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Tag: Ranil Jayawardena

  • Ranil Jayawardena – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Ranil Jayawardena – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ranil Jayawardena on 2016-03-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that more classic literature is taught in schools.

    Nick Gibb

    All pupils in secondary schools should be encouraged to enjoy challenging titles and develop a confidence and ability to read the great classics of English and world literature.

    The Government is delighted that, following our call for action, Penguin is offering classroom sets of 100 classic books for the equivalent of £1 a copy. This will allow pupils to read a wide range of literature with the support of their teacher. I hope other publishers will follow, to make classic literature a feature of every classroom.

  • Ranil Jayawardena – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Ranil Jayawardena – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ranil Jayawardena on 2015-09-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he has taken to ensure that effective regulation is in place to hold fibreoptic cable network companies to account for not providing mobile telephone operators with a resilient base station network and for not remedying network failure swiftly; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    In this case, under ‘security requirements’: sections 105A to D of the Communications Act 2003, the legislation that applies to telecoms providers requires them to take measures to protect the security and resilience of their networks and services. Ofcom has the power to intervene if it believes a provider is not taking the appropriate measures. This legislation applies to fibre optic network operators providing back haul to mobile operators.

    Generally, commercial agreements between providers will specify service levels to be adhered to, including times for remedying network disruptions. However, in its Business Connectivity Market Review (consultation 15 May 2015 – 31 July 2015), Ofcom stated that it considers BT’s quality of service in providing wholesale Ethernet leased line connections (including mobile backhaul) to be unacceptable, despite improvements that it acknowledges the company has made. Therefore the Regulator has proposed to impose obligations on BT to improve its provision of wholesale leased line services, with minimum standards of certainty of delivery date; provision lead-times; and repair times.

  • Ranil Jayawardena – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Ranil Jayawardena – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ranil Jayawardena on 2015-09-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the regulation of broadband providers in order to ensure that customers receive the service that they pay for and are properly compensated if they do not; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    There are a number of coverage and quality measures that apply to communications providers; for example, spectrum licence conditions on mobile coverage and targets for Openreach on repair and installation times for fixed line and broadband services. Ofcom is working with the main broadband providers and mobile operators to ensure that appropriate redress is available to consumers when necessary, including when coverage and quality is unsatisfactory. Consumers can also seek redress on an individual basis, under the term implied into service contracts by the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982, that the service will be carried out with reasonable care and skill. Effective from 1 October 2015, the Consumer Rights Act 2015 makes clear the rights of redress for consumers who do not receive a service that conforms to their contract; depending on circumstances, suitable remedies can include a price reduction, compensation or a right of exit.

  • Ranil Jayawardena – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Ranil Jayawardena – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ranil Jayawardena on 2015-09-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the regulation of mobile telephone operators in order to ensure that customers receive the service that they pay for and are properly compensated if they do not; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    There are a number of coverage and quality measures that apply to communications providers; for example, spectrum licence conditions on mobile coverage and targets for Openreach on repair and installation times for fixed line and broadband services. Ofcom is working with the main broadband providers and mobile operators to ensure that appropriate redress is available to consumers when necessary, including when coverage and quality is unsatisfactory. Consumers can also seek redress on an individual basis, under the term implied into service contracts by the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982, that the service will be carried out with reasonable care and skill. Effective from 1 October 2015, the Consumer Rights Act 2015 makes clear the rights of redress for consumers who do not receive a service that conforms to their contract; depending on circumstances, suitable remedies can include a price reduction, compensation or a right of exit.

  • Ranil Jayawardena – 2022 Comments on Horticulture Growth

    Ranil Jayawardena – 2022 Comments on Horticulture Growth

    The comments made by Ranil Jayawardena, the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, on 11 October 2022.

    We all rely on farmers and growers every day to produce high-quality food, and to look after our environment.

    Whilst we have a high degree of food security, we can boost it further. We can increase home-grown fruit and vegetable production, which is why I am bringing in expert advice and match-funding robotics and automation projects.

    Technology offers huge opportunities to make farming greener and more productive, so we should harness it to help grow the economy, create jobs and improve food security too.

  • Ranil Jayawardena – 2022 Comments on Selling Lamb to the United States

    Ranil Jayawardena – 2022 Comments on Selling Lamb to the United States

    The comments made by Ranil Jayawardena, the Secretary of State for Environment, on 8 October 2022.

