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1719562

registered interest
date	21/05/2024
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	Bamboos: Weed 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, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to restrict the planting of monopodial bamboo.
tabling member constituency	Romford
tabling member printed	Andrew Rosindell
uin	27300
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/05/2024 answer text <p>The “bamboo” family is a collection of more than 1500 species, some of which are considered invasive.</p><p> </p><p>The Government is aware that, if left uncontrolled, bamboo can in some cases become challenging to manage. It is advised that a physical barrier is used to prevent the uncontrolled spread of bamboo. Where the growth of bamboo poses an issue, the Government recommends that this is addressed by cooperation between owners and affected parties.</p><p> </p><p>Whilst the Government recognises that many bamboo species are vigorous and fast-growing, they are not currently thought to pose a significant threat to wildlife or to socio-economic interests nationally. Defra utilises horizon scanning exercises to identify potentially invasive species. As a result, a risk assessment of Black Bamboo (<em>Phyllostachys nigra</em>) was recently undertaken, however this showed the species to be of low risk to the country and therefore no further action was taken.</p><p> </p><p>Although the Government are not currently considering changing the legal status of one, or any, of the species of bamboo currently found in Great Britain, we keep matters such as these under review and continue to carry out horizon scanning and risk assessments for potential threats.</p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Sir Mark Spencer grouped question UIN 26974 question first answered 23/05/2024 09:35:28 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
tabling member	1447 label Biography information for Andrew Rosindell

1719398

registered interest
date	20/05/2024
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	Factory Farming: Animal Welfare
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 reduce the number of factory farms; and what assessment he has made of the impact of the Animal Health and Welfare Pathway.
tabling member constituency	Ynys Môn
tabling member printed	Virginia Crosbie
uin	27136
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/05/2024 answer text <p>There are a number of different farming systems within the UK and farms of all sizes have a role to play in promoting sustainable UK agriculture. The Government promotes efficient, competitive farming, but does not seek to favour large- or small-scale farms.</p><p> </p><p>All farms must comply with comprehensive UK law on animal health and welfare, planning, veterinary medicines and environmental legislation. Stockmanship and high husbandry standards are key to ensuring appropriate welfare standards for all farmed animals.</p><p> </p><p>We are committed to supporting farmers to exceed our existing world-leading animal welfare standards, including through the Animal Health and Welfare Pathway.</p><p> </p><p>A full monitoring, evaluation and learning plan for the Pathway is in place to help assess the impact of financial support being offered to farmers. This is being implemented gradually as more Pathway offers are launched.</p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Sir Mark Spencer question first answered 23/05/2024 09:11:39 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
tabling member	4859 label Biography information for Virginia Crosbie

1718790

registered interest
date	16/05/2024
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	Agriculture and Food: Wellingborough
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 encourage (a) farmers and (b) food producers to use sustainable farming methods in Wellingborough constituency.
tabling member constituency	Wellingborough
tabling member printed	Gen Kitchen
uin	26822
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/05/2024 answer text <p>Defra is investing in sustainable farming methods, in the Wellingborough constituency and across England, through our environmental land management schemes, in particular the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI). The SFI aims to support the environment and food production, and it rewards farmers for practices that will help to produce food sustainably and protect the environment at the same time, while also providing them a reliable income for doing so. That is because we know that food production and nature preservation go hand in hand. Those practices will help to look after farms in the short and long term by improving soil health or mitigating the impact of extreme weather.</p><p> </p><p>The aim is for the scheme to be flexible for farmers in both the actions that they can take and the land on which they farm. Rather than prescribing what farmers must do, they should have a menu from which to choose what works best for their farm and to their advantage. That is helping those farmers to make their businesses more sustainable.</p><p> </p><p>What is more, Defra is listening to and acting upon farmer feedback about environmental land management schemes. In 2024, we are increasing payment rates for the SFI and Countryside Stewardship (CS) by an average of 10, increasing the number of actions on offer in our environmental land management schemes with up to 50 new actions, making schemes more flexible and easier to access, and continuing to prioritise an ‘advise and prevent’ approach across schemes and regulation, which will make things fairer for all farmers participating in schemes. We will begin to offer SFI and new CS Mid Tier and Higher Tier agreements through rolling application windows this summer with the first agreements starting from the autumn. As a result, applicants will get agreements quicker and earlier than the current annual cycle for CS agreements. These, and other changes, will make it easier for our schemes to slot into farm businesses, providing more money for farmers deliver change and ensure we get the scale and ambition we need to positively impact the environment.</p><p> </p><p>We have already seen strong demand for SFI agreements, with 22,209 applications received and 21,243 agreement offers issued across England.</p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Sir Mark Spencer question first answered 21/05/2024 08:52:34 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
tabling member	5011 label Biography information for Gen Kitchen

