Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Wendy Chamberlain and George Eustice

Thursday 4th March 2021 Commons Chamber

[Wendy Chamberlain (North East Fife) (LD)]

What assessment he has made of the effect of the UK-EU trade and co-operation agreement on Scottish fishing businesses.

[The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (George Eustice)]

Under the UK-EU trade and co-operation agreement, the UK has secured tariff-free access for fisheries products and a substantial transfer of quota from the European Union, benefiting fishing communities across the UK, including Scotland. The transfer is equivalent to 25% of the value of the EU’s historic catch in UK waters, worth £146 million delivered over five years. All fisheries Administrations will have regulatory control, giving Scotland powers over the largest part of the UK’s exclusive economic zone.

[Wendy Chamberlain]

At the beginning of the year, the Secretary of State stood at the Dispatch Box and told Members that difficulties with the UK-EU fishing trade were just “teething problems”, but two months on those problems are still ongoing, and the Government’s compensation fund is clearly insufficient. On Tuesday, the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee was told that in the medium term, we will see a lot more of the smaller companies stopping trade in Europe, and it may ultimately be their demise. That is terrible news for the East Neuk in North East Fife and their fishing fleet. Does the Secretary of State still agree with the words that he wrote in 2016, when he said:

“From the point of view of the fishing industry, the case for leaving the EU is overwhelming”?

[George Eustice]

Yes, I do still believe that, and we have a 25% uplift in quota as a result of the trade and co-operation agreement and regulatory freedom that we did not have before. It is worth noting that we are now seeing lorry loads of fish clearing border control posts in France typically in under an hour—sometimes a little longer, but it is an improving situation. Volumes of trade are back up to around 85% of normal volumes.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Wendy Chamberlain and George Eustice

Thursday 21st January 2021 Commons Chamber

[George Eustice]

My hon. Friend’s constituency is in a unique area with a unique geography, as he knows, and it does face frequent flooding—it was among the worst-affected when we had the floods last year. We will shortly issue a consultation on changes to the flooding formula, and one thing that we want is for greater weight to be placed on frequently flooded communities.

[Wendy Chamberlain (North East Fife) (LD) [V]]

I have a constituent who wants to start a lobster hatchery, but they have been shocked by the impact on the fishing sector of our departure from the EU. Should anybody interested in coming into the fishing industry even bother?

[George Eustice]

Of course they should, because in the white fish sector and the quota sector we have secured an uplift in quota that is front-loaded; the uplift is 15% next year. We will also have full regulatory autonomy on technical conservation measures, which gives us the ability to support the shellfish sector far better than we were able to in the European Union.

Flooding

Debate between Wendy Chamberlain and George Eustice

Monday 24th February 2020 Commons Chamber

[George Eustice]

I am more than happy to join my hon. Friend in commending the Environment Agency staff, local authority staff and our emergency services, including the fire brigade and the police, all of whom have been working incredibly hard to protect people in their homes and, if necessary, to assist them in evacuation.

[Wendy Chamberlain (North East Fife) (LD)]

My constituents have been battered by gale-force winds and rain for the last three weekends, resulting in localised flooding of the River Eden. This is not normal; it is the result of inaction on a climate emergency that is only going to get worse. Urgent action beyond that outlined in the Minister’s statement is required, so will the Government look to moving forward the net zero target to help to prevent the climate change disaster that is blighting our communities?

[George Eustice]

We have made more progress than any other OECD country in decarbonising our economy to date. We are the first major economy to commit to net zero by 2050 and, later this year, we will, of course, be hosting COP26. This is a Government who take climate change very seriously, and it is the case that extreme weather events such as we have seen are linked to climate change.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Wendy Chamberlain and George Eustice

Thursday 6th February 2020 Commons Chamber

[Wendy Chamberlain (North East Fife) (LD)]

One way to reduce food waste is to rebalance the relationships between suppliers and supermarkets. Will the Government therefore commit to expanding the power of the Groceries Code Adjudicator and amending the groceries supply code of practice to better protect our farmers’ interests and reduce the amount of unnecessary food waste that can occur due to supermarkets’ excessively strict requirements?

[George Eustice]

Our Agriculture Bill has an entire section on fairness in the supply chain, enabling us to introduce regulations that build on what we have started with the Groceries Code Adjudicator to ensure that there is fairness and transparency in that supply chain.