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, whether her Department has awarded any commercial contracts to iNHouse Communications Ltd in the last five years.
Answered by George Eustice
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has no record of communication with iNHouse Communications Ltd on its tendering system and has not awarded any commercial contract to iNHouse Communications Ltd in the last five years.
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, whether her Department is in communication with iNHouse Communications Ltd in relation to any ongoing commercial tender process.
Answered by George Eustice
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has no record of communication with iNHouse Communications Ltd on its tendering system and has not awarded any commercial contract to iNHouse Communications Ltd in the last five years.
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, whether Ministers of her Department have made representations to the companies involved in the ongoing dispute with Icelandic fishermen on the contribution of seafood imports to the British food processing sector.
Answered by George Eustice
British seafood companies have not sought a meeting with Ministers about this issue, nor have Ministers raised this issue with the Icelandic Ambassador and the Department has not modelled the impact of the strike on UK seafood businesses. The international trade section of Seafish, the UK-wide industry levy funded Non-Departmental Public Body, provides information to domestic seafood processors on overseas markets should they require assistance on identifying alternative sources of supply.
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, whether Ministers of her Department have held discussions with British seafood processing firms on potential disruption to their resources caused by the Icelandic fishermen's strike.
Answered by George Eustice
British seafood companies have not sought a meeting with Ministers about this issue, nor have Ministers raised this issue with the Icelandic Ambassador and the Department has not modelled the impact of the strike on UK seafood businesses. The international trade section of Seafish, the UK-wide industry levy funded Non-Departmental Public Body, provides information to domestic seafood processors on overseas markets should they require assistance on identifying alternative sources of supply.
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 Ministers of her Department have held with the Icelandic Ambassador on the Icelandic fishermen's strike.
Answered by George Eustice
British seafood companies have not sought a meeting with Ministers about this issue, nor have Ministers raised this issue with the Icelandic Ambassador and the Department has not modelled the impact of the strike on UK seafood businesses. The international trade section of Seafish, the UK-wide industry levy funded Non-Departmental Public Body, provides information to domestic seafood processors on overseas markets should they require assistance on identifying alternative sources of supply.
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 estimate her Department has made of the cost of the Icelandic fishermen's strike on British seafood processing businesses.
Answered by George Eustice
British seafood companies have not sought a meeting with Ministers about this issue, nor have Ministers raised this issue with the Icelandic Ambassador and the Department has not modelled the impact of the strike on UK seafood businesses. The international trade section of Seafish, the UK-wide industry levy funded Non-Departmental Public Body, provides information to domestic seafood processors on overseas markets should they require assistance on identifying alternative sources of supply.
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, whether her Department plans to offer assistance to British seafood processing firms in the event that the Icelandic fishermen's strike continues beyond 13 January 2017.
Answered by George Eustice
British seafood companies have not sought a meeting with Ministers about this issue, nor have Ministers raised this issue with the Icelandic Ambassador and the Department has not modelled the impact of the strike on UK seafood businesses. The international trade section of Seafish, the UK-wide industry levy funded Non-Departmental Public Body, provides information to domestic seafood processors on overseas markets should they require assistance on identifying alternative sources of supply.
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 her Department is taking to support the growth of the red squirrel population.
Answered by Rory Stewart
The Government is committed to protecting and expanding red squirrel populations and tackling the threats that grey squirrels pose to them.
Since December 2014 the Forestry Commission has been undertaking a number of actions to protect red squirrels from the impact of grey squirrels resulting from an updated grey squirrel action plan for England. These have included measures to control grey squirrels in red squirrel areas, through forestry options under Countryside Stewardship and the previous English Woodland Grant Scheme.
Additionally, the Government participates in and supports Red Squirrels Northern England, a partnership project between the Red Squirrel Survival Trust, Natural England, the Forestry Commission and the Wildlife Trusts, which is helping to protect and expand the biggest population of red squirrels left in England.
We are also working together with a range of stakeholders under the UK Squirrel Accord, which aims to promote partnership working to increase public awareness and support for action to protect red squirrels and woodlands from grey squirrels.
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 the Government is doing to encourage supermarkets to act responsibly when sourcing and purchasing fish products.
Answered by George Eustice
Such matters fall primarily to the Non-Departmental Public Body Seafish, which is funded by an industry levy. Seafish has developed a ‘Risk Assessment for Sourcing Seafood’ (RASS), an online seafood sourcing tool, to help retailers assess the potential reputational risks of sourcing particular types of seafood. The primary objective is to support commercial seafood buyers by presenting up-to-date information on a comprehensive range of fisheries whose products are in the UK supply-chain, covering four components: stock, management, bycatch, and habitat. This year, RASS will be expanded through the addition of seafood social responsibility factors including crew welfare, human rights and slavery.
Seafish has also developed, and recently launched at the Houses of Parliament, the Responsible Fishing Scheme (RFS). The RFS is a voluntary vessel-based programme certifying high standards of crew welfare and responsible catching practices on fishing vessels. It is the only programme certifying crew welfare and responsible catching practices on vessels, and complements other fishery-based sustainability certifications. Such assurances are being increasingly sought by the UK market.
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 the Government is taking to encourage young people to take up a career in the fishing industry.
Answered by George Eustice
Such matters fall primarily to the Non-Departmental Public Body Seafish, which is funded by an industry levy. Seafish launched a three-week ‘Introduction to Commercial Fishing’ course in September 2011 to help recruit and train new entrants to the fishing industry. Drawing on funding from the European Fisheries Fund (EFF), Seafish has delivered 84 courses throughout the UK and trained 741 new entrants.
Seafish has also developed a one-year (minimum) ‘Apprenticeship in Sea Fishing’ programme to attract new entrants looking for a career in commercial fishing. It has been delivered in England by the Whitby & District Fishing Industry School, and is now being offered as a Modern Apprenticeship in Scotland by the NAFC Marine Centre in Shetland and the North East Scotland College in Peterhead. Between 1 January 2013 and 31 December 2015 51 apprentices registered for, and 44 completed, the programme. Moreover, Seafish has developed ‘Fish and Shellfish Apprenticeships’ to help the onshore sectors of the seafood industry recruit new high-calibre entrants.
In addition, Seafish created ‘The World is Your Oyster’, a recruitment campaign designed to showcase the diverse employment opportunities and career prospects in the seafood and fishing industries. The campaign launched in November last year, and is targeted at school leavers, youngsters and those considering a career change. Further information can be found on the Seafish website.
The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) has provided financial support via the EFF to Fisheries Local Action Groups for schemes which include apprenticeships and training for the fishing industry. Funds paid for such schemes under EFF with MMO matched funding are in the region of £208,829. Support for training programmes and apprenticeships will continue to be available under the European Maritime Fisheries Fund, replacing the EFF, which opened on 18 January.