Tag: Nick Smith

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Smith on 2015-11-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has had discussions with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the effect of tax credits on farmers.

George Eustice

The Secretary of State has not had any discussions with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on this issue. However, the NFU has written directly to the Chancellor about tax payments and the National Living Wage. Ministers and Defra officials meet regularly with representatives of the farming industry to discuss a range of issues affecting farm businesses.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Smith on 2016-04-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many food problems were reported through the Food Standards Agency website in each of the last three years.

Jane Ellison

The total number of notifications received via the Food Standards Agency food.gov.uk online incident report form was:

― 453 in 2015

― 366 in 2014

― 357 in 2013

The majority of these notifications are from businesses and local authorities.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, 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.

Mr Desmond Swayne

Department for International Development does not set a budget for food served in its Department’s offices. Catering services are provided by a private company under contract to Department for International Development and provides food to staff without subsidy. Spending on food is determined by the contractor based on sales receipts from DFID staff.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, 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.

Andrea Leadsom

The Department of Energy and Climate Change does not have an annual food budget. Catering services are provided via a DEFRA contract which is operated on a nil subsidy basis.

Annual spend is determined by the contractor and is informed by private sales to members of staff.

Forty-eight percent of food and drink provided through this contract is sourced from UK producers (based on figures for Jan-Mar 2016). This proportion reflects that a large volume of food and drink sold to staff includes non-indigenous products such as rice, pasta, tea, coffee and bananas, and that as this period falls in the Winter season there are out of UK seasonal products procured from the wider EU.

One hundred percent of beef, chicken, lamb, pork, free range eggs, milk and yoghurt is sourced from the UK.

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 2016-04-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the Rural Payments Agency is expected to resolve post-payment adjustments for the 2015 Basic Payments Scheme before September 2016; and if all outstanding cases will receive interest on their payments.

George Eustice

Any farmer who has received a 2015 Basic Payment Scheme claim statement and noticed a difference from what they were expecting is advised to contact the Rural Payments Agency (RPA).

The RPA will investigate these differences over the summer and will make the appropriate adjustments where necessary. However, there is no legal provision to pay interest on outstanding amounts.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, 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.

Mike Penning

The Ministry of Justice does not set a budget for food served in its offices. Catering services are provided by private companies under contract to the Ministry of Justice and provided to staff without subsidy. Spending on food is determined by the contractor based on sales receipts from Ministry of Justice staff.

The Ministry of Justice has worked with its current suppliers to align existing contracts with the requirements of the balanced scorecard.

Details of the proportion of food produced for the Ministry of Justice that was sourced from British producers is not recorded centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

I refer the honourable member to the answer given to PQ 35065 on 29 April 2016 which provides relevant details about food procured for prisons.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, 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.

Mr David Lidington

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) does not set a budget for food served in its UK food outlets. Catering services in the UK are provided to staff by an external contractor. Spending on food is determined by the contractor based on sales receipts from FCO staff.

The FCO has worked with its supplier to align the existing contract with the requirements of the Government’s food procurement balanced scorecard.
By value, approximately 84% of dairy produce, 100% of chicken, 77% of beef, 88% of pork and 91% of other meats is sourced from British producers.

The amount of other food sourced from British producers for the FCO was 35% in the last period for which figures are available (January to March 2016); this figure relates to the catering contractor’s main supplier only and includes non-indigenous products (eg tea and coffee) and does not include specialist items (eg scampi).

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Smith on 2015-10-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to ensure that fans buying tickets for sporting and cultural events are not disadvantaged by organised gangs of online touts in the secondary ticket market.

Tracey Crouch

The Government announced last week that Professor Michael Waterson has been appointed to chair the independent review of consumer protection measures in the secondary ticket market. The review will look into existing protections for consumers and how tickets come to be available on the secondary market.