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

1249914

	registered interest
	date	05/11/2020
	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: Artificial Intelligence
	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 (a) artificial intelligence and (b) machine learning projects are being (i) undertaken and (ii) considered for his Department.
	tabling member constituency	Glasgow South West
	tabling member printed	Chris Stephens
	uin	112083
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/11/2020 answer text <p>I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Newcastle upon Tyne Central on 10 September 2020, PQ UIN 83796.</p><p> </p><p>[<a href="https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2020-09-01/83796" target="_blank">questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2020-09-01/83796</a>]</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>Defra recognises the potential for artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to play an important part in ensuring that data and science are at the heart of decision making.</p><p> </p><p>All of Defra’s ongoing and previous research projects, including a number involving AI and ML, are published on Defra’s research and development website: <a href="http://randd.defra.gov.uk" target="_blank">randd.defra.gov.uk</a> Planned projects are advertised on Bravo: <a href="https://defra.bravosolution.co.uk" target="_blank">defra.bravosolution.co.uk</a>.</p><p> </p><p>Areas particularly benefitting from these tools include the interpretation of Earth Observation and automated sensor data, the development of advanced modelling techniques, and improved customer service.</p><p> </p><p>We will continue to work in partnership across Government, with academia and industry to develop the use of AI and ML for Defra.</p> answering member constituency Banbury answering member printed Victoria Prentis question first answered 13/11/2020 13:53:48 answering member 4401 label Biography information for Victoria Prentis
	tabling member	4463 label Biography information for Chris Stephens

1403924

	registered interest
	date	18/01/2022
	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: Working Hours
	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 records his Department keeps relating to staff working times under Regulation 9 of the Working Time Regulations 1998; and how long those records are kept for.
	tabling member constituency	Glasgow South West
	tabling member printed	Chris Stephens
	uin	106759
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/01/2022 answer text <p>I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Easington on 17 January 2022, PQ UIN <a href="https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2022-01-12/102586" target="_blank">102586</a>.</p> answering member constituency Banbury answering member printed Victoria Prentis question first answered 21/01/2022 09:43:23 answering member 4401 label Biography information for Victoria Prentis
	tabling member	4463 label Biography information for Chris Stephens

1472764

	registered interest
	date	23/06/2022
	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: Production
	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 the rise in the cost of living on food producers.
	tabling member constituency	Glasgow South West
	tabling member printed	Chris Stephens
	uin	900687
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/06/2022 answer text <p>Agricultural commodities are linked to global gas prices, and we recognise that farmers and food producers are facing increased input costs – namely fertiliser, energy, fuel and feed. We have taken steps to support farmers with fertiliser availability, brought forward BPS payments, implemented maize tariff reductions and introduced flexibility in the labelling of certain oils in products.</p> answering member constituency Banbury answering member printed Victoria Prentis question first answered 23/06/2022 15:03:38 answering member 4401 label Biography information for Victoria Prentis
	tabling member	4463 label Biography information for Chris Stephens

1489485

	registered interest
	date	14/07/2022
	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: Imports
	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 discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for International Trade on the impact of (a) trends in the level of and (b) barriers to imports on food security and availability in the UK.
	tabling member constituency	Glasgow South West
	tabling member printed	Chris Stephens
	uin	901229
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/07/2022 answer text <p>The UK has a highly resilient food supply chain, as demonstrated throughout the COVID-19 response. It is well equipped to deal with situations with the potential to cause disruption.</p><p> </p><p>The capability, levers, and expertise to respond to disruption lie with industry. They have highly resilient supply chains, and this was proven in the initial COVID-19 response. The Government’s role is to support and enable an industry-led response.</p><p> </p><p>The UK Government has well established ways of working with the industry and with the Devolved Administrations to monitor risks that may arise. This includes extensive, regular and ongoing engagement in preparedness for, and response to, issues with the potential to cause disruption to food supply chains.</p><p> </p><p>The UK’s high degree of food security is built on supply from diverse sources, strong domestic production as well as imports through stable trade routes. We produce 60% of all the food we need, and 74% of food which we can grow or rear in the UK for all or part of the year, and these figures have changed little over the last 20 years.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Banbury answering member printed Victoria Prentis question first answered 21/07/2022 13:33:29 answering member 4401 label Biography information for Victoria Prentis
	tabling member	4463 label Biography information for Chris Stephens

1541910

	registered interest
	date	14/11/2022
	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	Veterinary Surgeons Act 1966
	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 plans he has to update the Veterinary Surgeons Act 1966.
	tabling member constituency	Glasgow South West
	tabling member printed	Chris Stephens
	uin	86516
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/11/2022 answer text <p>Defra is aware of the many potential benefits associated with updating the Veterinary Surgeons Act 1966 and is considering the most effective and proportionate approach for full or partial reform of the Act. There is currently no timescale as to when any reforms of this legislation might take place. Any proposals taken forward would be subject to a public consultation.</p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Mark Spencer question first answered 17/11/2022 13:28:02 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
	tabling member	4463 label Biography information for Chris Stephens

1564169

	registered interest
	date	06/01/2023
	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 Services
	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 she has had discussions with the RCVS Veterinary Nurses Council on changing the Veterinary Surgeons Act 1966 to (a) replace the criminal standard of proof with the civil standard and (b) make improvements to the Fitness to Practise disciplinary system.
	tabling member constituency	Glasgow South West
	tabling member printed	Chris Stephens
	uin	117662
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/01/2023 answer text <p>Defra is grateful for the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) recommendations for reforming the Veterinary Surgeons Act to ensure that vets and veterinary nurses are regulated in line with modern regulatory practice in the future. My officials have maintained regular contact with RCVS on these matters. Defra supports the need to make changes to improve veterinary retention and simplify the rules and processes used. The Government's legislation for the forthcoming session will be announced in due course. The department will continue to work with stakeholders and RCVS to prioritise other non-legislative work to support improvements to veterinary retention.</p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Mark Spencer question first answered 19/01/2023 15:45:34 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
	tabling member	4463 label Biography information for Chris Stephens

