Written questions by Cooper.

Food and Rural Affairs, if he will review the decision not to permit close relatives of deceased members of the Women’s Land Army to apply for and receive the Women’s Land Army and Women’s Timber Corps commemorative badge on their behalf.

The Women’s Land Army and Women’s Timber Corps Scheme, announced to Parliament on 6 December 2007, recognises the women who served in the Land Army and Timber Corps during the Second World War making a critical contribution to the war effort. The Scheme was designed so that medals could be worn by surviving veterans and the families of deceased veterans as a visible reminder of the significant role these women played in the war effort. Applications are welcome from family members for posthumous awards for those veterans who died on or after 6 December 2007 (the opening of the Scheme).

Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has considered introducing further regulations on establishing (a) dog and (b) cat rescue organisations.

Companion animal rescue and rehoming organisations in England must comply with statutory welfare requirements set out in the Animal Welfare Act 2006. Members of the public can also check if the rescue centre they use is a member of the Association of Dogs and Cats Homes, which has set clear standards for animal assessments, neutering and rehoming procedures that all members adhere to. More broadly, the Department is developing an overarching approach to animal welfare and has initiated a series of meetings with key animal welfare stakeholders as part of this work. It will be outlining more detail of plans in due course.

Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to his speech to the 2024 Country Land and Business Association conference of 21 November 2024, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of extending the proposed 25-year farming roadmap to include (a) food and (b) food consumption.

At the Country Land and Business Association conference, Defra communicated that we would work together with farmers on a 25-year roadmap. This means we will not be telling farmers what to do. The 25-year farming roadmap will be co-produced to transition to new models that are more environmentally, and more financially, sustainable for the long-term. Defra will focus on making farming and food production more profitable and sustainable for decades to come.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to ensure super trawlers report marine mammal by-catch to the Marine Management Organisation.

This Government are committed to protecting our wildlife and putting nature on the road to recovery. Defra are working to improve monitoring and understanding of bycatch incidences as part of the Bycatch Mitigation Initiative. This includes continued annual estimates of marine mammal bycatch mortality through the Bycatch Monitoring Programme and work to look at barriers to bycatch reporting under the Clean Catch project.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to take steps to introduce a national phase-out of the use of pesticides in public areas under local authority control.

It is for each local authority to decide the best way of delivering effective and cost-effective weed control in its operations without harming people or the environment. We are working with stakeholders in the sector to increase awareness and uptake of Integrated Pest Management to reduce reliance on chemical pesticides.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has made an assessment of the implications for his policies of the potential environmental impact of mobile phones going to landfill.

No assessment has been made of the environmental impacts of mobile phones going to landfill.