Tag: Nick Smith

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Smith on 2016-04-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, by when will 2015 payments to farmers from the Rural Payments Agency be completed; and when can farmers receiving a 50 per cent bridging payment expect to be paid in full.

George Eustice

As of 2 May, some 79,013 Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) claims have now been completed. This represents 78,102 payments and 911 that resulted in no payments being due. Bridging payments were made by the end of April to those farmers not in receipt of their BPS 2015 claim payment in recognition of the cash flow pressures they are facing.

The Rural Payments Agency will continue to make full payments throughout the remainder of the payment window and anticipates completing this work by the end of June 2016.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Smith on 2016-05-23.

To ask the Leader of the House, what the annual budget is for food produced for his Office; and what proportion of food produced for his Office was sourced from British producers in the last period for which figures are available.

Chris Grayling

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him by my right hon. Friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office on 31 May 2016, to Question UIN 37901.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Smith on 2016-05-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many (a) incidents have been reported to trading standards teams of and (b) prosecutions have taken place for recycling animal by-products back into the food chain in each of the last three years.

Jane Ellison

Monitoring food businesses to ensure compliance with legislation on food labelling and composition is the responsibility of county councils, unitary authorities, the London Boroughs and some but not all metropolitan borough councils. These local authorities are also responsible for taking enforcement action, including prosecutions, where non-compliance is found.

Data are reported to the Food Standards Agency (FSA) on the number of food and drink analyses undertaken in relation to compositional issues and labelling and presentation issues:

23,599 analyses were undertaken in 2014/15, 16,899 for compositional issues and 6,700 for labelling and presentation issues.

29,324 analyses were undertaken in 2013/14, 19,386 for compositional issues and 9,938 for labelling and presentation issues.

26,940 analyses were undertaken in 2012/13, 16,982 for compositional issues and 9,958 for labelling and presentation issues.

Data are also reported to the FSA on the total number of prosecutions concluded for food standards issues. This includes action in relation to composition, labelling and presentation but also for other issues such as chemical contamination. In 2014/15, 2013/14 and 2012/13 respectively, 75, 57 and 78 United Kingdom food establishments were subject to prosecution.

The FSA has recently established a central register of successful food law prosecutions. Analysis of data collected for the first year of operation of the register is not yet complete, but in future it will provide more definitive data on prosecutions for offences of this nature.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Smith on 2016-02-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans her Department has for the UK to participate in the revised European School Milk Scheme due to be implemented from August 2017.

George Eustice

If the European Parliament formally endorses the proposal for a revised 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. Decisions about the scheme can be made at regional or national level.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Smith on 2016-05-04.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what proportion of dairy products procured for (a) his Department and (b) 10 Downing Street was sourced from British producers in the latest period for which figures are available.

Matthew Hancock

The Prime Minister’s Office is an integral part of the Cabinet Office.

The Cabinet Office adheres to the Government Buying Standards for Food and Catering Services which are mandatory for central Government and its executive agencies, ALBs, NDPBs etc. This is supported in the DEFRA Business Plan to drive sustainable food procurement by the Government and the public sector.

The Government Buying Standards on Food and Catering can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/418072/gbs-food-catering-march2015.pdf

Dairy products in Cabinet Office buildings are supplied by the department’s facilities management providers and they have confirmed that at least 85% were sourced from British producers in 2015/16.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Smith on 2016-05-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what the annual budget is for food produced for her Department’s offices; and what proportion of food produced for her Department was sourced from British producers in the last period for which figures are available.

Mrs Theresa Villiers

There is no specific budget allocated for food produced within the Departmen; figures which detail the origin of food produced are not held by my department.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Smith on 2016-05-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many (a) incidents have been reported to trading standards teams of and (b) prosecutions have taken place for packing and selling beef and poultry with an unknown origin in each of the last three years.

Jane Ellison

Monitoring food businesses to ensure compliance with legislation on food labelling and composition is the responsibility of county councils, unitary authorities, the London Boroughs and some but not all metropolitan borough councils. These local authorities are also responsible for taking enforcement action, including prosecutions, where non-compliance is found.

Data are reported to the Food Standards Agency (FSA) on the number of food and drink analyses undertaken in relation to compositional issues and labelling and presentation issues:

23,599 analyses were undertaken in 2014/15, 16,899 for compositional issues and 6,700 for labelling and presentation issues.

29,324 analyses were undertaken in 2013/14, 19,386 for compositional issues and 9,938 for labelling and presentation issues.

26,940 analyses were undertaken in 2012/13, 16,982 for compositional issues and 9,958 for labelling and presentation issues.

Data are also reported to the FSA on the total number of prosecutions concluded for food standards issues. This includes action in relation to composition, labelling and presentation but also for other issues such as chemical contamination. In 2014/15, 2013/14 and 2012/13 respectively, 75, 57 and 78 United Kingdom food establishments were subject to prosecution.

The FSA has recently established a central register of successful food law prosecutions. Analysis of data collected for the first year of operation of the register is not yet complete, but in future it will provide more definitive data on prosecutions for offences of this nature.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Smith on 2016-02-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress her Department is making on helping implement the European School Milk Scheme.

George Eustice

If the European Parliament formally endorses the proposal for a revised 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. Decisions about the scheme can be made at regional or national level.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Smith on 2016-05-04.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what proportion of dairy products procured for his Department was sourced from British producers in the latest period for which figures are available.

Harriett Baldwin

Catering Services in 1 Horse Guards Road are provided at zero subsidy under our 35 year PFI agreement with Exchequer Partnerships Plc. (EP). Food is procured by a sub-contractor to EP.

The latest period for which figures are available is July 2014 to September 2015. In this period, 84.81% of dairy products procured were sourced from UK producers.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Smith on 2016-05-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what the annual budget is for food produced for his Department’s offices; and what proportion of food produced for his Department was sourced from British producers in the last period for which figures are available.

David Mundell

The Scotland Office has no in-house catering facilities and the provision of food is generally limited to catering associated with official hospitality and is supplied by external contractors.

The Office does not separately record the proportion of food sourced from British Producers used by its external caterers.