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Tag: Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer

  • Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer on 2016-02-23.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to attend the UN Open Ended Working Group on nuclear disarmament which takes place from 22 to 26 February.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The UK is not attending the Open Ended Working Group (OEWG) on nuclear disarmament in Geneva. The UK, along with the four other Non-Proliferation Treaty Nuclear Weapons States, voted against the resolution establishing the OEWG at the UN General Assembly First Committee. The Government believes that productive results can only be ensured through a consensus-based approach that takes into account the wider global security environment.

  • Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer on 2016-06-20.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many postgraduates enrolled at UK universities and colleges are specialising in soil science.

    Baroness Evans of Bowes Park

    Information on enrolments at UK Higher Education Institutions are collected and published by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA). The latest data for the 2014/15 academic year suggests there were about 40 full-person equivalent postgraduate students enrolled in soil science across three UK universities and colleges; these are the University of Aberdeen, University of Nottingham and the University of Reading. Of these, about 15 full-person equivalents were masters students studying at the University of Aberdeen.

    Soil science has a Joint Academic Coding System (JACS) code of F770. This is a detailed level code and some universities may occasionally allocate students to more general codes.

  • Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer on 2016-02-23.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are their priorities for the UN Open Ended Working Group on nuclear disarmament, taking place from 22 to 26 February, and what expertise the UK can offer on issues of non-proliferation.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The UK is not attending the Open Ended Working Group (OEWG) on nuclear disarmament in Geneva. The UK, along with the four other Non-Proliferation Treaty Nuclear Weapons States, voted against the resolution establishing the OEWG at the UN General Assembly First Committee. The Government works with international partners and various organisations to ensure that UK experience and expertise helps to tackle the threat of weapons proliferation but believes that productive results can only be ensured through a consensus-based approach that takes into account the wider global security environment.

  • Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer on 2016-06-20.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of how soils research sponsored by the Research Councils is translated into practical measures that can be readily adopted at farm level.

    Lord Gardiner of Kimble

    The findings from soils research are translated into practical measures that can be applied at farm level in a number of ways. This includes testing of measures as part of the research, reviews of the evidence base feeding into the development of farmer guidance or direct knowledge transfer as part of the research project.

    No formal assessment has been made of how soils research sponsored by the Research Councils is translated into practice. However, the part-Defra funded Soil Evidence Review, published in 2015 as part of the Natural Environment Research Council’s Soil Security Programme, emphasised the importance of engagement between researchers and farmers as being a priority to ensure understanding of agricultural issues (e.g. practical and economic challenges) and to aid the effective implementation of new knowledge and technologies.

  • Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer on 2015-10-20.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what changes they intend to make to evaluation metrics at both farm and regional and landscape levels to take account of natural capital in policy-making decisions.

    Lord Gardiner of Kimble

    The Government formally launched the development phase of its 25 year environment plan on 14 October 2015. This process will run through 2016 and capture all aspects of natural capital. We will draw on the Natural Capital Committee to help develop it. A key part of it will be to ensure we have the right tools to improve decision-making at all scales so that we can get the most from our resources in order to deliver on our goal of having the best environment possible.

  • Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer on 2015-10-20.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they plan to take to promote the Rural Development Programme vocational skills measures in order to enhance the knowledge and skills of food producers.

    Lord Gardiner of Kimble

    Vocational skills offers can be delivered under a number of Rural Development Programme schemes. These are either national or have offers tailored to the needs of the local area. Defra publicises its schemes in a variety of ways including through the GOV.UK website. Local organisations such as Local Enterprise Partnerships also promote relevant local offers to their areas.

  • Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer on 2015-10-21.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what benefits they found resulted from the national Ugly Mugs Scheme piloted by the Home Office; whether it was assessed as good value for money; and if so, what was the result.

    Lord Bates

    The National Ugly Mugs Scheme is a mechanism for reporting crimes committed against people involved in prostitution. The Home Office provided £108,000 for the pilot scheme that ran from April 2012 to March 2013, coordinated by the UK Network of Sex Worker Projects. The evaluation of the pilot is available on its website.

    The previous Government supported the pilot as part of its drive to end violence against women and girls. This Government is pleased that the evaluation of the scheme shows that it was successful in increasing access to justice and protection for those involved in prostitution. Police forces have been encouraged to contribute financially to the scheme, given its crime prevention focus and its role in encouraging reporting and contributing to intelligence. That is a decision for individual forces, and the Home Office does not collect information regarding which forces have contributed.

  • Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer on 2015-10-21.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government which police forces contributed to the national Ugly Mugs Scheme during 2014–15.

    Lord Bates

    The National Ugly Mugs Scheme is a mechanism for reporting crimes committed against people involved in prostitution. The Home Office provided £108,000 for the pilot scheme that ran from April 2012 to March 2013, coordinated by the UK Network of Sex Worker Projects. The evaluation of the pilot is available on its website.

    The previous Government supported the pilot as part of its drive to end violence against women and girls. This Government is pleased that the evaluation of the scheme shows that it was successful in increasing access to justice and protection for those involved in prostitution. Police forces have been encouraged to contribute financially to the scheme, given its crime prevention focus and its role in encouraging reporting and contributing to intelligence. That is a decision for individual forces, and the Home Office does not collect information regarding which forces have contributed.

  • Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer on 2015-10-20.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the report by the Land Use Policy Group published in June, The role of agroecology in sustainable intensification.

    Lord Gardiner of Kimble

    Defra officials have reviewed this report and contributed to its development. The report concluded that agroecological practices have the potential to benefit the sustainability of farming without adversely affecting productivity and profitability. It also found that agroecological approaches can particularly reduce the impact of farming on biodiversity, water quality, soils and greenhouse gas emissions. The report has informed further research, which is being undertaken through the Defra Sustainable Intensification Research Platform.

  • Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer on 2014-04-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what regulations apply to smallholders with flocks of less than 50 laying hens if they (1) want to sell their eggs to the public, (2) want to sell products to the public such as cakes made from the eggs laid by their hens, and (3) want to sell their eggs to third parties who wish to make cakes from them for resale at venues such as country markets and farmers’ markets; whether the regulations covering the third category are national regulations, and if so, which regulations; and whether those regulations are liable to local authority interpretation.

    Lord De Mauley

    The sale of eggs in England (equivalent regulations in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland) is regulated by the Eggs and Chicks (England) Regulations 2009, the Control of Salmonella in Poultry Order 2007 and European Union food hygiene and food safety regulations. Any exemption from the legislation is subject to Article 14 of Regulation (EC) 178/2002.

    1) Exemption from rules on quality and grading is available to smallholders with fewer than 50 laying hens providing their eggs are sold at the production site, door-to-door or directly in local markets without any marketing indication (e.g. grading) directly to the final consumer. Producers supplying fewer than 360 eggs per week (Food Standards Agency (FSA) guidance) directly to consumers or to local retailers and caterers are exempt from the requirements of Regulation (EC) 852/2004, which establishes basic food hygiene requirements for registered food businesses.

    2) Smallholders with fewer than 50 laying hens who use their own eggs for cakes and other food products sold to the public as part of a regular and organised operation are required to register as a Food Business Operator with the local authority and comply with the food hygiene regulations. The FSA has issued advice for local authorities as to which operations require registration to ensure that charity and community food operations are not disproportionately burdened.

    3) There is no obligation on smallholders with fewer than 50 laying hens to ascertain what use customers will make of their eggs.