Asked by: Alyn Smith (Scottish National Party - Stirling)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of introducing Not for EU labelling on trends in consumer behaviour in the purchase of agricultural products from UK-based businesses.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Labelling is a proportionate and necessary means of ensuring goods moving under the unique arrangements provided by the Windsor Framework are not being moved inappropriately into the EU.
We are not aware of any change in consumer behaviour based on the labelling requirements in place so far, which already sees those labels on products on shelves across the UK in practice. That reflects that the ‘not-for-EU’ label does not represent a change in standards of production and quality and is simply a means of ensuring the smooth movement of goods within the UK.
Asked by: Alyn Smith (Scottish National Party - Stirling)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the impact of introducing Not for EU labelling on agricultural businesses.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Since the Windsor Framework was agreed, we have engaged intensively with businesses across the supply chain, including with agricultural businesses to understand their perspectives. We have published guidance on the labelling requirements to support businesses to understand any changes that may be required.
We have undertaken a public consultation on the extension of the labelling requirement across Great Britain. This provided the opportunity for stakeholders, including agricultural businesses, to put forward their views on the approach. We will be publishing a response to the consultation in due course.
Asked by: Alyn Smith (Scottish National Party - Stirling)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress her Department has made in implementing the objectives of the International Education Strategy to increase the (a) value of education exports and (b) number of international higher education students studying in the UK.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
The International Education Strategy (IES) is a UK wide strategy which commits to growing the value of education exports. An update to the department’s IES was published on 26 May 2023. This is the third annual progress update to the original 2019 IES. A link to the 2023 update can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/international-education-strategy-2023-update.
The UK has met the IES international student ambition of 600 thousand per year by 2030 for two years running in both 2020/21 and 2021/22. The department is on track and will continue working towards the IES education export ambition of £35 billion per year by 2030 with £27.9 billion revenue in 2021. Data used to track progress against these two ambitions is published annually.
As the International Education Champion, Professor Sir Steve Smith continues to promote UK education export growth and supports ministers to engage in strategic discussions on progress on implementing the strategy with the education sector.
Asked by: Alyn Smith (Scottish National Party - Stirling)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to (a) promote and (b) protect education exports.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
The International Education Strategy (IES) is a UK wide strategy which commits to growing the value of education exports. An update to the department’s IES was published on 26 May 2023. This is the third annual progress update to the original 2019 IES. A link to the 2023 update can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/international-education-strategy-2023-update.
The UK has met the IES international student ambition of 600 thousand per year by 2030 for two years running in both 2020/21 and 2021/22. The department is on track and will continue working towards the IES education export ambition of £35 billion per year by 2030 with £27.9 billion revenue in 2021. Data used to track progress against these two ambitions is published annually.
As the International Education Champion, Professor Sir Steve Smith continues to promote UK education export growth and supports ministers to engage in strategic discussions on progress on implementing the strategy with the education sector.
Asked by: Alyn Smith (Scottish National Party - Stirling)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that (a) the UK visa system and (b) Government discourse on migration encourage international students to choose (i) Scotland and (ii) the UK as their study destination.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Our offer to international students is extremely competitive, attracting the brightest and best talent the world has to offer, and welcoming people who will contribute to the UK’s excellent academic reputation and help keep our universities competitive on the world stage. The Government appreciates the significant academic, economic and cultural contribution international students make to the UK’s society as a whole.
Asked by: Alyn Smith (Scottish National Party - Stirling)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to improve food labelling so that (a) consumers are effectively informed on which products have been produced (i) locally and (ii) in the UK and (b) local products are not undercut by external competition which is not produced to the same standard.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Country of origin information is required for fresh and frozen meat derived from beef cattle, sheep, goat, pigs and poultry, as well as uncut fresh fruit and vegetables, honey, olive oil, wine and some fish products. It is also required for all prepacked food where its omission would be misleading to consumers. In any case, where an indication of origin or provenance is given, either in words or pictures, this must be accurate. Buying food locally and supporting their local food economy is important to many consumers and where any label indicates that a food is produced locally, this must not be misleading to a consumer.
As recently announced by the Secretary of State, we will soon be launching a consultation on clearer food labelling. This will explore how we can better highlight imports that do not meet UK welfare standards. The consultation will also seek evidence and views on how origin information could be improved for consumers.
Asked by: Alyn Smith (Scottish National Party - Stirling)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of participating in the EU’s Arctic Command and Control Effector and Sensor System Permanent Structured Cooperation project.
Answered by James Heappey
Our priority is to finalise entry into the PESCO Military Mobility project before considering involvement in other projects. However we continue to assess that the EU's existing 'third country' terms of participation for PESCO projects, involving capability development or procurement, place significant restraints on UK involvement in other PESCO projects.
We continue to constructively engage with the EU to ensure its initiatives are complementary to NATO and supportive of meaningful third country participation.
Asked by: Alyn Smith (Scottish National Party - Stirling)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of participating in the EU’s CBRN Defence Training Range Permanent Structured Cooperation project.
Answered by James Heappey
Our priority is to finalise entry into the PESCO Military Mobility project before considering involvement in other projects. However we continue to assess that the EU's existing 'third country' terms of participation for PESCO projects, involving capability development or procurement, place significant restraints on UK involvement in other PESCO projects.
We continue to constructively engage with the EU to ensure its initiatives are complementary to NATO and supportive of meaningful third country participation.
Asked by: Alyn Smith (Scottish National Party - Stirling)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of participating in the EU’s Air Power Permanent Structured Cooperation project.
Answered by James Heappey
Our priority is to finalise entry into the PESCO Military Mobility project before considering involvement in other projects. However we continue to assess that the EU's existing 'third country' terms of participation for PESCO projects, involving capability development or procurement, place significant restraints on UK involvement in other PESCO projects.
We continue to constructively engage with the EU to ensure its initiatives are complementary to NATO and supportive of meaningful third country participation.
Asked by: Alyn Smith (Scottish National Party - Stirling)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of participating in the EU’s Automated Modelling, Identification and Damage Assessment of Urban Terrain Permanent Structured Cooperation project.
Answered by James Heappey
Our priority is to finalise entry into the PESCO Military Mobility project before considering involvement in other projects. However we continue to assess that the EU's existing 'third country' terms of participation for PESCO projects, involving capability development or procurement, place significant restraints on UK involvement in other PESCO projects.
We continue to constructively engage with the EU to ensure its initiatives are complementary to NATO and supportive of meaningful third country participation.