    Tucking into roast lamb for Sunday lunch is quintessentially British – and now millions of American families will now be able to enjoy our top-quality lamb too.

    The opportunity for growth for British food is enormous – bringing jobs, skills and prosperity across the nation. With our mission to unlock growth, we will continue to secure more opportunities for our farmers and food producers to benefit from new markets.

  • Ranil Jayawardena – 2022 Speech to Conservative Party Conference

    Ranil Jayawardena – 2022 Speech to Conservative Party Conference

    The speech made by Ranil Jayawardena, the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, in Birmingham on 3 October 2022.

    I am delighted to be standing before you today, as your Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

    And it is a great privilege to serve you in this role because I was raised in a rural county, the county that my family and I still live in, the fine county of Hampshire, the north east of which I represent today.

    It was when I was at Hook Infant School that I learnt how soap used to be made and began to speak up against whaling, which loopholes sadly still allow today.

    It was at Hook Junior School that I championed recycling, before separate kerbside collections existed, and everything was going to landfill.

    Like our Prime Minister, I am proud to say I was an environmentalist before it was fashionable.

    Having grown up in North East Hampshire, I understand the issues faced by those in rural communities too.

    I will be a champion for people who live in the countryside the length and breadth of our nation.

    And I look forward to visiting to farms, businesses and charities across the country, including PDM Produce in Shropshire where I was yesterday, and Mondelez in Bourneville, who I will be visiting on Wednesday.

    Thanks to everyone who has given me such a warm welcome already, here in Birmingham and across the West Midlands, even if the same can’t be said for Twitter.

    There is much to do.

    And I have been put here by the Prime Minister to deliver.

    At DEFRA, we’re all about EFG.

    The Environment.

    Food.

    And Growth.

    I am delighted to have a great team who are already getting on with the job –

    Trudy Harrison as your Minister for the Environment;

    Mark Spencer as your Minister for Food;

    and Scott Mann as your Minister for Growth;

    all ably supported by Lord Benyon as Minister for International Nature and Biosecurity,

    and Lord Harlech, Darren Henry, Laura Farris and Antony Higginbotham in the Whips Offices and as my Parliamentary Private Secretaries.

    And as we all get on with the job, top of the list – key to unlocking everything else we want – is growing our economy.

    Though our opponents would like to pretend otherwise, a strong, healthy environment and a strong, healthy economy are not incompatible.

    In fact, they are perfect partners.

    A strong environment and a strong economy is how we deliver in a Conservative way.

    That’s why I can assure you all today that my Department should no longer be seen as one that follows the EU, imposes rules and impedes innovation.

    Instead of being a regulatory department, we are now an economic growth department.

    Food and drink is our largest manufacturing sector.

    It is bigger than automotive and aerospace put together, with a presence in every constituency in this country.

    The opportunity for growth in the sector is enormous – and it will bring jobs, skills and prosperity across the nation.

    More than ever, we know the importance of food security – it is crucial for our national resilience and we must boost it further still.

    British food and British farming are the best in the world – premium products that should not just be enjoyed at home – rather they should be championed around the world.

    Here at home, we should be able to buy British with confidence and pride.

    But, to do that, we need to tighten up our labelling.

    We have some of the highest animal welfare standards in the world.

    Shoppers vote with their feet and choose to buy British for just that reason.

    And yet, did you know that Danish pork processed in Britain can be sold as British?

    But we don’t have to bow the knee to every bureaucratic Bonaparte in Brussels anymore.

    Haven’t we taken back control?

    That’s why we will be working with supermarkets and producers to improve the data they collect on where our food comes from – and we will launch new British labelling, so that the people of our great nation can have confidence that anything labelled as British IS British.

    And this has an extra Brexit bonus.

    Instead of keeping the world’s best food and drink a secret, we will sell more of it around the globe,

    with the Union Flag symbolising once again the quality that people around the world want to buy.

    Whilst at the Department for International Trade, the Prime Minister and I were determined to open new markets and we succeeded.

    British beef is back in America…

    … we are selling chicken to Mongolia.

    We are shipping Scottish salmon to Saudi Arabia…

    And our friends in Canada are enjoying Scotch Whisky too…

    This is just the beginning.

    Like the Prime Minister when she was Environment Secretary,

    in a fortnight, I will be in Paris at the world’s largest food fair…

    … bigging up British products.

