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1715756

registered interest
date	03/05/2024
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	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, if he will take steps to introduce further funding rounds under the natural flood management programme.
tabling member constituency	Ellesmere Port and Neston
tabling member printed	Justin Madders
uin	24779
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/05/2024 answer text <p>We want to mainstream the use of Natural Flood Management (NFM) and expect the £25 million NFM programme will help inform how we do that. While we do not currently have plans for further rounds, we would encourage applicants to apply for NFM funding as part of our wider £5.6 billion investment in flood and coastal defences.</p> answering member constituency Keighley answering member printed Robbie Moore question first answered 14/05/2024 13:51:08 answering member 4861 label Biography information for Robbie Moore
tabling member	4418 label Biography information for Justin Madders

1715537

registered interest
date	02/05/2024
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	Dairy Products: 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 Not for EU labelling requirements in the dairy sector on levels of (a) food and (b) packaging waste.
tabling member constituency	North Shropshire
tabling member printed	Helen Morgan
uin	24731
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/05/2024 answer text <p>A public consultation on not for EU labelling requirements was held earlier this year. The evidence is now being analysed and we expect to publish a response in due course. Excessive wastage of food or packaging were not raised as a significant concern in these responses or in any wider industry forums.</p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Sir Mark Spencer question first answered 14/05/2024 16:56:44 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
tabling member	4934 label Biography information for Helen Morgan

1715539

registered interest
date	02/05/2024
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	Air Pollution: 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, with reference to the press release of 4 August 2023 entitled £6 million to improve air quality in local communities, what proportion of that funding will be spent in each Parliamentary constituency; and for what purpose.
tabling member constituency	North Shropshire
tabling member printed	Helen Morgan
uin	24733
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/05/2024 answer text <p>The Minister used his discretion not to fund the Local Air Quality Grant Scheme for the 2023-2024 financial year. He has asked Defra officials to consider the future of the scheme and how it might be redesigned to better deliver positive outcomes for local air quality and public health and therefore enhanced value for money for taxpayers.</p> answering member constituency Keighley answering member printed Robbie Moore question first answered 24/05/2024 12:11:20 answering member 4861 label Biography information for Robbie Moore
tabling member	4934 label Biography information for Helen Morgan

1715540

registered interest
date	02/05/2024
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	Air Quality Grant Scheme
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 funding his Department has provided through the Air Quality Grant in each constituency in (a) each of the last three years and (b) the 2024-25 financial year.
tabling member constituency	North Shropshire
tabling member printed	Helen Morgan
uin	24734
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/05/2024 answer text <p>The information regarding how much funding has been provided through the Air Quality Grant Scheme over the last three years is available on gov.uk (<a href="https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gov.uk%2Fgovernment%2Fcollections%2Fair-quality-grant-programme&amp;data=05%7C02%7Cpqteam%40defra.gov.uk%7Cfdc4fdf79c4a4b8d50ea08dc6e8bddbc%7C770a245002274c6290c74e38537f1102%7C0%7C0%7C638506794214880111%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=So4ceNUTlFCLOg9DFhZThaueZj9r19z3%2Fl6BlbEdOJA%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">Air quality grant scheme - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)</a>). This includes a breakdown of which local authorities have been successful in being awarded a grant.</p><p> </p><p>Decisions regarding the scheme for the financial year 24/25 have not yet been made.</p> answering member constituency Keighley answering member printed Robbie Moore question first answered 24/05/2024 12:05:43 answering member 4861 label Biography information for Robbie Moore
tabling member	4934 label Biography information for Helen Morgan

