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1140245

	registered interest
	date	18/07/2019
	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	Food: Allowances
	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 of the potential merits of giving people a monthly allowance to spend on fresh, healthy and locally sourced food in a bid to (a) tackle obesity and (b) support the farming industry.
	tabling member constituency	Newcastle-under-Lyme
	tabling member printed	Paul Farrelly
	uin	278920
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/07/2019 answer text <p>There are existing schemes that support the consumption of healthy food. For example, the Healthy Start scheme provides vouchers for lower income families which can be used to buy, or be put towards the cost of, fruit, vegetables, milk and infant formula.</p><p> </p><p>In addition, Defra has commissioned its lead non-executive director, Henry Dimbleby, to lead an independent review to develop a series of recommendations that will help shape a national food strategy. It will cover the entire food chain from field to fork, building on work already underway in the Agriculture Bill, the Environment Bill, the Fisheries Bill and the Childhood Obesity Plan. This will help ensure that our food system delivers healthy and affordable food and is built upon a resilient and sustainable agriculture sector.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Macclesfield answering member printed David Rutley question first answered 23/07/2019 14:52:41 answering member 4033 label Biography information for David Rutley
	tabling member	1436 label Biography information for Paul Farrelly

1140303

	registered interest
	date	18/07/2019
	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	Sheep Meat: UK Trade with EU
	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 the timetable is for listing the UK as a third country for the purposes of exporting sheep meat to the EU in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.
	tabling member constituency	Darlington
	tabling member printed	Jenny Chapman
	uin	278954
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/07/2019 answer text <p>If the UK leaves the EU in a no deal scenario then it will be treated as a third country.</p><p> </p><p>In order to be prepared for all possible outcomes, the UK submitted its application for listing as a third country to continue exporting live animals and animal products to the EU after EU Exit. In the event of a no deal exit, without listed status exports of animal products, the export of most live animals to the EU could not take place.</p><p> </p><p>When the relevant EU committee (‘SCoPAFF’) met on 9 April, Member States unanimously voted to list the UK. This vote guaranteed that exports of live animals and animal products to the EU could have continued if the UK had left the EU without a deal on 12 April.</p><p> </p><p>The 9 April decision would only have come into force if the UK left the EU on 12 April. Following the Article 50 extension in April, the European Commission have confirmed a further SCoPAFF vote will be required to list the UK prior to a potential no deal EU Exit in the future. We are confident the UK will continue to meet the requirements for listing should that be required.</p><p> </p><p>We would expect the Commission to hold the further SCoPAFF meeting ahead of the UK leaving the EU without a deal.</p> answering member constituency Macclesfield answering member printed David Rutley question first answered 23/07/2019 14:49:39 answering member 4033 label Biography information for David Rutley
	tabling member	3972 label Biography information for Baroness Chapman of Darlington

1140331

	registered interest
	date	18/07/2019
	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	Horses: Animal Welfare
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will undertake a review of the effectiveness of prosecutions under the Protection Against Cruel Tethering Act 1988; what steps the Government is taking to ensure the implementation of adequate protections for tethered horses; and if he will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	East Yorkshire
	tabling member printed	Sir Greg Knight
	uin	278918
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/07/2019 answer text <p>The Protection Against Cruel Tethering Act 1988 was repealed by the Animal Welfare Act 2006 (“the 2006 Act”) and its provisions replaced with section 9 of the 2006 Act. This introduces a duty on people to ensure the welfare needs of animals for which they are responsible. Local authorities, the Animal and Plant Health Agency and the police all have powers of entry under the 2006 Act and can investigate allegations of poor welfare and take enforcement action where necessary. Furthermore, under the 2006 Act anyone is able to investigate allegations of poor welfare and take forward prosecutions. It is on this basis that the RSPCA successfully prosecute 800 to 1,000 people each year, including in relation to equines and equine tethering.</p><p> </p><p>In addition, the 2006 Act is backed up by the statutory 'Code of Practice for the Welfare of Horses, Ponies, Donkeys and Their Hybrids' which has a specific Annex dedicated to tethering. RSPCA inspectors will use the code when investigating horse welfare incidents, such as inappropriate tethering, to check compliance. Although it is not an offence to breach the code, it can be used as evidence in court, for example if a case for inappropriate horse tethering was brought against the owner.</p><p> </p><p>We agree that more can be done to spread best practice amongst horse owners. On this basis, I recently hosted a horse tethering roundtable with key stakeholders including horse welfare groups, local authorities and the RSPCA. Following this we will continue to engage with key stakeholders to tackle this important issue.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Macclesfield answering member printed David Rutley question first answered 23/07/2019 15:00:43 answering member 4033 label Biography information for David Rutley
	tabling member	1200 label Biography information for Sir Greg Knight

