Show Search Form

Search Results

registered interest	true false
date	exactly: or between: and
answering body
answering dept id
answering dept short name
answering dept sort name
hansard heading
house id
legislature	pref label
question text
tabling member constituency
tabling member printed
uin
answer	is ministerial correction true false date of answer exactly: or between: and answer text answering member constituency answering member printed question first answered answering member label
tabling member	label

Search

1491450

	registered interest
	date	21/07/2022
	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: Agency Workers
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much his Department has spent on (a) agency workers and (b) agency retainer fees in (i) 2020, (ii) 2021 and (iii) 2022.
	tabling member constituency	Hemsworth
	tabling member printed	Jon Trickett
	uin	41938
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/09/2022 answer text <p>(a) agency workers</p><p>Agency workers (more commonly referred to as “contingent labour” or “temporary workers”) are subject to a Cabinet Office controls framework to ensure robust governance of spending in this area.</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/contingent-labour-spend-control" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/contingent-labour-spend-control</a></p><p> </p><p>Commentary on contingent labour usage, if applicable, is available in departmental annual reports.</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/annual-reports-and-accounts-for-central-government-departments" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/annual-reports-and-accounts-for-central-government-departments</a></p><p> </p><p>The Crown Commercial Service provides two frameworks specifically for the supply of Contingent Labour which are used by central government departments. These are:</p><p> </p><p>RM3749 - Public Sector Resourcing.</p><p><a href="https://www.crowncommercial.gov.uk/agreements/rm3749" target="_blank">https://www.crowncommercial.gov.uk/agreements/rm3749</a></p><p> </p><p>This provides a managed service for departmental use including low supplier margins, regular pay rate benchmarking, comprehensive tracking and reporting of contingent labour assignments, full timesheeting and approvals technology and onboarding, contracting and payroll services.</p><p> </p><p>RM6160 - Non Clinical Temporary and Fixed Term Staff</p><p><a href="https://www.crowncommercial.gov.uk/agreements/RM6160" target="_blank">https://www.crowncommercial.gov.uk/agreements/RM6160</a></p><p> </p><p>This provides access to a range of generalist, specialist and niche contingent labour agencies offering a wide range of suppliers, maximum margins, free transfer to permanent after 12 weeks and onboarding, contracting and payroll services.</p><p> </p><p>Use of these frameworks provides robust governance, visibility, value for money and flexibility in meeting departmental contingent labour needs.</p><p> </p><p>(b) agency retainer fees</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>We have interpreted agency retainer fees as the fees charged at the commencement of the provision of a search recruitment service. This is only applicable when recruiting for a permanent or fixed term post.</p><p> </p><p>Agency retainer fees are not applicable to the contingent labour market.</p><p> </p><p>There is no recorded expenditure on agency retainer fees.</p> answering member constituency Banbury answering member printed Victoria Prentis question first answered 05/09/2022 14:49:50 answering member 4401 label Biography information for Victoria Prentis
	tabling member	410 label Biography information for Jon Trickett

1491319

	registered interest
	date	21/07/2022
	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	Food Supply
	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 assessment he has made for the implications of his policy on food security of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee’s report entitled Labour shortages in the food and farming sector, published 29 March 2022.
	tabling member constituency	Portsmouth South
	tabling member printed	Stephen Morgan
	uin	42187
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/09/2022 answer text <p>Enabling an innovative, productive and competitive food supply chain which invests in its people and the skills they need is a priority for this Government</p><p> </p><p>The Government thanks the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee for its report into labour shortages in the food and farming sector. We are aware that there are both short and long-term workforce challenges across the food and farming sector, particularly with respect to seasonal labour. It is with great concern that we have seen evidence of horticulture businesses reducing their plantings, ploughing in crops or considering offshoring production because of concerns over labour availability, all of which have food security implications.</p><p> </p><p>Defra continues to work closely with industry and other government departments to understand labour supply and demand and its implications, including both permanent and seasonal workforce requirements, and to ensure there is a long-term strategy for the food and farming workforce. We extended the Seasonal Worker visa route until 2024 and expanded the number of visas available through this route to 40,000 (now including 2000 visas for poultry workers to meet pre-Christmas demand) as a result of the clear evidence of need this year. Last autumn we delivered emergency, temporary visa schemes for the poultry, pork, and HGV food transportation sectors in response to specific challenges, and introduced an accompanying package of non-immigration measures to alleviate pressures in the pig sector, including Private Storage Aid and Slaughter Incentive Payment Schemes.</p><p> </p><p>As announced in the Government Food Strategy, the Government will soon be commissioning an independent review to tackle labour shortages in the food supply chain, covering automation, domestic labour and migration. The review will consider the challenges facing food and farming businesses to access the labour they require and will provide recommendations.</p> answering member constituency Banbury answering member printed Victoria Prentis question first answered 05/09/2022 13:24:13 answering member 4401 label Biography information for Victoria Prentis
	tabling member	4653 label Biography information for Stephen Morgan

