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1699277

registered interest
date	27/03/2024
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	Rights of Way: Scotland
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the merits of the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003, and the viability of introducing similar provisions for England.
tabling member printed	Lord Browne of Ladyton
uin	HL3660
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/04/2024 answer text <p>With regard to access to the countryside, England has a comprehensive network of public rights of way and the public has the ‘right to roam’ over many areas of wild, open countryside. The Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 currently provides the public with a right of access to areas of mountain, moor, heath, down, registered common land and coastal margin in England. There are no plans to change this.</p><p> </p><p>The Government recognises the importance of providing access to the outdoors for people’s health and wellbeing and is committed to ensure that everyone lives within 15 minutes’ walk of a green or blue space. As part of this we are completing work on the 2,700 mile King Charles III England Coast Path, and delivering the £16m Access for All programme across our protected landscapes, national trails, forests and the wider countryside to make access to green and blue spaces more inclusive.</p> answering member printed Lord Benyon question first answered 10/04/2024 11:07:11 answering member 1547 label Biography information for Lord Benyon
tabling member	620 label Biography information for Lord Browne of Ladyton

1699317

registered interest
date	27/03/2024
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	Fertilisers
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to the regulation, or other oversight, of the sale of plant biostimulants, including consideration of their efficacy, safety and ecological impacts.
tabling member printed	Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle
uin	HL3653
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/04/2024 answer text <p>The existing UK regulatory regime for the manufacture and placing of fertilisers on the market in the UK is fragmented and in need of modernisation. There are currently no specific requirements for plant biostimulants in domestic fertilisers legislation. However, Defra intends to improve on this by consolidating and streamlining the statute book and putting in place a conformity assessment framework for fertilisers. The framework will smooth the route to market for new and innovative products which are less polluting to the environment or are less resource intensive in their creation.</p><p>To support reform of fertilisers legislation Defra has funded a review of the evidence for the safe and effective use of plant biostimulants and a review of methods for evaluating methods for verifying the efficacy of plant biostimulants.</p><p>The potential impact of a chemical on plant health, including soil microbiomes is already considered, as appropriate, as part of HSE’s robust risk assessment process for pesticides and for biocides. In our regulatory programmes we do not assess the impacts of chemicals specifically on human and animal microbiomes and are not currently considering the introduction of such measures.</p> answering member printed Lord Douglas-Miller question first answered 12/04/2024 10:10:43 answering member 5006 label Biography information for Lord Douglas-Miller
tabling member	4719 label Biography information for Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle

1699318

registered interest
date	27/03/2024
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	Chemicals: Regulation
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the case for incorporating into pharmaceutical, pesticide and other chemical regulation consideration of impacts on human, animal, plant and soil microbiomes.
tabling member printed	Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle
uin	HL3654
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/04/2024 answer text <p>The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) operates a robust programme of regulating and monitoring medicines to ensure patients have access to safe and effective medicines. While the microbiome is still an evolving field, the MHRA is working to further our understanding on the impact of pharmaceuticals on the microbiome. Experts in MHRA are leading on international efforts to improve understanding of this area, for example through the development of World Health Organisation reference reagents for the microbiome.</p><p> </p><p>The potential impact of a chemical on plant health, including soil microbiomes is already considered, as appropriate, as part of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE)’s robust risk assessment process for pesticides and for biocides.</p><p> </p><p>The legislation around veterinary medicines makes it clear that when considering the authorisation of antimicrobial substances for use in animals, there should be consideration of the impacts on the human, target animal, and environmental microbiomes, including plants and soils.</p> answering member printed Lord Douglas-Miller question first answered 09/04/2024 11:12:25 answering member 5006 label Biography information for Lord Douglas-Miller
tabling member	4719 label Biography information for Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle

1699251

registered interest
date	26/03/2024
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	Agriculture
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will undertake an assessment of the impact of the agricultural transition on food production and farm business viability.
tabling member printed	The Lord Bishop of St Albans
uin	HL3641
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/04/2024 answer text <p>We very recently published a detailed impact assessment of a long list of actions considered for inclusion in the Environmental Land Management schemes. Actions were rated against a large number of ecosystem services and their impact on food production. An executive summary is attached.</p><p> </p><p>We have provided information on the potential impact of our farming reforms. For example, the farming evidence compendium was most recently updated in September 2022 and the Agriculture in the UK Dashboard was published in November 2023. These set out the contribution of Direct Payments to Farm Business Income, including analysis by sector, location in England and type of land tenure.’</p><p> </p><p>We also publish regular statistics on farm profitability, agricultural productivity and food production, including a recent statistical publication (attached) looking at how Farm Business Income has changed since the start of the agricultural transition. This publication also provides an overview of changes to the Basic Payment Scheme and agri-environment payments.</p><p> </p><p>As part of the agricultural transition, we monitor baskets of relevant metrics to maintain insights into general sector trends. The Government has recently committed to producing an annual Food Security Index to capture and present the key data to monitor food security.</p><p> </p><p>We will of course continue to carry out appropriate timely assessments of our interventions to inform policy development.</p> answering member printed Lord Douglas-Miller attachment 1 file name QEIA_1_Executive_Summary.pdf title Qualitative Impact Assessment of Land Management 2 file name Monitoring the agricultural transition_2022_23.pdf title Monitoring the agricultural transition period question first answered 12/04/2024 10:07:23 answering member 5006 label Biography information for Lord Douglas-Miller
tabling member	4308 label Biography information for The Lord Bishop of St Albans