1569008

	registered interest
	date	20/01/2023
	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: Equality
	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 she is taking to ensure her Department complies with section 2.1.6 of the Civil Service Management Code; and whether that monitoring data gathered is shared with union representatives.
	tabling member constituency	Glasgow South West
	tabling member printed	Chris Stephens
	uin	128654
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/01/2023 answer text <p>Defra Group complies with section 2.1.6 of the Civil Service Management Code and regularly monitors EDI data, as regards all protected characteristics as defined in the Equality Act 2010.</p><p> </p><p>This Data is captured via self-declaration via Shared Serves Platform. This data is utilised to monitor all aspects of employee lifecycle, including recruitment, retention, in year award / recognition, performance ratings, L&amp;D / Talent and promotions to ensure equal access of opportunity to all. Furthermore, Equality impact Assessments are conducted at the point of policy creation and revision in order to assess impact and effectiveness of internal policies and action plans across protected characteristics.</p><p> </p><p>All monitoring data collated and analysed by the department is shared with the trade unions representing staff covered by the Departmental Trade Union framework (the core department and Executive Agencies), Natural England and the Environment Agency. Workforce data is published annually via Defra Annual Report.</p><p> </p><p>Please note, that 2.1.6 of the Civil Service Management Code (CSMC) <strong>does not</strong> place an obligation on departments to share this information with their representative trade unions.</p><p> </p><p>We have made good progress in recent years in diversifying the Civil Service. The percentage of civil servants from an ethnic minority background is at 15.0% and the percentage of those who declare themselves disabled is at 14.0%. Staff who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or other (LGBO) is 6.1% and the proportion of female civil servants stands at 54.5%. These rates are all at their highest recorded levels. However, we know there is still progress to be made in ensuring we are representative of the citizens we serve across all our grades.</p><p> </p><p>The new Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy 2022-2025 recognises our success and builds on this good work to encourage a broader range of people into the Civil Service to give depth to our understanding of contemporary society in the United Kingdom. It provides the necessary framing for diversity and inclusion activity in the Civil Service as part of our wider workforce strategy, and through that, how the Civil Service delivers for its people, the Government and our citizens.</p><p>A link to the Civil Service statistics can be found at the following link: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/civil-service-statistics" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/civil-service-statistics</a></p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Mark Spencer question first answered 31/01/2023 10:53:09 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
	tabling member	4463 label Biography information for Chris Stephens

1579630

	registered interest
	date	23/01/2023
	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: Minimum Wage
	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 many and what proportion of employees in their Department are paid at the rate of the National Minimum Wage.
	tabling member constituency	Glasgow South West
	tabling member printed	Chris Stephens
	uin	129892
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/01/2023 answer text <p>This Government is committed to paying people a decent living wage, which is being addressed through the statutory National Living Wage. In April 2022, the Government increased the National Living Wage to £9.50 per hour. This will rise to £10.42 an hour from 1 April 2023, an increase of 9.7%.</p><p>By 2024, the Government has committed that the National Living Wage will reach 66% of median UK earnings.</p><p>The Government will always award contracts on the basis of the best value for money for the taxpayer.</p><p>Departments must ensure that they apply the legislative increase to the National Liv-ing Wage and National Minimum Wage.</p><p>The total number of civil servants in the Department for the Environment, Food and rural Affairs paid at or below the National Minimum Wage rate per hour was zero and at the National Living Wage rate per hour or below was zero as at January 25th 2023.</p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Mark Spencer question first answered 31/01/2023 15:36:07 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
	tabling member	4463 label Biography information for Chris Stephens

1580707

	registered interest
	date	25/01/2023
	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: Holiday Leave
	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 her Department has notified staff to (a) tell or (b) remind them that they can sell annual leave in the last four months.
	tabling member constituency	Glasgow South West
	tabling member printed	Chris Stephens
	uin	132463
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/02/2023 answer text <p>a) No and b) No.</p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Mark Spencer question first answered 03/02/2023 14:55:09 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
	tabling member	4463 label Biography information for Chris Stephens

1581908

	registered interest
	date	30/01/2023
	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: Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992
	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 their Department takes to comply with section 181 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992; and if they will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	Glasgow South West
	tabling member printed	Chris Stephens
	uin	135308
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/02/2023 answer text <p>There is a range of HR information which is published on GOV.UK and which is therefore publicly available.</p><p>Defra has a Departmental Employee Relations Framework, agreed with its three recognised trade unions (PCS, Prospect and FDA), which sets out the principles under which the Department and the unions should conduct and build their rela-tionship. It aims to ensure appropriate negotiation, consultation and information sharing between managers and TU representatives is conducted in accordance with agreed principles and legislative requirements.</p><p>This framework specifically references how the Department shares appropriate in-formation with the unions to allow for effective collective bargaining.</p><p>In addition, Defra meets regularly with its recognised Trade Unions and presents and shares a range of information and data where it is appropriate and in line with privacy statements. This helps inform decision making through formal negotiation and meaningful consultation and engagement.</p><p>Defra is therefore complying with section 181 of the Trade Union and Labour Rela-tions (Consolidation) Act 1992 and we always seek to work constructively with trade unions to reach fair and reasonable settlements.</p><p /> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Mark Spencer question first answered 06/02/2023 17:04:43 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
	tabling member	4463 label Biography information for Chris Stephens