1715542

registered interest
date	02/05/2024
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	Water Companies: Insolvency
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 criteria his Department uses to determine whether water companies have failed to carry out their (a) statutory functions and (b) licensed activities to such an extent that his Department would apply to the High Court for them to be placed into special administration under the provisions of the Water Industry Act 1991.
tabling member constituency	Brighton, Pavilion
tabling member printed	Caroline Lucas
uin	24632
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/05/2024 answer text <p>The Defra Secretary of State and the Water Services Regulation Authority (Ofwat), with consent of the Secretary of State, have the power to request the court to place a company in a special administration regime (SAR) so that its business can either be rescued or transferred as a going concern to new owners. Section 24 (2) of the Water Industry Act 1991 sets out the legal parameters for which a SAR can be applied for.</p> answering member constituency Keighley answering member printed Robbie Moore question first answered 14/05/2024 16:14:34 answering member 4861 label Biography information for Robbie Moore
tabling member	3930 label Biography information for Caroline Lucas

1715573

registered interest
date	02/05/2024
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	Sewage: Waste Disposal
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 his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of amending water undertakers' licences under the Environment Act 2021 to require those undertakers to accept septic tank waste (a) where there is market failure in the processing of that waste and (b) in other circumstances.
tabling member constituency	St Ives
tabling member printed	Derek Thomas
uin	24692
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/05/2024 answer text <p>Defra does not have the power to amend water company licence conditions; Ofwat has this power under the Water Industry Act 1991.</p><p> </p><p>In the Plan for Water, the Government has committed to review existing regulatory arrangements and explore funding and other support options for improving septic tank activities. We continue to consider options that mitigate the risks arising from private sewage discharges.</p><p> </p><p>In January 2023, to ease the pressures on the septic tank waste disposal market in Cornwall, the Environment Agency issued a <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/storing-and-treating-chemical-toilet-waste-rps-277/storing-and-treating-chemical-toilet-waste-rps-277" target="_blank">regulatory position statement</a> to increase waste storage capacity. This means that tanks can temporarily store more sewage (up to 60 cubic metres) until South West Water has capacity to take it.</p> answering member constituency Keighley answering member printed Robbie Moore question first answered 08/05/2024 15:50:30 answering member 4861 label Biography information for Robbie Moore
tabling member	4532 label Biography information for Derek Thomas

1715584

registered interest
date	02/05/2024
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: Disease 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, whether his Department has identified the original source of bovine spongiform encephalopathy in the UK.
tabling member constituency	Portsmouth South
tabling member printed	Stephen Morgan
uin	24698
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/05/2024 answer text <p>Classical bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) was first diagnosed in the United Kingdom in 1986. Scientific opinion is that classical BSE was caused by feeding feedstuffs to cattle that were contaminated with a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) agent due to the inclusion of meat and bone meal. Scientific research has not identified any other definite vector of transmission and found no other potential causes, such as exposure to organophosphates. There is no evidence that it ‘spreads’ from animal to animal or between holdings.</p><p> </p><p>As a result of this scientific opinion, a ban on prohibiting the sale, supply and use of feeding stuff incorporating animal protein for feeding to ruminants was put in place in the UK in 1988. Following further scientific advice, in 1996 the ban was extended to prohibit the feeding of mammalian meat and bone meal, or any feeding stuff containing it, to any farmed animals.</p><p> </p><p>From a peak of over 37,000 cases in 1992 in the UK, there have been only 4 cases of the disease confirmed since 2014. This supports the hypothesis that classical BSE is a food-borne disease introduced by the inclusion of animal protein in feed, and that our BSE controls are working. It is still unknown which TSE agent caused the BSE epidemic (e.g. a scrapie agent from sheep or goats or an agent previously unknown in the cattle population that was recycled). Various transmission studies undertaken in GB and other countries failed to reproduce a BSE-like disease with TSE agents isolated from sheep or cattle other than classical BSE.</p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Sir Mark Spencer question first answered 08/05/2024 13:19:49 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
tabling member	4653 label Biography information for Stephen Morgan

