Asked by: Baroness Parminter (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to review the UK's fishing quota, in particular with regard to whether small-scale fishermen receive a fair share of that quota.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The Government remains committed to fishing sustainably and supporting the UK’s inshore fleet. Defra is in the final stages of concluding a quota realignment exercise which, when complete, will represent a 14% uplift in the amount of quota the inshore fleet currently receives. Quota units which were under-utilised by Producer Organisations (POs) in 2012 were identified for re-allocation. Three quarters of the Fisheries Quota Allocations relating to underutilised quota from POs has now been permanently realigned to the inshore fleet, with the balance to be completed as soon as possible.
The Government has also taken steps to support England’s inshore fleet under the landing obligation, or discard ban. The demersal landing obligation comes into force on 1 January 2016, following the successful introduction of a discard ban for pelagic fisheries in 2015. The introduction of the demersal landing obligation will be phased in for all quota fisheries between 2016 and 2019. The discard plans for 2016 introduce landing obligations for clearly defined fisheries, including haddock, whiting, sole, Nephrops, hake and plaice.
As a result of vessels no longer being able to discard, an uplift in quota will be awarded to fishermen so they can land formerly discarded fish. The allocation of quota uplift is a devolved matter, and Minister Eustice announced the Government’s policy for allocating quota uplift for the English fleet in October this year.
In 2016, the non-sector pools will receive the first 100 tonnes of any quota uplift received and then 10% of any remainder, before the rest is issued to the POs on behalf of their members. Defra consulted on the implementation of the demersal landing obligation and responses indicate that the inshore fleets have high discard rates as a result of low quotas. The Government considers this quota uplift to go some way to helping small-scale fishermen adapt to the first year of the demersal discard ban.
As the landing obligation represents the largest change in fisheries management for a generation, it is important that we continue to support all our vessels as they adapt to this significant change. We must therefore take stock of all that is going on in fisheries management before any further decisions are made with regard to quota reallocation in the future.
Asked by: Baroness Parminter (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they intend to publish the report of the Lead Ammunition Group, which was submitted on 3 June, and their response.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The Government is considering the independent Lead Ammunition Group’s report and will respond as soon as possible.
Asked by: Baroness Parminter (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the amendments adopted by the European Parliament in September to the proposed Directive on the cloning of certain species for farming purposes (COM (2013) 0892); and what advice they gave to United Kingdom MEPs prior to their adoption.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The UK sees no justification for either the original European Commission proposals for further restrictions on cloning activity or the European Parliament’s proposed extension to the progeny and descendants of clones; and all animal species.
The science is clear that the meat and milk from clones and their offspring is as healthy as from more traditionally reared animals; and EU and national rules already exist to protect the welfare of the livestock concerned.
What is more, there is no cloning of farm animals conducted in the EU at present, so introducing any further controls, will not materially increase welfare standards within the Community.
Briefing to this effect was provided to UK MEPs in advance of the Parliament’s discussions.
Asked by: Baroness Parminter (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their policy on legal imports of lion-hunting trophies into the European Union.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
Under international rules set by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), a hunting trophy from an endangered species can be exported only if the exporting country is satisfied that the hunt was both legal and sustainable in terms of its impact on the overall population of the species in that country.
However, in the light of growing concerns about the sustainability of the hunting of some species, including lions, we have worked within the EU to introduce stricter controls on the import of hunting trophies of particular species. These require the importing country as well as the exporting country to consider the issue of sustainability. In this way the import of hunting trophies of certain species from certain countries is currently prohibited by the EU.
We will continue to monitor the impact of trophy hunting and will work with the EU and our international partners to put in place greater protection, including prohibiting imports, if this is shown to be needed.
Asked by: Baroness Parminter (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what services they will introduce to replace the advisory, training and assessment services on the government's timber procurement policy currently provided by the Central Point of Expertise on Timber when funding for its work comes to an end in 2016.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The Central Point of Expertise on Timber (CPET) has been in place since 2004 and has advised and trained procurers across the public sector on implementation of the UK Government’s Timber Procurement Policy (TPP). CPET has been educating public procurers to meet their requirements under TPP and guidance will continue to be made available via the GOV.UK website. The certification schemes FSC and PEFC have been recently reviewed and it has been confirmed that they continue to provide Category A evidence of meeting the TPP. Defra is working with stakeholders who may wish to create additional support services for procurers of timber.
Asked by: Baroness Parminter (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will publish the responses that were received following the letter sent by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Water, Forestry, Rural Affairs and Resource Management to all departments in March asking how each was addressing the timber procurement policy.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
We have no plans to publish the responses from Permanent Secretaries to Defra officials; however, where appropriate, Departments have covered timber under their supply chain reporting under the Greening Government Commitments.
Defra officials and the Central Point of Expertise on Timber (CPET) have used the responses to the letter sent to 15 Departments, to inform facilitated discussions with Departments. These discussions provided targeted support for effective Timber Procurement Policy (TPP) reporting for managers and leaders, as well as an opportunity to share good practice. For example, a standard set of legal clauses has been developed (in line with guidance from Cabinet Office) for use in future construction procurement projects, to mandate compliance against the TPP and provide for appropriate evidence from the supply chain. Other Departments have Guidance Notes to support the TPP and have included CPET-recommended wording in technical specifications. CPET continue to train new procurers across Government, to ensure they understand how to implement the TPP. This week 30 staff from MoD are attending training.
Asked by: Baroness Parminter (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they plan to address reductions in woodland planting rates.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
£31m per year of new RDP funding will be spent on forestry, with £13m being spent on woodland management and £18m on new planting. By investing in woodlands, Countryside Stewardship will help us fulfil the Government’s manifesto commitment to plant another 11 million trees by supporting the creation of around 24,711 acres of new woodland.
Asked by: Baroness Parminter (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the 2014–15 Greening Government Commitments report is in preparation; and whether that document will report on the commitments set out in the 2012 Natural Environment White Paper.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The 2014-15 Annual Report on Government’s progress on the Greening Government Commitments is in preparation and expected to be published later this year.
The Greening Government Commitments to take action on sustainable procurement and to report transparently on actions to address biodiversity and reducing the environmental impacts of food and catering services are aligned with the 2011 Natural Environment White Paper commitments. Reporting on both of these issues is therefore routinely incorporated in each year’s Greening Government Commitment report, including the upcoming 2014/15 report.
Asked by: Baroness Parminter (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether all government departments assess the impact on air quality when drawing up directly or indirectly related policies or legislation since the Supreme Court judgment on 29 April <i>in R (on the application of ClientEarth) v Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs</i> [2015] UKSC 28 and [2013] UKSC 25.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
HM Treasury’s Green Book guidance provides the framework for economic appraisal and evaluation of all Central Government policies, programmes and projects. In line with its advice, departments should reflect air quality impacts in decision-making wherever possible. Specific guidance is provided for government departments to use in valuing the impacts of air quality. This guidance has been available since 2013.
The Government is currently consulting on draft air quality plans. Alongside the air quality plans interim appraisal guidance has been published to reflect the latest health evidence related to Nitrogen Dioxide. This guidance supplements the Green Book guidance.
Both sets of guidance are available on the gov.uk website. Copies are attached.
Asked by: Baroness Parminter (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government why the Expert Committee on Pesticides has not published the minutes of its meeting of 20 May; and what assessment they have made of whether, by not publishing those minutes, the Committee has breached its terms of reference.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The minutes of the meeting of the 20 May have been published. They were published on 23 July 2015.