Tag: Baroness Jones of Whitchurch

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 2016-01-13.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to revisit their plans for improving air quality in London in the light of evidence that several sites in London have already breached annual pollution limits for 2016.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble

The air quality plan published on 17 December last year sets out how, through a range of measures, London will achieve compliance with legal pollution limits for nitrogen dioxide by 2025. The plan states that the Government will keep the delivery of London measures under review and will take further action if progress is insufficient.

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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Food Standards Agency achieved its target of halving the incidence of campylobacter food poisoning in 2015.

Lord Prior of Brampton

Although progress continues to be made, the Food Standards Agency’s (FSA) agreed target with industry to reduce the numbers of the most contaminated birds at the end of slaughter to less than 10% by 2015 was not met. However, given the interventions expected to come on stream within industry, the FSA Board agreed to roll the target to 2016, when it is expected that the target will be met. If the target is met, then a decrease of around 50% in the number of human cases of campylobacteriosis would be expected.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 2016-05-03.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what submissions they have made to the European Commission’s review of the licence of glyphosate.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble

Pesticide active substances, such as glyphosate, must be approved at EU level before products containing them can be authorised for sale and use in a Member State. The approval decision is based on an assessment of the risks to people and to the environment and is subject to regular review to ensure that current standards continue to be met. The scientific assessment is led by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and decisions are made by the European Commission through a comitology process.

UK experts participated fully in the EFSA review of glyphosate and agree with its overall conclusion that this active substance meets the standards for approval. The Government has therefore been clear to the Commission that we support the continuing approval of glyphosate.

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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Gardiner of Kimble on 3 April (HL7210), how much surplus food is now being redistributed from supermarkets; and what action they are taking to increase the proportion of food redistributed to charities.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble

The Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) published its Food Surplus and Waste Quantification report in May this year. This estimates that 5,000 tonnes of surplus food was redistributed by the UK retail sector last year.

WRAP has established a Redistribution Working Group under Courtauld 2025 to share best practice and help identify and overcome barriers to redistributing food. This Working Group met for the first time in July this year. All of the major retailers are carrying out initiatives aimed at increasing store-level redistribution, or looking at how to maximise distribution from distribution centres or make it easier for their suppliers to redistribute surplus food.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 2016-01-13.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have calculated the additional investment necessary to speed up the implementation of their clean air plan, and if so, where those figures will be published.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble

The air quality plan for reducing nitrogen dioxide emissions published on 17 December last year sets out the investment we have made to date to improve air quality and our future commitments. For example, we have committed over £2bn to greener transport measures since 2011 including, over the next five years, £600m to support the development and take up of ultra-low emission vehicles and £580m for a new access fund for sustainable travel.

The plan confirms that we will be providing funding to help five Local Authorities in England outside London to implement clean air zones and support the implementation of additional measures where necessary. We will be discussing the details of this with the relevant Local Authorities. In London, the 2015 Spending Review and Autumn Statement set out the financial settlement for Transport for London which is supporting a number of measures in the capital as set out in the air quality plan.

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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to take further steps to raise public awareness of the incidence of campylobacter in chickens.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The Food Standards Agency will continue to use social and news media opportunities to raise awareness of campylobacter and let people know how they can reduce the risk from campylobacter in their home. The Agency leads the Acting on Campylobacter Together campaign under which the poultry industry seeks to reduce the levels of the bacteria on the chickens they sell.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 2016-05-03.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the position taken by the European Parliament that products containing glyphosate should be banned where alternative weed killers exist, and for use in public parks and playgrounds.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble

The Government recognises the importance of effective pesticides and believes that they should be authorised where the scientific evidence shows they do not pose unacceptable risks to human health or the environment.

The European Food Safety Authority concluded that glyphosate met these standards and UK experts agree. We therefore consider that glyphosate should be approved. If this happens, all authorised products which contain glyphosate will be individually re-assessed at a Member State level to ensure that they also meet safety standards.

The scientific assessment carried out so far does not suggest that blanket restrictions to prevent certain uses across the EU are justified. The Government therefore does not favour the inclusion of such restrictions in any future approval of glyphosate. It should be for Member States to consider whether restrictions are needed for particular glyphosate products in particular circumstances. This would form part of the normal product re-assessment process.

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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Gardiner of Kimble on 12 May (HL8175), what steps they are taking to make country of origin labelling mandatory for all milk and dairy products.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble

At present, most milk and dairy products are labelled with their origin on a voluntary basis.

We are continuing to work with the food industry to explore what more can be done to make it easier for consumers and food businesses to know when they are buying British.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 2016-01-13.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with Ofwat concerning the profits made by water companies between 2010 and 2015.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble

The Government has regular discussions with Ofwat about its strategic priorities and objectives for regulation of the water sector.

Ofwat sets price controls independently of Government. This independence is crucial to ensure stable economic regulation which keeps investment costs down and customer bills low.

In 2009, Ofwat set price controls for the period from 2010 to 2015. During this period water companies benefited from several factors outside their control, including low taxation and low borrowing costs. In March 2013, Ofwat challenged companies to share gains with their customers. The then Secretary of State wrote to companies in November 2013 in support of Ofwat’s drive. As a result, companies absorbed costs and provided water bill discounts worth £435 million over this period.

In 2014, Ofwat delivered a tough price review which means that bills will fall by around 5% in real terms from 2015 to 2020.

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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what further measures are planned for the labelling of meat and dairy products to recognise the high standards of welfare in British products.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble

Consumers buying meat and dairy products produced in the UK can be reassured that we have some of the highest animal welfare standards in the European Union.

We pressed for new EU legislation extending country of origin rules from beef to fresh and frozen sheep, goat, pig and poultry meat to help consumers identify food produced in the UK. These came into force in April 2015. We are also pressing for this rule to be extended to dairy products.

To support consumers further in making an informed choice, Defra is pressing the EU to implement rules to require that where food products indicate that they are produced in a specific country they must also state if the main ingredients are from a different country.

2016 is the Year of Great British Food. Through the Great British Food campaign Defra is working in partnership with industry to champion the outstanding quality of UK produce to help fuel demand for Great British Food.