1699253

registered interest
date	26/03/2024
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	Agriculture: UK Trade with EU
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government, following concerns raised by farmers regarding changes to the standard of food imports, what steps they are taking to address the impact of post-Brexit trade deals on British farmers.
tabling member printed	Lord Taylor of Warwick
uin	HL3643
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/04/2024 answer text <p>All food and drink products imported into the UK, including those from countries we have trade agreements with, must comply with the UK’s import requirements and standards. The independent Trade and Agriculture Commission concluded that our Free Trade Agreements with Australia, New Zealand and CPTPP are consistent with the maintenance of UK statutory protections in relation to animal and plant health, animal welfare and the environment.</p><p>Supporting UK food and agriculture is an integral part of the UK’s trade strategy. The Prime Minister made this clear at the Farm to Fork Summit in May 2023 and in his open letter to farmers. This letter, alongside the 2022 National Food Strategy, sets out the principles that guide our approach to agriculture and trade. We are putting farmers at the heart of British trade by delivering new export opportunities, protecting our sensitive sectors and our high food safety standards, upholding UK production standards and removing market access barriers.</p> answering member printed Lord Douglas-Miller question first answered 12/04/2024 10:02:43 answering member 5006 label Biography information for Lord Douglas-Miller
tabling member	1796 label Biography information for Lord Taylor of Warwick

1697823

registered interest
date	21/03/2024
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	White Fish: Monitoring
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 pollack otolith bones were collected by his Department in International Centre for the Exploration of the Seas area (a) VI and (b) VII in 2023.
tabling member constituency	Cambridge
tabling member printed	Daniel Zeichner
uin	19887
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/04/2024 answer text <p>Data is provided only for International Centre for the Exploration of the Seas Area VII. My department has not collected pollack otolith bones from Area VI.</p><p> </p><p>In 2023, 643 otolith bones were collected by the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science.</p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Mark Spencer question first answered 12/04/2024 09:48:57 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
tabling member	4382 label Biography information for Daniel Zeichner

1696633

registered interest
date	18/03/2024
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	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, when he plans to reply to the letters of 12 January and 14 February 2024 from the hon. Member for Weston-super-Mare on behalf of a constituent about e-collars.
tabling member constituency	Weston-super-Mare
tabling member printed	John Penrose
uin	19018
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/04/2024 answer text <p>A reply to the hon. Member is being prepared and will be issued in due course. I apologise for the delay in responding to the hon. Member.</p><p> </p><p>The hon. Member’s constituent asks about the Government’s position on electronic shock collars, known as e-collars. I can confirm that the Government remains committed to introducing a ban on the use of e-collars. We will pursue new regulations to deliver this commitment on a revised timeline. The full reply to the hon. Member’s letters will explain the reasoning behind this position.</p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Mark Spencer question first answered 12/04/2024 09:39:42 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
tabling member	1584 label Biography information for John Penrose

1696687

registered interest
date	18/03/2024
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	Fisheries: Imports
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 is taking steps to ensure that imported fisheries products are not produced through the use of (a) illegal, (b) unreported and (c) unregulated fishing practices.
tabling member constituency	Hendon
tabling member printed	Dr Matthew Offord
uin	19049
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/04/2024 answer text <p>Imports and direct landings of fish into the UK are required to be accompanied by catch certificates. This ensures traceability throughout the supply chain to mitigate the risk of the fish having been derived from illegal, unreported or unregulated fishing.</p><p> </p><p>The UK has powers to apply import restrictions to countries identified as non-cooperative in tackling IUU fishing. At present, the UK does not permit the import of fishery products from Comoros, Cambodia or Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Import restrictions can also be implemented at vessel level. Any vessel that has been identified as associated with IUU fishing activities, can be placed on the UK’s IUU Vessel List meaning it is not eligible to import fishery products into the UK. Advice and guidance for importers of fish and fisheries products is available on GOV.UK.</p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Mark Spencer question first answered 12/04/2024 09:44:37 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
tabling member	4006 label Biography information for Dr Matthew Offord

