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

1083556

	registered interest
	date	07/03/2019
	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	Insects: Conservation
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the study published in the journal Biological Conservation entitled Worldwide decline of the entomofauna: A review of its drivers, what steps his Department will take to reverse the decline of the insect population.
	tabling member constituency	Carshalton and Wallington
	tabling member printed	Tom Brake
	uin	229598
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/03/2019 answer text <p>The study referred to by the Rt. Hon. Member highlights a global issue that requires both global and national action.</p><p> </p><p>UK scientists have been at the forefront of delivering assessments by the Intergovernmental Platform for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). The IPBES global assessment for pollinators concluded that wild pollinators, including many insect groups, have declined in Europe and North America. Data deficiencies precluded assessment in other parts of the world. Regional assessments came to similar conclusions for wider biodiversity, including insects. In Europe, for example, ongoing strong declines were identified in most species groups.</p><p> </p><p>The UK Government acknowledges and is committed to addressing the declines. Internationally, we are determined to play a leading role in the development of an ambitious strategy under the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, when its current framework expires in 2020. At the most recent Conference of the Parties to the Convention, in November 2018, we supported action such as the adoption of a global plan for the conservation and sustainable use of pollinators.</p><p> </p><p>At the national level, the Government’s indicators of the abundance of UK butterflies show long term declines since 1976 but no significant change since 2012. Our indicator of pollinating insects in the UK tells a similar story - overall distribution has declined since 1980 but has stabilised in recent years. We are keeping these trends under review as encouraging but not yet definitive signs of progress.</p><p> </p><p>The Government gathers further data on the status of UK pollinators through a UK-wide pollinator monitoring and research partnership, established in collaboration with research institutes and volunteer organisations.</p><p> </p><p>The 25 Year Environment Plan commits to improving the status of insects and each of the four countries of the UK has its own strategy to protect pollinators. We will continue to work in partnership with scientists and practitioners for future generations to inherit a better environment.</p> answering member constituency Suffolk Coastal answering member printed Dr Thérèse Coffey question first answered 15/03/2019 11:04:35 answering member 4098 label Biography information for Dr Thérèse Coffey
	tabling member	151 label Biography information for Tom Brake

1091248

	registered interest
	date	19/03/2019
	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	Animals and Animal Products: 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 plans his Department has to ensure that all animals and animal products from outside the EU enter Northern Ireland through a border inspection post in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.
	tabling member constituency	Carshalton and Wallington
	tabling member printed	Tom Brake
	uin	234073
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/03/2019 answer text <p>In the event we leave the EU without a deal, live animals and products of animal origin originating from non-EU countries will be checked at UK Border Inspection Posts (BIPs), including those with a final import destination in Northern Ireland.</p><p> </p><p>In Northern Ireland, Belfast Port is the approved BIP for frozen meat and fish products pre-packed for human consumption. Belfast International Airport is the approved BIP for animal by-products that are not for human consumption.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Macclesfield answering member printed David Rutley question first answered 22/03/2019 13:36:57 answering member 4033 label Biography information for David Rutley
	tabling member	151 label Biography information for Tom Brake

1110626

	registered interest
	date	09/04/2019
	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	Engines: Carbon Emissions
	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 section 5.8.1 of the Clean Air Strategy published on 14 January 2019, when he will publish further detail on his proposals to use environmental permitting to tackle emissions from non-road mobile machinery.
	tabling member constituency	Carshalton and Wallington
	tabling member printed	Tom Brake
	uin	242662
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/04/2019 answer text <p>Non Road Mobile Machinery (NRMM) can make a significant contribution to local air pollution, and so it is justified to bring in controls which enable a reduction in their emissions where required. We are currently considering what scope and stringency of controls would be appropriate and will consult on proposals in due course.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Suffolk Coastal answering member printed Dr Thérèse Coffey question first answered 15/04/2019 13:20:54 answering member 4098 label Biography information for Dr Thérèse Coffey
	tabling member	151 label Biography information for Tom Brake

1123171

	registered interest
	date	25/04/2019
	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: Brexit
	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 estimate he has made of the cost to his Department of preparations for the UK leaving the EU without a deal.
	tabling member constituency	Carshalton and Wallington
	tabling member printed	Tom Brake
	uin	247553
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/04/2019 answer text <p>HM Treasury has allocated over £4.2 billion of additional funding to departments and the devolved administrations for exit preparations so far. This breaks down as:</p><p> </p><ul><li>£412 million of additional funding over the spending review period for the Department for Exiting the European Union, Department for International Trade and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in the Autumn Statement 2016<p><p></li><li>£286 million of additional funding for 2017/18 (a full breakdown of which can be found in Supplementary Estimates 2017/18). (<a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/679738/PU2137_Supplementary_estimates_web.pdf" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/679738/PU2137_Supplementary_estimates_web.pdf</a>)<br></li><li>Over £1.5 billion of additional funding for 2018/19. A full breakdown of the allocations can be found in the Chief Secretary’s Written Ministerial Statement, HCWS540, laid on 13 March 2018. (<a href="https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2018-03-13/HCWS540/" target="_blank">https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2018-03-13/HCWS540/</a>) <br></li><li>Over £2 billion of additional funding for 2019/20. A full breakdown of the allocations can be found in the Chief Secretary’s Written Ministerial Statement, HCWS1205, laid on 18 December 2018. (<a href="https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2018-12-18/HCWS1205/" target="_blank">https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2018-12-18/HCWS1205/</a>)</li></ul><p> </p><p>This funding is to cover all exit scenarios, and is in addition to departmental efforts to reprioritise from business as usual toward preparations for the UK’s departure from the EU.</p><p> </p><p>Work on no deal exit preparations cannot be readily separated from other exit work. The department is preparing for all eventualities and the resources available to support preparations are kept under constant review.</p><p><strong> </strong></p> answering member constituency Macclesfield answering member printed David Rutley question first answered 30/04/2019 15:15:52 answering member 4033 label Biography information for David Rutley
	tabling member	151 label Biography information for Tom Brake

