National Food Strategy: Small-scale Family Farms
(Kettering)
(Con)
What steps he is taking to help ensure the National Food Strategy
provides a sustainable future for small-scale family farms.
The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
()
The Government thank Henry Dimbleby and his team for their work
on the independent review of the food system. We are committed to
carefully considering the review and its recommendations, and
responding in full with a White Paper in the next six months.
That will set out our ambition and priorities for the food system
to support farms of all sizes and our exceptional food and drink
producers.
Mr Hollobone
Does the Secretary of State agree that the heart will be ripped
out of the British countryside if small-scale family farms in
Kettering and elsewhere go under as a result of industrial
agriculture and the relentless pursuit of cheap food? What will
he do to ensure that family farms remain an important and
permanent feature of rural life?
My hon. Friend makes an important point about the importance of
small family farms in our agriculture system. A lot of the
economic analysis done by the Government and companies such as AB
Agri shows that some of those smaller family farms are
technically the most proficient and often the most profitable, as
they have attention to detail. The Government are going to be
bringing forward more proposals to support new entrants to our
farming industry so that we have a vibrant, profitable sector,
with farms of all sizes.
(Tiverton and Honiton) (Con)
The National Food Strategy has recommended that the Government
must define the minimum standards we will accept in future free
trade deals and a “mechanism for protecting them”. The report
says that without that there is “serious peril” that tariff-free
deals could not only “compromise” our own attempts to drive up
these standards, but allow cheap imports, which would “undercut”
our farmers. Given that the Trade and Agriculture Commission
already made exactly that recommendation in its March report,
almost five months ago, can the Secretary of State tell me when
these core standards will be set out and whether that mechanism
for defending them will be in place before the Australia deal is
signed?
The Government are working on a sanitary and phytosanitary policy
statement that will set out the UK’s farm-to-fork approach on
these matters, the science of good farm husbandry and how that
improves food safety standards. We also have some key things in
our legislation, such as bans on the use of hormones in beef and
of chlorinated washes. Those are in our legislation and will not
change.
Livestock Worrying
(Aberconwy) (Con)
What steps he is taking to help tackle livestock worrying.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food
and Rural Affairs ()
New measures to crack down on livestock worrying are being
introduced as part of the Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill.
They will expand species and locations covered, and will enhance
enforcement. Improved powers for the police will make it easier
for them to collect evidence and, in the most serious cases, to
seize and detain dogs.
Farmers in Aberconwy have been speaking to me about the threat
that dogs out of control pose to livestock. Dan Jones, who farms
the Great Orme above Llandudno, told me just yesterday about how
five ewes were killed in two attacks in just one day. This week,
I was pleased to support my hon. Friend the Member for Ynys Môn
() in her
Bill to amend the Dogs (Protection of Livestock) Act 1953,
because this is a UK-wide problem. Will the Minister meet her, me
and other north Wales colleagues to discuss how we can strengthen
legislation further to deal with this menace?
I would be delighted to meet colleagues to discuss this important
subject. New measures in the Bill specify that a dog will be
considered to be at large unless it is on a lead of less than 1.8
metres or the dog remains in sight of the owner, who is aware of
the dog’s actions and is confident that the dog will return if
called .It is important that we continue to work on these details
to get this absolutely right.
Abundance of Wildlife Species: Legislative Proposals
(Slough) (Lab)
If he will bring forward legislative proposals to set a target
for the abundance of wildlife species by 2030.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food
and Rural Affairs ()
We have amended the Environment Bill to require a new, historic
and legally binding target for species abundance for 2030 to be
set, aiming to halt the decline in nature. The details of that
target will be set out secondary legislation and the target will
be subject to the same requirements as the other long-term
legally binding targets set under the Bill.
Mr Dhesi
The UK is among the most nature-depleted countries; half our
wildlife has decreased since 1970 and one in seven species is now
at risk of extinction. Given a decade of huge cuts, all the
rhetoric and the modest uplift in Natural England funding cannot
hide the fact that the Government have consistently missed United
Nations biodiversity targets. Minister, in order to show
leadership and set an example to the rest of the world, should a
natural target not be set now, rather than wait, so that we can
stop and reverse the decline of nature by 2030?
