Asked by: Craig Whittaker (Conservative - Calder Valley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make a comparative assessment of the survival of heather on moorland where grouse shooting (a) does and (b) does not take place.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
The Government is not currently considering conducting any such assessment
The land management of heather dominated habitats has been extensively studied. We do not believe there is a need for further Government funded research at this stage.
Asked by: Craig Whittaker (Conservative - Calder Valley)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to improve communications on power failures on the low voltage network in the upland and wooded areas of the country with people living in those areas.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department is leading a review following Storm Arwen in 2021 into electricity network resilience during storm events. This includes identification of improvements to customer communications across Great Britain. Final recommendations will be published by the end of May.
Asked by: Craig Whittaker (Conservative - Calder Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the outcome of the forthcoming consultation on the products in scope for the restrictions on the advertising of less healthy food and drink will also determine the products in scope for the restrictions on the promotion of unhealthy food and drink.
Answered by Maggie Throup
The product categories in scope of the restrictions on less healthy food and drink advertising have been outlined in the Government’s consultation response published in June 2021. The upcoming consultation will focus on the clarity of the definitions included in the draft regulations and will be published shortly. The outcome of this consultation will not apply to the restrictions on the promotions of less healthy food and drink.
The products in scope of the promotions restrictions were determined following a public consultation. These regulations will require medium and large businesses, including those with 50 or more employees, to restrict promotions on less healthy food and drink by volume price, such as ‘buy one get one free’ or ‘3 for 2’ offers and in key locations, such as checkouts, store entrances, aisle ends and online equivalents. The restrictions will come into force in October 2022
Asked by: Craig Whittaker (Conservative - Calder Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when his Department plans to launch its consultation on the products in scope for the upcoming restrictions on the advertising of less healthy food and drink.
Answered by Maggie Throup
The product categories in scope of the restrictions on less healthy food and drink advertising have been outlined in the Government’s consultation response published in June 2021. The upcoming consultation will focus on the clarity of the definitions included in the draft regulations and will be published shortly. The outcome of this consultation will not apply to the restrictions on the promotions of less healthy food and drink.
The products in scope of the promotions restrictions were determined following a public consultation. These regulations will require medium and large businesses, including those with 50 or more employees, to restrict promotions on less healthy food and drink by volume price, such as ‘buy one get one free’ or ‘3 for 2’ offers and in key locations, such as checkouts, store entrances, aisle ends and online equivalents. The restrictions will come into force in October 2022
Asked by: Craig Whittaker (Conservative - Calder Valley)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when he plans to bring forward legislation to enable a financing mechanism for new nuclear power stations.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
As we stated in our response to the consultation on a Regulated Asset Base (RAB) for nuclear published on 14th December 2020, we believe that a RAB remains a credible model for funding nuclear projects, as it should reduce the cost of finance and thereby reduce consumer bills. The Government is considering the model in detail and recognises the need for legislation to implement.
Asked by: Craig Whittaker (Conservative - Calder Valley)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if the Government will take steps to ensure that potential proposed amendments to the Gambling Act in response to the Gambling Review do not adversely affect charity lotteries.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The Review of the Gambling Act 2005 was launched on 8 December with a wide-ranging Call for Evidence, which closed on 31 March. We received c.16,000 submissions to the Call for Evidence from a range of stakeholders and members of the public. We are considering all submissions carefully, including evidence relating to society or charity lotteries, and aim to publish a white paper outlining any conclusions and proposals for reform by the end of the year.
Asked by: Craig Whittaker (Conservative - Calder Valley)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether the Law Commission is reviewing non-religious belief marriage as part of their review of marriage; and if he will use the powers that are available to him to legalise non-religious marriage ceremonies to help clear the backlog created by the covid-19 outbreak without waiting for that review to report.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
The Law Commission report due later this year is expected to present options for wholesale reform to the law governing marriage ceremonies, which the Government will consider carefully. Options being explored by the Law Commission include offering couples greater flexibility to form their own ceremonies, allowing the ceremony to take place in a much broader range of locations and to provide a framework that could allow non-religious belief organisations (such as Humanists) and/or independent celebrants to conduct legally binding weddings.
The Government will decide on provision for non-religious belief marriage in the light of the Law Commission's recommendations and it is right for us to await these recommendations.
Delivery of registration services falls to local authorities who continue to manage the demand for civil marriage within their respective geographical areas during recovery from the pandemic.
Asked by: Craig Whittaker (Conservative - Calder Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has carried out a cost-benefit analysis of Nutriscore on its viability as the UK’s preferred front-of-pack nutrition labelling scheme.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We are considering the responses to the United Kingdom-wide public consultation on our current front-of-pack nutrition labelling scheme including views and evidence on new international examples, specifically the Nutri-score label and Chile’s warning label. We chose to consider the Nutri-score and Chile’s warning label because they differ significantly from the UK’s multiple traffic light scheme and have evidence of the impact on public health in non-UK markets.
The consultation included a technical annex which provides a provisional commentary on the costs and benefits on the suggestions included in the consultation. We will publish a consultation response as soon as possible. If changes to the scheme are required, we will consult again on proposed policy changes and publish a full impact assessment.
Research was commissioned alongside the consultation to test which front-of-pack nutrition labelling scheme supports people in Great Britain to identify healthier choices. This research tested the Government-recommended multiple traffic light, Nutri-score, Chile’s warning and Positive Choice Tick labels with a British population. The preliminary study was published 10 March 2021 and is available at the following link:
https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/13/3/900
Asked by: Craig Whittaker (Conservative - Calder Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the effectiveness of non-UK market use of Nutriscore as a front-of-pack nutrition labelling scheme.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We are considering the responses to the United Kingdom-wide public consultation on our current front-of-pack nutrition labelling scheme including views and evidence on new international examples, specifically the Nutri-score label and Chile’s warning label. We chose to consider the Nutri-score and Chile’s warning label because they differ significantly from the UK’s multiple traffic light scheme and have evidence of the impact on public health in non-UK markets.
The consultation included a technical annex which provides a provisional commentary on the costs and benefits on the suggestions included in the consultation. We will publish a consultation response as soon as possible. If changes to the scheme are required, we will consult again on proposed policy changes and publish a full impact assessment.
Research was commissioned alongside the consultation to test which front-of-pack nutrition labelling scheme supports people in Great Britain to identify healthier choices. This research tested the Government-recommended multiple traffic light, Nutri-score, Chile’s warning and Positive Choice Tick labels with a British population. The preliminary study was published 10 March 2021 and is available at the following link:
https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/13/3/900
Asked by: Craig Whittaker (Conservative - Calder Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of nutritional and consumer response evidence on the viability of Nutriscore as the UK’s preferred front-of-pack nutrition labelling.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We are considering the responses to the United Kingdom-wide public consultation on our current front-of-pack nutrition labelling scheme including views and evidence on new international examples, specifically the Nutri-score label and Chile’s warning label. We chose to consider the Nutri-score and Chile’s warning label because they differ significantly from the UK’s multiple traffic light scheme and have evidence of the impact on public health in non-UK markets.
The consultation included a technical annex which provides a provisional commentary on the costs and benefits on the suggestions included in the consultation. We will publish a consultation response as soon as possible. If changes to the scheme are required, we will consult again on proposed policy changes and publish a full impact assessment.
Research was commissioned alongside the consultation to test which front-of-pack nutrition labelling scheme supports people in Great Britain to identify healthier choices. This research tested the Government-recommended multiple traffic light, Nutri-score, Chile’s warning and Positive Choice Tick labels with a British population. The preliminary study was published 10 March 2021 and is available at the following link:
https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/13/3/900