Written questions by Timothy.

Food and Rural Affairs, what plans she has to merge the Groceries Code Adjudicator and the Agricultural Supply Chain Adjudicator as part of her Department's Farm Profitability Review.

The department is committed to an evidence-based approach to regulating the supply chain and to ensuring that producers and businesses are treated fairly. The statutory review of the effectiveness of the Groceries Code Adjudicator by the Department for Business and Trade is currently under way, and any future decisions will be informed by its findings. The Government is carefully considering all of the recommendations made in the independent Farming Profitability Review, including those relating to the roles and governance arrangements of the Groceries Code Adjudicator and the Agricultural Supply Chain Adjudicator. A Government response to the review will be set out as part of the Farming Roadmap.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the Environment Agency's implementation timeline for the waste registration and accreditation system.

The packaging regulations provide the Environment Agency (EA) with a statutory 12-week period to determine applications for reprocessor & exporter registration and accreditation applications. In a small number of cases the determination period is going beyond this 12-week period for applications under the new 2026 packaging regulations. This is due to increased application queries and embedding the new requirements to ensure all applications are consistently assessed. The EA will back date registrations and accreditations to 1 January 2026. The EA does not anticipate that these delays will continue and has a plan to determine all applications as promptly as possible.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has received representations from businesses on the time taken for registrations for the waste registration and accreditation scheme.

Yes. The department has received representations from businesses. Officials are working at pace to resolve outstanding issues as we transition to new registration and accreditation requirements. Impacted businesses are being contacted by the Environment Agency and where necessary arrangements are being put in place on a case-by-case basis to minimise any impacts.

Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of the allocation of resources between (a) enforcement activities targeting businesses that are compliant with the law and (b) investigations into fraudulent activities in the packaging waste sector.

The Government has shown its continued support to the Environment Agency (EA) by committing £12 million for the EA to fight waste crime this year. The EA received £3 million for 2025/26 to enforce new duties introduced this year including the new simpler recycling regulations and expanding the Packaging Producer Responsibility requirements. The EA funds its compliance activities on a cost recovery basis. Its compliance work is driven by an intelligence-led and risk-based approach. Where compliance assessments identify non-compliance, then appropriate enforcement actions will follow in line with the EA’s published Enforcement and Sanctions Policy.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Environment Agency is taking to prevent packaging recovery note fraud.

The Environment Agency (EA) works hard to tackle waste crime and free riders (market operators who circumvent Extended Producer Responsibility, breaking the law, and exploiting the system to avoid fees) in the waste sector, gathering intelligence to identify unregistered producers, helping to detect illegal activity and preventing fraud. A dedicated EA team is focused on identifying and pursuing non-compliant companies and already the EA has brought over 840 suspected non-compliant companies or free riders into full compliance. The EA is intent on using its tougher enforcement powers in pEPR to reduce offending and it will continue to prioritise and investigate free riders to bring them into compliance in the waste sector, applying the 4P enforcement model (prepare, prevent, protect and pursue).

Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate she has made of the level of Packaging Recovery Note fraud in 2025.

The Environment Agency is aware of this challenge and is exploring ways to address the acknowledged issue, including changing the way it measures waste crime. The value of recovery notes varies according to the waste type and market trends. Since 2023 the value of most Packaging Recovery Notes (PRNs) and Packaging Export Recovery Notes has decreased.

Food and Rural Affairs, what plans her Department has to introduce mandatory method of production labelling on food.

We are considering the potential role of method of production labelling reform as part of the ongoing development of the Government’s wider animal welfare strategy.

Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 20 October 2025 to Question 78992, how much meat was processed by each slaughterhouse using the (a) halal and (b) shechita methods in each year since 2020.

Data regarding the amount of meat resulting from animals slaughtered using the halal method or the shechita method is not collected.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to enforce existing legislation against hare coursing.

The enforcement of existing legislation on hare coursing is an operational matter for the police. This is in line with their duties to keep the peace, protect communities and prevent the commission of offences, working within the provisions of the legal framework set by Parliament.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to support the mechanical recycling industry.

The Collection and Packaging Reforms – Simpler Recycling, Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging (pEPR) and a Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) – will help stimulate investment in recycling services across the UK. In addition, Defra is working across Government to pinpoint any further interventions necessary to stabilise the sector and set it up for success. The Minister for Nature convened a roundtable with industry earlier this year and senior officials chaired a roundtable with representatives from the recycling industry in September. Government continues to consider how best to engage the sector.

Food and Rural Affairs, if she will meet representatives from the UK mechanical recycling industry to discuss government support for the industry.

The Collection and Packaging Reforms – Simpler Recycling, Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging (pEPR) and a Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) – will help stimulate investment in recycling services across the UK. In addition, Defra is working across Government to pinpoint any further interventions necessary to stabilise the sector and set it up for success. The Minister for Nature convened a roundtable with industry earlier this year and senior officials chaired a roundtable with representatives from the recycling industry in September. Government continues to consider how best to engage the sector.

Food and Rural Affairs, how many (a) halal and (b) kosher slaughterhouses have been investigated for violations of (i) food safety and (ii) animal welfare standards in each year since 2020.

