Every parliamentary written question tabled by Lee Barron this session, with the full answer and department. Back to the MP page.
Showing 1–5 of 5 · Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the temporary removal of tariffs on egg imports from Ukraine on UK egg producers.
Under our Free Trade Agreement with Ukraine, tariffs on all goods are temporarily removed until March 2029, except for poultry and eggs, where the liberalisation is due to end on 31 March 2028 following the two-year extension announced on 19 January 2026.
Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he plans to take to support sugar beet growers.
contribution to UK sugar production. Also, that sugar beet itself, used in crop rotations, is beneficial to soil and crop health and allows arable farms a season of “rest” from cereal production. We are committed to promoting fairness across the food supply chain. Government uses the UK Agricultural Market Monitoring Group to understand economic relationships in the sugar sector and maintains a regular dialogue with key stakeholders in the industry to remain up to date on concerns of sugar beet growers. These allow Government to collect both data and industry intelligence on the agricultural sectors, including sugar, to understand any challenges being faced. To date the Farming Innovation Programme (FIP) has awarded over £64 million in funding to support 105 wider broadacre sector projects. These include a project focused on developing a long-term solution to combat virus yellows, a disease transmitted by aphids that threatens English sugar beet crops. A range of the other FIP projects could have outcomes that can be applied to sugar beet production, as may projects supported by the £47 million available for Farming Equipment and Technology Fund (FETF).
Food and Rural Affairs, how much the Environment Agency spent on flood defences in Corby and East Northamptonshire constituency in each year since 2019.
To ensure we protect the country from the devastating impacts of flooding, we will invest £2.4 billion in 2024/25 and 2025/26 to improve flood resilience, by maintaining, repairing and building flood defences. The Environment Agency are best placed to provide detailed information about flood risk management in Corby and East Northamptonshire.
Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to prevent retailers from misrepresenting the origin of (a) meat and (b) dairy products that are not (i) raised and (ii) produced in the UK.
The UK maintains high standards on the information provided on food labels and packaging so that consumers can have confidence in the food that they buy. Country of origin information is required for fresh and frozen meat of beef, sheep, goat, pigs and poultry, as well as uncut fresh fruit and vegetables, honey, olive oil, wine and some fish products. The fundamental principles of our food labelling rules are that information provided to the consumer must not mislead and must enable consumers to make informed decisions. Under existing food labelling rules, food that is not of UK origin cannot be labelled in a way, such as with pictures or words, that states or suggests it is of UK origin. This includes the way in which foods are arranged and the setting in which they are displayed. If processed food products made in the UK provide that origin information to the consumer, the information must also make clear if the primary ingredient is not from the UK e.g. label with 'British cheese made with milk from Ireland’. Shops will often voluntarily label their British cheese, hams and bacon when they are made from British milk and meat, helping shoppers easily identify and buy great British produce.
Food and Rural Affairs, what guidance his Department issues on licence approvals for incineration plants in residential areas.
The Environment Agency (EA) is responsible for assessing environmental permit applications for new incinerators to operate in England and has a duty to assess any application it receives against the requirements of the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations (EPR) 2016. The EA must follow the guidance on determining permit applications which is set out in Section 7 of the EPR Core Guidance and in the EPR Part A Guidance, including for incinerators in residential areas. The guidance documents can be found at the following links: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/environmental-permitting-guidance-core-guidance--2https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a7b8e02e5274a7318b8f6b3/pb13898-epr-guidance-part-a-130222.pdf As set out in the guidance, in England all large incinerators must comply with strict emission limits and the Best Available Techniques (BAT) conclusions for waste incineration. If impacts from an incinerator could cause an Air Quality Limit or Standard to be exceeded for the local area (as set out in the Air Quality Standards Regulations 2010), a lower limit for the relevant pollutant could be specified in the permit, or the permit may be refused. The EA will only grant a permit if it is satisfied that the proposal would not give rise to any significant pollution of the environment or harm to human health.