Tag: Baroness Jones of Whitchurch

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 2015-11-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they are encouraging supermarkets to abandon strict cosmetic specifications for farm products that result in edible food being wasted.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble

The Government, through the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), is working with food manufacturers and retailers, including all the major UK supermarkets, to meet targets to reduce food waste from the grocery supply chain under the Courtauld Commitment. Signatories have reported a 7.4% reduction in supply chain waste between 2009-2012, with interim results for Courtauld 3 showing a further 3.2% reduction by 2014.

WRAP has worked with supermarkets and consumers to support acceptance and use of ‘imperfect’ fruit and vegetables. Work is also in progress with signatories, trade bodies and redistribution organisations to build a better understanding of the amounts and causes of waste in the supply of food and drink. WRAP is currently brokering a new agreement, Courtauld 2025, which will build on this progress.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 2016-02-23.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bates on 2 February (HL5437), when an announcement will be made about the funding of the National Wildlife Crime Unit from April 2016 onwards.

Lord Bates

A decision on funding the National Wildlife Crime Unit beyond March 2016 will be made shortly.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 2016-04-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many prosecutions for food fraud in the form of meat substitution there were in each of the last three years.

Lord Prior of Brampton

Local authorities are responsible for prosecuting meat species substitution offences. Generally, these prosecutions are taken forward under regulations relating to the labelling and mis-description of food, rather than under fraud legislation. The Food Standards Agency has taken on the task of compiling a register of successful food law prosecutions and is just completing the first year of data collection on local authority food prosecutions. However, it does not hold definitive data on prosecutions for offences of this nature in the last three years.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 2016-09-08.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Gardiner of Kimble on 20 April (HL7511), and in the light of the outcome of the EU referendum, whether they will now consider bringing forward legislation to ban the routine use on farms of antibiotics classified by the WHO as critically important for treating bacterial infections in humans, rather than waiting until the EU negotiations on the relevant legislation are completed in late 2017.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble

The Government does not support the routine preventative use of antibiotics in animals, including those classified as critically important.

We will be restricting the use of the most important critically important antibiotics (CIAs) through measures already underway to remove indications for preventive treatment of groups of livestock from medicines containing the most important CIAs. This will not require legislative change.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 2015-11-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what has been the average wage increase of agricultural workers since the abolition of the Agricultural Wages Board.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) collects information on average wage rates of farm workers, via their Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE).

The abolition of the Agricultural Wages Board came into effect on 30 September 2013.The table below shows the average (median) hourly pay for farm workers, excluding overtime, for the most recent four years available. The data is compiled through a sample survey and is therefore subject to a level of sampling error.

	2011	2012	2013	2014 (prov)
Farm workers	£7.70	£7.52	£7.76	£7.83

Source: ONS ASHE – Table 14.6a – Hourly pay excluding overtime

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 2016-02-23.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what research is taking place on the impact on milk quality of housing cows in large-scale indoor dairy sheds.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble

There is no evidence to suggest that increasing the size of herds has any impact on milk quality. Other factors are more relevant such as nutrition and genetics.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 2016-04-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the National Flood Resilience Review is considering the findings of London Underground’s flood risk review which identifies 85 stations, tunnels and shafts as at high risk of flooding.

Lord Bridges of Headley

As set out in evidence to the Environmental Audit Committee on 13 April, the National Flood Resilience Review is looking across infrastructure in a number of sectors to identify those assets which the Government thinks need to be more resilient against extreme river or tidal flooding

Separately to the national review, London Underground is in the process of reviewing their own vulnerability to all forms of flooding: this includes river and coastal but also the risk of burst water mains, which can be a much bigger threat in an urban area. This work is primarily for London Underground to agree with Transport for London and the Mayor, but Department for Transport and Cabinet Office officials will stay abreast of the London Underground work to ensure it is coherent with the National Flood Resilience Review.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 2016-09-12.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they are having with UK supermarkets about the case for supermarkets regularly to check imported products to ensure that those products are properly labelled.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble

Under the Food Information for Consumers Regulation (EU) 1169/2011 Food business operators are responsible for ensuring that labelling does not mislead the consumer. The rules are enforced by local authorities.

Imported products of animal origin are usually inspected at EU border inspection posts by Port Health Authorities.

As there are well established systems already in place, the Government is not having any specific discussions with UK supermarkets about this issue at this time, but government will continue to monitor this.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 2015-11-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have a list of invasive non-native species arriving on UK shores that they wish to eradicate, and if so, whether Japanese knotweed is on that list.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble

Biodiversity is a devolved matter. In England, there are currently five species subject to national eradication programmes. These are Ruddy duck, Monk parakeet, Topmouth gudgeon, American bullfrog and Water primrose.

Nevertheless, in England, the work of Local Action Groups, established with Government support, has reduced or eradicated Japanese knotweed in several places. For example, in Bristol, 95% of the Japanese knotweed surveyed by the Avon Invasive Weed Forum is now under management.

The Government also continues to explore biocontrol options through the controlled release of a psyllid insect.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 2016-03-21.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to encourage supermarkets to redistribute surplus food to charities rather than disposing of surplus via anaerobic digestion or landfill.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble

If surplus food cannot be prevented, the next best option is to ensure that it is redistributed for human consumption. Working through the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) and our voluntary agreements with the grocery sector, we have taken action to ensure that more surplus food is redistributed to people before being put to any other use. All major retailers now have arrangements in place to redistribute surplus food. Signatories to phase 3 of the Courtauld Commitment have reported a 74% increase in food redistribution between 2012 and the end of 2014, and we expect this to increase further.

Last year, the Secretary of State held a meeting with industry and redistribution organisations to take stock of progress on food redistribution. Outcomes from this include the recent publication of a Redistribution Framework to help facilitate closer working between potential donors and recipients of food surpluses. WRAP has commissioned research to identify where and why waste and surpluses occur in the supply chain to inform further action to increase waste prevention and redistribution.

Following the success of earlier agreements, WRAP launched the Courtauld Commitment 2025 in March this year. This is an ambitious new agreement that takes a whole food supply chain approach, and will build on the progress we have already made to prevent waste, including through the redistribution of surplus food.

There will always be some unavoidable food waste. The Government’s Anaerobic Digestion Strategy is in place to reduce the amount of organic material going to landfill and drive the waste that is produced into energy recovery or recycling.