1126124

	registered interest
	date	13/05/2019
	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: Brexit
	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 staff in his Department who were transferred or seconded to work (a) in other departments or (b) on other departmental briefs on preparations for the UK to leave the EU, have since returned to his Department.
	tabling member constituency	Carshalton and Wallington
	tabling member printed	Tom Brake
	uin	253454
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/05/2019 answer text <p>EU departure is an all-of-Government operation. The Department for Exiting the European Union is responsible for overseeing negotiations to leave the EU and establishing the future relationship between the UK and EU. The Department for International Trade works to secure UK and global prosperity by promoting and financing international trade and investment, and championing free trade.<strong><br></strong></p><p>Departments continually review workforce plans and reprioritise and assess changing needs, which includes identification and cessation of non-priority work where appropriate. We have accelerated our plans, and at the same time, the Civil Service as a whole is working to ensure that exit implementation is carried out to a high standard without impacting public service delivery across the whole of Government.</p><p>For Defra, information relating to all staff who have been transferred or loaned to another department since June 2016 is provided below. We are not able to confirm how many of these were related to exit roles as this information is not held.</p><p>We have interpreted the second part of the question relating to ‘other departmental briefs’ as those working on projects with or in other departments through any informal arrangement that is not a formal loan or secondment. Based on this interpretation, Defra does not hold this data and is unable to provide this information.</p><p>The information is from June 2016 – present.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Total number of staff transferred to another Government department (OGD) between June 16 – March 19</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>445</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Number of staff transferred to an OGD who have since returned to Defra</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>0</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Total number of staff loaned to an OGD between June 19 – March 19</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>118*</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Number of staff loaned to an OGD who have since returned to Defra</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>14</strong></p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>*This figure includes 30 loans where the end dates are between May 2019 and January 2022, and therefore we would not expect staff to have returned to Defra. All loans are generally for a period of two years.</p><p> </p><p>We do not use the term ‘secondment’ to refer to Civil Servants moving between departments, instead we use the term ‘loan’. Therefore we have interpreted this question to refer to those who have moved to other departments on loans.</p> answering member constituency Macclesfield answering member printed David Rutley question first answered 21/05/2019 14:09:10 answering member 4033 label Biography information for David Rutley
	tabling member	151 label Biography information for Tom Brake

1126566

	registered interest
	date	14/05/2019
	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: Sick 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, how many and what proportion of officials in his Department took sick leave for reasons relating to stress in the last 12 months; what proportion that leave was of total sick leave taken in his Department; and what the cost was to his Department of officials taking sick leave over that period.
	tabling member constituency	Carshalton and Wallington
	tabling member printed	Tom Brake
	uin	254075
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/05/2019 answer text <p>We can confirm we have searched our records and can provide the information below. This information covers the period 1 April 2018 – 31 March 2019. We do not hold data relating specifically to stress as a separate category of sick leave absence. Instead we have provided data relating to all mental health absences. This category includes psychological illnesses such as stress, depression, anxiety and any other mental health condition.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>How many and what proportion of officials in his Department took sick leave for reasons relating to mental health in the last 12 months</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>109 members of staff 2.25% of total staff headcount</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>What proportion that leave was of total sick leave taken in his Department</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Absences relating to mental health made up 34.9% of all sickness absences</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>What the cost was to his Department of officials taking sick leave over that period</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Total cost of mental health sickness is £427,559.55</strong></p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>The proportion of officials taking sick leave for reasons relating to mental health has remained constant at around 2% for the last five years.</p><p> </p><p>We have various services and support mechanisms in place to support employee mental health. For example we have an internal employee led mental health ‘buddy’ network, and employees have access to an external provider Employee Assistance Programme, and Occupational Health Service. We also have a process in place for notifying and managing work related stress.</p> answering member constituency Scarborough and Whitby answering member printed Mr Robert Goodwill question first answered 22/05/2019 14:37:00 answering member 1562 label Biography information for Sir Robert Goodwill
	tabling member	151 label Biography information for Tom Brake