1718243

registered interest
date	15/05/2024
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	Inland Border Facilities
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 physical inspections were carried out at the Sevington Border Control Post since 30 April 2024 by hour.
tabling member constituency	Walthamstow
tabling member printed	Stella Creasy
uin	26450
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/05/2024 answer text <p>Our checks are intelligence-led and based on biosecurity risk. It would be inappropriate for us to set out operational details like the inspection details. Traders should continue to follow the published guidance which sets out BTOM inspection rates.</p><p> </p><p>DEFRA will gradually increase changes in controlled stages to balance biosecurity risk and maintain trade flows whilst minimising disruption at the border.</p><p> </p><p>This will allow the level of goods inspected at the border to be operationally manageable over the introductory stages.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Sir Mark Spencer question first answered 23/05/2024 09:36:48 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
tabling member	4088 label Biography information for Stella Creasy

1718278

registered interest
date	15/05/2024
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	Biodiversity: Cost Effectiveness
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 plans to take to monitor the value for money of Government-funded biodiversity projects over the next five years.
tabling member constituency	East Londonderry
tabling member printed	Mr Gregory Campbell
uin	26371
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/05/2024 answer text <p>Defra has a number of schemes which provide funding to support biodiversity projects. This includes the Landscape Recovery Scheme, The Farming in Protected Landscapes Programme, and Natural England’s Species Recovery Programme Capital Grant Scheme.</p><p> </p><p>Each individual scheme has its own monitoring and evaluation framework to evaluate the impact of the projects, and this will include evaluation of the value for money delivered. For example, the Species Recovery Programme is currently commissioning an evaluation for the current Spending Review period which will include evaluating whether the Programme is providing value for money.</p><p> </p><p>Defra is also currently developing an overarching monitoring and evaluation framework to strengthen its understanding of progress towards meeting its statutory biodiversity targets, including its target to halt the decline in species abundance by 2030. This work will include an overall evaluation of the value for money delivered by the suite of government interventions for biodiversity.</p> answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow question first answered 20/05/2024 16:15:43 answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow
tabling member	1409 label Biography information for Mr Gregory Campbell

1718359

registered interest
date	15/05/2024
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	Agriculture (Delinked Payments) (Reductions) (England) Regulations 2024
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 the draft Agriculture (Delinked Payments) (Reductions) (England) Regulations 2024 on the incomes of farmers.
tabling member constituency	North Herefordshire
tabling member printed	Sir Bill Wiggin
uin	26372
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/05/2024 answer text <p>As part of our transition away from Direct Payments, the draft Agriculture (Delinked Payments) (Reductions) (England) Regulations 2024 will apply reductions to delinked payments in 2024. However, this money is not being lost to the sector. The overall farming budget in England is being maintained at an average of £2.4 billion per year across this Parliament. The money released from the reductions is being reinvested in our other schemes for farmers and land managers. This means farmers can access funding which will help reduce costs and improve productivity and resilience, as well as benefitting the environment.</p><p> </p><p>Analysis of the impacts of removing Direct Payments was included in the Government’s 2019 farming evidence compendium and 2021 and 2022 Agriculture in the UK Evidence Packs.</p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Sir Mark Spencer question first answered 20/05/2024 15:15:55 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
tabling member	1428 label Biography information for Sir Bill Wiggin

