Tag: Baroness Byford

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Byford on 2016-06-27.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the efficacy of the three-day interval between the notification and arrival of forest reproductive material in preventing damage to, or infection of, existing forestry.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble

The Forest Reproductive Material (Great Britain) Regulations 2002 regulate the marketing of forest reproductive material (FRM). There is no notification period for the introduction of FRM so no such assessment has been carried out.

The Plant and Tree Notification System requirements relates to the movement of certain tree species from other EU member states and extends to oak, plane, sweet chestnut, pine, elm, prunus and ash trees (although no movements of ash trees are permitted at present, due to ash dieback restrictions).

The scheme is intended to help the Animal and Plant Health Agency’s Plant Health and Seeds Inspectorate build intelligence about particular trades, particularly those where there is a risk of introducing harmful organisms, and to help arrange targeted inspections of such trees. The information is also valuable in the event of an outbreak, to facilitate tracing of trees which may be implicated, and to help inform the development of Defra policy. The scheme is not restricted to trees intended for forestry purposes.

Notification of importation of plants and trees should be before or within 5 days of the arrival of the consignment, detailing the planned destination in England or Wales.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Byford on 2016-02-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many, and which, councils in England have followed the example of Hampshire and set up locally sourced food supplies for their schools or other council-run organisations.

Baroness Williams of Trafford

The Department does not hold information on the number of councils that have set up locally sourced food supplies for school and other council-run organisations. However we encourage councils to use local goods and services in any of their procurement and commissioning activity, and to be open and transparent to their local community.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Byford on 2016-06-27.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will make the police information number 101 a free phone number.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

The public have always paid to contact the police for non-emergencies and the 15 pence per call charge is a competitive and transparent rate, especially when compared to previous police non-emergency numbers (such as 0845 numbers) which could cost up to 40 pence per minute.

Research by Ofcom shows that a small fixed charge does not deter people from calling the service and reduces the likelihood of it being used inappropriately.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Byford on 2016-02-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they collect statistics on the durability of condensing boilers; and if so, how they compare with the types of boilers they have replaced.

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth

The Government does not collect statistics on the durability of condensing boilers.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Byford on 2016-06-27.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether companies employed to remove crashed vehicles have a legal obligation to collect detached parts of the vehicles from hedgerows, ditches and property around crash sites.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

The company employed by Highways England in respect of vehicle recoveries does not have a legal obligation to remove debris from, or around, the strategic road network.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Byford on 2016-02-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many farmers were not in receipt of the Basic Payment Scheme payments by the end of January 2016; and whether any of those payments are expected to be paid to those living in areas affected by flooding in 2016.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble

The Rural Payments Agency started making Basic Payment Scheme payments to farmers from December 2015. At the end of January 2016 we had paid 66,800 some £1 billion, leaving just under 20,300 not paid. We had paid 600 farmers affected by the floods by the end of January and are prioritising the remainder for payment as promptly as possible.

Farmers affected by flooding from Storm Desmond and Eva can apply for up to £20,000 grant funding from the Farming Recovery Fund (until 1 April) to help restore damaged agricultural land. Farmers wanting to apply for the grant can find the application form and guidance on GOV.UK or call the Rural Services Helpline on 03000 200 301.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Byford on 2016-06-27.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will review the safety standards for refrigeration units and tumble dryers in the light of the number of fires caused by such machines in individual homes.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

The safety of tumble dryers and refrigeration units is regulated by the Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations 1994, which require these products to be safe and manufactured in accordance with good engineering practice. Standards, although voluntary, support the legislation by providing a benchmark as to what is considered to constitute safe in practice. The review of British Standards is a matter for the British Standards Institution (BSI) which undertakes regular reviews to ensure the standards address any safety concerns raised and follow best practice, and BIS officials participate in these activities.

I am aware that the BSI has submitted proposals to the International Electro-technical Committee (IEC) to revise the refrigeration standard to address the recent fire concerns.

The standard for tumble dryers is frequently revised, the last revision being in 2015, to ensure the relevant hazards are addressed.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Byford on 2016-02-10.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many farming businesses have applied for funding from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Flood Recovery Programme.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble

At close of business on 22 February, 208 grant applications from farming businesses, worth almost £2.3 million had been submitted to the Rural Payments Agency (RPA). Of these, 128 had come from farmers in Cumbria, with the other applications from farmers in Yorkshire, Lancashire, Northumberland and County Durham.

103 grants had already been approved with a total value of over £1 million. The RPA is working with farmers to process the remaining applications.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Byford on 2016-02-10.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the introduction of the National Living Wage on horticultural businesses that employ large numbers of seasonal workers.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

The Government’s Impact Assessment for the introduction of the National Living Wage estimates that around 20,000 workers in the agriculture sector – including horticultural businesses – will be covered by the National Living Wage in its first year..

To help businesses with the costs of implementing the National Living Wage Government is raising the Employer Allowance, cutting corporation tax, and setting the Annual Investment Allowance at a new permanent level of £200,000. The Government is also taking steps that will specifically help horticultural businesses with the introduction of the National Living Wage. The Government is enabling farmers to average their profits over five years rather than two for income tax purposes to provide greater financial security, and it is establishing Level 2/3 horticulture apprenticeships.

The Government’s proposals to devolve the power to extend Sunday trading hours will benefit the horticultural sector. The Horticultural Trades Association (HTA), which represents garden centres, many of which are rural SMEs, estimates that Sunday trading restrictions cost the industry £75 million per annum in lost sales.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Byford on 2015-02-10.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, following the implementation of the new Common Agricultural Policy information technology system, farmers who are prevented from completing their applications for payments by 15 May will be subject to penalties for late submission.

Lord De Mauley

Under article 13 of EU regulation 809/2014, Member States must require claims to be made by no later than 15 May, and this is the deadline adopted in the UK. Late claims submitted within the next 25 days are subject to a penalty of 1% of the claim for each working day’s delay. Claims already submitted by 15 May can be adjusted after that in some circumstances. We expect that the Rural Payments system, and our provision of support to those who may face any difficulty in applying online, will ensure that all farmers have every opportunity to claim their direct payments by 15 May. There are force majeure provisions for those that fail to submit on time which can apply in limited circumstances.

The Secretary of State is also seeking to make such penalties more proportionate in future.