Written questions by Campbell.

Food and Rural Affairs, what changes have been made in the past twelve months to the monitoring of animal health disease under the Animal Health and Welfare Framework.

The Animal and Plant Health Agency leads the Government’s monitoring of animal disease control and carries out routine surveillance of disease risks in the UK and globally, to help the Government anticipate future threats to animal health. We remain vigilant to changes in risk and continue to use our established systems to monitor for new and emerging threats to our biosecurity through our Veterinary Risk Group and the Human and Animal Infections Risk Surveillance Group. The Animal Health and Welfare Common Framework (Provisional Framework Outline Agreement and Concordat), published as a Command Paper in 2022, has been produced to explain how the UK Government and devolved Governments propose to work together in key areas of animal health and welfare law and policy. It explains how the principles of devolution continue to apply to animal health and welfare policy after the UK’s exit from the EU. The separate Animal Health and Welfare Framework published in 2018 has been produced to help county councils, unitary authorities and metropolitan boroughs in England deliver their statutory duties in relation to the health and welfare of farmed animals. Neither Framework in its own right establishes nor introduces any changes to the monitoring of animal health.

Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 21 May 2025 to Question 51109 on UK Internal Trade: Northern Ireland, how many species are scheduled to have their prohibition lifted by 31 December 2025.

Defra has submitted technical dossiers to the European Commission seeking derogations for 45 species of plants from the EU's prohibitions on entry for high-risk plants. 35 of these have been successful to date, subject to specific conditions being met. The remaining 10 applications are under review by the Commission. Their up-to-date status can be found here: Export of high risk plants to the EU - UK Plant Health Information Portal

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to assist in the roll out of the T-cell-based approach vaccine to tackle Elephant Endotheliotropic Herpesvirus.

APHA scientists have assisted the consortium, which includes the University of Surrey, and Chester Zoo, to get to this phase 1 study of a novel vaccine to tackle Elephant Endotheliotropic Herpesvirus. They will continue to provide expert advice and assistance. Chester Zoo have agreed to take this work forward, which is likely to include a phase II study prior to any wider roll out.

Food and Rural Affairs, when she plans to respond to Written Question 74702 on Sustainable Farming Incentive.

Question 74702 was answered on 22 September 2025.

Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to answer Question 74602 on UK Internal Trade: Northern Ireland.

Question 74602 was answered on 15 September 2025

Food and Rural Affairs, what plans he has for the future use of properties utilised as Northern Ireland Points of Entry.

The Northern Ireland Points of Entry are critical for food security and biosecurity. These facilities will continue to be used to fulfil this critical function. The future use of these facilities once the UK-EU Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Agreement is in place will depend on the final shape of that agreement, however the Government is clear that its priority is to reduce barriers to trade and red tape.

Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 20 June 2025 to Question 60425 on Sustainable Farming Incentive, what his planned timetable is for announcing further details of the reformed Sustainable Farming Incentive.

Defra is working closely with farmers and industry stakeholders to design a future Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) offer that will better target SFI in an orderly way towards our priorities for food, farming and nature. Further information about the reformed SFI will be provided shortly.

Food and Rural Affairs, what his plans are for future import of (a) animals and (b) animal meat products from Germany, in the context of the outbreak of foot and mouth disease in that country.

The import restrictions brought in as a result of the outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease in Germany were lifted on 14 May 2025. However, other import restrictions are in place linked to other disease outbreaks in the EU. These restrictions mean that live animal imports are not possible, for example, from bluetongue affected countries including Germany. Furthermore, restrictions on personal imports of many meat and dairy products are in place from the whole of the EU. A full list of restrictions on imports from the EU is available here and is kept constantly up to date to assist traders and the public: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/imports-and-exports-of-animals-and-animal-products-topical-issues.

Food and Rural Affairs, what data his Department holds on the change in the quantity of sheep meat imports from Ireland between 2022 and 2024.

Data held by the UK Government shows the net mass (kg) of sheep meat moving from Ireland to Great Britain dropped from 9.4kt in 2022 to 6.9kt in 2024. This data is published at: Overseas trade data table.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to announce a replacement to the Sustainable Farming Incentive programme by 22 July 2025.

Defra is working closely with farmers and industry stakeholders to design a future Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) offer that fairly and responsibly directs funding. Further details about the reformed SFI offer will be announced in summer 2025.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help reduce instances of wildfires during the summer.

Defra encourages landowners and land managers to undertake wildfire risk assessments and consider mitigating actions as part of good quality wildfire management plans. Defra regularly engages with the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) and other Government departments in addition to bodies such as the National Fire Chiefs Council and the England and Wales Wildfire Forum, to monitor and review sector-led improvements and mitigations.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to support the further roll out of Multi Banks.

This Government is committed to transitioning to a circular economy – one that stimulates growth, reduces waste, and alleviates pressure on household bills. By keeping our materials in use for longer, we can strengthen supply chain resilience, attract investment in modern manufacturing and processing infrastructure, and create skilled jobs across the country. A circular economy also means less waste going to landfill or on our streets, and more value returned to businesses and consumers alike. Defra recognises the opportunities and benefits Multi Banks could play in redistributing surplus goods to those that need them. As we develop our Circular Economy Strategy for England, we will consider the evidence from right across the economy and evaluate what interventions may be needed.

Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate his Department has made of the number of red squirrels in each year between 2022 and 2025.

The Government has not made an estimate of red squirrel populations between 2022 and 2025. No systematic national survey for the species currently exists, therefore it is not possible to provide annual population estimates. In England the red squirrel population is estimated to be 38,900 (Mathews et al, 2018).

Food and Rural Affairs, how many species of plant that previously could not be traded between Great Britain and Northern Ireland have been made available following discussions with the EU on horticultural issues in the last six months.

The prohibition has been lifted on 20 key species of plants since EU Exit. The full list for the last 6 months is: four different kinds of cherry (Prunus avium, Prunus canescens, Prunus cerasus, and Prunus pseudocerasus), silver birch (Betula pendula), downy birch (Betula pubescens), and blackthorn (Prunus spinosa). We continue to work closely with the horticultural sector, including through a Horticulture Working Group which meets regularly, in order to maximise opportunities for trade in plants and plant products within the United Kingdom. We are in active dialogue with the EU Commission on a number of other species which industry has prioritised.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to replace the Sustainable Farming Incentive in this financial year.

We will provide further details about the reformed SFI in summer 2025.

Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 4 April 2025 to Question 42420 on Dangerous Wild Animals Act 1976, on how many occasions in the last five years have people who had animals being kept in domestic settings been found to be in breach of the Dangerous Wild Animals Act 1976.

This information may be held at local level by local authorities, but it is not information Defra collects or holds centrally.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether it is his policy to review the effectiveness of the implementation of the Dangerous Wild Animals Act 1976.

The Government currently has no plans to review the Dangerous Wild Animals Act 1976.

Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of whether the UK meet the UN Sustainable Development Goal 12.3 target.

The Department has made no recent assessment of the UN Sustainable Development Goal 12.3 target of a 50% reduction of food waste by 2030. Latest data from the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) showed that between 2007, the baseline used for reporting food waste progress, and 2021, UK per capita food waste fell by 26kg per person per year, representing an 18.3% reduction. To meet the Sustainable Development Goal 12.3 target of a 50% reduction by 2030, a further 45kg per person reduction or 32% of the baseline will be required.