    I will be working closely with my friends at Trade…

    … to make sure we are capitalising on every export opportunity for our premium produce to the world…

    … at the premium prices our farmers, fishermen and food producers deserve.

    We have huge opportunities – lamb to the Gulf, dairy to the Far East, the list goes on.

    The opportunity isn’t just demand-led though.

    Supply-side reforms are crucial.

    Now that we have left the EU, I am delighted to tell you that we are going to free our farmers, and we are listening to all sides for new ideas to get Britain growing, such as the review undertaken by Baroness Rock to back our tenant farmers.

    Unlike the Labour Party, we trust our farmers, so we will cut through the red tape that has held back our farms for too long.

    We announced in our growth plan that we would review farming regulations but – contrary to what you might have read in some corners of the media – we remain committed to our environmental schemes that support our farmers as they look after our countryside.

    Some rules in the past didn’t do what they set out to. The three-crop rule and greening requirements are already gone and we will be announcing more in the coming weeks.

    I bulldozed 400 trade barriers in my time at Trade and I will continue to get things done.

    We must look to the future too.

    We will use our new grant schemes to support farmers and food producers to invest in the technology that will boost their productivity and profitability.

    The technological advancements being made in the agricultural and horticultural sectors are astounding,

    producing more food whilst using fewer resources, including water.

    And using less water is vital.

    It’s been a long, hot summer.

    With crop failure being a very real worry, we need a little rain.

    And when the rain comes, we need our flood defences to be strong, to protect life and property, and we need our watercourses and beaches to be safe and sewage-free.

    I believe in private enterprise.

    We all do.

    It’s business that creates jobs, secures our prosperity and pays for public services.

    Private enterprise is intrinsic to our Conservative DNA.

    And yet

    we all know that government must step in if there is market failure.

    Our water companies have a lot to answer for.

    Too much water is wasted through leaks each year when we should be conserving it, and, in 2022,

    we still find sewage in our rivers

    and on our beaches.

    That is not on.

    On my first day in office, I met Water Company bosses to give them their report card.

    They caused 62 serious pollution incidents in 2021.

    I’ll be polite: could do better.

    I asked them to write to me with their plans to accelerate investment in infrastructure.

    They did –

    and now they must deliver.

    Privatisation has put in £170billion of investment into our water infrastructure already,

    and the private sector will now put in another £56billion more.

    And, if they don’t deliver, there will be consequences.

    I can confirm to you today that I will be taking forward plans to lift the Environment Agency’s maximum civil fine for each individual breach of the rules from up to just 250,000 pounds, to up to 250 million.

    This doesn’t only affect families going to our beautiful British lakes, rivers and beaches in the summer,

    or surfers braving the cold winter swells.

    It has repercussions for our environment,

    at a time when our biodiversity is seriously under threat.

    Biodiversity is declining faster than at any time in human history.

    We rely on nature to provide us with food, water and clean air,

    and biodiversity is crucial to enabling nature to be productive and resilient.

    More than half of global GDP is estimated to be dependent on biodiversity and nature.

    That’s over £40 trillion.

    When I was first elected, I founded the All Party Parliamentary Group on Endangered Species.

    I believe in halting the decline.

    Except, I should say, my friends, for the decline of the lesser but still too often spotted: the so-called Liberal Democrat.

    That’s a species I would be happy to see remain on the endangered list.

    I stand shoulder-to-shoulder with you, my friends.

    Like you, I have fought the Lib Dems and the Socialists in communities across the country –

    as an Association Officer,

    as a Councillor,

    and as a Member of Parliament.

    And, in this brief,

    at DEFRA,

    I will work day and night to preserve our green and pleasant land.

    Our rural landscapes – the clouded hills, the mountains green – are precious to all of
    us, and we have a duty to our children and our children’s children to protect them.

    I will honour that duty and I will not let leftists who seek to divide us undermine that
    collective responsibility we all share to protect our environment.

    It is this Conservative Government that has put in place world leading targets to halt the decline in nature by 2030, with particular thanks to the hard work of my immediate predecessors, George Eustice and Theresa Villiers.

    This is a challenge, and one that requires action by many to be achieved.

    But achieve it we must, for it is critical to the growth we want to see, the Conservative environmentalism we believe in.

    We are going for growth, where a strong, healthy environment, is part of a strong, healthy economy.

    This is a huge task.

