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Written Question
Undocumented Migrants: English Channel
Tuesday 26th April 2022

Asked by: Gordon Henderson (Conservative - Sittingbourne and Sheppey)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many migrants who came to the UK by crossing the Channel in 2021 have been removed from the UK.

Answered by Kevin Foster

The Home Office routinely publishes data on Irregular Migration to the UK and can be found at: Irregular migration to the UK, year ending December 2021 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) and also routinely publish data on the number of outcomes of asylum applications at initial decision, broken down by nationality, age, sex and applicant type and can be found at Asy_D02 of the published immigration statistics: Asylum and resettlement datasets - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)


Written Question
Undocumented Migrants: English Channel
Tuesday 26th April 2022

Asked by: Gordon Henderson (Conservative - Sittingbourne and Sheppey)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many migrants who came to the UK by crossing the Channel in 2021 have had their asylum cases processed.

Answered by Kevin Foster

The Home Office routinely publishes data on Irregular Migration to the UK and can be found at: Irregular migration to the UK, year ending December 2021 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) and also routinely publish data on the number of outcomes of asylum applications at initial decision, broken down by nationality, age, sex and applicant type and can be found at Asy_D02 of the published immigration statistics: Asylum and resettlement datasets - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)


Written Question
Property Development: Planning Permission
Friday 11th March 2022

Asked by: Gordon Henderson (Conservative - Sittingbourne and Sheppey)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is taking to help prevent the practice of people avoiding enforcement action by submitting repeated retrospective planning applications for the same development in the event that previous retrospective applications for that development have been refused.

Answered by Stuart Andrew - Opposition Chief Whip (Commons)

A person who has undertaken unauthorised development has only one opportunity to obtain planning permission after the event. This can either be by means of a retrospective planning application or by means of an appeal against an enforcement notice.

The local planning authority can decline to determine a retrospective planning application if an enforcement notice has previously been issued.


Written Question
Waste Disposal
Tuesday 22nd February 2022

Asked by: Gordon Henderson (Conservative - Sittingbourne and Sheppey)

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 U1 waste exemptions are not being used to dispose of waste illegally.

Answered by Jo Churchill

The Environment Agency undertakes a risk-based approach and may inspect U1 sites if it receives intelligence or complaints suggesting illegal activity.

The Government is currently reviewing the waste exemptions element within the environmental permitting regime to prevent the use of exemptions, including the U1 exemption, to cover illegal activity. A Government response will be published in the spring. The Environment Agency is also developing a charges scheme for 2024, which will help fund proactive compliance assessment at exempt sites.


Written Question
Waste Disposal
Tuesday 22nd February 2022

Asked by: Gordon Henderson (Conservative - Sittingbourne and Sheppey)

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 potential merits of discontinuing the use of U1 waste exemptions.

Answered by Jo Churchill

In 2018, Defra and the Welsh Government consulted on reforming the waste exemptions element in the environmental permitting regime to prevent the use of exemptions to cover illegal activity.

The consultation specifically asked whether the Government should keep the U1 exemption with no changes to its conditions, change the exemption (amend its conditions) or remove the exemption and require activities it covers to be carried out under an environmental permit.

A Government response to the consultation was published on 26 November 2018. However, because of the breadth of impacts that will result from changing these exemptions, and the implications for different business practices that can emerge from relatively minor technical changes, Defra and the Welsh Government have been further considering the impacts of the proposed changes. A supplementary Government response will be published in the spring.


Written Question
Agriculture: Sustainable Development
Friday 10th September 2021

Asked by: Gordon Henderson (Conservative - Sittingbourne and Sheppey)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to publish a response to the proposal by the National Farmers Union for a sustainable food and farming scheme.

Answered by Victoria Prentis

We met the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) to discuss their proposals at Ministerial and official level and the Secretary of State wrote to the NFU to thank them for their considered input into the development of our new policies. The Agricultural Transition Plan published in November sets out our plans for agricultural policies, including for the Sustainable Farming Incentive which we are currently piloting.

We have ongoing engagement with the NFU and meet regularly.


Written Question
Slaughterhouses: Kent
Monday 6th September 2021

Asked by: Gordon Henderson (Conservative - Sittingbourne and Sheppey)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to take steps to encourage the expansion of abattoirs in Kent.

Answered by Victoria Prentis

Defra recognises the role small abattoirs play in supporting the rural economy.

Defra is working with industry to find innovative solutions to support abattoirs. The Rural Development Programme for England Growth Programme, which is delivered by the Rural Payments Agency, is currently supporting a farmer-led mobile abattoir project which is trialling the use of a compact system for the on-farm slaughter of livestock. The project is due to be operational in autumn 2021 and, if successful, could be replicated elsewhere.

However, any decision to establish a new abattoir would be a commercial decision for the abattoir themselves.


Written Question
Travel: Coronavirus
Wednesday 14th July 2021

Asked by: Gordon Henderson (Conservative - Sittingbourne and Sheppey)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to review the adequacy and practicality of (a) the condition requiring applicants to apply for an exemption 14 days before their visit and (b) other conditions attached to the exemptions granted to people travelling from red list countries to the UK to visit dying relatives during the period of covid-19 travel restrictions.

Answered by Jo Churchill

The condition for individuals to apply at least 14 days in advance of their arrival is required due to the volume of exemption applications we are currently receiving and is necessary to ensure that all exemption requests, including the most complex cases, are treated with the appropriate care and attention. In complex cases, the process may involve requests for additional information, for which applicants need sufficient time to respond.


Written Question
Farmers: Fly-tipping
Thursday 17th June 2021

Asked by: Gordon Henderson (Conservative - Sittingbourne and Sheppey)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

What steps he is taking to help protect farmers from fly-tipping.

Answered by Rebecca Pow

We are preparing new legislation to tackle waste crime, such as fly-tipping. This includes reforming how those transporting waste are regulated and introducing mandatory electronic tracking of waste, subject to consultation. The Environment Bill will also ensure authorities have better access to evidence and improved powers of entry. The Defra-chaired National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group works with the National Farmers Union and others to share advice on how to prevent fly-tipping on private land.


Written Question
Social Security Benefits: Medical Examinations
Monday 17th May 2021

Asked by: Gordon Henderson (Conservative - Sittingbourne and Sheppey)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

What steps she is taking to ensure that assessments for health and disability benefits are conducted safely during the covid-19 outbreak.

Answered by Justin Tomlinson

In March 2020, to ensure safety, we paused face-to-face assessments and assessed through paper-based review, telephone and video assessments. Working with providers and the Deputy Chief Medical Officer, we developed guidance to ensure the re-opening of assessment centres and resumption of face-to-face assessments can be conducted safely. Face-to-face will initially be for claimants unable to be assessed through other means.