Asked by: Lord Bishop of Exeter (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, what assessment they have made of the 2021 Marine Accident Investigation Branch Annual Report, published on 9 June; in particular, the finding that 10 commercial fishermen lost their lives in 2021, the highest figure in a decade; and what steps they are taking in response to improve maritime safety and reduce fatalities.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) Annual Report reflects that fishing remains the most dangerous industry in the UK. Owners and Skippers are ultimately responsible for the safety of their vessels and crew.
Following the MAIB recommendations to improve maritime safety and reduce fatalities, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) introduced the Small Fishing Vessel Code of Practice in September 2021, which sets minimum standards for vessel construction, machinery, water freeing, freeboard, and stability. Vessels are now inspected both in and out of the water and the MCA have introduced inspections to take place at random, outside of the routine inspection cycle.
In addition, Seafish and the MCA have developed the Home and Dry website and have run three safety campaigns covering: risk assessment; man overboard and vessel stability. Since 2008, the MCA has provided £3 million to enable Seafish to obtain match funding to provide free safety training. The MCA have also supported the Royal National Lifeboat Institution and Seafish in the delivery of Man Overboard Awareness events. The MCA are also developing new training and certification requirements which will extend certification for skippers of vessels from 16.5m to 7m.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Exeter (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the publication of the 2021 Marine Accident Investigation Branch Annual Report on 9 June, what steps they are taking to reduce the numbers of unsafe pilot ladders.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) is engaging with UK pilot safety stakeholders, under the UK Safety of Navigation Committee (UKSON), to look to reduce the numbers of unsafe pilot ladders. This includes discussions on pilot transfer safety.
Pilot ladder reports are logged and local Marine Surveyors must investigate and take appropriate action. They are required to look at pilot ladders during their surveys on board UK flagged vessels and during Port State Control inspections on foreign vessels, in accordance with the Paris Memorandum of Understanding.
The MCA is also liaising with, among others, the International Maritime Organization, UK maritime industry, International Association of Classification Societies and International Standards Organization to foster international collaboration and influence suitable changes and amendments to relevant conventions, regulations and standards on pilot ladder safety.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Exeter (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the finding in the report by the University of Exeter Social Mobility in the South West, published on 28 April, that “the South-West has the worst educational outcomes for disadvantaged young people in the country, and low social mobility compared with other areas”; and what steps they are taking to address these problems.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department recognises that this is a very significant issue for the South West. The report acknowledges the work we are doing in the region, and we are committed to supporting this further.
The attached ‘Table N5’ of the latest published key stage 2 outcomes for 2019 provides the data on the disadvantage gap and shows that the gap has been narrowing up until the latest year where it saw a slight upturn.
A similar trend is seen at key stage 4 where the gap was generally narrowing until the latest 2020/21 data point. More information on key stage 4 is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/key-stage-4-performance-revised#dataBlock-8a6b42aa-6090-4799-a02e-f9ad86353d33-tables.
The department also has a South West disadvantage strategy and plan, with numerous strands. The strands include:
As outlined in the Schools White Paper, we want to build capacity in the parts of the country that need this most. This is why we have identified 55 Education Investment Areas, which include the third of local authorities where attainment is lowest and where we will offer substantial additional support to drive school improvement. Our Education Investment Areas include a number of areas in the South West.
In these areas we will be supporting schools not making necessary improvements by moving them into strong trusts, subject to our ongoing consultation. We will also be investing in trust capacity, extending the Connect the Classroom programme to improve schools’ digital connectivity and offering the Levelling Up premium to eligible teachers in disadvantaged schools.