    There is much to do.

    And we are determined to deliver.

  • Ranil Jayawardena – 2022 Statement on the UK-Australia Free Trade Agreement

    Ranil Jayawardena – 2022 Statement on the UK-Australia Free Trade Agreement

    The statement made by Ranil Jayawardena, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Trade, in the House of Commons on 19 July 2022.

    I have been asked to reply. Our Anglo-Australian trade deal will play an important role in levelling up the United Kingdom. It is expected to increase trade with Australia by 53%, boost the economy by £2.3 billion and add £900 million to the wages of hard-working households across our country in the long run. Her Majesty’s Government have stated on a number of occasions that the agreement will be ratified only once it has passed its statutory scrutiny period under the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010 and, in addition, the necessary implementing legislation must have passed.

    Her Majesty’s Government have made extensive additional scrutiny commitments, which include allowing a reasonable amount of time for the Select Committees to produce reports prior to the statutory scrutiny period under CRaG. We further set out that, for the Australia deal, this would be a period of at least three months. In actual fact, double the amount of time has now been provided: the agreement has been available for scrutiny for over six months. I should also point out that, before starting CRaG, Her Majesty’s Government published two reports to support scrutiny: the independent Trade and Agriculture Commission’s report on 13 April, and the Government’s own report under section 42 of the Agriculture Act 2020 on 6 June. Both reports were provided to the relevant Select Committees prior to publication to support their scrutiny work.

    Her Majesty’s Government have now started the CRaG process, following this six-month scrutiny period, which was in addition to the statutory period provided for by CRaG. By the end of the CRaG period on 20 July, the treaty will have been under the scrutiny of this House for over seven months. The House will undoubtedly have benefited from reports from three separate Select Committees—the International Trade Committee, the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, and the International Agreements Committee in the other place.

    In addition, the agreement can only be ratified once Parliament has scrutinised and passed the implementing legislation in the usual way. The agreement requires primary legislation, and the Trade (Australia and New Zealand) Bill is currently before the House of Commons and will have its Second Reading in due course. This legislation will be fully scrutinised and approved by Parliament in the usual way. I should point out that we expect Australia to conclude its parliamentary process before we do. Therefore, any delay to our process slows the deal’s economic benefits from being felt across Britain.

    Let me say this to my hon. Friend: he knows that my brief usually covers other markets, but the principles remain the same. In my view, it is important to strike the right balance between the scrutiny of trade deals and bringing them into effect in a timely way so that our consumers and businesses can reap their full rewards. I believe that the balance is right, and that this House and my Department should continue to harness the power of trade to create jobs, boost wages and secure prosperity.

    Anthony Mangnall

    Thank you, Mr Speaker, for granting this urgent question on the Australia free trade agreement. The UQ is supported by the whole International Trade Committee and the Chair, the hon. Member for Na h-Eileanan an Iar (Angus Brendan MacNeil), who cannot be with us but is here in the guise of his favourite Scottish export spirit—whisky, of course. The Chair of the Select Committee and I have very different perspectives on the Australia free trade agreement, but despite that we both wholeheartedly believe in the need for scrutiny in this place of that agreement.

    This is the first wholly new trade agreement that we have signed since leaving the European Union, but unfortunately it has not had the scrutiny it deserves. On 8 October 2020, the then International Trade Secretary, who is now the Foreign Secretary, said that

    “we will have a world-leading scrutiny process, comparable with Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Japan. That will mean the International Trade Committee scrutinising a signed version of the deal and producing a report to Parliament, a debate taking place and then, through the CRaG…process, Parliament can block any trade deal if it is not happy with it.”—[Official Report, 8 October 2020; Vol. 681, c. 1004.]

    I ask the Minister whether the Government are still committed to that point of principle. The Minister for Energy, Clean Growth and Climate Change, the Minister for Farming, Fisheries and Food and the Secretary of State for International Trade have made those commitments to right hon. and hon. Members of this House, and we deserve our say on a trade agreement that makes a significant difference. On the Australia free trade agreement, the Government began the 21-day CRaG process before the International Trade Committee had even produced its report and even before the Secretary of State had come before us to defend the agreement in the first place. The Government refused to grant the Committee’s request for 15 sitting days between the publication of the section 42 report and triggering CRaG, thus denying us more scrutiny. As I have already said, the Government have failed to provide a Minister in good time and good order. In relation to the first report the Committee wrote on this, the Secretary of State was asked eight times to come before the Committee to discuss the agreement. She only did so a week and a half ago. The Government have failed to provide a debate and a vote on the agreement, so will the Minister, as the Liaison Committee and many other Members across the House have asked, delay ratification for the further 21 days and allow us to have a proper debate on this issue? Will he ensure that every future free trade agreement is signed and drawn through the CRaG process, as you have suggested, Mr Speaker? Will he ensure that Ministers are made available to discuss trade agreements ahead of time?

