Tag: Laurence Robertson

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2015-10-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to reduce the sugar content of carbonated drinks; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Ellison

We have accepted the recommendations from experts earlier this year that we should halve our daily intake of sugar and we will put forward our plans for action in this area in our childhood obesity strategy in the coming months.

Measures by industry to reduce calories including sugar are also important components in any approach to reduce obesity. Some parts of industry have already taken a range of actions to reduce sugar in their soft drinks, but the challenge to make further progress remains.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2015-10-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the PCR test for tuberculosis; and if she will make a statement.

George Eustice

Defra recently funded a comparative study of several potential tests, including the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test, for detecting Mycobacterium bovis in badger faeces. None of the tests met the minimum levels of sensitivity and specificity. Defra is considering if there are any situations where the current tests can be used informatively on a large scale. PCR is also used to enhance detection of M.bovis in bacterial culture and the EU Reference Laboratory for bovine tuberculosis has also assessed the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test. (https://www.visavet.es/bovinetuberculosis/ring-trials.php).

Defra continues to review evidence of effectiveness of the potential diagnostic application of PCR in other situations.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2015-10-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the incidence of bovine TB on farms situated in trial badger cull areas.

George Eustice

On 28 August 2015, the Animal and Plant Health Agency published a report of the incidence of bovine tuberculosis in cattle in 2013-14 in the areas of Somerset and Gloucestershire exposed to the first year of industry-led badger culling. The report is annexed to the Bovine TB Surveillance Report for England 2014, which is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/bovine-tb-surveillance-in-great-britain-2014.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2015-10-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether the announced reductions in feed-in tariff support will apply to existing contracts or new ones; and if she will make a statement.

Andrea Leadsom

Any changes which we make to the feed-in tariff (FIT) scheme as a result of the FIT review, which is currently open for consultation until 23^rd October, will only apply to new applicants entering the scheme after the necessary legislation to effect the changes has passed through Parliament.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2015-10-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make it her policy to introduce interim payments in cases in which there are delays in making payments under the Basic Payments Scheme.

George Eustice

The Rural Payments Agency remains on track to meet their public payment commitments. Full payments on the majority of Basic Payment Scheme 2015 claims will be made from December, within the payment window that runs between December and June. As such interim payments are not being considered.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2015-10-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the level of complexity of the Countryside Stewardship Scheme; if she will take steps to simplify that scheme; and if she will make a statement.

George Eustice

Countryside Stewardship has introduced significant rationalisation with regard to its predecessors; integrating three legacy schemes into one. At the same time the number of environmental management options available has been reduced by 70% and the number of capital items by 20%.

Most of the elements in Countryside Stewardship (higher tier; woodland and water capital grants) remain largely analogous to their predecessor schemes. However, the application process has been inevitably more complex than intended given the need for a paper based application system this year.

The stricter EU control rules have resulted in greater reliance on record keeping and other documentary evidence to demonstrate compliance but we have already published guidance on the controls applicable to the scheme in order to clarify the requirements.

We will evaluate this first year of the scheme and simplify it wherever possible.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2015-10-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will publish the results of the EU’s recent tests on the likely harmful effects to bees of the use of neonicotinoids; and if she will make a statement.

George Eustice

The EU itself does not carry out tests on the effects on bees from the use of neonicotinoid insecticides.It makes decisions on the regulation of neonicotinoids and other pesticides on the basis of scientific information provided by companies working to agreed standards and published scientific studies.

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has published scientific opinions on the risks from uses of these pesticides following mandates from the European Commission. EFSA also recently held a consultation calling for data on this matter as the first step in an EU review of controls on these insecticides.The UK is contributing fully to this review.

EFSA documents are published on its website (http://www.efsa.europa.eu/).

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2015-10-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the level of take-up of the Countryside Stewardship Scheme is; and if she will make a statement.

George Eustice

The application window for the Mid-Tier closed on 30 September. 2,314 agreement applications were received. 1,025 expressions of interest for the Higher Tier have also been received, together with 257 applications for forestry agreements. The level of interest is in line with our expectation.

Natural England and the Forestry Commission are now working to assess these to offer agreements to those applicants who have submitted high quality plans that will do most to improve our water quality and the farmed environment

Some elements of the scheme have been available earlier in 2015. 1,798 applications were received for 2015 water capital grants, of which 1,458 have been awarded. We also received 743 applications for woodland creation during a fixed application period and for tree health and woodland management plans, which continue to be applied for year round. To date, 288 agreements have been awarded.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2015-10-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent assessment he has made of the employment conduct abroad of companies which are based in the UK; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Boles

We have made no such assessment. However, the UK was the first country to publish a National Action Plan to implement the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights which sets out the Government’s expectation of business behaviour wherever they operate, including complying with all applicable laws and honouring the principles of internationally recognised human rights when faced with conflicting requirements.

Company directors of UK-based businesses also have a duty to act to promote the success of the company, and in doing so have regard for a number of factors including the interests of the company’s employees. To demonstrate this consideration, companies are required to report information on employee matters, where necessary for an understanding of their business.

Furthermore, the Home Office will shortly be introducing regulations that will require businesses with a turnover of £36million to report on the measures they are taking to ensure that modern slavery and human trafficking are not present in their supply chains.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2015-10-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent assessment he has made of the progress achieved by the UK Business and Human Rights Action Plan against the aims and objectives set out in it.

Anna Soubry

Progress on the UK’s National Action Plan to implement the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights is covered in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s Human Rights and Democracy annual report, last published in March 2015. We have made considerable progress, for example on improved reporting requirements. We will continue to update our action plan, reflecting the progress we have made as well as covering other related action taking place across Government such as the Modern Slavery Act.