Asked by: Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the numbers of specialised staff working in the climate and natural environment sectors; and what assessment they have made of any risks arising from skilled staff transferring to other sectors.
Answered by Lord Benyon
The Government recognises the challenges to ensuring a skilled workforce to achieve Net Zero and our environmental goals and targets. We have committed to publishing a Green Jobs Plan in 2024, which we are currently working with employers to develop through the Green Jobs Delivery Group. The Plan will outline actions to support the upskilling and retention of staff with specialist climate and environmental skills to develop a skilled and sufficiently sized workforce.
To inform this Plan, we have been undertaking workforce assessments for key sectors, engaging with industry leads to understand the cross-cutting themes, shortages and skills gaps related to the needs of the Net Zero and Nature workforce.
Asked by: Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of staffing levels across the climate and natural environment sectors, including (1) the Environment Agency, and (2) Natural England.
Answered by Lord Benyon
It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.
Asked by: Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Labour - Life peer)
Question
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the differences in pay for male and female workers in the climate and natural environment sectors; and whether they have any plans to address the gender pay gap in these sectors.
Answered by Baroness Swinburne
It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.
Asked by: Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have held with the government of Vietnam regarding reports that unchipped and illegal bears in Nghe An Province have not been confiscated due to violence against enforcement officials by illegal wildlife farmers.
Answered by Lord Benyon
We have made no assessment or held any discussions with the government of Vietnam on the trafficking or illegal captivity of Asiatic Black Bears. However, in April 2023 Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Thérèse Coffey visited Vietnam and met with her counterparts in the Ministry for Agriculture and Rural Development and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. During this visit the important role of Vietnam in tackling the Illegal Wildlife Trade was discussed.
The UK government fully opposes any intimidation of individuals carrying out official duties and is supportive of a proportionate response that reflects international commitments and due process.
Asked by: Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have held with the government of Vietnam regarding the number of unchipped and illegal bears in captivity in Vietnam.
Answered by Lord Benyon
We have made no assessment or held any discussions with the government of Vietnam on the trafficking or illegal captivity of Asiatic Black Bears. However, in April 2023 Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Thérèse Coffey visited Vietnam and met with her counterparts in the Ministry for Agriculture and Rural Development and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. During this visit the important role of Vietnam in tackling the Illegal Wildlife Trade was discussed.
The UK government fully opposes any intimidation of individuals carrying out official duties and is supportive of a proportionate response that reflects international commitments and due process.
Asked by: Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports that Nghe An Province in Vietnam is providing a backdoor route for the trafficking from Laos of Asiatic Black Bears, in contravention of the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.
Answered by Lord Benyon
We have made no assessment or held any discussions with the government of Vietnam on the trafficking or illegal captivity of Asiatic Black Bears. However, in April 2023 Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Thérèse Coffey visited Vietnam and met with her counterparts in the Ministry for Agriculture and Rural Development and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. During this visit the important role of Vietnam in tackling the Illegal Wildlife Trade was discussed.
The UK government fully opposes any intimidation of individuals carrying out official duties and is supportive of a proportionate response that reflects international commitments and due process.
Asked by: Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the likely impact of the UK’s accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership on (1) domestic food producers, and (2) the animal welfare practices associated with imported food products.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Lainston
The Impact Assessment for the UK's accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) was published on 17th July 2022 and outlines sectoral impacts. The Government has negotiated a balanced agreement, with significant opportunities for UK agri-food businesses and which also has strong protections for the UK's sensitive agricultural products.
Asked by: Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what engagement they undertook with representatives of domestic food producers prior to taking the decision to accede to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Lainston
The government has ensured that UK food producers have been able to express their views on the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific partnership (CPTPP) through frequent engagement with the agricultural sector.
We have regularly spoken to representatives of domestic food producers, including the Food and Drink Association, National Farmers' Union, the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board, the Agricultural Industries Confederation and the British Poultry Council.
The Department has also hosted roundtable events specifically for agricultural stakeholders, further giving them a forum to provide perspectives on CPTPP.
Agricultural stakeholders were also able to contribute to the consultation exercise on CPTPP, which received almost 150,000 responses. The Government's response to that consultation was published in June 2021 at the outset of negotiations.
Asked by: Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the social value to people and communities of the canal network; and whether they believe their long-term funding settlement for the Canal & River Trust will increase or decrease that social value.
Answered by Lord Benyon
The Government recognises that canals provide many public benefits, including social value to people and communities. When the Canal and River Trust was set up in 2012 to replace British Waterways, the Government agreed to provide an annual grant over 15 years to provide a measure of financial stability while the Trust developed alternative income streams. This was on the clear understanding, set out in the Memorandum of Understanding signed between Defra and the Trust at the time, that the Trust would progressively reduce reliance on Government grant funding. During this 15-year period the total value of the grant payments will be around £740 million. The Government also transferred a property portfolio, generating around £50 million per annum and now worth around £1 billion, to support their costs.
Following a comprehensive evidence-based review of the grant that included consideration of the public benefits provided by canals, and while there was no obligation to do so, the Government has agreed to provide the Trust with a further £400 million grant over ten years from 2027 to support their continued efforts towards providing public benefits and delivering a safe and resilient canal network. This is consistent with the original strategic intent for the Canal & River Trust to reduce dependence on taxpayer funding as an independent charity.
Asked by: Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the likely impact of their long-term funding settlement for the Canal & River Trust on the condition and safety of the canal network.
Answered by Lord Benyon
The Government recognises that canals provide many public benefits, including social value to people and communities. When the Canal and River Trust was set up in 2012 to replace British Waterways, the Government agreed to provide an annual grant over 15 years to provide a measure of financial stability while the Trust developed alternative income streams. This was on the clear understanding, set out in the Memorandum of Understanding signed between Defra and the Trust at the time, that the Trust would progressively reduce reliance on Government grant funding. During this 15-year period the total value of the grant payments will be around £740 million. The Government also transferred a property portfolio, generating around £50 million per annum and now worth around £1 billion, to support their costs.
Following a comprehensive evidence-based review of the grant that included consideration of the public benefits provided by canals, and while there was no obligation to do so, the Government has agreed to provide the Trust with a further £400 million grant over ten years from 2027 to support their continued efforts towards providing public benefits and delivering a safe and resilient canal network. This is consistent with the original strategic intent for the Canal & River Trust to reduce dependence on taxpayer funding as an independent charity.