Tag: Baroness Parminter

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Parminter on 2016-10-19.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress they have made on the implementation, through public procurement policy, of their commitment to achieve 100 per cent sourcing of credibly certified sustainable palm oil by the end of 2015.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble

The Government Buying Standard for food and catering was amended in October 2012 to state that, from the end of 2015, all palm oil used for cooking and as an ingredient in food shall be sustainably produced. The Government has been making good progress towards meeting this requirement, with the majority of departments reporting that their catering contractors are complying with it. The next report on progress under the Greening Government Commitments, covering 2015/16, will include an update on sustainable procurement issues, including palm oil.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Parminter on 2015-12-10.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to review the UK’s fishing quota, in particular with regard to whether small-scale fishermen receive a fair share of that quota.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble

The Government remains committed to fishing sustainably and supporting the UK’s inshore fleet. Defra is in the final stages of concluding a quota realignment exercise which, when complete, will represent a 14% uplift in the amount of quota the inshore fleet currently receives. Quota units which were under-utilised by Producer Organisations (POs) in 2012 were identified for re-allocation. Three quarters of the Fisheries Quota Allocations relating to underutilised quota from POs has now been permanently realigned to the inshore fleet, with the balance to be completed as soon as possible.

The Government has also taken steps to support England’s inshore fleet under the landing obligation, or discard ban. The demersal landing obligation comes into force on 1 January 2016, following the successful introduction of a discard ban for pelagic fisheries in 2015. The introduction of the demersal landing obligation will be phased in for all quota fisheries between 2016 and 2019. The discard plans for 2016 introduce landing obligations for clearly defined fisheries, including haddock, whiting, sole, Nephrops, hake and plaice.

As a result of vessels no longer being able to discard, an uplift in quota will be awarded to fishermen so they can land formerly discarded fish. The allocation of quota uplift is a devolved matter, and Minister Eustice announced the Government’s policy for allocating quota uplift for the English fleet in October this year.

In 2016, the non-sector pools will receive the first 100 tonnes of any quota uplift received and then 10% of any remainder, before the rest is issued to the POs on behalf of their members. Defra consulted on the implementation of the demersal landing obligation and responses indicate that the inshore fleets have high discard rates as a result of low quotas. The Government considers this quota uplift to go some way to helping small-scale fishermen adapt to the first year of the demersal discard ban.

As the landing obligation represents the largest change in fisheries management for a generation, it is important that we continue to support all our vessels as they adapt to this significant change. We must therefore take stock of all that is going on in fisheries management before any further decisions are made with regard to quota reallocation in the future.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Parminter on 2016-10-19.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress they have made, and when they plan to implement their commitment in the 2014 New York Declaration on Forests to work on new procurement policies to limit the consumption of commodities associated with deforestation.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble

The Joint Statement on REDD+ by the United Kingdom, Germany and Norway made at the United Nations Climate Summit on 23 September 2014 in support of the New York Declaration on Forests contains a commitment that:

“We will work with other consumer countries to promote national commitments that encourage deforestation-free supply chains, including through public procurement policies to sustainably source commodities such as palm oil, soy, beef and timber“.

The Government Buying Standard for food and catering was amended in October 2012 to include a new requirement to procure palm oil, palm kernel oil and derivatives from sustainable sources. All food and catering products bought by central Government must meet these sustainability requirements.

The Government’s Timber Procurement Policy also requires central Government Departments, Executive Agencies and Non-Departmental Public Bodies to procure timber and timber products that are both legal and sustainable.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Parminter on 2016-01-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to offer any deadline extensions for tax due by businesses in all areas affected by flooding.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) operates a dedicated Severe Weather helpline to offer help and advice on any tax matters to those people and businesses affected by the recent flooding. The helpline is 0800 904 7900Opening hours are Monday to Friday, 8.00 am to 8.00 pm; Saturday and Sunday, 8.00 am to 4.00 pm, excluding bank holidays.

In cases of severe flooding, HMRC will also:

• consider instalment arrangements where customers are unable to pay as a result of the floods;
• agree a practical approach when individuals and businesses have lost vital records to the floods;
• suspend debt collection proceedings for those affected by the floods; and
• cancel penalties when the customer has missed statutory deadlines due to the floods.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Parminter on 2016-10-19.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what figure should be included for carbon dioxide emissions from wood, per unit of fuel, in the background data for fuel consumption used for the UK Greenhouse Gas Inventory 1990–2014, given that there is no figure for wood included in the table on the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs website.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

Emissions of carbon dioxide from using biomass, including wood, in the energy sector are not reported within the national totals in the UK Greenhouse Gas Inventory because they are offset by the carbon dioxide absorbed by fast-growing bio-energy sources. The carbon stock they represent is reported in the land use change and forestry sector, in line with international guidelines set out by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Parminter on 2016-01-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what support they are offering to businesses in all areas affected by flooding in advance of tax payment deadlines.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) operates a dedicated Severe Weather helpline to offer help and advice on any tax matters to those people and businesses affected by the recent flooding. The helpline is 0800 904 7900Opening hours are Monday to Friday, 8.00 am to 8.00 pm; Saturday and Sunday, 8.00 am to 4.00 pm, excluding bank holidays.

In cases of severe flooding, HMRC will also:

• consider instalment arrangements where customers are unable to pay as a result of the floods;
• agree a practical approach when individuals and businesses have lost vital records to the floods;
• suspend debt collection proceedings for those affected by the floods; and
• cancel penalties when the customer has missed statutory deadlines due to the floods.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Parminter on 2016-01-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to introduce an instalment scheme for businesses in all areas affected by flooding to enable them to spread tax payments in the light of the reduction in revenues as a result of unexpected costs associated with the recent flooding.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) operates a dedicated Severe Weather helpline to offer help and advice on any tax matters to those people and businesses affected by the recent flooding. The helpline is 0800 904 7900Opening hours are Monday to Friday, 8.00 am to 8.00 pm; Saturday and Sunday, 8.00 am to 4.00 pm, excluding bank holidays.

In cases of severe flooding, HMRC will also:

• consider instalment arrangements where customers are unable to pay as a result of the floods;
• agree a practical approach when individuals and businesses have lost vital records to the floods;
• suspend debt collection proceedings for those affected by the floods; and
• cancel penalties when the customer has missed statutory deadlines due to the floods.

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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether retailer records provided to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs will be made available on the department’s website, in the light of the guidance Carrier bag charges: retailers‘ responsibility that states such information will be made public.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble

Defra is required to publish every retailer record received on an annual basis. All records supplied by retailers will be published on the GOV.UK website by 31 July each year.

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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government when the records of retailers concerning carrier bag charges will be made public after the first reporting period, 5 October 2015 to 6 April 2016, in the light of the fact that members of the public can obtain copies of retailer carrier bag records within 28 days.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble

Defra is required to publish every retailer record received on an annual basis. All records supplied by retailers will be published on the GOV.UK website by 31 July each year.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Parminter on 2016-02-24.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have (1) to develop a new strategy for the implementation of the European School Milk Scheme from 2017, and (2) to involve stakeholders in developing that strategy.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble

If the European Parliament formally endorses the proposal for a revised EU School Milk Scheme in Plenary on 8 March 2016, it is likely to enter into force in spring 2016 and apply in schools from August 2017. We will use this period to consider the new requirements and consult with interested parties. Member States that wish to participate will be obliged to submit a multi-annual national strategy setting out their priorities for implementing the new Scheme. Detailed rules for the drawing up of national strategies will be adopted by the Commission in a delegated act which will be negotiated in the coming months.