Tag: Nicholas Soames

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2015-10-30.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the most significant key risks to the UK’s food security; and if she will make a statement.

George Eustice

Food supply is one of the UK’s critical national infrastructures and Defra produces an annual sector resilience plan as lead Government Department.

The UK food sector has a highly effective and resilient food supply chain, owing to the size, geographic diversity and competitive nature of the industry. The resilience of the sector has been demonstrated by the response to potentially disruptive challenges in recent years, although it is dependent on other critical services such as fuel, energy, transport and communications. The Government and industry work together closely to identify and mitigate risks and ensure the continued resilience of food supply.

The Government is developing a 25 year food and farming plan to further grow our food and farming industry. We want to export more and produce more for the domestic market. We aim to improve productivity and profitability through greater efficiency, the deployment of new technology and by building on the strong international reputation of British food at home and abroad.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2015-11-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, to whom and for what price the site of the Royal Hospital Haslar was sold.

Mr Julian Brazier

The Haslar Hospital site in Gosport was sold in November 2009 to Our Enterprise (Haslar) Ltd for £3 million. The Department retains no formal interest in the site.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2015-11-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when she will publish the Joint Hen Harrier Recovery Plan.

Rory Stewart

We have been working with Sub-Group members to finalise the Hen Harrier Action Plan with a view to publishing it shortly.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2015-11-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will place in the Library a copy of the underlying local wage data used to calculate the area cost adjustment factor for the (a) West Sussex Fringe and (b) West Sussex Non-Fringe element of the school grant.

Mr Sam Gyimah

The area cost adjustment for the schools block of the dedicated schools grant for 2015-16 is based on a combination of a teacher cost adjustment and a general labour market specific cost adjustment for non-teaching staff pay.

Teacher cost adjustments for the four regional pay bands (and the area cost adjustment itself) was published in the technical note to “Fairer schools funding: arrangements for 2015 to 2016”: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fairer-schools-funding-arrangements-for-2015-to-2016

The general labour market specific cost adjustment was calculated and published by the Department for Communities and Local Government in “Methodology Guide for the Area Cost Adjustment 2013/14”: http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20140505104649/http://www.local.communities.gov.uk/finance/1314/methacas.pdf

The methodology for combining the teacher and general labour market elements into the area cost adjustment is described in Annex C of “Fairer schools funding 2015 to 2016”: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/fairer-schools-funding-2015-to-2016

A map showing the area covered by the Department’s definition of a) the West Sussex Fringe and b) the West Sussex Non-Fringe is attached.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2015-12-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment his Department has made of the (a) funding of horseracing and (b) effect of Race Fields legislation in Australia.

Tracey Crouch

To inform work to replace the current levy system, we have commissioned an independent economic analysis of the costs and funding of horseracing. This economic analysis work will also examine relevant comparable models, including the Australian system, however any reform of the Levy will need to comply with EU law.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-02-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what criteria local authorities will be expected to meet in order to implement bus franchising in their areas; and whether their performance against the criteria will be subject to independent assessment.

Andrew Jones

The Buses Bill will introduce new powers for local authorities to franchise their local bus services. The Bill is still being drafted and it is therefore too early to confirm the detail of the process that may be proposed through the Bill.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-02-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to facilitate the development of an improved labelling code in the UK.

George Eustice

The Food Information Regulations (No. 1855) were introduced in 2014 and has resulted in better and more consistent labelling of food in a number of areas, including allergen labelling, ingredients labelling and, from the end of this year, nutrition labelling.

Origin labelling is also improved by these Regulations with new rules on origin labelling of meat of poultry, sheep, goat and pigs introduced in April last year. In addition, we look forward to prospective implementing acts on origin labelling of ingredients of foods, including meat and dairy, where this is different from the place that the food itself was made. The Government is fully engaged in these discussions and expects them to result in improved labelling of meat and dairy products in due course.

We have been pressing for mandatory origin labelling on dairy products, in particular lightly processed dairy products such as butter, cheese and cream but have met with some resistance from the European Commission. We will continue to press for these improvements.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-03-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will take steps to include group B Strep (GBS) in future work relating to the National Maternity Review.

Ben Gummer

The aims of the National Maternity Review were to develop proposals for the future shape of modern, high quality and sustainable maternity services across England. The key proposals aim to improve safety and experience of care for women and their families.

The Government has made clear that maternity care is a priority and on 13 November 2015 announced an ambition to reduce by 50% stillbirths, neonatal deaths, maternal deaths and neonatal brain injuries by 2030. This includes harm and death caused by Group B Streptococcus.

Following the publication of the National Maternity Review we are working with NHS England to establish a governance structure for the maternity work programme which will include engagement with a broad range of charity partners.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-03-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of whether there are circumstances under which the Government would consider deploying armed forces in the South China Sea.

Penny Mordaunt

The UK remains concerned about the situation in the South China Sea. We call on all parties to uphold freedom of navigation and freedom of overflight, to refrain from activities that increase tension, and to pursue urgently a settlement of the maritime disputes peacefully in accordance with international law. As a major trading nation that has substantial links with all the nations bordering the South China Sea the UK has a close security interest in the maintenance of regional peace and stability. While we have a limited permanent military presence in the form of the Brunei Garrison and our contribution to the Five Powers Defence Arrangements in Malaysia and Singapore, other than planning for routine exercises and defence engagement tasks. We have made no specific assessment of the circumstances under which we would deploy Armed Forces to the region.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-04-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of progress on the NATO Readiness Action Plan.

Mr Julian Brazier

The Readiness Action Plan (RAP), agreed at the NATO Summit in Wales in September 2014, is progressing well and it will deliver enhanced NATO Response Forces, including the Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF), by the time of the NATO Summit in Warsaw in July 2016. The UK has played a leading role in the implementation of the RAP: we have committed to spending 2% of GDP on Defence, and 20% of that on new equipment; we will lead a capable and credible VJTF (Land) Brigade in 2017; we have increased our commitment to NATO’s Standing Naval Forces this year; and will continue to provide Airborne Early Warning, Air to Air Refuelling, Tornado and Typhoon aircraft to the VJTF (Air).

Considerable work on survivability, sustainability and readiness of NATO forces has been undertaken. The RAP includes a commitment to generate an enhanced NATO Response Force (eNRF) including a VJTF. To enhance survivability, the eNRF has been designed from the outset as a Joint, Multi-National force with an appropriate quantity and balance of forces needed to effectively conduct the full range of potential operations. Integral logistic structures, which include the newly created Multi-National Corps Headquarters in Poland and a Multi-National Division Headquarters in Romania, ensure the sustainability of the enhanced NRF and VJTF. Enhanced NRF forces are designed to meet the readiness timelines that are laid down in NATO’s strategic planning documents, including the Alliance’s Graduated Response Plans.

Considerable work on Interoperability has also been undertaken since the end of combat operations in Afghanistan at the end of 2014. This has built upon NATO’s Connected Forces Initiative to ensure that NATO’s Multi-National forces force are able to continue to operate together effectively beyond the end of combat operations in Afghanistan. For our lead of the VJTF (Land) in 2017, the British Army will operate alongside the armed forces from 13 contributing nations.