The below Parliamentary question was asked by Robert Syms on 2014-06-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what fraction of mean rated output will be achieved on average throughout the lifetime of Navitus Bay.
Gregory Barker
The Department does not undertake analysis or hold information of this nature relating to specific developments. The average load factor for offshore wind farms using five year historical data from 2008 to 2012 inclusive is 33.1%.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Robert Syms on 2014-06-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what the global mean carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere and partial pressure of carbon dioxide in the oceans will be (a) at the outset and (b) at the end of the Navitus Bay lifetime, if the project goes ahead, (c) at the end of the Navitus Bay lifetime, if the project does not go ahead.
Gregory Barker
The Department does not undertake analysis or hold information of this nature relating to specific developments. The average load factor for offshore wind farms using five year historical data from 2008 to 2012 inclusive is 33.1%.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison Seabeck on 2014-06-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how many parliamentary questions tabled to his Department in the last parliamentary Session did not receive a substantive answer by the time of the 2014 prorogation; and when each such question was first tabled.
Gregory Barker
None. All questions in the last parliamentary session received a substantive answer.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Miss Anne McIntosh on 2014-06-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent representations he has received on support for moorland farmers; and if he will make a statement.
George Eustice
We consulted on proposals for changes to the regional direct payment rates in October 2013, and announced our decision in December to align the payment rates in relation to the lowland and severely disadvantaged areas (SDAs). We also said that we would undertake further analysis and consultation on the appropriate payment rate for the moorland region. We received several contributions to the analysis from stakeholders, and consulted further through the Direct Payments Consultative Group and other forums. Our decision in April confirmed that the payment rate in the moorland will be increased by approximately the same cash amount as the uplift previously announced for the rate in the rest of the SDA. The decision has been welcomed by a number of organisations representing hill and moorland farmers.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Williams on 2014-06-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure that the UK’s sanitary and phytosanitary rules in food production are not affected by the agreement of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership.
George Eustice
The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership could be worth £10 billion a year to the UK economy, with potential to deliver significant opportunities for the UK agriculture, food and drink sectors. Sanitary and phytosanitary issues are likely to be critical to a successful agreement. I am pursuing these in consultation with industry and other interested parties to ensure progress is made, based on sound science and consistent with our biosecurity and food safety standards.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Annette Brooke on 2014-06-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent steps he has taken to reduce risks to the environment posed by the release of helium balloons.
Dan Rogerson
We recognise there are concerns about the potential risks posed by helium balloons. In 2013, jointly with the Welsh Government, we commissioned an independent study to identify and assess the impacts and risks to livestock and the environment associated with sky lanterns and helium balloons.
Evidence from the report concluded that risk to the environment from helium balloons is small or highly localised.
The report is available at:
Any future action Government may take will need to be proportionate to the problem and backed by reliable evidence.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Simpson on 2014-06-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure the effective implementation of regulations (a) relating to storage of slurry and (b) in general for safety in farm yards.
George Eustice
Implementing safety regulations in farm yards is the responsibility of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). The HSE recognises agriculture as a priority industry and has a programme for measurable and sustainable changes to the industry’s health and safety performance.
The regulation of slurry storage is a devolved matter. In England it is controlled by the Water Resources (Control of Pollution) (Silage, Slurry and Agricultural Fuel Oil) Regulations 2010 (the SSAFO regulations), with the Environment Agency as the main regulator. From this year the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) is including slurry storage in its cross compliance inspections. Both the RPA and Environment Agency work closely with the HSE on farm safety.
Slurry storage and management in England has been reviewed recently by a Joint Industry and Government Working Group and this included a review of the SSAFO regulations. The Group’s report was published on 21 November 2013 and is available online at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/slurry-management-and-storage-joint-government-and-industry-report.The report recognised the risks involved in managing slurry and included a recommendation about developing regular assessment of the condition of slurry stores to provide assurance that stores both prevent environmental pollution and meet health and safety requirements.The Government and industry continue to work in partnership to implement the recommendations.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Thérèse Coffey on 2014-06-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many xx-positive cases have been recorded in the UK in each of the last 30 years.
Jane Ellison
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) advises that no Trichinella infection has been found in United Kingdom domestic livestock in the past 30 years. Trichinella infection in food producing animals is controlled by European Union regulations, which are directly applicable in the UK. UK industry routinely tests export pigs as required by their export markets, and all sows and boars, horses and feral wild boar going through approved establishments for Trichinella (which currently amounts to about 3–4 million pigs a year), alongside a FSA programme of surveillance in wildlife.
Monitoring for evidence of Trichinella infection in foxes has been carried out in the UK since 1999. Foxes are tested because they are a good indicator of the presence of infection. There have been only two incidences of Trichinella Spiralis found in foxes in Northern Ireland, one in 2007 and one in 2009, and just one incident of Trichinella Pseudospiralis in a fox in Great Britain in 2013.
In terms of human infections, Trichinellosis in humans is notifiable to the Department and any case that occurs is investigated and where possible the source of infection is identified. There have been no human cases acquired from meat produced in the UK for more than 30 years.
Ten cases of trichinellosis were diagnosed in the UK between 2000 and 2012, including an outbreak of eight cases in England and Wales in 2000. Eight of these cases were associated with the consumption of imported meat products. The remaining two cases were travel related where infection was acquired abroad: one case in 2001, and the other 2010.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sheila Gilmore on 2014-06-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what visits each of the Ministers in his Department have made since January 2013; and what the purpose of each such visit was.
Dan Rogerson
To identify every visit made by all of our Ministers over the period would incur a disproportionate cost as the information is not collated centrally.
However, information on Ministers’ meetings with external organisations and their overseas travel is published quarterly on the Gov.uk site. This reflects the Civil Service’s commitment to transparency.
Please find links to the relevant reports from 1 January 2013 until 31 December 2013:
1 January to 31 March 2013:
1 April to 30 June 2013:
1 July to 30 September 2013:
1 October to 31 December 2013:
Transparency data for 1 January to 31 March 2014 is expected to be available on the webpage later this month. The data for 1 April to 30 June 2014 is due to be published in September.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2014-06-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Answer of 10 April 2014, Official Report, column 394W, on forests, for what reasons the Government did not announce in the Queen’s Speech legislative proposals to protect the public forest estate.
Dan Rogerson
There were many proposals competing for the limited space within the Fourth Session programme and the proposed forestry measures could not be accommodated.
The Government stands by its commitment to establish a new public body to hold the Public Forest Estate in trust for the nation, as set out in its Forestry and Woodlands Policy Statement of January 2013, as soon as Parliamentary time allows.