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1136557

registered interest
date	03/07/2019
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Pollinators: Midlands
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent steps his Department has taken in the Midlands to support pollinators.
tabling member constituency	Mansfield
tabling member printed	Ben Bradley
uin	272933
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/07/2019 answer text <p>The National Pollinator Strategy sets out actions taken across the country to support pollinators, underpinned by partnership delivery at the local level. Grow Wild at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, are working on a range of projects re-creating habitats across the Midlands.</p><p> </p><p>Natural England are working with conservation organisations and landowners on the Back from the Brink programme, a £7.7m partnership funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and others to put over 100 priority species on the road to recovery by 2020. Two Back from the Brink projects are supporting pollinators in the Midlands.</p><p> </p><p>On 28 June, Butterfly Conservation, the project lead, announced that reintroduction work through the ‘Roots of Rockingham’ project in Rockingham Forest, Northamptonshire, has seen the Chequered Skipper become the first previously extinct butterfly to have bred successfully in an English woodland for more than 40 years.</p><p> </p><p>Butterfly Conservation also lead Back from the Brink’s ‘Limestone’s Living Legacies’ project, working with landowners from the Cotswolds to Warmington in the West Midlands to restore and manage a network of limestone grassland sites which will provide suitable habitat to many species of pollinators.</p><p> </p><p>The Government is also supporting the development and testing of pollinator habitat mapping to help voluntary bodies and land managers to create pollinator-friendly landscapes. This includes funding to support Buglife’s ‘B-Lines’ mapping project in the Midlands and other regions.</p><p> </p><p>In 2018, our Bees’ Needs Champions Awards recognised a number of councils and community groups from across the Midlands for their own exemplary work to support pollinators.</p> answering member constituency Suffolk Coastal answering member printed Dr Thérèse Coffey question first answered 12/07/2019 09:40:28 answering member 4098 label Biography information for Dr Thérèse Coffey
tabling member	4663 label Biography information for Ben Bradley

1136569

registered interest
date	03/07/2019
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Tree Planting
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to set up tree planting schemes (a) nationally and (b) in Gloucestershire; and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Tewkesbury
tabling member printed	Mr Laurence Robertson
uin	272732
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/07/2019 answer text <p>The Government is committed to planting 11 million trees this Parliament, as well as planting 1 million trees in our towns and cities. Woodland creation is a key element of our 25 Year Environment Plan.</p><p> </p><p>The Government provides national support to landowners to plant trees through Countryside Stewardship, the Woodland Carbon Fund, the High Speed 2 Woodland Fund and the Government’s investment in the Northern Forest. Further, in the Autumn Budget, the Government announced £10m for an Urban Trees Challenge Fund – which is now open for applications - and £50m to help plant new woodlands through the Woodland Carbon Guarantee.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>We supported the planting of 372,000 trees for the administrative areas of Gloucestershire and South Gloucestershire from 2010-11 to 2018-19, and look forward to supporting landowners to plant more trees in the coming years.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Macclesfield answering member printed David Rutley question first answered 11/07/2019 11:48:23 answering member 4033 label Biography information for David Rutley
tabling member	253 label Biography information for Mr Laurence Robertson

1136603

registered interest
date	03/07/2019
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Agriculture: Northumberland
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to support farmers in Northumberland in preparation for the UK leaving the EU.
tabling member constituency	Wansbeck
tabling member printed	Ian Lavery
uin	272839
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/07/2019 answer text <p>The Agriculture Bill is part of the Government’s programme of critical legislation to deliver a smooth departure from the EU. We will create an ambitious new system based on paying “public money for public goods” including improving air and water quality and habitats for wildlife.</p><p> </p><p>Due to the environment and cultural and natural heritage of upland areas, fell farmers like those in Northumberland will be well placed to benefit from the new system which will reward farmers for the public value of the goods they provide.</p><p> </p><p>A smooth and gradual seven year transition away from the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy will mean that farmers and land managers can plan ahead. The Government has already pledged to continue to support farmers financially by committing the same cash total in funds for farm support until the end of this Parliament.</p><p> </p><p>As any responsible Government would, we are also preparing for the possibility of no deal, which is why we have contingency plans in place to minimise disruption for the food and farming sector as much as possible.</p> answering member constituency Scarborough and Whitby answering member printed Mr Robert Goodwill question first answered 10/07/2019 12:41:35 answering member 1562 label Biography information for Sir Robert Goodwill
tabling member	4139 label Biography information for Ian Lavery

