Asked by: Lord Watson of Wyre Forest (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what meetings (1) ministers, and (2) senior officials, at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs have had with the Unit for Future Skills.
Answered by Lord Benyon
There have been no ministerial level meetings to date, but the Unit for Future Skills (UFS) has met Defra officials at a working level. The UFS also recently joined Government’s Green Jobs Delivery Group and will look to support this group to access data and insights on skills needs across green sectors.
Asked by: Lord Watson of Wyre Forest (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what skills gaps they have identified in the UK horticulture sector.
Answered by Lord Benyon
Whilst no specific assessment has been made of the horticulture sector’s skills gaps; enabling an innovative, productive and competitive food and farming industry which invests in its people and skills to drive growth is a key priority for the Government. Attracting bright new talent that is diverse and inclusive into agricultural and horticultural careers and having a skilled workforce in place is vital for the future of UK food and farming. By raising awareness of agriculture and horticulture as an exciting and attractive career path, people will understand the opportunities available to them in the farming and land management industry.
An Independent Review of Labour Shortages in the Food Supply Chain began in September. The review will focus on farming, processing, and food and drink manufacturing as sectors that are critical for food production and food security. Skills in the food supply chain is a critical area that will be covered in the final report. The final report will be published by summer 2023 and the Government response will follow thereafter.
The Government is contributing towards the establishment of a new professional body for the farming industry; The Institute for Agriculture and Horticulture (TIAH). TIAH is aimed at removing the fragmentation that exists within current learning and skills landscape for farming businesses, enabling the industry to drive greater uptake of skills, creating clear career development pathways and promoting the sector as a progressive, professional and attractive career choice. TIAH has launched a pilot to help develop its services ahead of a general launch to wider membership.
The Government is also reforming post-16 technical education to provide clearer routes into skilled employment in agriculture and other sectors. A key part of this is the introduction of the new Technical Level programmes (T-levels) which include pathways in agriculture, environmental and animal health and care. Alongside apprenticeships this provides more opportunities and pathways for young people looking for careers in agriculture and horticulture.
Alongside training opportunities, TIAH will also provide information about apprenticeships. There are currently 40 high-quality apprenticeship standards available in the agriculture, environmental and animal care sector including Horticulture and landscaping technical manager.
Asked by: Lord Watson of Wyre Forest (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will publish the statistics his Department holds on air quality in Wednesbury in the borough of Sandwell.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
Statistics from national air quality monitoring networks are published on the UK-AIR website. The national network for the main set of air pollutants is the Automatic Urban and Rural Network (AURN), which meets the requirements of the Ambient Air Quality Directive (2008/50/EC).
Hourly measurements from this network are published within two hours of measurement on the UK-AIR website; various data extraction and analysis tools are also available. The URL for the data section of the UK-AIR website is here:
https://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/data/
There is currently one AURN monitoring site in the borough of Sandwell: West Bromwich Kenrick Park. Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council also carry out air quality monitoring activity, and publish annual reports on their website containing statistics from their monitoring sites.
Asked by: Lord Watson of Wyre Forest (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has reviewed the effectiveness of the German Federal Immission Control Act; and whether he has any plans to implement similar such legislation in the UK.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
No, the Government has not reviewed the effectiveness of the German Federal Immission Control Act. The UK introduced a similar integrated approach to controlling pollution to air, water and land with the Environmental Protection Act 1990, as well as the concept of Best Available Techniques. These approaches have subsequently been adopted and applied across the EU through the Industrial Emissions Directive, which sets challenging industry standards for the most polluting industries.
Asked by: Lord Watson of Wyre Forest (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, for what reasons the Government's command paper, Health and Harmony: the future for food, farming and the environment in a Green Brexit, Cm. 9577, published on 27 February 2018, does not reference the role of agricultural policy in supporting public health and tackling diet-related disease.
Answered by George Eustice
The food we eat affects our health and well-being and our connectedness to the world around us. In our consultation we recognise that leaving the EU will allow us to design a future agriculture policy which promotes environmental enhancement, supports profitable food production and contributes to a healthier society.
In the consultation paper we propose a range of ideas to increase productivity, exploit new technology and research and improve animal health and welfare - all of which support better environmental and public health outcomes.
Asked by: Lord Watson of Wyre Forest (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, for what reasons the Government's command paper, Health and Harmony: the future for food, farming and the environment in a Green Brexit, Cm. 9577, published on 27 February 2018, does not reference the role of agricultural policy in supporting public health and tackling diet-related disease.
Answered by George Eustice
The food we eat affects our health and well-being and our connectedness to the world around us. In our consultation we recognise that leaving the EU will allow us to design a future agriculture policy which promotes environmental enhancement, supports profitable food production and contributes to a healthier society.
In the consultation paper we propose a range of ideas to increase productivity, exploit new technology and research and improve animal health and welfare - all of which support better environmental and public health outcomes.
Asked by: Lord Watson of Wyre Forest (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what penalties there are for (a) supplying and (b) serving illegally caught sea bass.
Answered by George Eustice
Any commercial buyers that source fish directly from the fishing industry must be registered, comply with the obligation to submit to the UK authorities a sales note, identifying the specific vessel that caught the fish, and must comply with ongoing requirements on traceability. Failure to comply with these obligations constitutes as a criminal offence that includes an unlimited fine.
Asked by: Lord Watson of Wyre Forest (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the value is of duplicate supplier payments identified by her Department since 2010; and what proportion of such payments have since been recovered in each of the last two financial years.
Answered by Dan Rogerson
Core Defra has controls in place to prevent duplicate payments being made to suppliers. These include careful checking of each invoice against evidence of delivery and against any previous payments in respect of the relevant purchase order. External and internal audit reviews of key financial controls have found no evidence of weakness that would lead to duplicate payments. There are also regular reviews of expenditure against budgets which would quickly bring to light unexpected payments and would lead to immediate action for recovery.
Core Defra is carrying out a Spend Recovery Audit, as part of a Cabinet Office initiative on fraud and error which we expect to conclude by Autumn 2014.
Asked by: Lord Watson of Wyre Forest (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 20 March 2014, Official Report, column 697W, on unmanned air vehicles, if he will place in the Library a copy of the guidance note issued to his Department's network staff on data protection aspects of unmanned air vehicles.
Answered by Dan Rogerson
I will place a copy of the guidance in the Library.