Asked by: Chris Loder (Conservative - West Dorset)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many NHS dentists there are in West Dorset.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
While data is not held specifically for West Dorset, there were 354 general dental practitioners delivering National Health Service care in Dorset in the 12-month period to 31 March 2021.
Asked by: Chris Loder (Conservative - West Dorset)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will release the method of slaughter statistics for (a) 2019, (b) 2020 and (c) 2021.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The last method of slaughter survey was undertaken by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) in 2018 and the results were published in February 2019 - Farm animals: survey of slaughter methods 2018 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
The survey is not conducted annually and we are planning for it to be carried out again by the FSA in early 2022.
Asked by: Chris Loder (Conservative - West Dorset)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
What steps she is taking to support UK farmers during negotiations on a future trade deal with Australia.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
A UK-Australia deal will open up new opportunities for British farming. British beef and lamb are the best in the world and a deal with Australia is a first step to joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and opening up new opportunities for our agri-food exports in growing CPTPP markets across four continents. Any deal we sign with Australia will also include protections for UK agriculture and will not undercut UK farmers or compromise our high standards.
Asked by: Chris Loder (Conservative - West Dorset)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to help small fishing vessels, that have catches below the minimum threshold, to obtain support from the Seafood Response Fund.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The Seafood Response Fund did not have restrictions based on minimum vessel size but did utilise a minimum sales threshold of £10,000 recorded on sales notes supplied by registered buyers and sellers of fish between 1 January 2019 and 31 December 2019. The scheme was targeted in this way to ensure that Defra only supported businesses that participated in the seafood sector on a fulltime basis. Wider government support was available for businesses impacted by COVID-19, and the £10,000 threshold ensured the fisheries scheme represented value for money and was targeted at commercial fishing businesses that were reliant on seafood as their main source of income.
The Government remains committed to supporting the seafood sector, including small fishing vessels, and at the last Spending Review we announced £32.7 million in funding to support the sector. In England some of this funding is being used to deliver the Fisheries and Seafood Scheme, which will provide grant funding for projects that help seafood businesses of all sizes adapt to new export conditions, recover from the impacts of COVID-19 and achieve other sector priorities. Businesses outside England should contact their own fishing administrations to see what other support may be available.
Asked by: Chris Loder (Conservative - West Dorset)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the purpose is of the operations undertaken by the Light Dragoons Regiment in Mali.
Answered by James Heappey
UK Armed Forces, led by the Light Dragoons, joined the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali, MINUSMA, in December 2020. UK troops are fulfilling tasks mandated by the UN Security Council as a unit under UN command. In response to the Mission’s capability requirements, the UK task group is delivering a specialist reconnaissance capability for MINUSMA, improving the mission’s situational awareness and overall performance, particularly its ability to protect civilians. The UK contingent is enabling intelligence-led operations in support of the mission’s mandate, offering crucial support to the mission to better understand threats and to shape the mission’s response. The UK deployment to MINUSMA reflects our continued commitment to, and leadership in, multilateralism, and international peace and security. It also forms part of HMG’s wider efforts in Mali and the Sahel, alongside diplomatic and development activity in support of regional stability.
Asked by: Chris Loder (Conservative - West Dorset)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy, what plans he has for The Rifles, the successor regiment of the Devonshire and Dorset Regiment.
Answered by James Heappey
The Secretary of State set out his vision for the Armed Forces when he launched the Defence Command Paper "Defence in a Competitive Age" on 22 March 2021. As he made clear, a transformation such as this requires significant reorganisation of force structures.
The Army will therefore in the next several months refine and test the designs, capabilities and structure of Army units before more detailed announcements can be made. Future announcements will include the Reserve Forces 2030 review, which builds on the work already done on utilising our reserves to make sure the whole force is better integrated and more productive.
I can however in the interim confirm that, as the Defence Secretary said, 4th Battalion The Rifles, currently a Specialised Infantry Battalion, will be one of the four battalions which seeds the new Ranger Regiment, carrying through its historic character and ethos to the benefit of the new unit.
Asked by: Chris Loder (Conservative - West Dorset)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
What recent assessment she has made of the potential effect of her Department’s trade policies on UK farmers.
Answered by Graham Stuart
Our trade policies will open global markets for UK farmers and lower their input costs. We have successfully rolled over EU FTAs but now want to give farmers enhanced access to countries with whom the EU could not or would not do a deal. We are giving farmers a stronger voice in trade policy, putting the Trade and Agriculture Commission on a statutory footing and we have just launched a major promotion campaign for the industry.
Asked by: Chris Loder (Conservative - West Dorset)
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 payments made by the Rural Payments Agency are received on time.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) has a number of schemes which provide financial support to the rural economy. The three main land schemes, which offer an annual payment, are Basic Payment Scheme (BPS), Countryside Stewardship (CS) and the Environmental Stewardship Scheme (ES).
Famers submitting a valid claim under these schemes will normally receive a payment between 1 December and 30 June the following year.
For 2019 we released by 30 June:
o BPS 2019 – 84,225 (99.9%) payments worth £1.79bn
o CS 2019 – 10,899 (94.2%) worth £88.46m
o ES 2019 – 12,020 (97.7%) worth £182.22m
There are several reasons for why payments may be delayed beyond the 30 June such as ongoing discussions with claimants, the resolution of probate, or ongoing fraud investigations.
Payments for 2020 claims began in December and are ongoing. The RPA delivered its best ever December payment performance, paying around 98% of BPS claims by the end of the year, despite the challenges caused by the Coronavirus pandemic.
Asked by: Chris Loder (Conservative - West Dorset)
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 (a) size and (b) capability of Hezbollah’s weapons arsenal in southern Lebanon.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The UK is aware of reports that Hizballah continues to amass an arsenal of weapons within Lebanon, in direct contravention of relevant UN Security Council Resolutions (UNSCRs). The UK Government regularly raises this at the UN Security Council, and we call on the Lebanese authorities to abide by provisions of the relevant UNSCRs. Hizballah's destabilising influence threatens regional stability and endangers Lebanon and its people.
Asked by: Chris Loder (Conservative - West Dorset)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, where domiciliary carers sit on the priority list for covid-19 vaccination.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) consists of independent experts who advise the Government on which vaccines the United Kingdom should use and provide advice on prioritisation at a population level. For the first phase, the JCVI has advised that the vaccine be given to care home residents and staff, as well as frontline health and social care workers, then to the rest of the population in order of age and clinical risk factors
Those who are the main carer of an elderly or disabled person, whose welfare may be at risk if the carer falls ill, should also be offered vaccination in priority group six.