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These initiatives were driven by Lord Burnett, and are more likely to reflect personal policy preferences.
Lord Burnett has not introduced any legislation before Parliament
Lord Burnett has not co-sponsored any Bills in the current parliamentary sitting
We continue to work closely with the pig industry to help them respond to challenges caused by the pandemic, including the loss of exports to the Chinese market for certain pig processors, disruption to CO2 supplies, and a temporary shortage of labour in the processing sector. This has led to a growing backlog of pigs on farms.
We have provided a package of measures to help address these unique circumstances, aimed at reducing the backlog of pigs on farms. The package includes temporary work visas for pork butchers, and Private Storage Aid and Slaughter Incentive Payment schemes to facilitate an increase in the throughput of pigs through abattoirs. We are also launching a UK-wide review of supply chain fairness in the pig sector. We will be engaging with industry on this with a consultation expected later this year.
Minister Prentis has chaired two Roundtables – on 10 February and 3 March - with representatives of the pig sector from across the UK. Following this, Minister Prentis also met with representatives of the agricultural banking sector to discuss the current situation in the pig sector. The banks confirmed that they are working closely with impacted pig farmers during this exceptionally challenging period and remain keen to be supportive.
The support provided to pig producers by the Scottish Government and Northern Ireland Executive is to address very specific circumstances their pig producers have encountered. While we work closely with the Devolved Administrations, agriculture is a devolved policy and responsibility for the setting up of agricultural support schemes in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is the responsibility of the respective administrations.
A generous settlement of over £24 billion has allowed Defence to invest in amongst other things the delivery of the Future Commando Force and we will be spending in excess of an additional £200 million over ten years to support this. Other elements of the Royal Navy's programme, such as the future landing craft project, are funded to over £50 million. The wider ship building pipeline will also support the UK's Commando Forces.
On 25th February, the Minister for Courts confirmed the government’s intention to consult this spring on a change to the mandatory retirement age for all judicial office holders. Any change to the mandatory retirement age would require primary legislation.