Kerry McCarthy MP: written questions
4 Jul 2026–16 Oct 2026 · year in progress
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Read what this MP said, asked and contributed in Parliament.
16 published records · newest first.
Written questions
Forestry Commission: Labour TurnoverDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 14 Sept 2026Awaiting answerUIN 29373More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the (a) staff turnover rate, (b) vacancy rate and (c) average time taken to fill vacancies was for frontline operational and regulatory delivery roles in the Forestry Commission i
Answer: No published answer in this record yet.
Original Parliament recordForestry Commission: PayDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 14 Sept 2026Awaiting answerUIN 29372More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department or the Forestry Commission will submit a pay flexibility business case in relation to Forestry Commission staff under the Civil Service Pay Remit Guidance 2026-2
Answer: No published answer in this record yet.
Original Parliament recordHorticulture: LegumesDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 11 Sept 2026Awaiting answerUIN 29112More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the forthcoming Horticulture Strategy will include measures to increase domestic production and consumption of pulses.
Answer: No published answer in this record yet.
Original Parliament recordPoultryDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 11 Sept 2026Awaiting answerUIN 29111More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the forthcoming poultry growth strategy will support a transition away from intensive animal agriculture towards prioritising animal welfare, environmental and public health.
Answer: No published answer in this record yet.
Original Parliament recordConfetti: PlasticsDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 28 Aug 2026AnsweredUIN 19886More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will take steps to prohibit or discourage the use of plastic confetti and replace with biodegradable alternatives.
Answer: The Government has a number of restrictions on unnecessary single use plastic products, including single-use vapes and wet wipes containing plastic. We will continue to review the latest evidence on problematic products and/or materials to take a systemat...
Answered 8 Sept 2026
Original Parliament recordAgriculture: Animal WelfareDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 28 Aug 2026AnsweredUIN 19885More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what information from individual farm animal welfare inspections is routinely published, and what assessment she has made of whether those arrangements provide adequate public scrutiny
Answer: This Government understands the importance of transparency in relation to the welfare of farmed animals. Multi Annual National Control Plan (MANCP) reports include national data on the number of farm inspections completed by APHA, the welfare scores from ...
Answered 4 Sept 2026
Original Parliament recordAgriculture: Animal WelfareDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 28 Aug 2026AnsweredUIN 19884More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what data her Department collects on (a) animal welfare breaches identified during farm inspections and (b) subsequent enforcement action taken; and whether she plans to publish those
Answer: This Government understands the importance of transparency in relation to the welfare of farmed animals. Multi Annual National Control Plan (MANCP) reports include national data on the number of farm inspections completed by APHA, the welfare scores from ...
Answered 4 Sept 2026
Original Parliament recordPigs: SlaughterhousesDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 28 Aug 2026AnsweredUIN 19883More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when she will publish the consultation on banning the use of carbon dioxide gas stunning of pigs promised in the animal welfare strategy.
Answer: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Epsom and Ewell, Helen Maguire, on 20 May 2026 to PQ UIN 613.
Answered 3 Sept 2026
Original Parliament recordCarbon Capture and Storage: SeabedDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 28 Aug 2026AnsweredUIN 19882More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will take steps to mitigate disturbance of blue carbon stores on the seabed by requiring marine developers to align with the Greenhouse Gas Assessment process.
Answer: There are no current plans to require the inclusion of seabed carbon disturbance in marine developers' Greenhouse Gas Assessment processes. A recent Cefas study highlights that further research is needed to understand the release of carbon from seabed sto...
Answered 7 Sept 2026
Original Parliament recordCarbon Capture and Storage: SeabedDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 28 Aug 2026AnsweredUIN 19881More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the carbon emitted from disturbance of carbon stores on the seabed.
Answer: Cefas published a technical briefing in February 2026 on how human activities and climate change affect seabed carbon. The briefing explains that the result of disturbing seabed carbon depends on its reactivity, which varies according to its source, miner...
Answered 7 Sept 2026
Original Parliament recordAnimal Products: LabellingDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 7 Jul 2026AnsweredUIN 16385More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress has been made on introducing clearer country-of-origin and method-of-production food labelling to support higher animal welfare standards since the Government response to
Answer: As set out in the Government’s animal welfare strategy, and the Farming Roadmap published in June 2026, we are committed to ensuring that consumers have access to clear information on how and where their food was produced. To support this, we will continu...
Answered 16 Jul 2026
Original Parliament recordFood: Public SectorDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 7 Jul 2026AnsweredUIN 16384More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which public bodies will be required to comply with the revised Government Buying Standards for food and catering services.
Answer: Defra is considering the policy options available to deliver further on its ambitions for public sector food, including potentially updating the Government Buying Standards for Food and Catering Services. Defra has not yet made any decisions on the conten...
Answered 16 Jul 2026
Original Parliament recordFood: Public SectorDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 7 Jul 2026AnsweredUIN 16383More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to ensure that public sector food procurement meets the proposed requirement for 50% of food spend to meet higher environmental and welfare standards.
Answer: The Government has already published a new national procurement policy statement which sets expectations for government contracts to favour products certified to high environmental standards that British producers are well-placed to meet. Data collection ...
Answered 16 Jul 2026
Original Parliament recordGovernment Departments: FoodDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 7 Jul 2026AnsweredUIN 16382More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress she has made on updating Government Buying Standards relating to food procurement.
Answer: Defra is considering the policy options available to deliver further on its ambitions for public sector food, including potentially updating the Government Buying Standards for Food and Catering Services. Defra has not yet made any decisions on the conten...
Answered 16 Jul 2026
Original Parliament recordAnimal WelfareDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 6 Jul 2026AnsweredUIN 15936More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when she will bring forward regulations under the Animals (Low Welfare Activities Abroad) Act 2023.
Answer: The Animals (Low Welfare Activities Abroad) Act 2023 provides a framework for the introduction of future bans on the advertising and offering for sale, in England and Northern Ireland, of low-welfare animal activities taking place abroad. As set out in th...
Answered 14 Jul 2026
Original Parliament recordTextiles: RecyclingDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 6 Jul 2026AnsweredUIN 15935More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the forthcoming Circular Economy Strategy will include proposals to introduce Extended Producer Responsibility for the textiles sector.
Answer: This Government is committed to transitioning towards a circular economy where resources are kept in use for longer and waste is designed out. This systemic change, with investment in green jobs and vital infrastructure, builds a path to economic growth, ...
Answered 9 Jul 2026
Original Parliament record
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4 Jul 2026–16 Oct 2026. One record per UIN and tabled date; the named department is not a measure of answer quality.
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