    We are asking for nothing that we have not been promised at the Dispatch Box. It is time we are given that.

    Mr Jayawardena

    We have a system that compares very well with other parliamentary systems around the world. We will not be extending the CRaG period, given the extensive scrutiny time that Parliament has had—as I set out earlier, seven months by the end of the period—and we will not be able to offer a debate. The Secretary of State said that she felt the agreement could benefit from a general debate, but that is a matter for business managers in this House. The Labour party was very keen to have another debate yesterday, which took a whole day of parliamentary business from this House.

    The section 42 report is there to inform the scrutiny period, not create an additional scrutiny period above and beyond CRaG. We published that report on 6 June. As my hon. Friend says, it was sent to the International Trade Committee, the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee and the International Agreements Committee in the other place on 27 May to ensure they had ample time to consider the report. There is a balance, as I say, between ensuring sufficient time for robust scrutiny and ensuring agreements come into place quickly. I think we have got that balance right.

    On CRaG, the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010 was introduced by the Labour party. It gave the opportunity for parliamentary disapproval of treaties statutory effect and it gave the House of Commons the power to block ratification. Members across the House will know the answer to that. I am more than willing to set out the process, but in the interests of time and allowing people to come in I shall sit down for now.

  • Ranil Jayawardena – 2022 Speech at the World Trade Organization

    Ranil Jayawardena – 2022 Speech at the World Trade Organization

    The speech made by Ranil Jayawardena, the Minister for International Trade, on 12 June 2022.

    The peaceful waters of Lake Geneva are far removed from the scenes of chaos and horror broadcast from Ukraine over the past months.

    Yet, as we begin this, the World Trade Organization’s 12th Ministerial Conference, the war in Ukraine should be uppermost in our minds.

    Russia’s invasion is a threat to our democracy and the rules-based order – the foundation of our free, fair and open trading system. Britain will always uphold the values of her people and her allies, she will protect Ukraine’s democratic right to exist.

    Britain believes that free, fair and open trade can prevent yet more lives being destroyed through developing a more sustainable, efficient and resilient food supply chain for the future.

    To get on and do this, I am glad that the British-led Joint Statement on Open and Predictable Trade in Agriculture and Food Products has been endorsed by over 50 WTO members.

    We must work together to learn the lessons of the pandemic, back business to continue to innovate and agree a substantive trade and health package so we are prepared for the future.

    More broadly, Britain believes that the WTO has a crucial role to support the free and fair trade that will support developed economies to renew and developing countries to grow.

    Beyond this Ministerial, we must unite to find a path to reforming the WTO and ensuring a fairer, more stable trading system.

    The rules-based system relies on everyone playing by the rules. The WTO needs to root out those who do not.

    This goes beyond economics. Britain will put the pressing need to protect the environment at the heart of this work. We believe that green trade has a powerful role to play in countering climate change, environmental degradation and biodiversity loss, whilst securing and generating economic growth.

    Your Excellencies, we – together – face significant challenges but I am confident that the spirit to deal with them is strong.

    It is through a multilateral rules-based system of free trade fit for the 21st century that we will address these obstacles and overcome them. This is why – together – we must redouble our efforts, put our divisions aside and harness the power of free, open and fair trade to tackle our modern-day challenges.

  • Ranil Jayawardena – 2021 Comments on Trading Barriers

    Ranil Jayawardena – 2021 Comments on Trading Barriers

    The comments made by Ranil Jayawardena, the Minister for International Trade, on 26 November 2021.

    In the last year, we have been tearing down even more trading barriers than the year before – 20% more, in spite of Covid-19 – which is proof that Global Britain is delivering for our dedicated exporters, supporting local jobs and boosting the economy. This is just the beginning. We want businesses in every corner of the country to tell us about the barriers they want us to tackle next, so they can focus on what they do best – making world-class products and selling them to the world.