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  • Fabian Hamilton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Fabian Hamilton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fabian Hamilton on 2016-01-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which Ministers and staff of her Department will be attending the Hanoi Conference on the Illegal Wildlife Trade in November 2016; and what the projected cost of that attendance will be in (a) staff salaries, (b) travel and (c) other costs.

    Rory Stewart

    The UK remains committed to its global leadership role in helping to tackle the illegal wildlife trade. During his visit to Vietnam in July 2015, the Prime Minister confirmed that the UK would provide £200,000 to support Vietnam in hosting a third high level international conference on the illegal wildlife trade. The Conference, to be held on 24-25 November 2016, will build on the successful London and Kasane Conferences of 2014 and 2015. Decisions about who will represent the UK at the Vietnam Conference have not yet been made.

  • Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-01-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he plans to take to co-ordinate steps to enhance public transport and accelerate the transition to ultra-low emission vehicles.

    Andrew Jones

    We have an ambitious programme of improvement for public transport. The Government is investing more than £38 billion in Network Rail to deliver the biggest programme of railway modernisation since the Victorian times, and backing Transport for the North and Midlands Connect to enable cities and regions. We are also supporting technology upgrades on transport networks to meet the expectations of the digital age and to deliver extra capacity.

    We want nearly all cars and vans to be zero emission by 2050 and have committed more than £600 million between 2015 and 2020 to this goal, which is itself a substantial increase in funding compared to the previous Parliament. This investment will bring improvements to public transport as well. We have allocated £30m to support low emission buses, which will improve urban air quality, reduce running costs, and provide smoother more reliable journeys for passengers. We are supporting the installation of electric vehicle chargepoints at public transport hubs. 80 chargepoints have already been installed at train stations, and the £40m Go Ultra Low City Scheme includes plans for many more at strategic urban locations, such as park-and-ride sites, as well as measures to encourage EV car clubs. The low emission vehicle industry already supports over 18,000 UK jobs and it is a key element of our ambitions for a low carbon, high tech, high skills economy.

  • Laurence Robertson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Laurence Robertson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2016-01-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the level of milk prices paid to farmers in comparison to their costs of production.

    George Eustice

    The latest AHDB league table suggests that average prices paid by milk purchasers ranged from 19.46 ppl to 34.68 ppl in November 2015.

    For farms in England in 2014/15, (latest available figures) The average cost of milk production in England was 29.2 pence per litre.

  • Laurence Robertson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Laurence Robertson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2016-01-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether it is her policy to make funding available for woodland planting to help with water retention during times of flooding.

    Rory Stewart

    Flood risk management is one of the targeting criteria for woodland creation funded through the new Countryside Stewardship scheme. The Forestry Commission also continues to undertake research into understanding what role woodlands can play in managing flood risk. Defra and the Environment Agency will continue to support investigations into the potential benefits of land management change on flood risk – including tree planting.

  • Fabian Hamilton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Fabian Hamilton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fabian Hamilton on 2016-01-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 14 October 2015 to Question 11026, whether the Inter-Ministerial Group on International Animal Welfare has met; when that group’s next meeting will be; and who will be chairing that group.

    George Eustice

    The IMG has yet to formally reconvene and therefor membership of the group is yet to be finalised. However, I have had discussions with Ministerial colleagues about reconvening the group.

  • Laurence Robertson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Laurence Robertson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2016-01-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many farmers who were on the Higher Level Scheme and Entry Level Scheme have joined the Countryside Stewardship Scheme; and if she will make a statement.

    George Eustice

    Natural England is currently processing 2,848 applications for the new Countryside Stewardship Scheme. 1,526 agreements have been offered so far and 859 have been accepted. All agreements will have a start date of 1 January 2016.

    ‪ The number of farmers applying who were formerly in Entry Level Stewardship is not yet known. Natural England is, however, currently working on applications from at least 159 farmers whose Higher Level Stewardship agreements are due to end in 2016.

  • Laurence Robertson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Laurence Robertson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2016-01-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to increase the amount of British meat sold in supermarkets.

    George Eustice

    2016 is the Year of Great British food; there will be a series of events throughout the year to generate interest in British food. The campaign will act as a catalyst for growth and innovation of British food in domestic and export markets inspiring emerging, high potential British food businesses and new talent to the sector.

    Since April 2015, fresh and frozen pork, poultry, sheep and goat must now have its country of origin labelled by law and many retailers and caterers are taking steps to source and signpost British produce.

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-01-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of measures to stimulate demand for recycled material; and if she will make a statement.

    Rory Stewart

    Incentivising recycled content in new products has environmental benefits, and consumers generally have a positive image of products with recycled content.

    Working through the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), we have developed and delivered a number of activities in support of both the use of recycled materials in new products, and on activities to stimulate its demand. Developing and securing sustainable end markets for recycled materials is key to ensuring the UK meets its statutory recycling targets and supports growth of the waste reprocessing sector. For example, recycled bottle plastic now has a number of end markets, including “back to bottles” and plastic packaging such as trays, as well as its more traditional end market of fibre.

    We have significant ongoing work in the area, including the delivery of the Plastics Industry Recycling Action Plan. This includes projects on design for recyclability and development of suitable end markets for plastic recyclate; and the coordinated development and delivery of a Food Waste Recycling Action Plan by industry and Local Authorities to disseminate and promote current research and best practice to increase the supply and quality of household and commercial food waste to the food waste recycling industry.

  • Laurence Robertson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Laurence Robertson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2016-01-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate she has made of the proportion of farmers who will have received their payments under the Basic Payments Scheme by the end of January 2016.

    George Eustice

    When part payments have been made in the past this has led to years of confusion for farmers and additional costs in processing and disallowance for the Rural Payments Agency. This is why the RPA continues to focus on making full payments on the remaining claims as quickly as possible.

    As at 18 January the RPA had paid around two thirds of eligible Basic Payment Scheme claims received. The Agency continues to focus on making payments on the remainder of claims as soon as possible and remains on track to pay the vast majority of claims by the end of this month.

  • Laurence Robertson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Laurence Robertson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2016-01-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the trends in the level of farm borrowing.

    George Eustice

    Total UK farm borrowing in 2014 stood at £16.6 billion. Over the last 10 years borrowing has increased by nearly 70%, or by 34% in real terms (allowing for the impact of inflation).

    However, the total value of UK farm assets has more than doubled in real terms over the last 10 years, largely due to the increased value of land. This has led to a significant increase in the net worth of the sector despite the rise in borrowing.

    More details on the borrowing, value of assets and net worth of the sector can be found in the aggregate balance sheet for agriculture on the statistics (total farm incomes) page of the GOV.UK website.