Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between James Paice and Chi Onwurah

Thursday 17th March 2011 Commons Chamber

[The Minister of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Mr James Paice)]

I entirely agree with my hon. Friend, which is why the Government will publish Government buying standards very shortly. They will require all of central Government to purchase food produced to British standards wherever that can be done without extra cost, which should not really come into it. I must tell her that we are working very hard on the specific issue of bacon and the armed forces with the British Pig Executive and the Ministry of Defence. We face some specific challenges relating not only to the specification but to the quantity that the MOD needs and that fact that everything needs to be frozen. Trials have been done using sow bacon and other things, but we are still working on the challenge.

[Chi Onwurah (Newcastle upon Tyne Central) (Lab)]

T5. According to the Commission for Rural Communities, one in 20 women in rural areas is an entrepreneur, which is a higher proportion than in cities. However, in a recent article in The Independent, many complained that slow broadband was slowing down their business. Labour guaranteed universal broadband by 2012. What is the Secretary of State doing about it?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between James Paice and Chi Onwurah

Thursday 3rd February 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Paice]

The Rural Payments Agency has been very involved over the past six or nine months with the providers of our IT system in introducing what they apparently term a number of “fixes” to the system to try to overcome many of the problems, and they are now working through, and enabling us to get through, some of the backlog. I suspect that we will shortly be making a decision on making manual payments, to ensure that more farmers, especially small farmers, receive their money.

[Chi Onwurah (Newcastle upon Tyne Central) (Lab)]

Kielder forest, which will provide the bulk of the income under the Government’s plans to sell off our national heritage, is home to 31 sites of special scientific interest, as well as red squirrels and ospreys, yet the Government consultation classifies it simply as “commercial”. What guarantees can the Secretary of State give us that the public interest and conservation interests will be met in perpetuity, given that the forest is classified as commercial?