and efficacy batch to batch. Non-animal tests are not always available. The VMD is committed to phasing out the use of animals for testing purposes where possible, in accordance with the principles of 3Rs (Replacement, Reduction, Refinement). Furthermore, the UK is a signatory to the European Pharmacopoeia (which sets minimum quality standards of medicines) and the European Convention for the Protection of Vertebrate Animals used for Experimental and Other Scientific Purposes. This commitment to the 3Rs is also enshrined in the UK’s Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 under which scientific procedures in animals are regulated.</p><p> </p><p>For veterinary medicines significant progress in non-animal testing has been made in recent years, including the possibility of replacing animals by in vitro suitable cell cultures in LD50-type testing methods, and the relevant regulatory quality standards and testing requirements have been revised accordingly for these specific medicines. Many Marketing Authorisation Holders for these specific medicines have already, and more recently, introduced these changes to their authorised medicines, which will reduce the number of animals used. Implementation of new tests for existing products can be a complicated process, requiring extensive validation and it is not always possible to replace all of the existing animal tests with in vitro non-animal replacements for each existing authorised product. The relevant UK Competent Authority for regulation of these medicines will continue to monitor the use of animals in these tests and to recommend use of non-animal tests where possible.</p><p><em> </em></p><p>The Minister of State for Science, Research and Innovation (the hon. Member for Arundel and South Downs, Andrew Griffith) recently announced that the Government will publish a plan to accelerate the development, validation and uptake of technologies and methods to reduce reliance on the use of animals in science, which will be published in the summer. He also requested that we double our investment in research to achieve these approaches next year to £20 million across the system in 2024/25.</p><p>LD50 testing is not required for preclinical development of novel medicines. Quality control testing of some authorised medicines relies on LD50 testing to ensure each batch meets expected quality standards<em>.</em> UK regulators follow the principles of the 3Rs. Significant progress has been made on validating alternative methods which do not use animals, including the possibility of replacing mice by in vitro suitable cell cultures in LD50-type testing methods, and the relevant regulatory quality standards and testing requirements have been revised accordingly for these specific medicines.</p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Sir Mark Spencer question first answered 16/05/2024 17:05:17 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
tabling member	4432 label Biography information for Patrick Grady

1716848

registered interest
date	09/05/2024
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	Farming Recovery Fund: Staffordshire
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 Staffordshire's eligibiltiy for the Farming Recovery Fund is under review.
tabling member constituency	Tamworth
tabling member printed	Sarah Edwards
uin	25601
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/05/2024 answer text <p>October 2023 to March 2024 was the second wettest 6-month period on record in England, recorded rainfall was nearly 60% above the average of the last decade. The impacts on farm businesses are already evident in some sectors and are likely to extend through the year.</p><p> </p><p>The launch of the Farming Recovery Fund on 9 April captured a first tranche of 9 counties affected by the flooding as a result of Storm Henk. Since then, we have listened and responded to feedback by removing the requirement for land to be within 150 metres of the main river and are committed to reviewing the eligibility to ensure that it best meets the needs for those who were most affected by the persistent wet weather over the winter.</p><p> </p><p>In recognition of the persistent wet weather over the winter, I am in discussion with farmers about what further support is needed. As part of this support, we have provided flexibility to farmers who have not been able to complete their agri-environment scheme requirements in winter or the spring – due to the prolonged wet weather impacts.</p> answering member constituency Keighley answering member printed Robbie Moore question first answered 14/05/2024 14:07:42 answering member 4861 label Biography information for Robbie Moore
tabling member	5001 label Biography information for Sarah Edwards

1716906

registered interest
date	09/05/2024
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	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: 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 his Department's policy is on the procurement of (a) food and (b) drinks produced in Britain for use in its canteens and restaurants.
tabling member constituency	South Holland and The Deepings
tabling member printed	Sir John Hayes
uin	25411
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/05/2024 answer text <p>The Government Property Agency (GPA) is responsible for the procurement of food and drink for canteens and restaurants in a number of government buildings across Britain, including Defra buildings.</p><p> </p><p>Contractually, all suppliers appointed by GPA are required to comply with the Government Buying Standards, owned by Defra.</p><p> </p><p>The relevant part of the standards is local and environmentally sustainable sourcing<strong>.</strong></p><p> </p><p>Wherever possible, food sourcing should prioritise locally produced food and food produced to higher environmental production standards. Contracting authorities and/or tier 1 suppliers should aim for at least 50% of food spend to be on locally produced food or food certified to higher environmental production standards. Progress towards this target must be reported annually.</p><p> </p><p>This contractual provision will be monitored as part of the governance and report requirements of GPA's new contracts.</p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Sir Mark Spencer question first answered 21/05/2024 13:35:05 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
tabling member	350 label Biography information for Sir John Hayes

