Asked by: Simon Baynes (Conservative - Clwyd South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Windsor Framework on peace and prosperity in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Leo Docherty
The Windsor Framework sets out the way forward for a peaceful and prosperous Northern Ireland by restoring the balance of the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement. It does so by restoring the smooth flow of trade within the UK internal market, safeguarding Northern Ireland’s place in the Union and addressing the democratic deficit that was otherwise at the heart of the old Protocol.
Asked by: Simon Baynes (Conservative - Clwyd South)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
What steps he is taking to support energy intensive industries with energy bills.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Shadow Minister (Energy Security and Net Zero)
Secure and affordable energy is vital to all parts of our economy – especially key sectors like steel and chemicals.
Last week, we announced the British Industry Supercharger ensuring energy costs for our most energy intensive industries are in line with other major economies around the world. The measures will help deliver the affordable, reliable energy that these industries need to become greener, and secure jobs for the future.
Asked by: Simon Baynes (Conservative - Clwyd South)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
What recent assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the Ukrainian defence against Russian forces.
Answered by Ben Wallace
Ukrainian forces remain tenacious and have inflicted heavy losses in their defence against Russia’s illegal invasion. Its forces are better equipped, trained and have higher morale than their often tactically inept and incompetent enemy. Pressure by Ukrainian forces made Russia’s occupation of the west side of the Dnipro River untenable, whereas Russian forces have only made incremental and costly gains against Ukrainian defences in the Donbas.
Asked by: Simon Baynes (Conservative - Clwyd South)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the potential benefits of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund for Wales.
Answered by Robert Buckland
I have regular discussions with Ministerial colleagues on how Wales’ £585 million share of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund will level up communities across Wales.
With local authorities, businesses, the third sector and civil society fully engaged, the UKSPF will mean quicker delivery, better targeting and closer alignment with local priorities than previous EU funding.
Asked by: Simon Baynes (Conservative - Clwyd South)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the Armed Forces Families Strategy.
Answered by Leo Docherty
The Government recognises the critical role that families play in support of Service personnel. The new 10-year Strategy provides a framework for the Nations of the UK, service providers, and other sectors to improve outcomes for families, and strengthen operational effectiveness.
Progress is assessed quarterly against an Action Plan, published on GOV.UK. Formal reports are provided to the Defence Secretary biannually and updates are included in the Covenant Annual Report, providing an opportunity for external scrutiny.
Asked by: Simon Baynes (Conservative - Clwyd South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the benefit of music-based interventions in the care of people living with dementia.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The Department has commissioned research on living well with dementia from the National Institute for Health Research, which includes the methods and effectiveness of music therapy. NHS England and NHS Improvement have published guidance for social prescribing link workers to expand music prescriptions, which is available at the following link:
We will be setting out our strategy on dementia for England for future years in due course.
Asked by: Simon Baynes (Conservative - Clwyd South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to include in the National Dementia Strategy recognition of the benefits of music-based interventions in the care of people living with dementia.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The Department has commissioned research on living well with dementia from the National Institute for Health Research, which includes the methods and effectiveness of music therapy. NHS England and NHS Improvement have published guidance for social prescribing link workers to expand music prescriptions, which is available at the following link:
We will be setting out our strategy on dementia for England for future years in due course.
Asked by: Simon Baynes (Conservative - Clwyd South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
What steps his Department is taking to reform mental health legislation.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
On 13 January we published our White Paper on reforming the Mental Health Act 1983. Our public consultation is open for a further week in which we are inviting views to ensure we develop the right proposals.
We will respond to this with a formal report which will inform the development of our planned Mental Health Bill.
Asked by: Simon Baynes (Conservative - Clwyd South)
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 readiness of the IT systems required for the importing and exporting of plants from 1 January 2021.
Answered by Victoria Prentis
The UK intends to ensure that its sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) regime remains appropriate to address the risks it faces. The plant health services already conduct risk-based checks at the border, determined according to an assessment of the risk presented by the import of different plants and goods from different origins. This risk assessment and risk management approach will apply to SPS goods from the EU from 1 January 2021 and consequently, high-risk items will be subject to import checks to protect Great Britain’s (GB) biosecurity. The highest-risk items (to be regulated from January) are those assessed as presenting a significant risk of introducing harmful pests and diseases from the EU. These risk-based checks will be in line with World Trade Organization SPS principles and consistent with our obligations under the EU Withdrawal Act, where we need to ensure that requirements and processes in retained EU law are corrected so that they are operable at a UK level and focused on UK risks.
For goods imported from the EU, GB will be carrying out a phased implementation of import checks which will be aligned to the risks posed by different regulated commodities. Lower-risk goods will receive a lower frequency of checks. Fees need to be adapted, therefore, to ensure there is no over-recovery of costs. We will begin charging for import services, on goods arriving from the EU, from 1 April 2021. This will enable a more accurate calculation of the fees and will allow businesses and government to implement the change successfully. The methodology used to calculate fees for plant health services was agreed with the trade following a fees review and consultation in 2017. We will consider the impact on SMEs again in our next fees review and subsequent consultation.
