Oral Answers to Questions

Nadhim Zahawi Excerpts

Thursday 10th October 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Paterson]

I am grateful to the hon. Lady for her question. As I have just said, until we can establish vaccines we have to use the tools employed by other sensible countries to remove wildlife. Our TB strategy is clear about looking at other methods of removing wildlife. Yes, gassing is under consideration, but we will not use it unless it is proven to be safe, humane and effective.

[Nadhim Zahawi (Stratford-on-Avon) (Con)]

14. Farmers in Stratford-on-Avon welcome the Government’s commitment to the control of bovine TB through the culling of badgers. There is, however, significant concern about the reservoir of TB in camelids and the lack of a testing or control regime for these animals. What do the Government intend to do on this matter?

[Mr Paterson]

I am acutely aware of the concerns of livestock farmers about the risk to cattle posed by camelids. However, evidence suggests that camelids pose a very small risk of spreading the disease to cattle and badgers. In fact, there are no known cases where a cattle breakdown has been caused directly by transmission from camelids. Nevertheless, I have asked the Animal Health and Welfare Board for England for advice on a proportionate disease control regime for the camelid sector, including how surveillance, breakdown and pre-movement testing can be more effectively carried out.

Oral Answers to Questions

Nadhim Zahawi Excerpts

Thursday 4th July 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Paterson]

I think the hon. Lady knows that we get real value out of our existing higher level stewardship scheme. As I made clear in previous replies, I will endorse the transfer of money from pillar one to pillar two for environmental schemes, which will bring real benefits to our biodiversity and the species about which she is concerned.

[Nadhim Zahawi (Stratford-on-Avon) (Con)]

The financial viability of smaller farmers in Warwickshire is of concern. What reassurance can the Secretary of State give my smaller farmers that transfers from pillar one to pillar two will not cause them hardship?

[Mr Paterson]

It is simple: the funds will be spent on projects related to agriculture and the rural environment and economy, and farmers both small and large will benefit from the transfer of the funds.

Oral Answers to Questions

Nadhim Zahawi Excerpts

Thursday 26th April 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mrs Spelman]

My hon. Friend makes some very helpful points. Although we have had really heavy rainfall this month, that will not be enough to make up for two very dry winters in a row, so it continues to be important that everyone takes responsibility for saving water. The current conditions allow water companies and farmers to top up the reservoirs, which is a good thing, but it is important that we continue to make all the efforts we can to conserve water.

[Nadhim Zahawi (Stratford-on-Avon) (Con)]

11. What steps she is taking to ensure that rural communities and businesses are fully engaged with the work of her Department.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Richard Benyon)]

DEFRA’s new England-wide rural and farming network provides a means of two-way engagement between DEFRA Ministers and 17 rural and farming network groups representing rural communities and businesses. DEFRA Ministers are proactively seeking meetings with those groups to ensure that they are engaged with the work of the Department. DEFRA continues to invest in the rural community action network and holds regular discussions with Lord Teverson’s Rural Coalition.

[Nadhim Zahawi]

I thank the Minister. Will he join me in congratulating all those involved in the successful bid from Coventry and Warwickshire for a rural growth network, and state how the Department will work with that network to improve engagement with the business community?

[Richard Benyon]

The cross-party board that examined the 29 applications from local economic partnerships and from some local authorities was really impressed by the rural growth network in my hon. Friend’s constituency. A credible, experienced set of partners brought it together, and it is a good network. Those partners are accustomed to delivery and believe that they will lever in £50 million of investment. That will mean jobs and technology-led industries, and I look forward to seeing how successful it will be in the coming years.

Water White Paper

Nadhim Zahawi Excerpts

Thursday 8th December 2011 Commons Chamber

[Richard Benyon]

I am saddened that the hon. Gentleman is not as welcoming of the White Paper as others have been. We originally planned to introduce it in July and I recognise that it is a few months late. However, I am sure that he would have preferred for us to take a bit longer and get it right rather than rush it. We produced a natural environment White Paper in June, which informed the issues that we are taking forward in this White Paper. We have consulted closely with people across the water sector and in the wider DEFRA family. I think that it was better to take a few months longer and get it right.

[Nadhim Zahawi (Stratford-on-Avon) (Con)]

I welcome the White Paper. Will the Minister confirm that the reason it was released to the City first was that it contains market-sensitive information? There is genuine anxiety in Stratford-on-Avon and throughout the country about over-abstraction. What can he say to my constituents to allay their fears?

[Richard Benyon]

My hon. Friend is right: we released only the parts of the White Paper that were market sensitive to the stock exchange, after informing Mr Speaker. I gather that there is precedent for such a move and I am grateful for the general support for it. My hon. Friend’s constituents, like mine, are right to be concerned about the impact that over-abstraction is having on their environment. That is why we are making a reasoned change to the abstraction system in the long term and tackling urgently the problems of over-abstraction in certain areas where rivers are dangerously low or even running dry.

Oral Answers to Questions

Nadhim Zahawi Excerpts

Thursday 12th May 2011 Commons Chamber

The hon. Member for Banbury, representing the Church Commissioners, was asked—

[Nadhim Zahawi (Stratford-on-Avon) (Con)]

4. What steps the Church Commissioners are taking to ensure that ancient trees in churchyards are protected.

[Fiona Bruce (Congleton) (Con)]

8. What steps the Church Commissioners are taking to ensure that ancient trees in churchyards are protected.

[Mr Speaker]

We are much better informed!

