Asked by: Melanie Onn (Labour - Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Environment Agency's paper entitled, A summary of England’s revised draft regional and water resources management plans, published on 21 March 2024, whether he has issued a deadline to water companies for the (a) design, (b) planning and (c) building of new water supplies.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Water companies are required to publish a statutory water resource management plan (WRMP) every 5 years. If the need for new water supplies is identified as a result of the assessments carried out to develop the WRMP, the company will set out the timescales within which the proposed schemes will be delivered in order to meet the forecast need. The detailed design, planning and building of these schemes is managed by the individual water companies to deliver the schemes within the timescales set out in the WRMP. The water companies report on the progress with delivery of their statutory WRMPs to Defra every year via the WRMP Annual Review process.
Asked by: Melanie Onn (Labour - Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what skills grants (a) are available and (b) he plans to make available for the seafood sector in Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes constituency.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Food security is national security, and a sustainable fishing industry is an important part of that. Decisions on any future funding for the fishing industry will be taken through the Spending Review processes. Discussions on the opportunities and challenges facing the industry over the last few months have been helpful in gaining an understanding of what other types of support or government action may be appropriate in the future, including on skills.
Asked by: Melanie Onn (Labour - Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes)
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 adequacy of the availability for water for industrial purposes.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
It is a duty on water companies to maintain, improve and extend their water supply networks, to account for future water needs. Included within these plans, companies have to make estimates of demands from non-household customers, such as those for industrial users. Last year, regional water resources groups and water companies consulted on their draft water resources plans. These statutory plans set out how each company will secure water supplies sustainably for at least the next 25 years. The draft water resources management plans contain proposals for multiple new water resources schemes by 2050. Further information on the proposals can be found in the Environment Agency’s Summary of England’s draft regional and water resources management plan.
Asked by: Melanie Onn (Labour - Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes)
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 has taken to support fishing and fish processing communities as part of the Seafood 2040 Strategy.
Answered by George Eustice
Seafood 2040 is an industry led framework of 25 recommendations which sets out the vision for the seafood supply chain in England. The majority of the framework’s recommendations are for the industry to take an all-sector collaborative approach. A number of recommendations require Government action, which we are fully committed to delivering.
Defra is currently supporting the delivery of the framework’s first recommendation, which will see the creation of the Seafood Industry Leadership Group (SILG). SILG will take the lead in the delivery of Seafood 2040 in terms of developing more detailed plans and recommendations. Once SILG is established, it will drive forward the delivery of Seafood 2040.
Although SILG is not yet established, Defra fisheries teams are working closely with the industry, such as the aquaculture sector, to develop mechanisms which are relevant and fit for purpose for the management of fisheries and aquaculture.
Asked by: Melanie Onn (Labour - Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes)
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 has taken to support the fish supply chain as part of the Seafood 2040 Strategy.
Answered by George Eustice
Seafood 2040 is an industry led framework of 25 recommendations which sets out the vision for the seafood supply chain in England. The majority of the framework’s recommendations are for the industry to take an all-sector collaborative approach. A number of recommendations require Government action, which we are fully committed to delivering.
Defra is currently supporting the delivery of the framework’s first recommendation, which will see the creation of the Seafood Industry Leadership Group (SILG). SILG will take the lead in the delivery of Seafood 2040 in terms of developing more detailed plans and recommendations. Once SILG is established, it will drive forward the delivery of Seafood 2040.
Although SILG is not yet established, Defra fisheries teams are working closely with the industry, such as the aquaculture sector, to develop mechanisms which are relevant and fit for purpose for the management of fisheries and aquaculture.
Asked by: Melanie Onn (Labour - Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which Government departments he has had discussions with on the Seafood 2040 Strategy.
Answered by George Eustice
In the coming months Defra will be discussing the Seafood 2040 recommendations with a range of Government bodies including Public Health England, the Environment Agency, the Sea Fish Industry Authority, the Marine Management Organisation, the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science and the Food Standards Agency.
Asked by: Melanie Onn (Labour - Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes)
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 his EU counterparts on changes to the level of tariffs on sugar beet imports in (a) 2017-18 and (b) 2018-19.
Answered by George Eustice
Ministers and officials have not had any discussions with EU counterparts on changes to the level of tariffs on sugar beet imports in 2017-18 and 2018-19. Because it is uneconomical to transport sugar beet long distances for processing, it is unlikely that any sugar beet has been imported into the EU in those years and so discussions on changes to the level of tariffs would not be expected.
Asked by: Melanie Onn (Labour - Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what effect he expects the end of EU quotas on sugar beet production to have on domestic sugar prices.
Answered by George Eustice
We expect the price of sugar within the European Union (EU) to follow trends in world prices more closely following the removal of quotas on beet sugar production. While the United Kingdom remains within the EU domestic prices will be similarly affected. The latest EU sugar prices show a recent drop reflecting the fall in international prices and expectations of higher EU exports.
Asked by: Melanie Onn (Labour - Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes)
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 has taken to protect the status of Great Grimsby smoked haddock after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by George Eustice
Traditional Grimsby Smoked Fish has rightly been recognised as a Protected Food Name which celebrates the traditional method of production, local provenance and the skills of those involved. Countries outside the EU are already able to participate in the EU's Protected Food Name scheme when selling onto the EU market. In addition, the EU rules that currently govern the enforcement of Protected Food Names will be placed on a UK legal basis through the EU Withdrawal Bill. The UK will continue to abide by WTO rules on the protection of geographical indications globally.
Asked by: Melanie Onn (Labour - Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what EU fisheries legislation her Department plans to (a) replace and (b) preserve before the UK leaves the EU in order to prevent a regulatory deficit.
Answered by George Eustice
The Great Repeal Bill will place existing EU laws on a UK legal basis. Parliament will then be free to amend those laws as it sees fit. The Government is currently considering its approach to future fisheries policy once we leave the EU.