Antoinette Sandbach

The most recent OECD data shows that the UK spent at least as much per pupil on state school education as any other G7 nation, apart from the United States.

During the last five years (since 8 November 2011), Natural England has notified 21 wholly new sites of special scientific interest (SSSI) under section 28 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. In that time, Natural England has also notified six new areas of land as extensions to existing SSSIs under sections 28B and 28C of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. The 27 sites are listed below.

The Plan for Public Procurement of Food was launched by the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs with the support of the Prime Minister in July 2014. The Plan seeks to improve the quality of the food served in public establishments through the use of a procurement toolkit which includes a balanced scorecard to assess the value of food and catering contracts. The balanced scorecard rewards businesses which offer high quality, locally sourced and seasonal produce.

Defra has worked closely with the Department for Education sponsored School Food Plan and has commissioned pilots of the balanced scorecard approach with schools taking part in the London Food Board Flagship Food Boroughs initiative. These pilots will build on the very firm foundation laid by the School Food Plan.

Following advice from Public Health England on the need to prioritise available stocks for humans, the Government has taken the decision to suspend attempts to source BCG vaccine for the Badger Edge Vaccination Scheme and other private badger vaccination deployment projects in England until the supply situation is resolved. This follows the decision of the Welsh Government to do the same. Our long-term research to develop an oral TB vaccine for badgers and an effective TB vaccine for cattle is not expected to be affected by the current supply issue.

The Government is continuing to take strong action to deliver a long-term plan to eradicate the disease and protect the future of the UK’s dairy and beef industries. The comprehensive strategy includes strengthening cattle testing and movement controls, improving biosecurity on farm and when trading, and badger control in areas where TB is rife. Bovine TB policy is a devolved matter but my department liaises closely with the Welsh Government on matters of common interest, including the impact of the current hiatus in badger vaccination in both England and Wales.

The latest forecast of Farm Business Incomes for 2015-16 indicates that average incomes are expected to fall on dairy farms to £46,500. This reflects the impact of lower milk prices which started to fall in March 2014. It is important to note the wide variation in milk prices with some farmers receiving considerably more or less than the average. Reductions in milk price have been offset slightly by increased milk production together with reduced input costs, particularly feed.

We understand the pressures facing dairy farmers and have taken action to ease their cash flow problems. The £26.2 million aid package we secured for the UK from the European Commission and paid out in November and December provided some relief to hard-pressed farmers.

The GCA is responsible for enforcing the Groceries Supply Code of Practice and was formed by the Groceries Code Adjudicator Act 2013. The Code governs the commercial relationships between the ten largest UK supermarkets and their direct suppliers, and reflects the findings of the Competition Commission’s market investigation into the supermarket sector conducted between 2006 and 2008. The Code does not cover the relationship between milk processors, such as Meadow Foods, and its farmers.

I have written to Meadow Foods to ask how it manages its relationship with farmers and to encourage it to sign up to the dairy industry code of best practice on contractual arrangements.

Since July 2016 - The Department for Exiting the European Union has organised over 850 recorded engagements with business and civil society stakeholders from every sector of the British economy since July 2016, and DExEU Ministers have attended over 120 roundtable meetings on a wide range of topics.

Regular forums have been held with over 70 intermediaries, trade associations and business organisations.

These engagements have informed all aspects of our exit from the European Union, including the Withdrawal Agreement, and provisions of the Withdrawal Agreement Bill.

No. The EU (Withdrawal Agreement) Bill will only implement the Withdrawal Agreement. However the Bill will only be introduced following Parliament’s approval of the final deal covering both the withdrawal arrangements and the framework for the future relationship.

As the Prime Minister made clear in her Florence speech last year, the EU is not “legally able to conclude an agreement with the UK as an external partner while it is itself still part of the European Union”. Therefore, the Government will introduce further separate legislation where it is needed to implement the future relationship into UK law, ensuring Parliament is fully involved.

We are complying with the motion of the Humble Address of 31st January to share this analysis with the Exiting the EU Select Committee and all members on a confidential basis. This document contains provisional internal analysis, as part of a broad ongoing programme of analysis. As Ministers clearly set out in the House, this analysis does not represent Government policy.

The work is a cross-Whitehall exercise. It has not been led by any single Department. The pack has only recently started to be shown to Ministers on the European Union Exit and Trade (Strategy and Negotiations) sub-Committee in order to get their input and feedback on how this analysis can be improved.

It is not standard practice to provide an running commentary on internal analytical work that is being carried out within government.

We are complying with the motion of the Humble Address of 31st January to share this analysis with the Exiting the EU Select Committee and all members on a confidential basis. This document contains provisional internal analysis, as part of a broad ongoing programme of analysis. As Ministers clearly set out in the House, this analysis does not represent Government policy.

The work is a cross-Whitehall exercise. It has not been led by any single Department. The pack has only recently started to be shown to Ministers on the European Union Exit and Trade (Strategy and Negotiations) sub-Committee in order to get their input and feedback on how this analysis can be improved.

It is not standard practice to provide an running commentary on internal analytical work that is being carried out within government.

We are complying with the motion of the Humble Address of 31st January to share this analysis with the Exiting the EU Select Committee and all members on a confidential basis. This document contains provisional internal analysis, as part of a broad ongoing programme of analysis. As Ministers clearly set out in the House, this analysis does not represent Government policy.

The work is a cross-Whitehall exercise. It has not been led by any single Department. The pack has only recently started to be shown to Ministers on the European Union Exit and Trade (Strategy and Negotiations) sub-Committee in order to get their input and feedback on how this analysis can be improved.

It is not standard practice to provide an running commentary on internal analytical work that is being carried out within government.