I hope the hon. Gentleman will agree that the Government are
taking this issue really seriously. We are the first Government
to set a target such as this, aiming to halt the decline of
nature, and indeed recover it by 2030. We are working on the
detail of that target. It will be set, along with all the other
targets, through the Environment Bill, which will enable us to
work together to raise up nature everywhere, and we will be
announcing those targets in October 2022.
(Sheffield, Hallam) (Lab) [V]
I have become accustomed to the flurry of press releases from the
Department and the long list of initiatives that the Minister has
a habit of reciting when questioned about biodiversity and
species abundance. Does she agree with the Chair of the
Environmental Audit Committee, the right hon. Member for Ludlow
(), when he says:
“Although there are countless Government policies and targets to
‘leave the environment in a better state than we found it’, too
often they are grandiose statements lacking teeth and devoid of
effective delivery mechanisms”?
So, where is the plan?
I hope the hon. Lady will agree that the plethora of press
releases demonstrate just how much work is going on in this
Department. We are bringing through groundbreaking legislation
that will put in all the measures that we need to tackle these
really serious issues. So we have the targets in the Environment
Bill and we have a whole range of grants and funds, such as the
woodland creation grant and the Nature for Climate peatland
restoration grant scheme. They are open now, and people can start
applying for them, and we really are moving on this.
Mr Speaker
Let’s go to Captain Bob. Good to see you, Bob.
Tree Planting
(Harrow East)
(Con)
What steps he is taking to increase tree planting.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food
and Rural Affairs ()
The England trees action plan, supported by £500 million from the
Nature for Climate fund, announced a series of funds to support
the creation of woodland over this Parliament. That includes over
£25 million for our woodland creation partnerships this year, £6
million for the urban tree challenge fund for the next two years,
a £2.7 million local authority treescapes fund for 2021-22, and
£15.9 million for the woodland creation offer this year.
Mr Speaker
Come on, Bob.
[V]
Thank you, Mr Speaker, and I thank my hon. Friend for her answer,
and for the work that she is doing. Clearly, in urban and
suburban settings, new trees are a lifeline to encourage the
green lungs of the cities and towns around our country. What more
can she offer to encourage local authorities to implement new
street trees, which are appropriate to the setting, not only on
streets, but also in parks and open spaces?
My hon. Friend raises a really important point. It is not just
about planting trees in rural areas; our urban areas are so
important, because that is where people engage with the trees. So
I am sure he will be pleased to hear about the urban tree
challenge fund, which is providing £6 million over the next two
years to support trees in exactly the places he says—our towns
and cities. We have also opened the £2.7 million local authority
treescapes fund, to encourage more tree planting in non-woodland
settings, but particularly along roads and footpaths, just as he
is suggesting. I hope that he will be encouraging his local
authority to apply for some of those grants.
Coastal State Fisheries Negotiations: Quota Share
(West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine) (Con)
What steps he is taking to maximise the share of quota for
British fishermen in the next round of Coastal State fisheries
negotiations.
The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
()
It is very good to see my hon. Friend back in the Chamber after
his illness. For 2021, the Government have secured fishing
opportunities of around 628,000 tonnes of quota across all the
annual negotiations—approximately 55,000 tonnes more than last
year. The Government are now preparing for the next round of
annual fisheries negotiations. We have held a series of briefings
with stakeholders this month on the latest scientific
recommendations, and we will be developing our negotiating
mandate in the months ahead.
I thank my right hon. Friend for that answer. The decision not to
come to an agreement with Norway was met with mixed reactions
across the different sectors within the industry. While the
pelagic sector is undoubtedly doing well out of our new status,
there have been challenges for the demersal sector. So can my
right hon. Friend give a commitment that the Government are
determined to deliver honesty of opportunity for all sectors in
the industry—demersal as well as pelagic?
