Samuel Kurtz: First Minister, the illegal invasion of Ukraine and subsequent inflationary costs have severely impacted our Welsh farmers, particularly through rising costs of the three Fs—feed, fuel and fertiliser. This has undoubtedly led to increased food costs, affecting families across Wales. So, does the First Minister agree with me that tackling food poverty in Wales depends on a robust and...
Robbie Moore: It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Paisley. I thank the hon. Member for Croydon Central (Sarah Jones) for tabling this important debate. I also thank right hon. and hon. Members for their contributions. I will pick up on the points that have been raised. I know from my own constituency, from Keighley and Ilkley, just how much of a nuisance fly-tipping can be in our areas...
Leo Docherty: I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising that case, which is one of gravity and importance. I will ask the Minister for Africa, my right hon. Friend the Member for Sutton Coldfield, to write with an update on the representations that we are making through our high commissioner in Abuja. The UK Government are committed to supporting Nigeria to end faith-based persecution and violence, and...
Robert Buckland: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to (a) reduce food waste at farms and (b) support farmers to ensure that surplus food is redistributed.
Mark Spencer: We will publish the National Action Plan (NAP) for the Sustainable Use of Pesticides in due course. It will set out Defra’s ambition to minimise the risks and impacts of pesticides to human health and the environment and the actions that need to be taken to deliver those goals. Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is at the heart of our approach to support sustainable agricultural...
Mark Spencer: ...of the impact actions will have on food production and as such food security. Long term food security and agribusiness viability relies on farming becoming more sustainable and SFI is designed to support farmers in this. Many SFI actions are undertaken alongside agricultural operations and do not require land be taken out of production. Some actions within SFI are likely to take small...
Therese Coffey: ...leave of the House, I thank all hon. and right hon. Members who have spoken today. We have seen from their constituency examples why this update to the legislation is needed. I thank the Government for their support. I thank the shadow Secretary of State for the support of His Majesty’s Opposition, and I thank the officials and my parliamentary team, who have taken the Bill this far. I...
Steven Bonnar: It is a pleasure to see you in the Chair, Dr Huq. I am grateful to the hon. Member for Ynys Môn (Virginia Crosbie) for securing this important debate, because it gives me the opportunity to address an incredibly concerning issue for the people of Scotland. A depopulation crisis is gripping our valued rural and coastal communities. Scotland’s agricultural industry is the linchpin of the...
Hilary Benn: ...our departure from the European Union caused a problem. Everybody knew that there would be a problem between Northern Ireland and the Republic, because of the open border that everyone continued to support. I think I said last week that it was about the only thing in Brexit where there was agreement. If there is a problem, we have to find a way through it. What we are grappling with here,...
Mark Spencer: I pay tribute to my hon. Friend for how she campaigns on behalf of her constituents. I know that Welsh farmers are very concerned about the Welsh Government’s approach to Welsh agriculture. Here in England, we are trying to support farmers in producing top-quality food and looking after the environment, and I think the Welsh Government need to reflect on how they should influence their...
Mark Spencer: My hon. Friend is truly privileged to represent such a beautiful part of England. We are collaborating with stakeholders to ensure that our schemes work for them. We regularly communicate with them through the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affair’s farming blog, by meeting them at trade shows, through ministerial visits, and through stakeholder organisations such as the...
Steve Barclay: Since I last updated the House, the Government have been delivering on their plan to back British farmers. We are now seeing an average increase of 10% in our environmental farming payments so that farmers can protect our environment and continue to grow the food that we need. Recent storms have threatened the livelihoods of many farmers, which is why, alongside the wider flood recovery...
Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to support farmers to use methane suppressing feed additives.
Shona Robison: Of course I do, and I have said that before, as Liz Smith will be aware. However, it helps on the margins and does not help with the central problem that the quantum available does not match the scale of what is required, and capital availability is a significant challenge to the infrastructure needs of our country. That is a point that I, the Welsh and the Northern Irish made to the Chief...
Rebecca Pow: What a wonderful wetland-busting speech that was. But I expected no less of my hon. Friend the Member for Stroud (Siobhan Baillie), who is not only a wonderful advocate for her constituency but a particular advocate for the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust and—as has been pointed out by some of our colleagues—for all things wetland, helping to embed this subject in our parliamentary agenda....
Samuel Kurtz: Thank you, Minister, and I'm grateful for your commitment that digital inclusion is a social justice issue, because digital inclusion involves proficient and equitable access to, and use of, information and communication technologies that enable participation in modern, social and economic life—basically, the ability to use a computer for day-to-day tasks. Now, the digital world spans...
Robbie Moore: Farmers and land managers have an increasingly important role to play in reducing the risk of flooding and coastal erosion as we adapt to climate change, through measures such as natural flood management. In addition to protecting homes, the flood investment programme also protects agricultural land. In our six-year record £5.2 billion floods investment programme, the amount of funding a...
Robbie Moore: On Saturday 6th January the Government announced a significant package of support that will be available to areas in England that have experienced exceptional localised flooding as a result of Storm Henk (2nd – 12th Jan). DLUHC has activated the Flood Recovery Framework and its package of support measures include; Community Recovery Grant: Eligible Local Authorities will receive funding...
Lesley Griffiths: ...meet during BlasCymru. So, I think it was 28 buyers that this particular company had met over the two days. Now, if you think how you would reach 28 buyers—that would take a huge amount of work for a very small business to be able to go out there, meet those buyers, have those conversations. So, for me, it's the brokerage that I mentioned—it's absolutely at the heart of BlasCymru—but...
Lord Offord of Garvel: I thank the noble Lord for that question. We fundamentally agree with that. We have been talking with the cheese manufacturers all the way through this. We send £200 million-worth of food to Canada and it sends us the thick end of £600 million back, mostly wheat, maize and lobster. However, we do not want to take the hormone beef. That is where the beef is. The issue, therefore, is that we...