1491022

	registered interest
	date	20/07/2022
	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: Red Diesel
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 18 July 2022 to Question 35899 on Fuels: Prices, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the increase in the price of red diesel on (a) farming and (b) other agricultural businesses; and if he will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	Hemel Hempstead
	tabling member printed	Sir Mike Penning
	uin	40750
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/09/2022 answer text <p>Defra engages extensively with the farming sector and other agricultural businesses and continues to do so through various forums including the Agri-Supply Coalition and the Arable Chain Advisory Group. Through these forums, we closely monitor live issues, including the increase in the price of red diesel, and their impact on farming and other agricultural businesses. Defra also works closely with other Government departments, particularly HM Treasury, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and the Department for Transport, to relay the information gathered from industry.</p><p>In the Spring Statement 2022 and in response to fuel prices reaching record levels, the Government announced a temporary 12-month cut to the full rate of duty on petrol and diesel of 5p per litre and an equivalent percentage cut on the rates for rebated fuels. This is a significant tax cut that will deliver considerable savings to consumers and businesses over the next year, including those that use diesel, and is the first time in over a decade that the main rates of petrol and diesel have been cut.</p> answering member constituency Banbury answering member printed Victoria Prentis question first answered 05/09/2022 13:17:50 answering member 4401 label Biography information for Victoria Prentis
	tabling member	1528 label Biography information for Sir Mike Penning

1491394

	registered interest
	date	21/07/2022
	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: Consultants
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much his Department has spent on external consultants in each of the last five years; and if he will publish a breakdown of (a) the amount paid to each consultancy contracted, (b) the name of each consultancy contracted, (c) the specific matters on which they were consulted and (d) whether each contract was subject to usual Government procurement rules.
	tabling member constituency	Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath
	tabling member printed	Neale Hanvey
	uin	42244
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/09/2022 answer text <p>The department’s spend on consultancy is published each year in the Annual Report and Accounts.</p><p> </p><p>2020-21</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/defras-annual-report-and-accounts-2020-to-2021" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/defras-annual-report-and-accounts-2020-to-2021</a> (page 100)</p><p> </p><p>2019-20</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/defras-annual-report-and-accounts-2019-to-2020" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/defras-annual-report-and-accounts-2019-to-2020</a> (page 87)</p><p> </p><p>2018-19</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/defras-annual-report-and-accounts-2018-to-2019" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/defras-annual-report-and-accounts-2018-to-2019</a> (page 64)</p><p> </p><p>2017-18</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/defras-annual-report-and-accounts-2017-to-2018" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/defras-annual-report-and-accounts-2017-to-2018</a> (page 51)</p><p> </p><p>2016-17</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/defras-annual-report-and-accounts-2016-to-2017" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/defras-annual-report-and-accounts-2016-to-2017</a> (page 42)</p><p> </p><p>The breakdown of this expenditure could only be provided by incurring disproportionate costs.</p><p> </p><p>Details of all Government contracts awarded from 2016 above £10,000 and £25,000 in the wider public sector are published on <a href="https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gov.uk%2Fcontracts-finder&amp;data=05%7C01%7Cemmy.clarkson%40dhsc.gov.uk%7C332dd3e59a5f4b1b1e5308da6b104a3e%7C61278c3091a84c318c1fef4de8973a1c%7C1%7C0%7C637940014946084226%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=EHT%2Bj9EH86g04c73Xn7YYL0Qyi3Lc4Dm8J%2F8B8YuCNE%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">Contracts Finder</a>. Each award notice provides information on the name of the supplier, value of the contract, its purpose and information on the type of awarding procedure used. Government departments, their individual agencies and Arm’s Length Bodies (ALBs) are required to publish all spend against individual suppliers above £25,000 on <a href="http://gov.uk/" target="_blank">GOV.UK</a>.</p><p> </p><p>All Government departments and their individual ALBs and agencies are required to follow the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 in awarding contracts.</p> answering member constituency Banbury answering member printed Victoria Prentis question first answered 05/09/2022 13:03:44 answering member 4401 label Biography information for Victoria Prentis
	tabling member	4782 label Biography information for Neale Hanvey