[Nadhim Zahawi]

I thank my hon. Friend for that answer. As well as being the final resting place of the great bard, William Shakespeare, Holy Trinity church in Stratford-on-Avon has 12 yew trees representing the 12 tribes of Israel and is home to a yew tree that is estimated to be several hundred years old. Does my hon. Friend agree that the protection of such trees is extremely important in maintaining the historic settings of our great churches?

[Tony Baldry]

It is fantastic that Holy Trinity, Stratford, has planted 12 new yew trees, but my hon. Friend highlights the fact that a number of older yew trees, designated as ancient or veteran, have not had adequate statutory protection. The Church of England is determined to do all that it can to ensure that every yew tree in our churchyards is properly protected.

Flood Defence Allocations

Nadhim Zahawi Excerpts

Wednesday 9th February 2011 Commons Chamber

[Richard Benyon]

I do not want to mislead the House or the hon. Gentleman. If he will meet me, I will be happy to give him exact and firm details about that scheme.

[Nadhim Zahawi (Stratford-on-Avon) (Con)]

Parts of my constituency were devastated by the floods in 2007. May I thank the Minister, on behalf of the people of Alcester, for allowing the project there to go ahead? May I also, on behalf of the people of Broom, come and see him about an innovative idea that we have had, with the Environment Agency, for mitigating flooding in Broom?

[Richard Benyon]

I am all for innovation. The carpet in my office is wearing thin from colleagues on both sides of the House coming to see me, but I will certainly meet my hon. Friend. I am keen to hear about new plans and I am happy to involve the Environment Agency, which perhaps has greater technical understanding than I do.

Oral Answers to Questions

Nadhim Zahawi Excerpts

Thursday 9th December 2010 Commons Chamber

[Hon. Members]

Point of order?

[Nadhim Zahawi (Stratford-on-Avon) (Con)]

9. What recent progress her Department has made on reducing the burden of regulation on farmers.

[Alun Cairns (Vale of Glamorgan) (Con)]

16. What recent progress her Department has made on reducing the burden of regulation on farmers.

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

One of my first actions was to appoint Richard Macdonald to lead a taskforce to identify ways of reducing the regulatory burden on farmers. The taskforce recently completed a public consultation and will make recommendations to the Government by April next year. I hope that it will bring about a change in culture in implementing our regulations, while at the same time maintaining standards.

[Nadhim Zahawi]

I thank the Minister for that reply. Farmers in Stratford-on-Avon will welcome the Government’s commitment to the industry-led review of regulation. Can he give farmers a time frame for the review, so that they can begin to enjoy a regime that makes it easier for them to produce the food that we eat and care for the countryside that we all cherish?

Oral Answers to Questions

Nadhim Zahawi Excerpts

Thursday 24th June 2010 Commons Chamber

[Richard Drax (South Dorset) (Con)]

1. What discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills on the roll-out of broadband to rural areas.

[Nadhim Zahawi (Stratford-on-Avon) (Con)]

9. What discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills on the roll-out of broadband to rural areas.

[Matthew Hancock (West Suffolk) (Con)]

11. What discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills on the roll-out of broadband to rural areas.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mrs Spelman]

I thank my hon. Friend for his kind words. I have seen for myself that his constituency presents challenges in terms of broadband provision, especially given the high ground before the acute descent to the coast. He is, however, fortunate to have the opportunity provided by an Olympic facility that will leave a lasting legacy in his constituency.

I take the view that we should not try to reinvent the wheel. Where broadband infrastructure is already in place, of course we should seek to use it. However, I will use my good offices to speak to those at the DCMS and to ensure that the legacy is a good one.

[Nadhim Zahawi]

I, too, welcome the Secretary of State to her post. Yesterday’s Budget confirmation that the Government will fund three pilot schemes to bring super-fast broadband to hard-to-reach areas is crucial to my constituency. It is especially crucial for the 50 to 80 age group—which, for various reasons, is one of the fastest-growing groups of internet users—and, obviously, for enterprises in the area. Can the Secretary of State tell us a little more about her discussions on those three pilot schemes?

[Mrs Spelman]

I thank my hon. Friend for drawing attention to the importance of super-fast broadband provision to all generations in our society, and to the social inclusivity it provides. The coalition Government have made a clear commitment to roll out super-fast broadband to ensure that those who live in rural communities are not disadvantaged. As my hon. Friend pointed out, that includes businesses, but it also includes children, who often need broadband to complete their homework. I assure him that this is a priority for the Department, and that the choice of location for the pilots will be decided shortly.

Energy and Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Nadhim Zahawi Excerpts

Thursday 27th May 2010 Commons Chamber

[Edward Miliband]

My hon. Friend makes a very important point: the demand for electricity is likely to increase, not decrease—even with measures on energy efficiency.

[Nadhim Zahawi (Stratford-on-Avon) (Con)]

The right hon. Gentleman delivers an eloquent speech, but would it not have much more credibility if he were to admit that the Labour party had 13 years to give us energy security and did nothing about it?

[Edward Miliband]

That is not true, because when we look at what we have achieved, in terms of the reduction in carbon emissions in this country and the transition that we have started on new nuclear, which was initially opposed by both parties on the Government Benches, we see that we are making the transition that needed to be made.