Asked by: Alister Jack (Conservative - Dumfries and Galloway)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions officials of his Department have had with officials from the Scottish Government on UK common agricultural frameworks after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by George Eustice
Ministers and officials are in regular discussion with their Scottish counterparts on future agriculture policy after the UK leaves the EU. Meetings were held over the summer between Defra and Scottish Government officials, along with their counterparts from Wales and Northern Ireland, on UK common agricultural frameworks. Further discussions have taken place on 14 and 15 November.
The Secretary of State met Fergus Ewing, the Scottish Cabinet Secretary for Rural Economy and Connectivity, on 6 November to discuss future agricultural policy, along with Lesley Griffiths, the Welsh Cabinet Secretary for Energy, Planning and Rural Affairs and Noel Lavery, the Permanent Secretary in the Department for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) in Northern Ireland.
The Government is committed to delivering an approach that works for the whole of the UK and reflects the needs and individual circumstances of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Alister Jack (Conservative - Dumfries and Galloway)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with his counterparts in the Scottish Government on designing a new agricultural subsidy system for Scotland after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by George Eustice
Ministers and officials are in regular discussion with their Scottish counterparts on future agriculture policy after the UK leaves the EU. Meetings were held over the summer between Defra and Scottish Government officials, along with their counterparts from Wales and Northern Ireland, on UK common agricultural frameworks. Further discussions have taken place on 14 and 15 November.
The Secretary of State met Fergus Ewing, the Scottish Cabinet Secretary for Rural Economy and Connectivity, on 6 November to discuss future agricultural policy, along with Lesley Griffiths, the Welsh Cabinet Secretary for Energy, Planning and Rural Affairs and Noel Lavery, the Permanent Secretary in the Department for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) in Northern Ireland.
The Government is committed to delivering an approach that works for the whole of the UK and reflects the needs and individual circumstances of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Alister Jack (Conservative - Dumfries and Galloway)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with his counterparts in the Irish Government on tackling the smuggling of puppies from the Republic of Ireland into the UK.
Answered by George Eustice
The UK Chief Veterinary Officer (CVO) has regular meetings with the Ireland CVO which cover a range animal health and welfare issues. At their most recent meeting on 25 July 2017 they discussed operations to tackle the smuggling of puppies into the United Kingdom from the Republic of Ireland and elsewhere.
Asked by: Alister Jack (Conservative - Dumfries and Galloway)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Home Secretary on a new migration system which will allow farmers to employ seasonal workers from other countries.
Answered by George Eustice
Defra Ministers have ongoing discussions with a range of government departments, including the Home Office, about securing the workforce that the farming industry needs for the future.
The Government has commissioned the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) to better understand the reliance on EU migrant workers across the economy and to consider the UK’s labour market needs.
The Home Office leads on immigration, and we are working with them to ensure that the specific needs of food and farming industry are considered in our future immigration system. We will look to develop a system which works for the whole United Kingdom.
Asked by: Alister Jack (Conservative - Dumfries and Galloway)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effect of the UK leaving the EU on the supply of labour to the agriculture sector.
Answered by George Eustice
We gather industry intelligence and analyse data to ensure that we understand the labour supply and demand in agriculture, and the effect of leaving the EU on this sector.
The Government also commissioned the independent Migration Advisory Committee to assess the role that EU citizens play in the UK economy and society, including the agriculture sector.
Defra is working closely with the Home Office which leads on immigration as we work towards developing a new immigration system following our departure from the EU.
Asked by: Alister Jack (Conservative - Dumfries and Galloway)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate has been made of the quantity of livestock transported through the port of Cairnryan.
Answered by George Eustice
The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) does not hold data on all consignments and quantities of livestock transported through the port of Cairnryan.
APHA only holds data for export consignments where a Journey Log was required that listed Cairnryan as the exit port from Great Britain.
During 2017, 183 Journey Logs have been received by APHA listing Cairnryan as the exit port from Great Britain. 10,128 animals were exported in the 183 export consignments.
Asked by: Alister Jack (Conservative - Dumfries and Galloway)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress has been made on providing an affordable insurance scheme for businesses affected by flooding.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
The British Insurance Broker Association (BIBA) insurance product, launched in December 2016, provides flood insurance for many small businesses that have struggled to access it to-date. We understand that this new product is already providing insurance and has strong support from brokers. BIBA’s ‘Find a Broker Service’ can help business identify local brokers participating in the BIBA scheme and is accessible through BIBA's website, at: https://www.biba.org.uk/find-insurance/results/?insurance=908
The Government continues to work with commercial interests under the Property Level Resilience Roundtable to promote the uptake of measures that make properties resilient to flooding. These are measures that prevent water entering a property and speeding recovery when it does. One objective is to develop better standards and certification, enabling insurers to take greater account of resilience measures in the future.