Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the combined effect of the UK leaving the EU and covid-19 travel restrictions on the agricultural labour market in 2020.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
Free movement continues until the end of the Transition Period, which is the end of this year. In future, any EU citizen wishing to come to live and work in the UK will need to apply under the UK’s future immigration system. Agricultural businesses will continue to be able to rely on EU nationals living in the UK with settled or pre-settled status. We have guaranteed the rights of all EU citizens and their families already living in the UK. The EU Settlement Scheme, which opened in March 2019, has already received more than 3.5 million applications from EU citizens who are able to stay and work in the UK and there is still over a year until the application deadline of 30 June 2021
The Seasonal Workers Pilot is providing thousands of workers to farms across the UK this year. Travel restrictions due to COVID-19 have delayed the arrival of some Pilot workers. Defra and the Home Office are working closely with the operators of the Pilot to enable workers to reach the UK, including facilitating the re-opening of Visa Application Centres in Ukraine and Belarus on 1 June. This has allowed significant numbers of Pilot workers from those countries to obtain a visa and travel to the UK.
Defra has been working closely with the sector and other Government departments to closely monitor and respond to the agricultural labour market this year. Industry feedback indicates the demand for seasonal workers is currently being met, but we know this may change in the coming months and we are closely monitoring the situation.
Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimates his Department has made of the cost to the public purse of the Pick For Britain scheme.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The Pick for Britain campaign has been a joint industry-Government initiative with co-investment from partners, which has ensured that the successful campaign has been at little direct cost to the Government. So far £16,500 has been spent by Defra on the Pick for Britain campaign and a small budget for potential future spend to the end of the season is available should this be needed.
Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans he has to promote (a) local and (b) British produce through food labelling.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
Accurate and informative food labelling helps people know the quality and provenance of their food. Most food for sale in the UK is labelled with the country of origin and producers are developing labelling to show the provenance of their food whether it is local to the community in which it is sold or made in Britain. The Government wants this to continue and will do what we can to protect the UK’s iconic food and drink.
Protected Food Names, for example Traditional Welsh Cider and Traditional Welsh Perry, offer an effective way to demonstrate great local and UK food and we are working to increase the number of products covered by the protected designation of origin (PDO), protected geographical indication (PGI), and traditional specialities guaranteed schemes (TSG): the newest being Conwy Mussels.
Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what meetings her Department has had with supermarkets to discuss ensuring their packaging for produce and goods is recyclable.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
The Department has regular meetings and conversations with retailer stakeholder groups and representatives from the packaging industry, including representatives of supermarkets. The Department also works through the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) on wide-ranging initiatives aimed at increasing recycling. Many of these initiatives, including the Courtauld Commitment, involve supermarkets.
Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the budget is for food produced for her Department's offices at Smith Square, London; and what proportion of food produced for her Department was sourced from British producers in the last period for which figures are available.
Answered by George Eustice
Defra does not set a budget for food served in the canteen at its Smith Square offices (Nobel House). Catering services are provided by a private company under contract to Defra which leases facilities in Nobel House and provides food to staff without subsidy. Spending on food is determined by the contractor based on sales receipts from Defra staff.
Defra has worked with its current supplier to align the existing contract with the requirements of the balanced scorecard.
The amount of food sourced from British producers for Nobel House was 56% (Jan-Mar 2016). This figure includes non-indigenous products; including drinks such as tea and coffee. It marks, overall, an improvement of 4% over the previous quarter. Furthermore, all meat, milk and yoghurt served in Nobel House is produced in the UK.
Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what proportion of dairy products procured for her Department was sourced from British producers in the last period for which figures are available.
Answered by George Eustice
Catering services in Defra are provided under a contract which covers the core Department, several of its network bodies and the Department for Energy and Climate Change. The cost of meals served is not subsidised, and spending on food is determined by the contractor based on sales receipts from customers. During the latest period for which figures are available (Jan-Mar 2016) 93% of dairy products sourced under the contract came from UK producers. The remaining 7% is principally accounted for by spending on non-UK cheese used in several popular dishes.
Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the Rural Payments Agency is expected to resolve post-payment adjustments for the 2015 Basic Payments Scheme before September 2016; and if all outstanding cases will receive interest on their payments.
Answered by George Eustice
Any farmer who has received a 2015 Basic Payment Scheme claim statement and noticed a difference from what they were expecting is advised to contact the Rural Payments Agency (RPA).
The RPA will investigate these differences over the summer and will make the appropriate adjustments where necessary. However, there is no legal provision to pay interest on outstanding amounts.
Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, by when will 2015 payments to farmers from the Rural Payments Agency be completed; and when can farmers receiving a 50 per cent bridging payment expect to be paid in full.
Answered by George Eustice
As of 2 May, some 79,013 Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) claims have now been completed. This represents 78,102 payments and 911 that resulted in no payments being due. Bridging payments were made by the end of April to those farmers not in receipt of their BPS 2015 claim payment in recognition of the cash flow pressures they are facing.
The Rural Payments Agency will continue to make full payments throughout the remainder of the payment window and anticipates completing this work by the end of June 2016.
Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress her Department is making on helping implement the European School Milk Scheme.
Answered by George Eustice
If the European Parliament formally endorses the proposal for a revised School Milk Scheme in Plenary on 8 March 2016, it is likely to enter into force in spring 2016 and apply in schools from August 2017. We will use this period to consider the new requirements and consult with interested parties. Decisions about the scheme can be made at regional or national level.
Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans her Department has for the UK to participate in the revised European School Milk Scheme due to be implemented from August 2017.
Answered by George Eustice
If the European Parliament formally endorses the proposal for a revised School Milk Scheme in Plenary on 8 March 2016, it is likely to enter into force in spring 2016 and apply in schools from August 2017. We will use this period to consider the new requirements and consult with interested parties. Decisions about the scheme can be made at regional or national level.