1490996

	registered interest
	date	20/07/2022
	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	Food Supply
	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 assessment he has made of the impact of trends in the level of food insecurity as a result of rising food prices on households in (a) Coventry North East constituency, (b) Coventry, (c) the West Midlands and (d) England.
	tabling member constituency	Coventry North East
	tabling member printed	Colleen Fletcher
	uin	40797
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/09/2022 answer text <p>We are working hard to support everyone facing cost of living concerns. We continue to monitor food prices using the ONS inflation figures. Recent pressures have been sustained and we have seen food price inflation rise to 12.7% in July, up from 9.8% in June. Defra analysis, based on ONS data, shows that every one percentage point increase in food price inflation increases the average annual food bill of UK households by £34.</p><p> </p><p>Defra is taking action to maintain an efficient food supply chain by mitigating against any potential burdens or friction which could otherwise drive up consumer food prices. For example, we have introduced labelling flexibility to reduce additional cost burdens resulting from the availability of sunflower oil. Defra is also holding regular discussions with industry to explore ways in which they can support low-income households by ensuring affordable food remains available, for example by maintaining value ranges, price matching, price freezing measures and the use of loyalty card offers.</p><p> </p><p>This Government is committed to a sustainable, long-term approach to tackling poverty and supporting people on lower incomes. We recently announced a new £15 billion support package to help families with the cost of living, bringing the total support for households this year to £37 billion. This includes an additional £500 million to help households with the cost of household essentials, on top of what we have already provided since October 2021, bringing total funding for this support to £1.5 billion. In England this will take the form of an extension to the Household Support Fund backed by £421m, running from 1 October 2022 to 31 March 2023. Devolved administrations will receive £79 million through the Barnett formula. Details of allocations to Upper Tier and Unitary Councils can be found at: <a href="https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.publishing.service.gov.uk%2Fgovernment%2Fuploads%2Fsystem%2Fuploads%2Fattachment_data%2Ffile%2F1072446%2Fhousehold-support-fund-grant-determination.pdf&amp;data=05%7C01%7Cpqteam%40defra.gov.uk%7C9fe4598b05aa4eae5ada08da8c26d647%7C770a245002274c6290c74e38537f1102%7C0%7C0%7C637976395678378553%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=abpi%2FPVNqwlTOVj496tbCT%2FxsYB036U346gbIjd1h4I%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">Household Support Fund Grant Determination 2022 No 31/3096 (publishing.service.gov.uk)</a>.</p> answering member constituency Banbury answering member printed Victoria Prentis question first answered 05/09/2022 12:59:47 answering member 4401 label Biography information for Victoria Prentis
	tabling member	4378 label Biography information for Colleen Fletcher

1491355

	registered interest
	date	21/07/2022
	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	Sewers
	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 progress his Department has made on (a) implementing section 42 of the Flood and Water Management Act 2010 and (b) assessing the potential merits of supplementary regulations to adopt (i) private wastewater pumping stations and (ii) other existing sewerage assets constructed since July 2011.
	tabling member constituency	East Hampshire
	tabling member printed	Damian Hinds
	uin	41982
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/09/2022 answer text <p>The Government has reviewed the case for implementing Section 42 of the Flood and Water Management Act 2010. We will consult in due course on making regulations concerning the adoption of existing private sewerage assets by sewerage companies.</p> answering member constituency St Austell and Newquay answering member printed Steve Double question first answered 05/09/2022 16:14:39 answering member 4452 label Biography information for Steve Double
	tabling member	3969 label Biography information for Damian Hinds

1490300

	registered interest
	date	18/07/2022
	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	Marine Environment: International Cooperation
	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 his Department is taking to ensure it delivers on the Government's commitments made in the Global Ocean Alliance 30by30 initiative.
	tabling member constituency	Isle of Wight
	tabling member printed	Bob Seely
	uin	38825
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/09/2022 answer text <p>Since 2019, the UK has been leading the Global Ocean Alliance (GOA) of countries championing ambitious ocean action under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), including the ‘30by30’ target to protect at least 30% of the global ocean by 2030. The ocean has historically been underrepresented in the CBD, and the GOA plays an important role in raising the profile of ocean and marine issues.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>In addition to leading the GOA, the UK also serves as Ocean Co-Chair of the High Ambition Coalition (HAC) for Nature &amp; People, alongside Costa Rica and France. The HAC champions 30by30 for both the land and the ocean. Between these two UK-led alliances, 120 countries support 30by30 for the ocean, and over 100 countries support 30by30 for both the land and the ocean. The HAC and the GOA are complementary alliances, working closely together and pushing in the same direction to ensure that the 30by30 target is adopted at CBD COP15.</p><p> </p><p>As we approach the 15<sup>th</sup> Conference of Parties (COP15) to the CBD in December 2022, the UK will continue working with Costa Rica, France, and members of the HAC and GOA, to call for the 30by30 target to be enshrined within the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF).</p><p> </p><p>The UK is committed to securing an ambitious outcome at COP15, including ambitious outcomes for the ocean, to halt and reverse biodiversity loss globally by 2030. However, it is also crucial that we continue working after COP15 to support the global implementation of the GBF, including the 30by30 target.</p><p> </p><p>Achieving a global 30by30 target will require an international effort, from all Parties and sectors. The UK is leading the way, with 374 Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) protecting 38% of UK waters. We have built a comprehensive network of MPAs and are focusing on making sure they are protected properly. 98 MPAs in English inshore waters already have byelaws in place to protect sensitive features from damaging fishing activities. The first four offshore byelaws have now also been implemented and plans are in place to protect all offshore sites by the end of 2024, using new powers in the Fisheries Act 2020. The Government has also committed to introduce Highly Protected Marine Areas (HPMAs) following the response to the Benyon Review. We are now consulting on candidate pilot HPMAs.</p><p> </p><p>In addition, the UK continues to provide support for marine protection internationally, including through the £500 million Blue Planet Fund. The Blue Planet Fund, financed from the UK overseas aid budget, will support developing countries to protect and sustainably manage their marine resources and address human-generated threats across four key themes: biodiversity, climate change, marine pollution, and sustainable seafood.</p> answering member constituency St Austell and Newquay answering member printed Steve Double question first answered 05/09/2022 11:15:06 answering member 4452 label Biography information for Steve Double
	tabling member	4681 label Biography information for Bob Seely

