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  • Stephen Gethins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Stephen Gethins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Gethins on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what funding she plans to make available to replace payments made under the Common Agricultural Policy.

    George Eustice

    On 13 August the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced that the agricultural sector will receive the same level of funding that it would have received under Pillar 1 of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) until 2020.

    The Government will also guarantee funding for CAP Pillar 2 projects, including agri-environment agreements, signed after the Autumn Statement and which continue after the UK has left the EU, so long as they meet the conditions that they are good value for money and are in line with domestic strategic priorities.

    This provides crucial certainty and continuity to our rural communities while we develop a new approach to supporting agriculture and protecting our precious countryside.

  • Stephen Gethins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Stephen Gethins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Gethins on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department plans to ensure that UK vessels will continue to be able to land fish in other EU countries after the UK leaves the EU.

    George Eustice

    Access to fishing grounds and measures to enable equal access to ports are important and we will consider these issues as we develop future arrangements outside the EU.

  • Helen Goodman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Helen Goodman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Goodman on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that EU agri-environment schemes will be open to UK applicants after current funding guarantees expire in 2019.

    George Eustice

    The Government’s announcement of 3 October provided further certainty on funding to rural communities while we develop a new approach to supporting agriculture, protecting the countryside and generating growth in the rural economy.

    We will now be working with the industry, rural communities and the wider public to shape our plans for food, farming, the environment and rural growth outside the EU.

  • Helen Goodman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Helen Goodman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Goodman on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what her policy is on retaining access to EU agri-environment schemes for new applicants after the autumn statement; and what discussions her Department has had with HM Treasury on those schemes.

    George Eustice

    As announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, agri-environment agreements signed after the Autumn Statement and which continue after we have left the EU are guaranteed funding if they are good value for money and in line with domestic strategic priorities.

    Defra will have responsibility in England for the allocation of funds to agri-environment agreements in line with these conditions and the wider rules on public spending.

  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, (a) how many and (b) what proportion of staff employed by her Department are non-UK nationals.

    George Eustice

    All Government Departments are bound by legal requirements concerning the right to work in the UK and, in addition, the Civil Service Nationality Rules. Evidence of nationality is checked at the point of recruitment into the Civil Service as part of wider pre-employment checks, but there is no requirement on departments to retain this information beyond the point at which it has served its purpose.

    More broadly, the Government will be consulting in due course on how we work with business to ensure that workers in this country have the skills that they need to get a job. But there are no proposals to publish lists of the number or proportion of foreign workers.

  • Stephen Gethins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Stephen Gethins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Gethins on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans she has to ensure the quality labelling of Scottish produce will remain protected after the UK leaves the EU.

    George Eustice

    We fully support the UK’s iconic, world-class traditional products such as Scottish Farmed Salmon, Scotch Beef and Scotch Whisky, which provide and support thousands of jobs across Scotland and the UK and accounts for a large proportion of UK exports.

    We fully recognise the importance of ensuring that the protection for products such as those currently registered under the Protected Food Name and Geographical Indication schemes continues after the UK has left the EU. We are looking at how best to do this and we will continue to work with producers to ensure protections are in place in the future.

  • Stephen Gethins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Stephen Gethins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Gethins on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department plans to seek to uphold the principle of relative stability in fish stock allocation in the UK after the UK leaves the EU.

    George Eustice

    We are considering a range of options on how best fish stocks should be allocated between countries when we leave the EU. There are clear principles set out in UNCLOS regarding the importance of cooperation on the allocation of stocks and on sharing access.

  • Stephen Gethins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Stephen Gethins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Gethins on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of its capacity to (a) secure and (b) extend UK fishing rights; and whether her Department plans to have in place an exclusive economic zone of 200 nautical miles after the UK leaves the EU.

    George Eustice

    Exit from the EU presents us with an opportunity under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) to improve the way waters in the UK’s Exclusive Economic Zone are managed. Defra officials will be working with the Department for Exiting the European Union, Devolved Administrations and stakeholders to develop proposals that will allow the UK to best take advantage of this opportunity.

  • Stephen Gethins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Stephen Gethins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Gethins on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the Government’s priorities will be in its negotiation of a new fishing agreement with the EU.

    George Eustice

    The Government’s priority is to negotiate a fair allocation of fishing opportunities and also to deliver its manifesto commitments to sustainable fisheries and to the ending of discards.

  • Stephen Gethins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Stephen Gethins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Gethins on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions her Department has had with Ministers of the Scottish Government on the UK’s position on fisheries in its negotiations on the UK leaving the EU.

    George Eustice

    To date we have had no discussions with Ministers of the Scottish Government on the UK’s position on fisheries in relation to negotiations on leaving the EU. However, I spoke to Fergus Ewing, the Scottish Fisheries Minister, shortly after the referendum and explained that we would be holding discussions with all devolved administrations later in the year.