1136717

registered interest
date	03/07/2019
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Overtime
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of the amount of unpaid overtime worked by staff in his Department in the last 24 months.
tabling member constituency	Hemsworth
tabling member printed	Jon Trickett
uin	272751
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/07/2019 answer text <p>Information relating to unpaid overtime worked by staff is not held centrally and to obtain it would incur disproportionate costs.</p> answering member constituency Scarborough and Whitby answering member printed Mr Robert Goodwill question first answered 08/07/2019 16:53:23 answering member 1562 label Biography information for Sir Robert Goodwill
tabling member	410 label Biography information for Jon Trickett

1136765

registered interest
date	03/07/2019
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Agriculture: Seasonal Workers
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the assistance that seasonal farm workers from the Ukraine could provide in meeting the UK’s agricultural requirements; and what barriers, if any, there are to their entry.
tabling member printed	Lord Patten
uin	HL16915
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/07/2019 answer text <p>The Government has introduced a new immigration pilot scheme for 2019 and 2020 enabling up to 2,500 non-European Economic Area migrant workers, including seasonal workers from Ukraine, to come to the UK to undertake seasonal employment in the edible horticultural sector.</p><p> </p><p>This pilot will test the effectiveness of our immigration system at alleviating seasonal labour shortages during peak production periods, whilst reducing immigration to sustainable levels and continuing to welcome those who make an invaluable contribution.</p><p> </p><p>This pilot is not designed to meet the full labour needs of the horticultural sector. Rather we are seeking to evaluate the immigration pilot’s ability to assist in alleviating labour shortages during peak production periods.</p><p> </p><p>Defra and the Home Office will work closely to monitor the pilot, and review its performance against the stated objectives. This pilot will help inform our understanding of how such immigration routes perform in a modern global context, and support the design of our new immigration system laid out in the recent White Paper. Defra is working to improve the official evidence based on temporary worker supply and demand, through a new quarterly survey of growers, the results of which we will consider carefully. We are also working closely with industry to understand trends in labour demand and supply.</p><p> </p><p>Immigration issues are reserved and remain the policy responsibility of the Home Office. After we leave the EU, we must ensure that we have an immigration system that works in the best interest of the whole of the UK.</p><p> </p><p>Defra is working closely with the Home Office to ensure that there is a long term strategy for agricultural labour as part of the future immigration strategy. The Home Office has launched a 12-month engagement programme with sectors across the UK to enable businesses and other stakeholders to shape the development of the future skills based immigration system.</p><p> </p><p>As such, there are no plans to expand this pilot at this time. We wish to fully assess this pilot and the results will help to inform the design of the new immigration system from January 2021.</p> answering member printed Lord Gardiner of Kimble question first answered 16/07/2019 14:24:07 answering member 4161 label Biography information for Lord Gardiner of Kimble
tabling member	1137 label Biography information for Lord Patten

1136773

registered interest
date	03/07/2019
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Veterinary Medicine: Migrant Workers
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans are in place to guarantee access to sufficient numbers of Official Veterinarians from outside the UK in the event of a no-deal Brexit.
tabling member printed	Lord Rogan
uin	HL16923
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/07/2019 answer text <p>In the event of a no-deal Brexit, overseas vets already registered with the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) or in the process of registering by 30 October 2019 will continue to have their qualifications recognised. Government has legislated to ensure that new vets wishing to work here can also register with the RCVS if their qualification meets the required equivalent standards. Individuals with a degree that does not meet the RCVS equivalent will be able to apply to sit the RCVS statutory examination.</p><p> </p><p>The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) is offering free training for Official Vets (OVs) to sign Export Health Certificates (EHCs) for food products: 830 have enrolled and 379 have qualified. The total number of OVs who can sign EHCs for food products has increased by more than 300 since 8 February to 972.</p><p> </p><p>Meanwhile, the Food Standards Agency and Animal and Plant Health Agency have reviewed processes in order to maximise the effectiveness of staff, including recruiting and training more official auxiliary staff. APHA have created a new role of Certification Support Officer to handle a number of preparatory and administrative tasks for assuring UK EHCs, under vet management. The supervising vet will retain responsibility for the assurances provided.</p> answering member printed Lord Gardiner of Kimble question first answered 09/07/2019 15:37:51 answering member 4161 label Biography information for Lord Gardiner of Kimble
tabling member	2478 label Biography information for Lord Rogan