1491139

	registered interest
	date	20/07/2022
	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	Plastics: Seas and Oceans
	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 his Department is taking to help reduce the amount of plastic in the oceans.
	tabling member constituency	Nottingham East
	tabling member printed	Nadia Whittome
	uin	41007
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/09/2022 answer text <p>The UK is committed to leading efforts to protect our marine environment, including fighting plastic pollution.</p><p> </p><p>At the UN Ocean Conference in June, the OSPAR Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic, which the UK is party to, launched the second Regional Action Plan on Marine Litter that sets out the action countries will take to prevent and reduce marine litter.</p><p> </p><p>The UK is proud to have supported the proposal by Rwanda and Peru that led to the landmark resolution to start negotiating a legally binding treaty to end plastic pollution. To continue to drive progress, the UK became a founding member of the High Ambition Coalition to End Plastic Pollution through which we will strive for an ambitious treaty that will end plastic pollution by 2040.</p><p> </p><p>The UK's Environment Act enables us to change how we manage our waste and take forward proposals from our Resources and Waste Strategy, including tackling plastic pollution.</p><p> </p><p>To tackle pollution from frequently littered items we have restricted the supply of plastic straws, cotton buds and banned drinks stirrers, and with the introduction of carrier bag charges, the use of single-use carrier bags in England has reduced in the main supermarkets by over 97%.</p><p> </p><p>Additionally, our ban on microbeads in rinse-off personal care products has prevented billions of these tiny plastic beads from entering the ocean each year. Furthermore, we have consulted on proposals to ban the supply of single-use plastic plates, cutlery, and balloon sticks, and expanded and extruded polystyrene food and beverage containers, including cups. The consultation response will be published in due course.</p><p> </p><p>Plastic packaging contributes to 55% to 70% of the UK's plastic waste. The introduction of extended producer responsibility for packaging and a plastic packaging tax this April, will incentivise businesses to produce more sustainable packaging and help address this problem, as will the plastic packaging tax on plastic packaging with insufficient recycled content.</p> answering member constituency St Austell and Newquay answering member printed Steve Double question first answered 05/09/2022 07:30:25 answering member 4452 label Biography information for Steve Double
	tabling member	4869 label Biography information for Nadia Whittome

1491096

	registered interest
	date	20/07/2022
	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	Sankey Canal
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he is taking steps with relevant (a) local authorities and (b) waterways agencies to ensure the future viability of the Sankey Canal.
	tabling member constituency	St Helens North
	tabling member printed	Conor McGinn
	uin	40835
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/09/2022 answer text <p>Responsibility for different sections of the Sankey Canal falls to three local authorities (Halton, Warrington and St Helens Borough Councils), the Canal and River Trust, and a limited company. Ministers do not have a role in operational matters on inland waterways. It is for the navigation authorities to decide on funding allocations for their maintenance.</p> answering member constituency St Austell and Newquay answering member printed Steve Double question first answered 05/09/2022 07:21:12 answering member 4452 label Biography information for Steve Double
	tabling member	4458 label Biography information for Conor McGinn

1491113

	registered interest
	date	20/07/2022
	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	Inland Waterways
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department is taking steps to ensure that water levels in (a) canals and (b) waterways are at sustainable levels.
	tabling member constituency	St Helens North
	tabling member printed	Conor McGinn
	uin	40836
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/09/2022 answer text <p>Ministers do not have a role in operational matters on inland waterways, including water levels. It is for the navigation authorities to manage the maintenance and operation of the waterways for which they have responsibility, working with local authorities and the Environment Agency where necessary.</p> answering member constituency St Austell and Newquay answering member printed Steve Double question first answered 05/09/2022 07:14:25 answering member 4452 label Biography information for Steve Double
	tabling member	4458 label Biography information for Conor McGinn