My hon. Friend is right. The pelagic sector in particular has
benefited from the UK becoming an independent coastal state with
more quota and less competition from Norway and the Faroe
Islands, which have not had access to our waters this year. For
2021, the fleet received an increase of around 5,800 tonnes of
mackerel compared with the year before. My hon. Friend is also
right: we want to deliver for all sectors, which is why, in
England, we have given a significant uplift to the inshore
under-10 metre fleet with additional quota this year. It is also
why, as I speak, we are in the final stages of negotiations on
annual exchanges with the EU that will help the white fish
sector.
(Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport) (Lab/Co-op)
The fishing industry knows that the Government have failed to
negotiate real-terms quota data with the European Union, and it
also knows that the Government have no idea—no idea—how much
non-quota species are being caught by EU boats in our waters.
With the shellfish ban on exports and British fishers being
harassed for catch data that we do not require from EU boats,
where in the Tory manifesto did it say that we would actually
give away control of our waters, and where is the plan for
fishing? Where is the plan?
I will take no lectures on these matters from the hon. Gentleman
who wanted us to remain in the European Union and wanted to allow
EU vessels to have the ability to fish in our waters without even
requiring a licence to do so.
The Government have required all foreign vessels, including EU
vessels, to have a licence to fish in our waters, and that sets
certain conditions. We have access to vessel monitoring data so
that we can track the precise location of all those vessels, and
we are also working on methodologies now so that they must
declare their catch when they leave our waters and when they
enter our waters, and that will give us the data that he suggests
that we need.
Compulsory Microchipping of Cats
(Newcastle upon Tyne North) (Lab)
What the planned timescale is for the introduction of the
compulsory microchipping of cats.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food
and Rural Affairs ()
The Government have a manifesto commitment to introduce
compulsory microchipping of cats, and that was recently restated
in the action plan for animal welfare. We carried out a public
consultation, which ended in February, and DEFRA officials are
currently analysing the 33,000 responses. We will publish the
details of our proposals later this year.
[V]
So despite widespread public support, as the Minister confirmed,
we are yet to have a timetable for the compulsory microchipping
of pet cats. We know that 2.6 million unchipped pet cats in the
UK have less chance of being reunited with their owners if they
are lost or stolen, despite how heartbreaking the loss of much
loved pets can be and the recognised need to improve animal
welfare. Will the Government ensure that the consultation on cat
and dog microchipping reports as soon as possible and announce
their timetable for introducing regulations to make microchipping
compulsory for pet cats?
I share the hon. Lady’s enthusiasm for microchipping cats. A
total of 74% are already microchipped, including my own I am
pleased to say. We will be working hard, as soon as we have
responded to the consultation, to legislate as soon as possible.
Only secondary legislation is needed to bring about changes if
those are considered necessary, so I do not anticipate any great
delay, and I reassure the hon. Lady that we are working on this
at pace.
Seafood Response Fund
(Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (SNP)
What criteria his Department used to determine the allocation of
the seafood response fund.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food
and Rural Affairs ()
The seafood response fund gave funding to shellfish, aquaculture
and catching businesses across the UK when they had been affected
by covid or by trade disruption. The size of each payment was
based on the average fixed costs for each business. For catching
businesses, this was based on vessel size, and for aquaculture
businesses, this was based on the number of people they employed.
Now that the Minister has had time to read the deal that the UK
Government have signed, she will see that it is a bad deal and
that there has been a lot of trade disruption. In January and
February, Scottish companies were losing roughly £1 million per
day. By the end of February, the Scottish Salmon Producers’
Organisation stated that its members had lost £11 million. What
does the Minister estimate is the total cost of covid and Brexit
on the Scottish seafood industry? How much compensation has been
paid to Scottish companies? How much compensation is still to be
paid, and what has she done to resolve the issue of exports to
the EU?
The hon. Gentleman will be aware of the extensive work that has
been carried out by the Scottish seafood taskforce, chaired by
the Under-Secretary of State for Scotland, my hon. Friend the
Member for Banff and Buchan (), which has provided practical and sensible measures
to assist with exports to the EU. On the specific fund, we were
very careful to make it clear that Scottish businesses should not
lose out, so the fund was available for all eligible UK
businesses, and Scottish businesses were able to apply for a
top-up if that was appropriate, so we were very careful to ensure
that Scottish businesses were treated equitably.