The Food Standards Agency does not have data on the number of halal or kosher slaughterhouses investigated for violations of food safety or animal welfare standards. The Food Standards Agency does not categorise slaughterhouses as either ‘halal’ or ‘kosher’. No specific approval is required to use these methods and so the slaughterhouses producing kosher or halal meat are not routinely recorded.

Food and Rural Affairs, how many (a) halal and (b) kosher slaughterhouses have operated in the UK in each year since 2020, by local authority area.

The number of slaughterhouses carrying out slaughter using the halal or shechita methods is not routinely recorded, as no specific approval from the Food Standards Agency is required to use these methods. However, the FSA’s most recent slaughter sector survey showed that in February 2024: for cattle, there were 4 slaughterhouses that used the Shechita method and 4 that used the non-stun halal method; for sheep, there were 5 that used the Shechita method and 12 that used the non-stun halal method; for meat chickens, there were 4 slaughterhouses that used the Shechita method and 10 that used the non-stun halal method. Additionally, some slaughterhouses also utilise the stunned halal method too.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of mandating the labelling of (a) halal and (b) kosher products.

There are no regulations that require the labelling of halal or kosher meat, but the Government expects industry to provide consumers with information on which to make an informed choice about their food. Any information provided on the method of slaughter must be accurate and not misleading to the consumer.We will consider the potential role of method of production labelling reform as part of the ongoing development of the Government’s wider animal welfare strategy.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of (a) food safety and (b) animal welfare standards in (i) halal and (ii) kosher slaughterhouses.

No specific food safety or animal welfare assessments have been made of slaughterhouses using halal or kosher slaughter methods. Animal welfare at time of killing legislation sets out the main requirements to protect the welfare of animals when being slaughtered. There are additional rules that apply when animals are slaughtered by either the Jewish or Muslim method to ensure that animals are spared avoidable pain, suffering, or distress during the slaughter process. Similarly, food hygiene legislation sets out the hygiene requirements for approved slaughterhouses regardless of the method used.

Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 1 May 2025 to Question 41542 on Packaging: Recycling, which stakeholders his Department plans to engage with to discuss changes to the Package Recovery Note system.

We intend to seek views from all those who may impacted by any of the proposed changes, including producers, compliance schemes, waste management companies, local authorities and reprocessors and exporters of packaging waste.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to protect the domestic beet sugar industry from (a) tariff and (b) non-tariff barriers.

The Government has made clear commitments to uphold our standards in trade deals and protect our sensitive sectors. The recently agreed trade agreement with India will fully exclude sugar from the UK's tariff reductions. We will continue to do what is right for the UK sugar sector in our trade policy.

Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions his Department has had with Natural England on the potential impact of issuing a GL43 on the shooting season this year.

In considering the issue of GL43 for this year’s shooting season, Defra took into account Natural England’s statutory advice, noting that the national transmission risk status of avian influenza in wild birds continues to be very high. This included a recommendation to exclude the Lundy Special Area of Conservation (SAC) from the scope of the licence and to include an additional licence condition, requiring best practice biosecurity measures to be undertaken and recorded when managing gamebirds, and those records be produced if requested by a wildlife inspector. The licence was published on 2 May.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether he will make an assessment of the potential merits of providing support to the homegrown sugar industry in fast-tracking trials to help tackle Virus Yellows disease.

This Government acknowledges the critical role of sugar beet farmers in the UK's sugar production and their ongoing contributions to the agricultural sector. This Government recognises the challenge posed to sugar beet growers by Virus Yellows (VY), and we strongly support the industry-led work to develop more sustainable alternative controls for the aphids that spread these diseases. This includes Integrated Pest Management (IPM) techniques such as novel companion crops, and the development of new pest resistant varieties using both traditional and precision breeding techniques. These novel control methods, alongside new active substances such as Flupyradifurone – approved this year – will ensure that sugar beet growers have the tools they need to address VY. The government is committed towards achieving crop resilience, especially in the sugar beet sector, to support Britain’s food security and nature’s recovery. Defra collaborates with the British Beet Research Organisation on IPM initiatives, with plans to observe their IPM trials in the coming Spring. As part of this, the Government remains fully committed to enhancing crop resilience and is progressing legislation to activate precision breeding in England.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the beet sugar industry’s Virus Yellows resilience fund.

This Government acknowledges the critical role of sugar beet farmers in the UK's sugar production and their ongoing contributions to the agricultural sector. This Government recognises the challenge posed to sugar beet growers by Virus Yellows (VY), and we strongly support the industry-led work to develop more sustainable alternative controls for the aphids that spread these diseases. This includes Integrated Pest Management (IPM) techniques such as novel companion crops, and the development of new pest resistant varieties using both traditional and precision breeding techniques. These novel control methods, alongside new active substances such as Flupyradifurone – approved this year – will ensure that sugar beet growers have the tools they need to address VY. The government is committed towards achieving crop resilience, especially in the sugar beet sector, to support Britain’s food security and nature’s recovery. Defra collaborates with the British Beet Research Organisation on IPM initiatives, with plans to observe their IPM trials in the coming Spring. As part of this, the Government remains fully committed to enhancing crop resilience and is progressing legislation to activate precision breeding in England.