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  • Kerry McCarthy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Kerry McCarthy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2016-03-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will ensure that the new ship contract agreed for the Pitcairn Islands supply run will include best practice stipulations regarding biosecurity and waste disposal.

    James Duddridge

    The Pitcairn Island Government is currently in the process of tendering for a new freight and passenger service. We will stress to them the importance of the need for best practice for biosecurity and waste disposal.

  • Gary Streeter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Gary Streeter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gary Streeter on 2016-03-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what plans the Government has to implement the recent UN General Assembly Resolution on an Olympic truce during the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

    James Duddridge

    The United Kingdom co-sponsored the General Assembly resolution “Building a peaceful and better world through sport and the Olympic ideal”, which calls for Member States to observe the Olympic Truce – a cessation of hostilities around the Olympic Games – within the framework of the Charter of the United Nations, and to promote peace through sport. As a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, the UK already works to uphold the UN Charter and its commitment to the maintenance of international peace and security.

    For the 2012 Olympic Games in London the UK was the first ever nation to get all 193 UN Member States to sign the Olympic Truce. We are actively involved in building links between countries through sport. HM Government supported the successful London 2012 International Inspiration programme that reached 25m children in twenty countries through the power of sport and continues to support a range of other related initiatives around the world such as the British Council’s Premier Skills and Try Rugby programmes. Looking ahead to next year’s IAAF World Athletics Championships due to be hosted in London, the Government, through UK Sport, is supporting LEAP (Leadership and Excellence in Athletics Programme) which aims to develop youth athletics in a number of countries around the world.

  • Andrew Bingham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Andrew Bingham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Bingham on 2016-03-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress has been made on implementation of the recommendations of the Bonfield report on public procurement of food; and if she will make a statement.

    George Eustice

    The Government is committed to providing food produced to British standards or their equivalent in all its canteens, restaurants and cafeterias by the end of this Parliament. Defra is working closely with other Departments and businesses to implement Dr Peter Bonfield’s Plan for Public Procurement of Food, including a balanced scorecard. The Ministry of Justice recently launched a tender for supplying food to prisons, worth £500m, which requires bids to use the balanced scorecard. Their current supplier has agreed that the 30 million portions of UHT milk served in prisons each year will be sourced from UK producers. All new Central Government food and catering contracts will use the balanced scorecard approach.

  • Kevan Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Kevan Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevan Jones on 2016-03-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Dogs Trust pilot quarantine on disrupting the illegal importation of puppies under the Pet Travel Scheme.

    George Eustice

    I welcome the Dogs Trust initiative to pay the quarantine costs of dogs and puppies identified at Dover as being not compliant to enter Great Britain under the EU Pet Travel Scheme. Since 2 December 2015, 108 puppies have been licensed into the quarantine facilities, mainly due to concerns that puppies were under the minimum age for travelling.

    The Animal and Plant Health Agency will carry out an assessment of the effectiveness of the initiative following its conclusion.

  • Kerry McCarthy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Kerry McCarthy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2016-03-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what research her Department has funded into the effects of micro-plastics in the marine environment in the last 12 months; what the terms of reference are for such research; what institution is undertaking that research; when such research will report; and if she will make it her policy to publish the results of such research.

    George Eustice

    Defra has funded a project, undertaken by the University of Plymouth, to study the effects of micro-plastics in the marine environment. The project studied whether chemical pollutants stick to plastic particles, whether marine organisms ingest plastic particles and pass them along the food chain, and whether the plastics themselves, or associated chemical pollutants, could cause harm to those organisms. The final report is currently undergoing peer review and is expected to be published shortly.

  • Kerry McCarthy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Kerry McCarthy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2016-03-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions her Department has held with the cosmetics industry on the voluntary phasing out of micro-plastics in personal care and cosmetic products.

    George Eustice

    Defra has been working with other countries in the Oslo and Paris Convention for the Protection of the North East Atlantic (OSPAR) to secure the voluntary phasing out of micro-plastics in personal care and cosmetic products. As part of this, discussions have been held with the British Cosmetics Association, the European trade association Cosmetics Europe, and the British Plastics Federation. In response to these discussions, Cosmetics Europe has recommended that micro-beads should not be used in cosmetics. In addition, many UK cosmetics brands have publically committed to removing micro-beads from their products. Discussions between OSPAR and the industry to achieve the phase out are ongoing.

  • Kerry McCarthy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Kerry McCarthy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2016-03-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much her Department spent on biodiversity conservation in the UK Overseas Territories in each of the last five financial years.

    Rory Stewart

    Defra has spent a total of £11.6 million on biodiversity conservation in the UK Overseas Territories over the last five financial years as follows:

    2015/16 – £2.2 million

    2014/15 – £1.6 million

    2013/14 – £2.2 million

    2012/13 – £2.9 million

    2011/12 – £2.7 million

  • Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-03-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what proportion of her Department’s (a) Senior Civil Servants and (b) core policy civil servants are based in London.

    George Eustice

    As of February 2016, 89% of Defra Senior Civil Servants and 82% of core Defra policy civil servants are based in London.

  • Henry Bellingham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Henry Bellingham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Henry Bellingham on 2016-03-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the salaries were of the five highest-paid people at the Environment Agency in the last financial year.

    Rory Stewart

    The salaries of the five highest paid people at the Environment Agency in the last financial year, 2014 to 2015, were published in our annual report and accounts and can be found at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/442886/LIT_10133.pdf

    “

  • Andrew Bingham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Andrew Bingham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Bingham on 2016-03-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, for what reasons public bodies are permitted to import meat and meat products which due to poor welfare standards would be illegal to produce in the UK.

    George Eustice

    Government Buying Standards for food and catering services are mandatory for central government and encouraged in the wider public sector. The standards require that all food served must have been produced in compliance with UK legal standards for animal welfare.

    To protect the supply of food to central government and other public bodies, including prisons and the military, the only exception is for the procurement of pig and poultry meat. This means that in the event that UK market conditions impose a significant increase in costs that cannot be compensated for by savings elsewhere, pig and poultry meat must as a minimum meet EU standards and the reasons for not applying UK welfare standards must be recorded and signed off by a senior official in the organisation concerned.