1717983

registered interest
date	14/05/2024
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	Agriculture: Suffolk Coastal
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 allocated to the farming sector in Suffolk Coastal constituency since 2022 by (a) funding type and (b) recipient.
tabling member constituency	Suffolk Coastal
tabling member printed	Dr Thérèse Coffey
uin	26133
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/05/2024 answer text <p>We do not hold details of Farming in Protected Landscapes (FiPL) funding by constituency. Details of FiPL funding for projects in the Suffolk &amp; Essex Coast &amp; Heaths National Landscape, which partly overlaps with the Suffolk Coastal constituency, can be found <a href="https://coastandheaths-nl.org.uk/managing/farming-in-protected-landscapes/projects-approved/" target="_blank">here</a>.</p><p> </p><p>The Rural Payment Agency (RPA) has supported the farming and rural sector through payments under a range of schemes.</p><p> </p><p>Since 1 April 2022, the RPA has released through schemes and grants approximately £20,740,643 in the Suffolk Coastal constituency.</p><p> </p><p>A breakdown of these figures provided below relates to payments released within the specified financial years 2022 to 13 May 2024, irrespective of the scheme year to which individual payments are related, and only covers payments that are provided to farmer businesses by the RPA.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Basic Payment Scheme</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Countryside Stewardship Scheme</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Environmental Stewardship</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Sustainable Farm Incentive</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Other Grants</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Total</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>13,056,470</p></td><td><p>3,533,148</p></td><td><p>2,200,580</p></td><td><p>221,924</p></td><td><p>1,728,521</p></td><td><p>20,740,643</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>To meet data protection obligations, it is not possible to break this down further by recipient.</p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Sir Mark Spencer question first answered 22/05/2024 14:48:23 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
tabling member	4098 label Biography information for Dr Thérèse Coffey

1718076

registered interest
date	14/05/2024
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	Food: Genetically Modified Organisms
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 impact of genetically modified foods on public health; whether he has had discussions with corporations involved in the manufacture of genetically modified foods about indemnities for potential future harms; what the annual budget is for the Genetic Modification Inspectorate (GMI); and what plans he has for future funding for the GMI in the context of the potential impact of the Genetically Modified Organisms (Deliberate Release) (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2022 on the planting of genetically modified crops.
tabling member constituency	Ynys Môn
tabling member printed	Virginia Crosbie
uin	26297
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/05/2024 answer text <p>i) All GM food and feed products must undergo an extensive and robust risk assessment process under the Food Standards Agency’s GM regulatory framework to ensure they are safe. The risk assessment involves a thorough assessment of whether the food could be toxic, its nutritional value and whether it could cause allergic reactions. GMOs will only be approved to enter the food chain if they are judged to not present a risk to health, not mislead consumers, and not have less nutritional value than existing equivalent products.</p><p> </p><p>After an authorisation has been issued in accordance with the GM food and feed regulations, authorisation holders are required to inform government of any new scientific or technical information which might influence the evaluation carried out of the safety in use of the food or feed.</p><p> </p><p>ii) The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has not had discussions or been approached by corporations interested in exploring indemnities for future harms, should they occur and are revealed to have proven links to GMO foods.</p><p> </p><p>iii) The current annual budget for the Genetic Modification Inspectorate (GMI) is covered within the gross funding model under the Animal and Plant Health Agency commission from Defra, and as such it is not possible to draw out any specific amount relating to this. As of May 2024, there have been 16 field trials using the Genetically Modified Organisms (Deliberate Release) (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2022. The GMI has not reported any additional demands as a result.</p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Sir Mark Spencer question first answered 22/05/2024 14:33:45 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
tabling member	4859 label Biography information for Virginia Crosbie

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

1716427

registered interest
date	08/05/2024
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	Plants: Northern Ireland
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which (a) plants, (b) trees and (c) seeds are not allowed to be sent to Northern Ireland from Great Britain as a result of the Windsor Framework.
tabling member constituency	North West Leicestershire
tabling member printed	Andrew Bridgen
uin	25224
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/05/2024 answer text <p>The Windsor Framework provides for simplified arrangements for the movement of plants and plant products between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, meaning a phytosanitary certificate is not required and that a wider variety of plants can move.</p><p> </p><p>We have secured the lifting of a ban on the movement of twelve plant species - apple, Japanese / delavay privet, European crab apple, common hawthorn, Norway maple, Japanese maple, sycamore maple, field maple, English oak, sessile oak, European beech and, most recently, hazel. We are in active dialogue with the EU Commission on a number of other species which industry has proposed as priorities. We will continue to engage with industry to ensure the smooth movement of additional plant species. Further details can be found on Defra’s online Plant Health Portal. All information on high-risk plants, including the latest information on the plants’ dossiers and those where the bans have been lifted, can be found at the ‘Plant Portal’ <a href="https://planthealthportal.defra.gov.uk/trade/exports/exports-to-the-eu/export-of-high-risk-plants-to-the-eu-2/" target="_blank">here.</a></p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Sir Mark Spencer question first answered 17/05/2024 10:27:32 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
tabling member	4133 label Biography information for Andrew Bridgen