River Health
(South West Bedfordshire) (Con)
What steps he is taking to help improve river health.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food
and Rural Affairs ()
Measures in the Environment Bill will help to address the problem
of untreated sewage entering the rivers. On 9 July, Southern
Water was fined £90 million—the largest sum yet for a water
company—for persistent illegal discharge of raw sewage. Ministers
have been clear with water industry chief executive officers on
their companies’ legal duties. We are also tackling river
pollution from poor farming practices. In addition to regulation
and financial incentives, catchment-sensitive farming helps
thousands of farmers to make water improvements.
[V]
Leighton sewage works pumped raw sewage into the River Ouzel for
149 hours in 2019, and in March this year waste water was pumped
into the river for several weeks at Mardle Road. Volunteers Ruth
Mundy and Liz Hooper report the absence of ducks, egrets and
kingfishers, which were common in the past. Will the new director
of water quality at the Environment Agency be able to achieve a
rapid and sustained improvement?
I thank my hon. Friend for highlighting this issue. It is clearly
unacceptable. I hope he will agree that we now have many measures
in place; he has been involved in pressing for them. The storm
overflows taskforce has been set up to deal with the sewage
overflows, which, in our view, are used far too frequently. Much
more monitoring is in place through the water companies. They
have to publish a plan on this issue and the Government have to
report back. We are really cracking down on the whole issue of
water quality, which my hon. Friend is right to raise.
Support for Farmers
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food
and Rural Affairs ()
The agricultural transition plan sets out how support for farmers
is changing. Instead of paying farmers subsidies based on the
amount of land they own, we are introducing new schemes to
incentivise good ecological practices. We will also offer grants
to support new entrants to the sector, and to improve
productivity and business planning.
(Edinburgh North and Leith) (SNP)
The UK Government yesterday indicated that they were willing to
break their own trade deal with the EU because of consequences
that they told us would not happen. The EU may then very well
implement tariffs on UK exports to the EU, as it has a right to
do under the Tory-negotiated deal. That would be calamitous for
our agricultural sector. The Minister will no doubt answer with
reference to all the new deals that the International Trade
Secretary is signing the UK up to, but just days ago the New
Zealand Prime Minister warned that failing to keep to treaty
commitments could threaten membership of the comprehensive and
progressive agreement for trans-Pacific partnership. Will the
Minister commit to covering the extra costs to farmers that this
whole sorry mess is causing, or are the consequences of this
ideological Brexit crusade to be borne by everyone but the UK
Government and their Ministers?
I do not think it is any secret to the House that I was no
Brexiteer, but I must say that for farming and fishing I think we
have really gained from Brexit. In England, we do not think the
environment can wait. We want to start paying our farmers public
money for public goods; that is how they will be supported in the
future.
Scottish Seed Potato Industry
(Moray) (Con)
What recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on
support for the Scottish seed potato industry.
The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
()
The Scottish seed potato industry is renowned globally for its
high health status and it is second to none. It exports to some
40 countries around the world and 80% of its exports are outside
the EU—to markets such as Egypt and Morocco. As my hon. Friend
knows, the EU has adopted a curious stance in respect of
authorising Scottish seed potatoes. Although EU law provides a
mechanism for equivalence to be recognised, the Commission has so
far refused even to allow its Standing Committee on Plants,
Animals, Food and Feed to assess our application. We are
continuing to work with industry to unblock this issue.
[V]
To remove the risk to Scotland’s seed potato industry and respect
the principle of reciprocal trade, will the UK Government agree
to prohibit the importation of seed potatoes from the EU?
We introduced a temporary six-month marketing authorisation that
allowed EU seed potatoes to be marketed in England and Wales
earlier this year. That has now expired, as agreed with the
industry and the devolved Administrations. If any applications
are received for marketing equivalence, the UK will consider
whether seed potatoes have been produced under conditions
equivalent to requirements in GB regulations. Of course, the
sensible thing to happen is for the EU to apply its own rules and
laws, and to assess the application that we have lodged with it.
