The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Willoughby de Broke on 2016-05-11.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, in the light of the European Parliament’s proposal to ban the herbicide glyphosate for garden use, they intend to vote for re-approval of glyphosate at the EU Council meeting on 18 May.
Lord Gardiner of Kimble
It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Willoughby de Broke on 2016-05-09.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Chief Executive Officer of the Rural Payments Agency will receive a bonus payment this year before payments to eligible farmers have been completed.
Lord Gardiner of Kimble
Senior Civil Servants (SCS) who are moderated as top performers at the end of the performance management year are eligible to receive a bonus payment.
The performance management year for the SCS runs from 1 April to 31 March. Performance markings for 2015/16 will be determined by the end of May 2016. Only then will the eligibility of SCS for bonus payments be known.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Willoughby de Broke on 2016-06-06.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Rural Payments Agency expects to complete Basic Payment Scheme payments to qualifying farmers during the payments window ending in June 2016. [I]
Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The Rural Payments Agency continues to make the remaining top up BPS payments to those that received a bridging BPS payment and anticipates completing this work by the end of June 2016.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Willoughby de Broke on 2016-06-27.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Gardiner of Kimble on 11 May (HL8277), whether the Chief Executive of the Rural Payments Agency will receive a bonus payment this year.
Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The Chief Executive of the Rural Payments Agency did not receive a bonus payment for the 2015/16 performance year.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Willoughby de Broke on 2016-06-27.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government why the announcement by the EU Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Phil Hogan, on 8 June of an extension until 15 October of the payment window for the Rural Payment Agency (RPA) to make payments to qualifying farmers is not yet available on the RPA website.
Lord Gardiner of Kimble
Commissioner Hogan announced his intention to allow applications from Member States for CAP direct payments to be made after the closure of the payment window without incurring the penalties that would otherwise fall on paying agencies for making late payments. Defra and the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) noted this announcement.
Once we have received information from all UK paying agencies concerning the value of payments made by 30 June, we will be in a position to consider whether the UK should submit a request for such penalties to be waived.
The RPA remains focused on getting top up 2015 BPS payments to those that received bridging payments, out as promptly as possible.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Willoughby de Broke on 2016-06-27.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Gardiner of Kimble on 17 June (HL446), why that answer did not include the information that on 8 June the EU Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Phil Hogan, announced an extension until 15 October of the payment window for the Rural Payment Agency to make payments to qualifying farmers.
Lord Gardiner of Kimble
Commissioner Hogan announced his intention to allow applications from Member States for CAP direct payments to be made after the closure of the payment window without incurring the penalties that would otherwise fall on paying agencies for making late payments. Defra and the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) noted this announcement.
Once we have received information from all UK paying agencies concerning the value of payments made by 30 June, we will be in a position to consider whether the UK should submit a request for such penalties to be waived.
The RPA remains focused on getting top up 2015 BPS payments to those that received bridging payments, out as promptly as possible.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Willoughby de Broke on 2016-07-12.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answers by Lord Gardiner of Kimble on 17 June (HL446) and 27 June (HL808), whether when providing those answers they were aware that the payment window had already been extended to October, and if so, why that was not reflected in those answer.
Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The deadline for 2015 Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) payments remains 30 June 2016 and as stated in the response of 17 June, this is the deadline the Rural Payments Agency was working towards for the remaining top up BPS payments. On 8 June, Commissioner Hogan confirmed his intention to extend the date by which Member States may make CAP direct payments without the usual reductions in the rate of reimbursement from the EU to the Member States concerned. This does not constitute an extension to the payment window. It means that, subject to a successful request, payments can continue to be made after 30 June without the application of the usual reductions for late payments on the Member State.
We are currently assessing the UK position in terms of the value of payments made by 30 June and the expected value of payments to be made before 15 October for each of the four UK paying agencies. Once this assessment has been completed we will be in a position to decide whether the UK needs to submit a request to the Commission for such penalties to be waived.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Willoughby de Broke on 2016-07-12.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Gardiner of Kimble on 1 October 2015 (HL2378), in the light of the fact that a substantial number of Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) payments have not yet been made and that no date for completion of payments has been given, why they stated that the majority of BPS payments would be made in December 2015, and the vast majority by January.
Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) achieved the target of making the majority of BPS payments in December 2015, paying 44,408 (50.9%) of eligible claims by the end of December. The agency also delivered on its target of making the vast majority of payments by end of January, paying 66,800 (77%) of eligible claims with a value of around £1bn.
The Government understands the importance of BPS payments for farmers. The targets, ‘majority’ and ‘vast majority’, were established in line with the RPA’s priority to pay as many farmers as possible, as quickly as possible, from the opening of the payment window back in December.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Willoughby de Broke on 2015-12-07.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they were consulted on the EU–Turkey deal that will allow Turkish citizens visa-free access to the Schengen area and which provided for three billion euros of aid to Turkey over two years.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
The UK played an influential role in shaping the EU-Turkey summit on 29 November where these issues were discussed. The Prime Minister, my right Hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron), attended the summit, where the EU and Turkey agreed to step up cooperation on the many common issues that we face. We welcomed the clear message the summit sent of the importance the EU attaches to its wide-ranging partnership with Turkey. Turkey is a key partner in the EU’s response to the migration crisis and we commend its generosity in ably hosting over 2.2 million refugees from the crisis in Syria and Iraq. A funding package of €3 billion will help ease the refugee burden on Turkey whilst preventing further uncontrolled migration to the EU. Any progress in Turkey’s visa-liberalisation roadmap will not directly affect the UK as we do not participate in the immigration and border aspects of the Schengen acquis.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Willoughby de Broke on 2016-02-08.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Chief Executive Officer of the Rural Payments Agency will receive a bonus payment this year.
Lord Freud
Universal Credit is a single, indivisible benefit. Universal Credit claimants receive a single monthly amount based on various criteria, including family size and the level of any housing or childcare costs and taking into account earnings and other household income. The final award is therefore a single amount and elements cannot be separated.
The final agreed Decision of the Heads of State and Government adopted at the European Council on 20 February 2016 makes clear that the emergency welfare brake will apply to non-contributory in-work benefits. All EU workers arriving in the UK while the brake is in operation will have to wait for four years before getting full access to these benefits.