We will also make more intensive investment in a subset of Priority Education Investment Areas, where underperformance is particularly entrenched. These areas include our existing Opportunity Areas, including West Somerset. These areas will benefit from a share of around £40 million to address specific local needs, as well as advanced access to other department programmes.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Exeter (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the security pact between the People's Republic of China and the Solomon Islands.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
As set out in the Integrated Review (March 2021), the UK is committed to and strategically focussed on the Indo-Pacific region. As a longstanding partner and friend, the UK works to support peace and prosperity for the people of Solomon Islands and across the Pacific region. Our recent deployment of a UK Emergency Medical Team demonstrates our commitment to Solomon Islands.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Exeter (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the People's Republic of China's involvement in Papua New Guinea.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
As set out in the Integrated Review (March 2021), the UK is committed to and strategically focussed on the Indo-Pacific region. The UK and Papua New Guinea (PNG) have shared priorities including protecting the environment, security, stability, economic development and tackling climate change. Following PNG's request for assistance, the UK sent an Emergency Medical Team in October 2021, which provided clinical care support to PNG's healthcare workers.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Exeter (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the government of Australia to ensure an integrated response to the growing influence of the People's Republic of China in the South Pacific.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
As set out in the Integrated Review (March 2021), the UK is committed to and strategically focussed on the Indo-Pacific region. The UK's close partnership with Australia is an important part of this Indo-Pacific focus. As champions of freedom and democracy, the UK and Australia work together to defend our values, in line with the UK's commitment to build a 'network of liberty'. The Foreign Secretary and Defence Secretary visited Australia in January 2022 for talks to strengthen economic, diplomatic and security ties. UK officials also regularly meet their Australian counterparts to discuss a wide range of topics, including supporting the development needs of countries in the Pacific.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Exeter (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made, if any, of the UK’s naval capability in supporting British Crown Dependencies and British Overseas Territories in the South Pacific.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Government is committed to defending the British Crown Dependencies and British Overseas Territories, in line with our constitutional responsibilities. The Pitcairn Islands are the sole UK Overseas Territory in the Pacific. The Ministry of Defence maintains high-readiness maritime, land and air assets to deter and respond to threats globally, including the appropriate naval capability to support the British Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories. HMS Spey recently visited Pitcairn Island where it delivered COVID-19 vaccines and patrolled the Exclusive Economic Zone.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Exeter (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on the dairy sector in England.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Global gas prices have a major impact on agricultural commodities. We are very aware of the significant turbulence in international commodity markets following Russian's invasion of Ukraine and are closely monitoring the market situation.
The Government does not underestimate the level of pressure that our dairy farmers are facing. While substantial increases in farmgate milk prices paid by milk purchasers are helping dairy farmers to offset increased input costs and to maintain production, we are aware that input cost pressures are leading to a period of significant uncertainty and adjustment across the sector.
The Government has recently announced steps to assist farmers with the availability of fertilisers for the coming growing season to help address uncertainty amongst growers and keep costs down for farmers. These include delays to changes to the use of urea; revised and improved statutory guidance on the use of slurry; and the publication of further details of the Sustainable Farming Incentive. The Government has announced that it will pay farmers to help with the costs of sowing nitrogen fixing plants and green manures to reduce dependence on manufactured fertilisers, and that farmers will be further supported through new slurry storage grants.
On 31 March, Minister Prentis hosted the first meeting of the Fertiliser Roundtable with key industry bodies to discuss potential mitigations to the challenges which global supply pressures are causing. Ministers will continue to meet with key industry bodies for further fertiliser round-table sessions in the coming months, to help identify and mitigate potential risks
We are working closely with the industry to identify where mitigations are available to the challenges they face. We continue to keep the market situation under review through the UK Agriculture Market Monitoring Group, which monitors UK agricultural markets including price, supply, inputs, trade and recent developments. We have also increased our engagement with industry to supplement our analysis with real time intelligence.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Exeter (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made on the impact of supply chain inflation on the English dairy sector’s productive capacity.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The supply chain inflation seen in the dairy sector in recent months, driven significantly by increased global gas prices, Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the consequential increase in costs for feed, fuel and fertilisers has created challenges across our dairy and wider food and farming sectors.
It is too early to understand the impact of increased input costs on the longer-term productive capacity of the dairy sector. While farmers have recently seen a substantial increase in the farm gate milk price that they receive, helping them to offset their increased input costs and to maintain production, we are aware that input cost pressures are leading to a period of significant uncertainty and adjustment across the sector.
The sector operates in an open market and the value of dairy commodities, including the farm gate milk price, is established by those in the supply chain - including farmers, processors, wholesalers, retailers and consumers. Defra will continue to work closely with industry to monitor and understand evolving market developments, including dairy production trends.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Exeter (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of new environmental regulations, such as the Clean Air Strategy and Farming Rules for Water, on the future of the dairy sector in England.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Defra develops regulations with the involvement of stakeholders from the affected industry.
Before the Farming Rules for Water were introduced in 2018, an impact assessment was produced and a consultation conducted to ensure the effect of the regulations on specific farming sectors, including dairy, were taken into account. The assessment concluded that overall, and for the dairy sector specifically, the benefits of actions required under the rules outweigh the associated costs.
Defra has recently produced statutory guidance for the Environment Agency on how aspects of the Farming Rules for Water should be applied over the coming years. This guidance was developed in line with the original impact assessment. Representatives of the farming industry, including dairy farmer groups, were closely engaged in development of the guidance to ensure that the analysis of impacts on farming sectors was robust.
Full impact assessments will also be published alongside all regulatory policies to implement the Clean Air Strategy when they are introduced.