In arriving at the decision to delay the introduction of plant health import inspection fees for goods arriving from the EU, officials have had to balance the need to support affected businesses against legal considerations and the rules around managing public money. Delaying these fees until 1 April 2021 strikes the right balance between these competing demands.
In early 2021 the IT systems used to facilitate the import and export of plants and plant products will be changing, moving from the current PEACH and eDomero systems to new services building on IPAFFS and EHC Online technology. The timing and sequencing of this migration will ensure a smooth and orderly transfer between systems and will allow sufficient time for users to become familiar with the new service. We will be providing comprehensive training and support before, during and after migration.
All current and new IT systems have undergone intense scrutiny and stress testing to ensure they can cope with the volumes of plant imports we are anticipating.
We are committed to ensuring our border systems are fully operational after the end of the transition period. To meet this commitment the Government is investing an unprecedented £705 million package of investment for border infrastructure, staff and technology in GB, to ensure our border systems are fully operational after the end of the transition period. The Place of Destination scheme has been introduced as a temporary measure until July when Border Control Posts are functioning for all third-country trade. The Place of Destination scheme has been designed to provide flexibility to businesses, minimising any disruption to trade at the border. There are no fees associated with registration for the Place of Destination scheme.
Defra is pleased that the Horticultural Trade Association is considering a Trusted Trader scheme which may assist business without compromising the effective operation of our plant health import and export controls. As part of the risk-based regime we will review how regulations and processes can be adjusted to reflect the associated risks of specific activities. For instance, we will maintain a risk-based approach to the surveillance of individual business trading in regulated plant material and the frequency of checks on imported plant material will be determined according to the risk profile of such goods.
Asked by: Simon Baynes (Conservative - Clwyd South)
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 potential economic effect on garden retailers of proposals for place of destination registration.
Answered by Victoria Prentis
The UK intends to ensure that its sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) regime remains appropriate to address the risks it faces. The plant health services already conduct risk-based checks at the border, determined according to an assessment of the risk presented by the import of different plants and goods from different origins. This risk assessment and risk management approach will apply to SPS goods from the EU from 1 January 2021 and consequently, high-risk items will be subject to import checks to protect Great Britain’s (GB) biosecurity. The highest-risk items (to be regulated from January) are those assessed as presenting a significant risk of introducing harmful pests and diseases from the EU. These risk-based checks will be in line with World Trade Organization SPS principles and consistent with our obligations under the EU Withdrawal Act, where we need to ensure that requirements and processes in retained EU law are corrected so that they are operable at a UK level and focused on UK risks.
For goods imported from the EU, GB will be carrying out a phased implementation of import checks which will be aligned to the risks posed by different regulated commodities. Lower-risk goods will receive a lower frequency of checks. Fees need to be adapted, therefore, to ensure there is no over-recovery of costs. We will begin charging for import services, on goods arriving from the EU, from 1 April 2021. This will enable a more accurate calculation of the fees and will allow businesses and government to implement the change successfully. The methodology used to calculate fees for plant health services was agreed with the trade following a fees review and consultation in 2017. We will consider the impact on SMEs again in our next fees review and subsequent consultation.
In arriving at the decision to delay the introduction of plant health import inspection fees for goods arriving from the EU, officials have had to balance the need to support affected businesses against legal considerations and the rules around managing public money. Delaying these fees until 1 April 2021 strikes the right balance between these competing demands.
In early 2021 the IT systems used to facilitate the import and export of plants and plant products will be changing, moving from the current PEACH and eDomero systems to new services building on IPAFFS and EHC Online technology. The timing and sequencing of this migration will ensure a smooth and orderly transfer between systems and will allow sufficient time for users to become familiar with the new service. We will be providing comprehensive training and support before, during and after migration.
All current and new IT systems have undergone intense scrutiny and stress testing to ensure they can cope with the volumes of plant imports we are anticipating.
We are committed to ensuring our border systems are fully operational after the end of the transition period. To meet this commitment the Government is investing an unprecedented £705 million package of investment for border infrastructure, staff and technology in GB, to ensure our border systems are fully operational after the end of the transition period. The Place of Destination scheme has been introduced as a temporary measure until July when Border Control Posts are functioning for all third-country trade. The Place of Destination scheme has been designed to provide flexibility to businesses, minimising any disruption to trade at the border. There are no fees associated with registration for the Place of Destination scheme.
Defra is pleased that the Horticultural Trade Association is considering a Trusted Trader scheme which may assist business without compromising the effective operation of our plant health import and export controls. As part of the risk-based regime we will review how regulations and processes can be adjusted to reflect the associated risks of specific activities. For instance, we will maintain a risk-based approach to the surveillance of individual business trading in regulated plant material and the frequency of checks on imported plant material will be determined according to the risk profile of such goods.