Food Security
(Liverpool, West Derby) (Lab)
What steps his Department is taking to ensure food security for
consumers in the UK.
The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
()
The UK has a resilient food supply chain built on strong domestic
production, open markets and an advanced logistics and retail
sector. The impacts of the pandemic and labour shortages mean
that it has been tested. We have been working with colleagues
across Government to ensure that our food supply chain has the
support that it needs. The Agriculture Act 2020 requires regular
assessments of food security and the first of these will take
place later this year.
[V]
Department for Work and Pensions data has revealed the shocking
fact that, pre-covid, 42% of households on universal credit were
food insecure. With the planned removal of the £20 uplift to
universal credit, what impact assessment has the Secretary of
State’s Department completed on the impact of removing the uplift
regarding the food security of the 6 million people on universal
credit?
We regularly monitor household spending on food. It is important
to note that last year household spending on food among the
poorest 20% of households was the lowest on record, at about 14%.
That said, we absolutely recognise that there are individual
households that struggle to afford food. That is why the
Government have brought forward a number of initiatives over the
past 12 months to support them through groups such as FareShare,
as well as the holiday activities and food scheme.
(Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport) (Lab/Co-op)
There are crops rotting in the fields due to a shortage of people
to pick them, there is a self-inflicted shortage of HGV drivers
due to the Government’s poor Brexit deal, and there are now empty
shelves across Britain because thousands of retail workers are
doing the right thing and self-isolating. Why has the Secretary
of State for food not got a grip on the lack of food security in
the country, and where is the plan?
When it comes to labour, the hon. Gentleman will know that we
have introduced the seasonal agricultural workers scheme, which
has been crucial this year in providing farms with the seasonal
labour that they need, and we have allowed 30,000 seasonal
workers to come in under that scheme. We are also continuing to
work with businesses on the issue of staff having to isolate. The
Government will shortly be saying more about their approach on
this to ensure that key critical infrastructure can continue.
Recycling Rates
(Newport East) (Lab)
What steps the Government are taking to improve recycling rates.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food
and Rural Affairs ()
We are introducing reforms to the waste sector that will help us
to increase the amount of material we recycle. These reforms
include introducing consistency in household and business waste
collection in England, extended producer responsibility for
packaging, and a deposit return scheme for drinks containers.
Together, these measures will help us to meet our commitment to
recycle 70% of packaging by 2030 and 65% of municipal waste by
2035.
[V]
Not only are we in Wales the third best at recycling in the
world, but in Newport, under the leadership of Newport Council
and Wastesavers, we are the top recycling city in Wales, and the
reuse centre in the constituency of my hon. Friend the Member for
Newport West () is one of three nominated for civic amenity centre of
the year, with rates of 90%. Does the Minister agree that the
Government can learn much from Wales and Newport?
I thank the hon. Lady for her question. I am not going to be
sniffy about this: if we can learn lessons from anyone, I am
never too proud. Equally, the challenges are different in every
place. We have set our targets to increase our recycling rates
here in the UK, but actually Wales, and Northern Ireland, will be
joining us in the deposit return scheme. We very much welcome all
the negotiations and consultations that we are having to ensure
that that will work across the borders.
Leaks from Water Mains
(Bromley and Chislehurst) (Con)
What discussions he has had with Ofwat and representatives of
utility companies on reducing leaks from water mains.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food
and Rural Affairs ()
Reducing leakage is an essential part of our ambition to improve
water efficiency. Ofwat has set companies a performance
commitment to reduce leakage by 16% by 2025. The water companies
have further committed to deliver a 50% reduction by 2050, which
could save up to 1,400 megalitres of water per day. I will
require water companies to develop their water resource
management plans on this basis.
[V]
The problem we have in Bromley is that 95% of the mains are cast
iron, according to Thames Water, and are therefore much, much
more liable to breaking, rather than the average in London of 50%
to 60%. It means we have repeated leaks, often in the same place,
patched up time and time again. We had 133 in one postcode area
in four months, in one instance. This is actually causing real
issues for my constituents. Can we have a specific programme to
replace outdated Victorian infrastructure and bring it up to
purpose for the 21st century?
