Asked by: Lord Framlingham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the fall in overall domestic lamb production resulting from the proposed changes in agricultural policies and payments.
Answered by Lord Douglas-Miller - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK has a high degree of food security, built on supply from diverse sources; strong domestic production as well as imports through stable trade routes. We produce 60% of all the food we need, and 73% of food which we can grow or rear in the UK for all or part of the year. These figures have changed little over the last 20 years: historical production figures, including for the commodities you reference, can be found in “Agriculture in the United Kingdom”, a publication of annual statistics about agriculture in the United Kingdom at GOV.UK. UK consumers have access through international trade to food products that cannot be produced here, or at least not on a year-round basis. This supplements domestic production, and also ensures that any disruption from risks such as adverse weather or disease does not affect the UK's overall security of supply.
Domestically, the Government has committed to broadly maintain the current level of food we produce. This includes sustainably boosting production in sectors where there are post-Brexit opportunities, including horticulture and seafood, and the Agriculture Act imposes a duty on the Secretary of State to have regard to the need to encourage environmentally sustainable food production. Our farming reforms aim to support a highly productive food producing sector by supporting farmers to manage land in a way that improves food production and is more environmentally sustainable, and by paying farmers to produce public goods such as water quality, biodiversity, animal health and welfare and climate change mitigation, alongside food production.
Speaking at the recent National Farmers Union Conference in Birmingham, the Prime Minister and the Environment Secretary announced a range of measures to boost productivity and resilience in the sector, including the largest ever grant offer for farmers in the coming financial year, expected to total £427 million. This includes doubling investment in productivity schemes, bolstering schemes such as the Improving Farming Productivity grant, which provides support for farmers to invest in automation and robotics, as well as solar installations to build on-farm energy security. The Prime Minister also announced a new annual UK-wide Food Security Index, which will capture and present the data needed to monitor levels of food security, and announced plans to hold the Farm to Fork Summit annually.
Asked by: Lord Framlingham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the fall in overall domestic milk production resulting from the proposed changes in agricultural policies and payments.
Answered by Lord Douglas-Miller - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK has a high degree of food security, built on supply from diverse sources; strong domestic production as well as imports through stable trade routes. We produce 60% of all the food we need, and 73% of food which we can grow or rear in the UK for all or part of the year. These figures have changed little over the last 20 years: historical production figures, including for the commodities you reference, can be found in “Agriculture in the United Kingdom”, a publication of annual statistics about agriculture in the United Kingdom at GOV.UK. UK consumers have access through international trade to food products that cannot be produced here, or at least not on a year-round basis. This supplements domestic production, and also ensures that any disruption from risks such as adverse weather or disease does not affect the UK's overall security of supply.
Domestically, the Government has committed to broadly maintain the current level of food we produce. This includes sustainably boosting production in sectors where there are post-Brexit opportunities, including horticulture and seafood, and the Agriculture Act imposes a duty on the Secretary of State to have regard to the need to encourage environmentally sustainable food production. Our farming reforms aim to support a highly productive food producing sector by supporting farmers to manage land in a way that improves food production and is more environmentally sustainable, and by paying farmers to produce public goods such as water quality, biodiversity, animal health and welfare and climate change mitigation, alongside food production.
Speaking at the recent National Farmers Union Conference in Birmingham, the Prime Minister and the Environment Secretary announced a range of measures to boost productivity and resilience in the sector, including the largest ever grant offer for farmers in the coming financial year, expected to total £427 million. This includes doubling investment in productivity schemes, bolstering schemes such as the Improving Farming Productivity grant, which provides support for farmers to invest in automation and robotics, as well as solar installations to build on-farm energy security. The Prime Minister also announced a new annual UK-wide Food Security Index, which will capture and present the data needed to monitor levels of food security, and announced plans to hold the Farm to Fork Summit annually.
Asked by: Lord Framlingham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the fall in overall domestic food production resulting from the proposed changes in agricultural policies and payments.