1716932

registered interest
date	09/05/2024
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	Hornets
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 meetings Ministers in his Department have held on Asian hornets in the last 12 months.
tabling member constituency	Westmorland and Lonsdale
tabling member printed	Tim Farron
uin	25464
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/05/2024 answer text <p>The Asian hornet is an invasive non-native species, and a current GB alert species, which means that systems are in place to detect and then implement contingency plans to rapidly eradicate them in order to prevent establishment.</p><p> </p><p>It is regularly discussed as an item on the agenda of monthly Minister-led meetings reviewing biosecurity priorities. In addition, officials have provided one briefing meeting specifically on Asian hornets in the last 12 months.</p> answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow question first answered 17/05/2024 10:43:32 answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow
tabling member	1591 label Biography information for Tim Farron

1716941

registered interest
date	09/05/2024
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	Coastal Areas: Environment Protection
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 preserve psammosere environments in (a) Southport constituency and (b) across the UK.
tabling member constituency	Southport
tabling member printed	Damien Moore
uin	25554
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/05/2024 answer text <p>The sand dune habitats of the Sefton Coast benefit from a range of legal protections - as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), Special Area of Conservation (SAC), Ramsar site and National Nature Reserves (NNRs).</p><p> </p><p>Natural England (NE) works proactively with landowners, land managers, developers, and the public to ensure these important habitats are protected. The Sefton Coast Partnership has a key role in bringing stakeholders together to ensure dune habitats are conserved. The Sefton Coast was a location in the Dynamic Dunescapes project which actively restored dune habitats by removing scrub, helping dune re-mobilisation, and utilising livestock grazing to manage vegetation.</p><p> </p><p>In England, we have set four legally binding targets for biodiversity, to halt the decline in species abundance by 2030; to reverse species decline by 2042; to reduce the risk of species extinction; and to restore or create more than 500,000 hectares of wildlife-rich habitat, which will include psammoseres. These targets, alongside other targets on water and air quality for example, will drive action to create and restore habitats, reduce pressures on nature, and recover species.</p><p> </p><p>A recently published paper, <a href="https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpublications.naturalengland.org.uk%2Fpublication%2F6427187599900672&amp;data=05%7C02%7Cpqteam%40defra.gov.uk%7C93d4237744de4cf470b908dc741c70a8%7C770a245002274c6290c74e38537f1102%7C0%7C0%7C638512912700403721%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=G4mmXZX5UW0cJttpvHWSLF8%2BExRIlZoou%2BiQ5wYtKY4%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">Environment Act Habitat Target – Definitions and Descriptions</a>, developed jointly by Defra and Natural England, provides detail for those involved in on-the-ground activities to restore or create wildlife-rich habitats. It includes the list of wildlife-rich habitats, of which several are coastal, for example, littoral sand and muddy sand, coastal vegetated shingle and coastal sand dunes.</p><p> </p><p>Natural flood management is a key part of our solution to tackling flood and coastal erosion risks. We will double the number of government funded projects which include nature-based solutions to reduce flood and coastal erosion risk. Actions such as dune restoration not only help to reduce flood risk, but also provide other environmental benefits to wider areas. In February we awarded £25 million of funding to 40 schemes around England for improving flood resilience through a new natural flood management programme.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Environment Agency’s Restoring Meadow, Marsh and Reef (ReMeMaRe) initiative is working to restore our estuarine and coastal habitats, including saltmarsh, to benefit people and nature. The initiative involves Defra arms-length bodies, and a partnership network of environmental non-governmental organisations. It has a mission to restore 15% of the current extent of our key estuarine and coastal habitats (such as saltmarsh, seagrass, native oyster reefs) by 2043.</p><p> </p><p>Natural England is also undertaking climate change risk and vulnerability assessments across the SSSI network and developing site adaptive plans to identify climate vulnerable habitats, including sand dunes, and guide management to improve their resilience.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow question first answered 17/05/2024 12:00:19 answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow
tabling member	4669 label Biography information for Damien Moore