I thank my hon. Friend for that, and I do realise the challenges
that people are facing in his constituency. Repairing and
replacing leaking pipes is, as he points out, absolutely
critical; obviously, it is particularly critical to maintaining
clean, safe, reliable drinking water to our homes and businesses.
Identifying those leaks is challenging, and water companies are
looking at innovative ways to improve outcomes. It is really for
the companies to decide how to maintain their infrastructure, but
we are pushing them with the targets that have been set. To
minimise the disruption caused, they are required to provide
notice of planned work to customers and local authorities.
Topical Questions
(Warwick and Leamington) (Lab)
If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.
The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
()
Over the past 18 months, key workers in our food supply chain
have worked incredibly hard to keep the nation fed during the
difficult context of the pandemic. The recent hot weather has
increased demand for some items, such as bottled waters, and
staff absences have increased, but remain lower than seen earlier
in the pandemic. We are working with colleagues across Government
to support businesses in the food supply chain, and I take this
opportunity to thank all those key workers working on farms, in
food factories, in the distribution system and in our food retail
sector for their extraordinary efforts.
In the past two years, we have seen tragic floods in Yorkshire,
Cumbria and south Wales. We have seen the floods in Europe and
now in China. The Government have cut spending on flood defences
by 10%. Why?
The hon. Gentleman is incorrect in that the capital spending on
floods is increasing to £5.2 billion. That is almost a doubling
of the previous programme. We have held meetings around the
Yorkshire area, and Yorkshire will be one of the key
beneficiaries from that investment we are making.
(Hastings and
Rye) (Con)
In many villages, such as Winchelsea Beach in my beautiful
constituency, sewage or foul water drainage is not separate from
rain water and storm water drainage. There is a combined system,
which means that at times of high rainfall, many residents suffer
sewage flooding in their gardens. Does my right hon. Friend agree
that in view of environmental and health concerns, it is
imperative that sewage is kept in a separate pipe from rainwater?
If so, what steps will he take to ensure that these changes
happen?
My hon. Friend makes a very important point. Some of the
challenges we have are typically with houses built in the
Victorian era where, as she says, the street drainage system goes
into the foul water sewage system. That can lead to it being
overwhelmed at times. Most developments that have taken place
since the 1960s do have surface water drainage separated from
foul water sewage systems. We have set up a taskforce to look at
how we can address this problem and, in particular, reduce the
use of combined sewage overflows.
(Newport West) (Lab)
I had a good trip up to Newcastle-under-Lyme recently to meet
residents and the pressure group Stop the Stink and to see and
smell for myself the horrific emissions from Walleys Quarry, the
local landfill site that has the dubious honour of being the
smelliest tip in England. What engagement has the Secretary of
State had with the owner of the site, Red Industries, to restore
residents’ physical health and mental wellbeing and stop the
stink? Where is the plan?
My hon. Friend the Member for Newcastle-under-Lyme () has been raising this issue with me, the Prime Minister
and others consistently. There is a challenge. I have met him
twice to discuss it. I have also met the local team in the
Environment Agency dealing with this, and I have discussed it
with the chief exec of the Environment Agency. One of the
problems is that it is thought that some plasterboard was
illegally dumped at the site. That is what is causing the current
problem with hydrogen sulphide. The Environment Agency is working
on a plan to flare those gases off, and we are doing all that we
can to support them in that endeavour.
(East Surrey) (Con) [V]
I am pleased to be hosting another “Green-tember” in East Surrey
this year—a whole month of pushing for environmental progress and
looking at the small actions we can all take as residents to
protect nature. As this helpfully coincides with COP26, would
Ministers consider my request to speak at the East Surrey COP
summit this year?
My
hon. Friend is absolutely right that this is a really big year
for the environment internationally—not only with COP26 being
hosted in Glasgow, but with the convention on biological
diversity COP15, where we are going to be setting some crucial
biodiversity targets. I am sure that either I or one of our
ministerial team would be more than happy to speak to her event,
and we are speaking to many other such events around the country.