Answered by Lord Douglas-Miller - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK has a high degree of food security, built on supply from diverse sources; strong domestic production as well as imports through stable trade routes. We produce 60% of all the food we need, and 73% of food which we can grow or rear in the UK for all or part of the year. These figures have changed little over the last 20 years: historical production figures, including for the commodities you reference, can be found in “Agriculture in the United Kingdom”, a publication of annual statistics about agriculture in the United Kingdom at GOV.UK. UK consumers have access through international trade to food products that cannot be produced here, or at least not on a year-round basis. This supplements domestic production, and also ensures that any disruption from risks such as adverse weather or disease does not affect the UK's overall security of supply.
Domestically, the Government has committed to broadly maintain the current level of food we produce. This includes sustainably boosting production in sectors where there are post-Brexit opportunities, including horticulture and seafood, and the Agriculture Act imposes a duty on the Secretary of State to have regard to the need to encourage environmentally sustainable food production. Our farming reforms aim to support a highly productive food producing sector by supporting farmers to manage land in a way that improves food production and is more environmentally sustainable, and by paying farmers to produce public goods such as water quality, biodiversity, animal health and welfare and climate change mitigation, alongside food production.
Speaking at the recent National Farmers Union Conference in Birmingham, the Prime Minister and the Environment Secretary announced a range of measures to boost productivity and resilience in the sector, including the largest ever grant offer for farmers in the coming financial year, expected to total £427 million. This includes doubling investment in productivity schemes, bolstering schemes such as the Improving Farming Productivity grant, which provides support for farmers to invest in automation and robotics, as well as solar installations to build on-farm energy security. The Prime Minister also announced a new annual UK-wide Food Security Index, which will capture and present the data needed to monitor levels of food security, and announced plans to hold the Farm to Fork Summit annually.
Asked by: Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op) - Croydon North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Fourth Report of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee of Session 2022-23 on Rural Mental Health, HC248, published on 9 May 2023, what progress his Department has made on implementing the recommendations in the section entitled Rural mental health service provision, policy and strategy development.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We remain committed to supporting thriving rural communities, as set out in our report Unleashing Rural Opportunity, published in June 2023.
Since the launch of the EFRA Committee’s inquiry in 2021, considerable progress has been made to help ensure access to mental health services in rural areas. The Government published its Response to the EFRA Committee Report on Rural Mental Health in October 2023.
The response recognised that people living and working in rural areas may face specific challenges in accessing the mental health services that they need and set out the various actions being taken forward to address mental health needs.
Key actions include:
To help improve the service and support on offer to farmers we will make up to £500,000 available to deliver projects that support mental health in the farming sector. This will build on the support already on offer through the Farming Resilience Fund, which has benefitted over 19,000 farmers to date.
Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support UK farmers to increase the production of wheat, barley, oats, and other cereals.
Answered by Lord Douglas-Miller - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Our fantastic British farmers are world-leaders and carefully plan their planting to suit the weather, their soil type, and their long-term agronomic strategy.
It is not Government policy to determine which crops farmers should prioritise to include in their crop rotation, but we will continue to support farmers, so they can make the right decisions for them and the productivity of their land.
At the NFU conference, the Government announced a range of measures to boost productivity and resilience in the farming sector, including the largest ever grant offer for farmers in the coming financial year, expected to total £427 million. This includes doubling investment in productivity schemes, bolstering schemes such as the Improving Farming Productivity grant, the Water Management grant, the adding Value grant. Lastly the Farming Equipment and Technology fund can fund productivity items from a specified list of equipment, including eligible drills, fertiliser applicators, and grain dryers, which is due to open in the coming weeks.
Defra’s Genetic Improvement Networks (GINs) on Wheat, Oilseed Rape and Pulses crops aim to improve the main UK crops by identifying genetic traits to improve their productivity, sustainability and resilience. Across the GINs we have already successfully identified genetic traits that have improved resilience to climate change and common pests and diseases, and we are working with breeders to incorporate these traits into elite UK crop varieties.
Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking with (a) banks and (b) other financial institutions to improve the financial sustainability of those organisations.
Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is committed to retaining the UK’s position as one of the most innovative and competitive financial centres in the world. The Chancellor recently set out an ambitious reform programme at Mansion House, building on the success of the Edinburgh Reforms, which will help to deliver the Government’s vision for a financial sector that is open, sustainable, technologically innovative, and globally competitive. Additionally, the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 introduced new secondary objectives for both the Financial Conduct Authority and Prudential Regulatory Authority to facilitate the international competitiveness of the UK economy (including the financial services sector), and its growth in the medium to long term.
Financial stability is a pre-requisite for economic growth and is crucial for the competitiveness of the financial services sector. The government, working closely with the financial regulators, has made major improvements to the resilience of the banking system since the financial crisis with capital requirements for banks now three times higher. The government has also considered it a priority to build resilience in the non-bank system and has been working closely with the regulators and international bodies to achieve this.
The Bank of England also undertakes regular stress tests on the UK’s major banks to test their resilience to severe economic scenarios and for the first time will be undertaking a system wide exploratory scenario which aims to improve the understanding of how banks and non-banks behave during stress and how these behaviours might interact to amplify shocks.
Asked by: Lisa Nandy (Labour - Wigan)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what assessment he has made of the food security situation in Somalia as of 16 February 2024; and what steps his Department is taking to help support those most in need.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
Food insecurity levels in Somalia remain high, driven by climate change and conflict. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification assessment estimates that 4 million Somalis are facing high levels of food insecurity in the first three months of 2024.
The UK is providing £53.5 million in lifesaving humanitarian support this financial year, including £16.5 million for El Niño response efforts. We are also tackling the drivers of food insecurity to prevent future crises. In November, the Prime Minister announced up to £100 million in funding for Somalia to increase resilience to future climate shocks over the next four years.
Asked by: Mark Francois (Conservative - Rayleigh and Wickford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many (a) full and (b) part time NHS Supply Chain employees were of what (i) grade and (ii) salary band in the last financial year.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS Supply Chain is managed by Supply Chain Coordination Limited (SCCL) and was established in 2018 under the Department of Health and Social Care Procurement Transformation Programme. NHS Supply Chain includes both employees of SCCL and services providers including those undertaking Procurement Services, Logistics Services and IT Services. For the purposes of this response we have included SCCL employees rather than those of the wider supply chain.
The basic salary costs for the financial year 2022/23 for SCCL employees was £25,643,751.68. The headcount for the years 2020/21 to 2022/23 is as follows:
- 2020/21: 394;
- 2021/22: 449; and
- 2022/23: 682
During the period from 2021 to 2024, several organisational changes led to subsequent changes in responsibility within NHS Supply Chain and growth in those employed directly by SCCL. The increase in headcount in 2022/23 is due to the transfer of colleagues from former services providers of procurement services. These were phased across the financial year, in July, October and February, and therefore the reported total headcount for 2022/23 relates to the outturn number of staff. Previous increases were due to the replacement of day rate contractors with full time employees and investment in roles to strengthen the resilience of the supply chain, in response to the findings of the Boardman Review. SCCL staff are not part of Agenda for Change and, as such, our grading does not match those in other parts of the National Health Service. The following table shows the employees of SCCL in 2022/23, of which 645 were full time and 37 were part time, broken down by salary band:
Salary band | Number of employees |
£0.00 - £25,000 | 38 |
£25,001 - £50,000 | 362 |
£50,001 - £75,000 | 180 |
£75,001 - £100,000 | 43 |
£100,001 - £125,000 | 18 |
£125,001 - £150,000 | 6 |
£150,001 - £175,000 | 1 |
£175,001 - £200,000 | 2 |
As of March 2023, prior to the transfer of procurement teams into SCCL, the total headcount in SCCL plus external procurement service providers was 1272. As of the end of March 2024 this will be 1149 on a like for like basis.
