Asked by: David Simpson (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps is his Department taking to ensure that butchery skills are included as a classification in the Government's immigration framework after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by George Eustice
Defra is working closely with the Home Office to ensure that the food and farming sector, including meat processing, has access to the workforce it needs, as part of the future immigration policy.
After we leave the EU, we must have an immigration system which works in the best interests of the UK; controlling immigration whilst continuing to welcome those who make a contribution.
A White Paper on the future border and immigration system is expected to be published in the autumn.
Asked by: David Simpson (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
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 ensure that the meat sector is able to recruit adequate levels of labour after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by George Eustice
Defra is working closely with the Home Office to ensure that the food and farming sector, including meat processing, has access to the workforce it needs, as part of the future immigration policy.
After we leave the EU, we must have an immigration system which works in the best interests of the UK; controlling immigration whilst continuing to welcome those who make a contribution.
A White Paper on the future border and immigration system is expected to be published in the autumn.
Asked by: David Simpson (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
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 ensure the maintenance of the UK’s (a) meat processing sector and (b) other agriculture industries in the Government's immigration policies after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by George Eustice
Defra is working closely with the Home Office to ensure that the food and farming sector, including meat processing, has access to the workforce it needs, as part of the future immigration policy.
After we leave the EU, we must have an immigration system which works in the best interests of the UK; controlling immigration whilst continuing to welcome those who make a contribution.
A White Paper on the future border and immigration system is expected to be published in the autumn.
Asked by: David Simpson (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to support agricultural industries in the training of domestic workers after the UK leaves the EU; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by George Eustice
Enabling an innovative, productive and competitive farming sector which invests in its people and skills is a priority for this Government.
Agricultural technologies are transforming farming and creating new types of jobs and requirements for new kinds of skills. The Government is working with industry and the Food and Drink Sector Council to develop a long term action plan for a world class workforce for all sectors of the food chain, including agriculture. The target is to transform the skills agenda and raise awareness of agriculture as an exciting and attractive career path.
The Government is also reforming post-16 technical education to provide clear routes to skilled employment in agriculture and other sectors. A key part of this is the introduction of new T levels programmes which will sit alongside apprenticeships, including for agriculture, environmental and animal care.
Asked by: David Simpson (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
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 Secretary of State for the Home Department on the development of the UK’s immigration policy after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by George Eustice
It is a key priority of this Government to enable an innovative, productive and competitive food supply chain, which invests in its people and skills. To help achieve this, we will ensure that there is access to enough appropriately skilled labour to drive continued industry growth and productivity.
Whilst the UK prepares to leave the EU, Defra is working closely with the Home Office to ensure that the food and farming sector has access to the workforce it needs as part of the future immigration policy.
The Home Office and Defra recently jointly announced a pilot scheme to bring seasonal migrant workers to UK farms.
Asked by: David Simpson (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure that farmers in Northern Ireland are able to continue to sell their livestock to the Republic of Ireland after the UK has left the EU; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by George Eustice
As part of the Future Economic Partnership negotiations the UK is proposing a UK-EU free trade area for goods. This would avoid friction at the border, protect jobs and livelihoods, and ensure that the UK and the EU meet their commitments to Northern Ireland and Ireland through the overall future relationship.
Asked by: David Simpson (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
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 ensure the safety of wildlife when trees are being felled.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Forestry Commission is responsible for the regulation of tree felling in England and woodland managers must apply for a felling license from the Commission to fell trees, unless an exemption applies. For example, a tree which poses a danger life or property can be felled without a license.
Any tree felling must comply with regulations and legislation protecting wildlife species and habitats, including the European protected species (EPS) listed in the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017 and the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.
In England, all wild birds, their eggs and their nests are protected, under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, making it an offence to kill, injure or take wild birds or to take or damage their eggs and nests. There are provisions within the 1981 Act that permit derogation from these protections for specific reasons for example for the purposes of preserving public health or public or air safety.
The Forestry Commission works with Natural England, the statutory body for protected species, to provide good practice guidance on how to minimise impacts on protected wildlife and circumstances where a licence may be required. When submitting an application, landowners are required to evidence how they propose to manage the impact of felling on wildlife, including sites of special scientific interest (SSSI). It is an offence to carry out an activity that has an impact on a protected species without a wildlife management license.
Asked by: David Simpson (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what his Department's strategy is on reducing the amount of plastic going to landfill.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
The tonnage of waste collected by local authorities and sent to landfill has fallen by 81% since in the introduction of the landfill tax in 1996/97. This is a devolved matter but the Government will publish a new Resources and Waste Strategy for England this year, which will explain how we will double resource productivity and achieve zero avoidable plastic waste.
Since we introduced the carrier bag charge in 2015, the seven key retailers have reported that they have distributed approximately 15.6 billion fewer carrier bags. I have also written to English councils with recycling rates below 30% to encourage them to collect more materials including plastics for recycling.
Asked by: David Simpson (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
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 a policy on the protection of horses during racing.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
As with all kept animals, racehorses are protected by the provisions of the Animal Welfare Act 2006. This means that owners and keepers must not cause their animals unnecessary suffering and must provide for their welfare. Failure to do so could result in an unlimited fine, or up to six months’ imprisonment, or both. We have already announced that the custodial maximum penalty will be increased to five years’ imprisonment.
The British Horseracing Authority (BHA) is responsible for horse safety at racetracks in Great Britain. The BHA works with the RSPCA to ensure that racecourses are as safe as possible. The percentage of racehorse fatalities at racetracks is low (0.18% of runners in 2017), however, as I have previously made clear, there is more work to be done to reduce that number further.
Asked by: David Simpson (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
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 Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union on food safety regulations after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Food safety policy is the responsibility of the Food Standards Agency in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The Food Standards Agency, the Department for Health and Social Care, Defra and the Department for Exiting the European Union meet regularly to discuss food safety issues in relation to the UK’s departure from the EU.