1715586

registered interest
date	02/05/2024
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: Disease 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 prepare for another potential outbreak of bovine spongiform encephalopathy in the UK.
tabling member constituency	Portsmouth South
tabling member printed	Stephen Morgan
uin	24699
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/05/2024 answer text <p>The measures to be followed in the event of suspicion of BSE are set out in UK legislation, and the Animal and Plant Health Agency (AHPA) are well prepared to carry out the necessary actions. In the rare event that BSE is suspected, whole farm movement restrictions are applied by APHA who then trace cohorts (animals that shared feed with the affected animal during its first year of life) and any of its offspring born in the last two years.</p><p> </p><p>In the event of the suspect case testing positive for BSE, its cohorts and offspring are then humanely culled, samples are taken from the brain stem for testing and the carcases are then destroyed, with the owners of the culled animals receiving compensation. While it not believed that BSE can be transmitted by mother to offspring during pregnancy ('vertical transmission') these animals are culled, along with cohorts, on a precautionary basis.</p><p> </p><p>The APHA also carry out a rolling national feed audit which inspects and takes samples at various stages of the animal feed chain. This includes checks for prohibited processed animal proteins in samples of feeding stuffs intended for farmed animals. If feed is non-compliant, APHA inspectors look at the cause of contamination and make a decision based on the risk. Depending on the severity, feed may have to be removed from the market, and cattle exposed to it may be restricted or killed.</p><p> </p><p>We remain vigilant to the threat posed by BSE and have a comprehensive surveillance programme in place to monitor the level of BSE over time and check on the continued effectiveness of our BSE controls. More detail on this is set out in Defra’s latest TSEs annual report here:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/monitoring-programme-for-tses-annual-report-2021-and-2022" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/monitoring-programme-for-tses-annual-report-2021-and-2022</a>.</p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Sir Mark Spencer question first answered 08/05/2024 13:09:23 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
tabling member	4653 label Biography information for Stephen Morgan

1715600

registered interest
date	02/05/2024
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	Sustainable Farming Incentive
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 and what proportion of land covered by applications to the Sustainable Farming Incentive was tenanted farmland in the 2023-24 financial year.
tabling member constituency	Scarborough and Whitby
tabling member printed	Sir Robert Goodwill
uin	24628
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/05/2024 answer text <p>Defra does not hold data on which land is tenanted and so the data for the proportion of land covered by applications to the Sustainable Farming Incentive which was tenanted farmland in the 2023-24 financial year is not available.</p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Sir Mark Spencer question first answered 14/05/2024 17:05:52 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
tabling member	1562 label Biography information for Sir Robert Goodwill

1715602

registered interest
date	02/05/2024
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	Sustainable Farming Incentive
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 data her Department holds on the proportion of applications to the Sustainable Farming Incentive made in the last 12 months in which more than (a) 25%, (b) 50% and (c) 75% of the applicant's holding was focused on uses other than food production.
tabling member constituency	Scarborough and Whitby
tabling member printed	Sir Robert Goodwill
uin	24629
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/05/2024 answer text <p>In the last 12 months data shows that the proportion of all applications to the Sustainable Farming Incentive by the applicant's holding where they focused on uses other than food production is shown in the table below (this includes land that was not in food production previously and regardless to the status of the application).</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Not in Food Production</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Proportion Applications</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Between 25% and 50%</p></td><td><p>0.24%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Between 50% and 75%</p></td><td><p>0.64%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Greater than 75%</p></td><td><p>3.79%</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>On the 26 March we introduced a “25% of your holding limit” on 6 SFI actions, these 6 were actions that were designed to operate in tandem with food production – rather than instead of. The 25% limit still provides farmers with the flexibility to incorporate SFI actions into their farming systems and rotations. The majority of the SFI actions are not limited and enable farmers to produce food sustainably. Very few farmers were putting over 25% of their land into these non-food producing actions, however, we decided to act promptly before this became an issue. Industry and stakeholders worked with us on this – and welcomed the move.</p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Sir Mark Spencer question first answered 15/05/2024 15:44:36 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
tabling member	1562 label Biography information for Sir Robert Goodwill