Asked by: Mark Francois (Conservative - Rayleigh and Wickford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many full-time staff were employed by NHS Supply Chain in the (a) 2020-21, (b) 2021-22 and (c) 2022-23 financial year.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS Supply Chain is managed by Supply Chain Coordination Limited (SCCL) and was established in 2018 under the Department of Health and Social Care Procurement Transformation Programme. NHS Supply Chain includes both employees of SCCL and services providers including those undertaking Procurement Services, Logistics Services and IT Services. For the purposes of this response we have included SCCL employees rather than those of the wider supply chain.
The basic salary costs for the financial year 2022/23 for SCCL employees was £25,643,751.68. The headcount for the years 2020/21 to 2022/23 is as follows:
- 2020/21: 394;
- 2021/22: 449; and
- 2022/23: 682
During the period from 2021 to 2024, several organisational changes led to subsequent changes in responsibility within NHS Supply Chain and growth in those employed directly by SCCL. The increase in headcount in 2022/23 is due to the transfer of colleagues from former services providers of procurement services. These were phased across the financial year, in July, October and February, and therefore the reported total headcount for 2022/23 relates to the outturn number of staff. Previous increases were due to the replacement of day rate contractors with full time employees and investment in roles to strengthen the resilience of the supply chain, in response to the findings of the Boardman Review. SCCL staff are not part of Agenda for Change and, as such, our grading does not match those in other parts of the National Health Service. The following table shows the employees of SCCL in 2022/23, of which 645 were full time and 37 were part time, broken down by salary band:
Salary band | Number of employees |
£0.00 - £25,000 | 38 |
£25,001 - £50,000 | 362 |
£50,001 - £75,000 | 180 |
£75,001 - £100,000 | 43 |
£100,001 - £125,000 | 18 |
£125,001 - £150,000 | 6 |
£150,001 - £175,000 | 1 |
£175,001 - £200,000 | 2 |
As of March 2023, prior to the transfer of procurement teams into SCCL, the total headcount in SCCL plus external procurement service providers was 1272. As of the end of March 2024 this will be 1149 on a like for like basis.
Asked by: Mark Francois (Conservative - Rayleigh and Wickford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the total salary cost was of NHS Supply Chain employees in the 2022-23 financial year.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS Supply Chain is managed by Supply Chain Coordination Limited (SCCL) and was established in 2018 under the Department of Health and Social Care Procurement Transformation Programme. NHS Supply Chain includes both employees of SCCL and services providers including those undertaking Procurement Services, Logistics Services and IT Services. For the purposes of this response we have included SCCL employees rather than those of the wider supply chain.
The basic salary costs for the financial year 2022/23 for SCCL employees was £25,643,751.68. The headcount for the years 2020/21 to 2022/23 is as follows:
- 2020/21: 394;
- 2021/22: 449; and
- 2022/23: 682
During the period from 2021 to 2024, several organisational changes led to subsequent changes in responsibility within NHS Supply Chain and growth in those employed directly by SCCL. The increase in headcount in 2022/23 is due to the transfer of colleagues from former services providers of procurement services. These were phased across the financial year, in July, October and February, and therefore the reported total headcount for 2022/23 relates to the outturn number of staff. Previous increases were due to the replacement of day rate contractors with full time employees and investment in roles to strengthen the resilience of the supply chain, in response to the findings of the Boardman Review. SCCL staff are not part of Agenda for Change and, as such, our grading does not match those in other parts of the National Health Service. The following table shows the employees of SCCL in 2022/23, of which 645 were full time and 37 were part time, broken down by salary band:
Salary band | Number of employees |
£0.00 - £25,000 | 38 |
£25,001 - £50,000 | 362 |
£50,001 - £75,000 | 180 |
£75,001 - £100,000 | 43 |
£100,001 - £125,000 | 18 |
£125,001 - £150,000 | 6 |
£150,001 - £175,000 | 1 |
£175,001 - £200,000 | 2 |
As of March 2023, prior to the transfer of procurement teams into SCCL, the total headcount in SCCL plus external procurement service providers was 1272. As of the end of March 2024 this will be 1149 on a like for like basis.