(Luton North) (Lab)
When I visit schools in Luton North, including Lealands, where I
went recently, I find that one of the top concerns for young
people is plastic waste. The Government say they will eliminate
plastic waste by 2042. By that time, the kids I met at Lealands
will be adults, they would have jobs and many would have become
parents. Will the Secretary of State work with Opposition Members
to improve recycling rates, and actually deal with the plastics
crisis affecting landfill across the country and the oceans
across our planet before those children become adults?
I am regularly contacted by students in schools around the
country on this great challenge. We have made some very important
steps forward with the ban on some single-use plastics, and we
intend to go further with such bans, and the levy on single-use
carrier bags. We have, in our flagship Environment Bill, the
proposal for extended producer responsibility, which will make
the people who manufacture goods and use the packaging
responsible for its recycling at the end of its life. That will
be a significant change that will help reduce the use of
plastics.
(West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine) (Con)
The annual scientific advice on fish stocks provided by the
International Council for the Exploration of the Sea is a crucial
element in determining sustainable fisheries in European waters,
but there are concerns that without an independent peer review
process the Government may take that wholesale without
considering other elements such as social or economic concerns.
What steps are the Government are taking to ensure there is a
whole industry process that takes all these factors into account
when determining total allowable catch and quota for the year
ahead?
The UK Government work very closely with ICES. Indeed, our chief
fisheries scientist at the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and
Aquaculture Science is the deputy president of ICES. ICES
regularly receives submissions from CEFAS, and where we believe
its methodology is incorrect, wrong or missing certain things, it
is often our scientists in CEFAS who help to update that
information. Of course, when we set quotas annually and set our
position on that, we take into account a range of
factors—principally the ICES advice, but other factors as well.
(Putney) (Lab)
Almost 60% of people in England are living in areas where levels
of toxic air pollution exceeded legal limits last year. Putney
High Street and other local main streets are some of the most
polluted streets in the UK, so my constituents know the dangers
of air pollution only too well. Why has the Secretary of State
rejected every attempt to include World Health Organisation air
quality targets in the Environment Bill, and will he commit to
doing this when the Bill returns to the House later this year?
We are doing a very detailed piece of work on all the targets we
intend to set under the Environment Bill, including on air
quality, but also on water, biodiversity, and waste and resource
management. We are looking very closely at two particular
approaches to air quality. One is a concentration target for
PM2.5—and I know there have been representations from people that
it should be 10 micrograms—and the other is population exposure.
(North
Herefordshire) (Con) [V]
[R] As I understand it, the DIVA test is being piloted at the
moment. When can we expect it on farm, and if we must wait for
approval, why has the Secretary of State cancelled culling
licences before approval has been given?
We have not cancelled culling licences, but it is the case that
the intensive four-year culls in many parts of the country have
run their course and have therefore ended. To answer my hon.
Friend’s question, we are running field trials at the moment on
that DIVA test, and we plan to have that vaccine in 2025.
(North
Ayrshire and Arran) (SNP)
Shortages of workers in warehouses and food- processing centres
across the UK are having a real impact on packaging food for
supermarket shelves, with Tesco bosses warning that every week 48
tonnes of food is wasted. This is exacerbated by an estimated
100,000 shortage of HGV drivers. What interventions will the
Secretary of State make to address this shocking state of
affairs?
The Department for Transport has already announced some plans to
increase the speed of driver testing and to deal with some of
those logistics issues. Secondly, we are working across
Government to ensure that where isolation is needed we protect
particularly important strategic infrastructure.
(Rugby)
(Con) [V]
I am sure the Secretary of State was shocked to see the huge
volumes of litter left around Wembley and London’s west end after
the Euro final. He referred earlier to extended producer
responsibility for packaging. That seeks to put the blame for
litter on manufacturers, making them responsible for the cost of
the clean-up. Does he agree that this was all caused by illegal
actions of the public, and while it is important to consider
business responsibility, should the Government not also look to
ensure that their citizens behave responsibly?
I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend. We all have a role to
play in this; people should take responsibility for their litter.
We have taken some steps, such as fixed penalty notices so we can
issue on-the-spot fines to people who do litter, but we need a
culture change in this area.
