Tag: Rachael Maskell

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rachael Maskell on 2016-07-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent steps she has taken to prevent increases in bovine TB herd-to-herd infection rates.

George Eustice

The most recent new measures to protect England from bovine TB were introduced on 6 April as part of the Government’s comprehensive strategy, which is on track to deliver TB-free status for over half of the country by 2019. These measures included:

• New legislation to require farmers in the Low Risk Area of England to arrange for post-movement testing of cattle coming from the rest of England and from Wales.

• Tighter movement restrictions, with all herds in the High Risk Area of England affected by a new TB breakdown needing to pass two strict tests before movement restrictions are lifted. This will increase the chances of finding all infected animals in those herds, helping to reduce recurrent breakdowns and to protect other herds.

• Government-funded pre-sale testing, enabling sellers to provide additional assurance for buyers and mitigate the low risk of undetected TB spreading to new herds.

• The opportunity for herd owners to arrange private Interferon Gamma blood tests to diagnose TB, subject to certain conditions.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rachael Maskell on 2016-03-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the staff who manage the gardens in Chevening country residence are employed as civil servants; whether such staff are enrolled under the civil service pension scheme; and under what terms and conditions such staff are employed with what pension entitlement.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

No members of the Civil Service are employed at Chevening.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rachael Maskell on 2016-07-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential effect of the outcome of the EU referendum on access by farmers to new Countryside Stewardship scheme agreements.

George Eustice

Until negotiations conclude and the UK leaves the EU, all existing arrangements remain in place, including rural development programmes. We are having ongoing discussions with the Treasury because it is important that there is continuity, particularly for agri-environment schemes, without prejudice to future decisions. An update on future funding under current EU schemes will follow shortly.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rachael Maskell on 2016-03-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of police funding after service reorganisation.

Mike Penning

The Government has protected overall police spending for the coming Spending Review period, once police precept is taken into account. The public can be confident that over the next four years the police will have the resources they need to carry on cutting crime, fighting terrorism and keeping the people of this country safe.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rachael Maskell on 2016-07-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to support households which are in water poverty.

Dr Thérèse Coffey

Water companies already offer a wide range of support to around 760,000 customers that struggle to pay their water bills. By 2020, they have committed to help an additional one million customers. The support they offer includes the nationally mandated WaterSure Scheme, voluntary social tariffs, charitable trusts, debt advice, payment plans and water efficiency advice.

The Government is committed to supporting a water industry built around transparency, resilience and affordability. We will continue to work with the Consumer Council for Water, Ofwat and the industry to ensure they continue to provide a fair deal for all customers.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rachael Maskell on 2016-03-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of police funding after service reorganisation.

Mike Penning

The Government has protected overall police spending for the coming Spending Review period, once police precept is taken into account. The public can be confident that over the next four years the police will have the resources they need to carry on cutting crime, fighting terrorism and keeping the people of this country safe.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rachael Maskell on 2016-07-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will extend the remit of the Groceries Code Adjudicator to include primary producers’ relationships with their suppliers.

Margot James

We will shortly be commencing a review of the Groceries Code Adjudicator and as part of that we will take account of the recent calls for its remit to be extended.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rachael Maskell on 2016-04-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to ensure that regional museums and galleries are adequately funded.

Mr Edward Vaizey

Councils have almost £200 billion to spend on local services, over the lifetime of this parliament. It is for each local authority who know their area best to decide how to allocate its budget to provide museum services to its communities.

In addition, through the Arts Council England, DCMS has increased funding for 21 Major Partner Museums Networks (130 Museums in total) from £20.3m to £22.6 million over 2015-2018. Regional museums can bid for funds from ACE’s £10 million per year Resilience Fund, and for lottery funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund. We are also investing millions of pounds to boost local and regional museums, for example, £5 million towards a new South Asia Gallery at Manchester Museum and £2.5 million to the Manchester Museum of Science and Industry.

As announced in our Culture White Paper, we will conduct a wide-ranging review into the museums sector that will examine local and regional museums, as well as Government-sponsored museums and the museums infrastructure nationally.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rachael Maskell on 2016-07-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with the insurance industry on the development of a Flood Re scheme for businesses.

Rory Stewart

I am aware that some small businesses exposed to high flood risk may be experiencing challenges in finding affordable insurance. My predecessor has met with representatives from the Association of British Insurers, Federation of Small Businesses and the British Insurance Brokers Association (BIBA) among others to discuss the extent of this problem.

BIBA is developing a commercial insurance product that is intended to help businesses in flood risk areas access appropriate cover. Government officials are in regular contact with BIBA to monitor how that product is developing.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rachael Maskell on 2016-04-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress has been made with the insurance industry on the development of a Flood Re scheme for small businesses.

Rory Stewart

We are aware that some small businesses exposed to high flood risk may experience challenges in finding affordable insurance. We are therefore working with BIS, local authorities, the insurance industry and other business representatives to further understand what problems the business sector may be experiencing in this area and to discuss the options available for taking action.

Ministers have recently held meetings with representatives from the Association of British Insurers (ABI), Federation of Small Businesses and the British Insurance Brokers Association (BIBA) among others to discuss these issues. Following this BIBA is developing a commercial insurance product that is intended to help businesses in flood risk areas to access appropriate cover.

In the meantime the ABI have assured Government that the industry will continue to provide insurance to small businesses on a competitive basis.