1141966

	registered interest
	date	25/07/2019
	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	Animal Welfare
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	What steps he is taking to prevent animal cruelty.
	tabling member constituency	Mansfield
	tabling member printed	Ben Bradley
	uin	912192
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/07/2019 answer text <p>This Government is leading the way in promoting animal welfare by bringing forward legislation that will increase the maximum custodial penalty for animal cruelty in England from 6 months’ to 5 years’ imprisonment. We have also made it a requirement for all slaughterhouses to have CCTV; updated and improved the laws regulating dog breeding and pet sales; and banned the third party sale of puppies and kittens.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Macclesfield answering member printed David Rutley grouped question UIN 912197 question first answered 25/07/2019 15:37:14 answering member 4033 label Biography information for David Rutley
	tabling member	4663 label Biography information for Ben Bradley

1141967

	registered interest
	date	25/07/2019
	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	Climate Change
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	What steps the Government is taking to ensure that domestic climate change adaptation policy does not disproportionately affect low-income households.
	tabling member constituency	Harlow
	tabling member printed	Robert Halfon
	uin	912194
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/07/2019 answer text <p>The Government considers the distributional impact of its interventions on different groups, including low income households, and our National Adaptation Programme sets out the steps the Government will be taking, until the next five year plan in 2023, to further adapt to climate change. Its central aim is to build resilience across the economy, and draws from across a large body of cross-Government work. To take just one example, the Government’s capital investment programme in flooding and coastal erosion is expected to provide over a ten-fold economic return on the initial outlay.</p> answering member constituency Macclesfield answering member printed David Rutley question first answered 25/07/2019 15:47:59 answering member 4033 label Biography information for David Rutley
	tabling member	3985 label Biography information for Robert Halfon

1141969

	registered interest
	date	25/07/2019
	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	Animal Welfare
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	What steps he is taking to prevent animal cruelty.
	tabling member constituency	Walsall North
	tabling member printed	Eddie Hughes
	uin	912197
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/07/2019 answer text <p>This Government is leading the way in promoting animal welfare by bringing forward legislation that will increase the maximum custodial penalty for animal cruelty in England from 6 months’ to 5 years’ imprisonment. We have also made it a requirement for all slaughterhouses to have CCTV; updated and improved the laws regulating dog breeding and pet sales; and banned the third party sale of puppies and kittens.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Macclesfield answering member printed David Rutley grouped question UIN 912192 question first answered 25/07/2019 15:37:14 answering member 4033 label Biography information for David Rutley
	tabling member	4635 label Biography information for Eddie Hughes

1141970

	registered interest
	date	25/07/2019
	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	Animal Welfare
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	If he will bring forward legislative proposals to recognise animal sentience.
	tabling member constituency	North Tyneside
	tabling member printed	Mary Glindon
	uin	912198
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/07/2019 answer text <p>There has never been any question that this Government’s policies on animal welfare are driven by the fact that animals are sentient beings. However, the Government has been very clear that we will make any necessary changes required to UK law in a rigorous and comprehensive way to ensure animal sentience is recognised after we leave the EU.</p> answering member constituency Macclesfield answering member printed David Rutley question first answered 25/07/2019 15:44:16 answering member 4033 label Biography information for David Rutley
	tabling member	4126 label Biography information for Mary Glindon