1695885

registered interest
date	13/03/2024
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	Flood Control: 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, pursuant to the Answer of 13 March 2024 to Question 15154 Flood Control: Finance, in which local authority areas the completed flood defences are located; what type of flood defences they are; and how many homes are protected by those flood defences in each local authority area.
tabling member constituency	Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle
tabling member printed	Emma Hardy
uin	18568
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/03/2024 answer text <p>We are in the third year of the current <ins class="ministerial">six</ins><del class="ministerial">6</del>-year £5.2 billion <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/flood-and-coastal-erosion-risk-management-an-investment-plan-for-2021-to-2027" target="_blank">Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management (FCERM) investment programme</a>. This investment programme will better protect hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses from flooding and coastal erosion. At the end of March 2023, approximately £1.5 billion of this funding has been invested with 60,000 properties better protected from flooding and coastal erosion. This was delivered through over 200 completed schemes.</p><p> </p><p>Below is a table which shows properties better protected by Local Authority boundary between April 2021 and March 2023. The figures include Environment Agency, Local Authority, and Internal Drainage Board flood and coastal risk management projects that fall within that boundary. We are unable to provide a breakdown of the type of flood defences for each authority. However, the Environment Agency’s <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/programme-of-flood-and-coastal-erosion-risk-management-schemes" target="_blank">Programme of flood and coastal erosion risk management</a> shows completed FCERM schemes within the previous <ins class="ministerial">six</ins><del class="ministerial">6</del>-year investment programme (2015-2021), and the first year of the current capital investment programme (2021-2027) which are now better protecting homes.</p><p> </p><p>Each year the Environment Agency also produced a <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/flood-and-coastal-risk-management-national-report" target="_blank">summary </a>of flood and coastal erosion risk management work carried out by risk management authorities in England. This is required under Section 18 of the Flood and Water Management Act 2010. When the current FCERM investment programme ends, after March 2027, the Environment Agency will publish a report with a breakdown of spending, similar to the report published in <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/flood-and-coastal-erosion-risk-management-capital-investment-programme-headline-benefits/flood-and-coastal-erosion-risk-management-assessment-of-benefit-of-the-2015-to-2021-capital-investment-programme#:~:text=Between%202015%20and%202021%20government,flood%20and%20coastal%20erosion%20risk." target="_blank">2022</a> after the 2015-2021 investment programme.</p><p> </p><p>Please see the table attached. Notes for the table:</p><p> </p><ul><li>The figures are based on the best available information.</li><li>Flood and coastal schemes built in one Local Authority boundary may benefit under another Local Authority Boundary.</li><li>Projects that cross multiple boundaries have been grouped together under the ‘cross-boundary projects’ row.</li><li>The properties were better protected between April 2021 and March 2023. The April 2023 to March 2024 figures have not yet been finalised.</li></ul> answering member constituency Keighley answering member printed Robbie Moore question first answered 20/03/2024 15:51:48 question first ministerially corrected 21/03/2024 15:52:31 answering member 4861 label Biography information for Robbie Moore attachment 1 file name PQ 18568 attachment.xlsx title 18568 Attachment previous answer version 24852 answering member constituency Keighley answering member printed Robbie Moore answering member 4861 label Biography information for Robbie Moore
tabling member	4645 label Biography information for Emma Hardy

1694500

registered interest
date	07/03/2024
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	Domestic Waste and Recycling: Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole
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 Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council with (a) recycling and (b) rubbish collections.
tabling member constituency	Bournemouth East
tabling member printed	Mr Tobias Ellwood
uin	17527
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/04/2024 answer text <p>The Government is introducing Simpler Recycling to ensure that across England, people will be able to recycle the same materials, no longer needing to check what their council will accept for recycling. The costs to deliver the new duties on local authorities for this reform will be funded by a combination of Packaging Extended Producer Responsibility payments provided to local authorities for the cost of collecting and managing household packaging waste through efficient and effective services, and reasonable new burdens funding from the Government to provide weekly food waste collections. We have brought forward up to £295 million in capital funding to roll out weekly food waste collections across England. This will cover the cost of additional bins and vehicles. Initial grants have now been issued to local authorities, including Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, for their transitional capital funding allocation for financial year 2023/24. Transitional resource costs will be paid from the 2024/25 financial year and ongoing resource costs paid from 1 April 2026.</p> answering member constituency Keighley answering member printed Robbie Moore question first answered 09/04/2024 11:36:57 answering member 4861 label Biography information for Robbie Moore
tabling member	1487 label Biography information for Mr Tobias Ellwood