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  • Jim Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Jim Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2015-11-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his Iraqi counterpart on the autonomy of the Kurdistan region in northern Iraq; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Philip Hammond) last met Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ja’afari in London on 22 January. The autonomy of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq was not discussed at that meeting. However, the Foreign Secretary, the British Ambassador to Baghdad, the Consul General in Erbil and I regularly discuss with both the Government of Iraq and Kurdistan Regional Government, the importance of working together to defeat ISIL and deliver the stable, secure, prosperous and unified Iraq all Iraq’s people want.

  • Craig Whittaker – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Craig Whittaker – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2015-11-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has received from the government of Argentina on the status of the Falkland Islands.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    I have received no such recent representations from the Argentine government.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Jim Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2015-11-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 23 November 2015 to Question 16933, how many representations he has received from his (a) Iranian and (b) Russian counterpart on the threat posed by ISIS in the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    Further to my answer of 23 November, we remain open to discussion with Iran and Russia on how best to deal with shared threats such as Daesh. The UK has discussed Daesh with the Presidents of both countries, as well as their Ministers and officials. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Philip Hammond) attended the talks aimed at finding a political solution to the situation in Syria held in Vienna on 30 October and 14 November, which Russia and Iran also attended.

  • Rebecca Pow – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Rebecca Pow – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Pow on 2015-11-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the contribution that fully implementing the Somerset Flood Action Plan will have on (a) road and rail transport resilience and (b) the resilience of the Hinckley Point C nuclear construction project.

    Rory Stewart

    Recent computer modelling has been carried out to assess the benefits of some of the works carried out under the Somerset Flood Action Plan. This indicates that, in a repeat of the weather seen in Winter 2013/14, closure of the A361 would be reduced to about three weeks instead of the nine to ten weeks in 2013/14, and the impact on the rail line from Bristol to Taunton across Northmoor would be reduced.

    In terms of Hinkley C site development, licensed nuclear site operators are responsible for undertaking flood risk assessments and providing and maintaining control measures to ensure their sites remain safe from faults and damage arising from flooding. In addition Local Authorities must ensure that their off-site plan for a nuclear emergency is resilient to a range of weather conditions (e.g. those leading to, or involving, flooding or heavy snow).

  • Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-11-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 26 October 2015 to Question 10866, when she next plans to publish the job titles and pay grades of appointments to extended ministerial offices.

    George Eustice

    I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my Rt. Hon. Friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, Matthew Hancock, to PQ UIN 17505 answered on 30 November 2015.

  • Charles Walker – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Charles Walker – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charles Walker on 2015-11-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans she has to ensure that water companies build sufficient capacity and tolerance into their infrastructure to cope with low rainfall years or weather cycles.

    Rory Stewart

    We have a statutory planning framework through which water companies demonstrate how their water supply systems will cope with future demands, taking account of population and economic growth and climate change. Their long-term plans set out how they will ensure they can continue to supply sufficient water, taking account of these changing pressures, weather cycles and drought.

    We are currently considering how to enhance our policy framework to ensure we have a strategic approach to delivering resilience over the very long term.

  • Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-11-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate she has made of the cost of using external agencies for recruitment to Senior Civil Service posts in her Department in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

    George Eustice

    In financial years 2010-11, 2011-12, 2012-13 this data was not held centrally. Providing an estimate would be at a disproportionate cost. In 2013-14 Defra and its Executive Agencies spent £199,639 and in 2014-15 £103,977 on external agencies for recruitment to Senior Civil Service posts.

  • Craig Whittaker – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Craig Whittaker – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2015-11-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to work with local authorities to reduce the level of fly-tipping.

    Rory Stewart

    Tackling fly-tipping is a Government priority and manifesto commitment. Next spring we will be giving councils the power to tackle small scale fly-tipping through fixed penalty notices as an alternative to prosecutions.

    This builds on other Government action to tackle fly-tipping, which has included:

    • working with the Sentencing Council on its guideline for sentencing for environmental offences, which came into force on 1 July last year;
    • making it easier for vehicles suspected of being involved in waste crime to be stopped, searched and seized; and
    • continuing our work with the Defra-chaired National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group to promote and disseminate good practice in the prevention, reporting, investigation and clearance of fly-tipped waste.
  • Charles Walker – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Charles Walker – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charles Walker on 2015-11-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will discuss with the Environment Agency (EA) the proposal by angling bodies of marking the centenary of the birth of the angler Richard Walker with a portrait of Clarissa the Carp on the 2018 EA fishing licence; and if she will make a statement.

    George Eustice

    Defra has discussed the marking of the centenary of the birth of the angler Richard Walker with a portrait of Clarissa the Carp on the 2018 rod fishing licence with the EA. The EA is happy to consider this option, along with other design proposals. They will be pleased to support celebrations of Richard Walker’s achievements, where they can. I have asked the EA to keep me updated.

  • James Cartlidge – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    James Cartlidge – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by James Cartlidge on 2015-11-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what her policy is on beak trimming of laying hens.

    George Eustice

    Since 2010, the use of a hot blade to routinely beak trim laying hens has been banned in the UK. In order to prevent injurious feather pecking, use of infra-red technology only is permitted on day old chicks. The Government established the Beak Trimming Action Group (BTAG), comprising representatives from industry, welfare groups, retailers, Defra, scientific and veterinary professions to look at ways birds might be managed so that even infra-red beak trimming would no longer be necessary. Having reviewed all the available evidence, BTAG has now submitted its recommendations, and the report will be placed in the House Library. I have accepted all of the Group’s recommendations.

    The Group advised that the risks of introducing a ban on infra-red beak trimming are too great. It could result in outbreaks of severe feather pecking and having to employ emergency beak trimming using the hot blade method, which is a far worse outcome from an animal welfare perspective. However, the BTAG report also identified improved management techniques that could reduce feather pecking. The Government expects to see these techniques introduced across the laying hen sector.