1354227

	registered interest
	date	09/09/2021
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Universal Credit
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of ending the £20 uplift to Universal Credit on (a) levels of poverty (b) levels of homelessness and (c) foodbank usage.
	tabling member constituency	Birkenhead
	tabling member printed	Mick Whitley
	uin	45929
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/09/2021 answer text <p>It is not possible to produce a robust estimate of the impact of removing the £20 uplift on poverty or related issues. This is particularly the case at the moment given the uncertainty around the speed of the economic recovery, and how this will be distributed across the population.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>In addition, foodbanks are independent, charitable organisations and the Department for Work and Pensions does not have any role in their operation. There is no consistent and accurate measure of food bank usage at a constituency or national level.</p><p> </p><p>The latest poverty figures (2019/20) demonstrate that absolute poverty rates (both before and after housing costs) for working-age adults in working families have fallen since 2009/10. In 2019/20, 8% of working age adults in working families were in absolute poverty (before housing costs), compared to 9% in 2009/10.</p><p> </p><p>Discretionary Housing Payments provide critical support to vulnerable claimants, including those who are at risk of homelessness, that need help with their housing costs.</p><p>For 2021-22 the Government has made available £140m in Discretionary Housing Payments funding for local authorities in England and Wales. In 2020-21 we boosted investment in the Local Housing Allowance by almost £1 billion and have maintained rates in cash terms for 2021-22. In addition, earlier this year we extended the exemptions from the shared accommodation rate of Local Housing Allowance for care leavers and those who have spent at least three months in a homeless hostel. From 31st May 2021 the care leavers exemption applies up to age 25 and the homeless hostel exemption applies up to age 35.</p><p> </p><p>Work Coaches support claimants to address their housing issues by signposting to relevant housing services. Under “duty to refer” legislation, Jobcentres in England offer a voluntary referral to claimants who may be homeless, or threatened with homelessness, to local housing teams for support.”</p><p> </p><p>The Chancellor announced a temporary six-month extension to the £20 per week uplift at the Budget on 3 March to support households affected by the economic shock of Covid-19. Universal Credit has provided a vital safety net for six million people during the pandemic, and the temporary uplift was part of a COVID support package worth a total of £407 billion in 2020-21 and 2021-22.</p><p> </p><p>There have been significant positive developments in the public health situation since the uplift was first introduced. With the success of the vaccine rollout and record job vacancies, it is right that our focus is on helping people back into work.</p><p> </p><p>Through our Plan for Jobs, we are targeting tailored support schemes of people of all ages to help them prepare for, get into and progress in work. These include: Kickstart, delivering tens of thousands of six-month work placements for UC claimants aged 16-24 at risk of unemployment; Restart, which provides 12 months’ intensive employment support to UC claimants who are unemployed for a year; and JETS, which provides light touch employment support for people who are claiming either Universal Credit or New Style Jobseekers Allowance, for up to 6 months, helping participants effectively re-engage with the labour market and focus their job search. We have also recruited an additional 13,500 work coaches to provide more intensive support to find a job. In total, our Plan for Jobs interventions will support more than two million people.</p> answering member constituency Macclesfield answering member printed David Rutley question first answered 20/09/2021 15:12:00 answering member 4033 label Biography information for David Rutley
	tabling member	4755 label Biography information for Mick Whitley

1354308

	registered interest
	date	09/09/2021
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Universal Credit
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reason deductions for child maintenance are listed at numbers 13 and 14 in her Department's guidance on the deductions priority order for universal credit.
	tabling member constituency	Newport East
	tabling member printed	Jessica Morden
	uin	45822
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/09/2021 answer text <p>Schedule 6 of the Universal Credit, Personal Independence Payment, Jobseeker's Allowance and Employment and Support Allowance (Claims and Payments) Regulations 2013 sets out the priority order in which Departmental staff must consider all deductions from Universal Credit, including Child Maintenance. The deductions contained in that priority order are all priority debts and social obligations that are important for claimants to address.</p><p> </p><p>The Department recognises the importance of Child Maintenance payments and these deductions are already prioritised above others such as benefit overpayments of Housing Benefit, Tax Credit and DWP overpayments and Recoverable Hardship and Social Fund loans.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Macclesfield answering member printed David Rutley question first answered 20/09/2021 16:51:51 answering member 4033 label Biography information for David Rutley
	tabling member	1548 label Biography information for Jessica Morden

1354377

	registered interest
	date	09/09/2021
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Children: Day Care
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the impact of comprehensive childcare access on (a) levels of underemployment among parents and (b) improving local economies.
	tabling member constituency	York Central
	tabling member printed	Rachael Maskell
	uin	45883
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/09/2021 answer text <p>No such impact assessment has been made.</p><p> </p><p>Childcare costs should not be a barrier to getting into work; this Government is committed to helping parents into work. Universal Credit pays up to 85% of childcare costs regardless of the hours worked, compared to 70% in legacy benefits and can be claimed up to a month before starting a job. In cases where people need to pay for childcare upfront prior to starting work, Work Coaches can use the Flexible Support Fund for eligible claimants to meet these costs until their first wage is received.</p><p> </p><p>All three and four year olds in England are entitled to 15 hours of free childcare each week, providing children with high-quality early education and helping parents to return to work.</p><p> </p><p>Additionally, 30 hours free childcare was introduced in England in September 2017 and is an entitlement for working parents of three and four year olds. To be eligible, both parents, or a single parent, must earn the equivalent of 16 hours a week at national minimum/ living wage (for parents aged 23 or over, this would work out at just over £7,400 per year) and less than £100,000 per year<strong>.</strong></p> answering member constituency Macclesfield answering member printed David Rutley question first answered 20/09/2021 16:48:13 answering member 4033 label Biography information for David Rutley
	tabling member	4471 label Biography information for Rachael Maskell