Asked by: Earl of Leicester (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what they are doing to encourage more people to enter careers in arboriculture.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
The department wants to ensure that people get high quality, impartial advice on the full range of education, training, and career pathways, including careers in arboriculture.
Employers have designed three high-quality apprenticeship standards in arboriculture at entry level 2, level 4, and level 6, to support them to develop the skilled workforces they need. The department recognises that current numbers of apprentices who complete apprenticeships in arboriculture is low. To support more employers and learners to access apprenticeships, the department is increasing funding for apprenticeships in England to £2.7 billion by the 2024/25 financial year. Based on the same employer-led standards as apprenticeships, T Levels in Agriculture, Land Management and Production will be taught for the first time this September. This course allows students to specialise in Trees and Woodlands Management.
The department works with the Careers & Enterprise Company to support secondary schools and colleges to provide pupils with at least one meaningful interaction with employers per pupil per year, an experience of the workplace by age 16 and a further experience by age 18. There are lots of ways employers can engage with the Careers & Enterprise Company, including volunteering to work with individual schools or colleges and working with Careers Hubs on a larger local or regional scale. Industry partnerships support business and sector bodies to share up-to-date information about new pathways into their sector to education leaders and young people and increase the representation of their sector nationally. Employers can find out more via the Careers & Enterprise Company website at: https://www.careersandenterprise.co.uk/employers/.
The National Careers Service (NCS) supports both young people over 13 and adults in offering careers advice across all employment sectors. The website includes around 800 job profiles, describing what these roles entail, qualifications, and entry routes. The NCS can also work with industry to disseminate information to career leaders and careers advisers, in schools, colleges, and in the community via bulletins and newsletters.
The department also funds the Apprenticeship Support and Knowledge (ASK) programme, which provides information, advice and guidance to young people in years 10 to 13 in schools, and further education colleges. At a cost of £3.2 million per year, the programme reached 680,000 young people in the 2021/22 academic year, and over 2,000 schools. It supports young people, parents and carers and teachers into understanding and applying for apprenticeships, T Levels, and Traineeships.
Employers and professional bodies in the arboriculture sector can sign up to Inspiring the Future, run by the Education and Employers charity. This free programme allows volunteers to visit state schools to talk to pupils about their jobs. This will raise the profile of various careers within the arboriculture sector. This is available at: https://www.inspiringthefuture.org.
Asked by: Earl of Leicester (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Markham on 5 December 2022 (HL3057), how the UK Health Security Agency’s The effectiveness of face coverings to reduce transmission of COVID-19 in community settings: A rapid review (update 2) from November 2021 accounts for biases such as the retrospective data collection, short-term duration of the studies and the presence of co-interventions; and why the rapid review was not independently peer-reviewed.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) published a range of rapid evidence reviews. The first review of the effectiveness of face coverings in non-healthcare settings was published on 26 June 2020, with the first update published on 29 January 2021, and the second update published on 9 November 2021. The second update review searched for studies up to 14 September 2021.
Studies were assessed by an experienced UKHSA evidence reviewer and checked by a second reviewer using the quality criteria checklist (QCC) for primary research. This risk of bias tool can be applied to most study designs, observational and interventional, and is suitable for rapid reviews of mixed type of evidence. As copy of this checklist is attached.
Reviewers using the QCC tool can capture bias from retrospective data collection, presence of co-interventions, and short-term duration of follow-up. In all three evidence reviews of the effectiveness of face coverings, all biases that the reviewers felt were present in each of the included studies were detailed in the supplementary tables to the reports.
All evidence reviews were subject to an internal quality assurance and clearance process prior to publication. Due to the pace of the UKHSA COVID-19 pandemic response, independent peer review was not sought prior to publication.
Asked by: Earl of Leicester (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of local authorities which implement a policy of repeat tree inspections looking out for unsafe trees and tree diseases such as ash dieback.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Lord Chamberlain (HM Household)
The Occupiers’ Liability Act imposes a duty of care on landowners, including Local Authorities, to manage their tree stock and make safe any trees which pose a risk to public safety.
Government has provided Local Authorities with a range of guidance to help them manage their tree stock, including a Common Sense Guide to the Risk Management of Trees, an Ash Dieback Toolkit which has been downloaded over 20,000 times and a Trees and Woodland Strategy toolkit published in December 2022.
The frequency of tree inspections at a local level will be guided by risk, including the proximity of the tree to people and property. Defra does not collect data on the frequency of Local Authority tree inspections.
Asked by: Earl of Leicester (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the percentage of ash trees that are surviving chalara ash dieback disease.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Lord Chamberlain (HM Household)
From observations in Europe and the UK, we expect 1-5% of ash trees to show useful levels of genetic resistance to the disease. Resistance is heritable which offers hope for a future breeding programme.
Reports from Europe have shown maximum mortality rates of 85%, but rates vary between countries and sites, as well as the timescales of monitoring and felling activity, so are difficult to validate. Ash trees, especially larger and older trees, can also decline slowly with the disease, over a period of years or decades, and with recovery shown in some years. This makes it difficult to estimate long term survival with any certainty. In the UK, the level of infection remains widely variable between areas, with the south-east of England being most affected.
Asked by: Earl of Leicester (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to protect the health of trees in the UK against the disease ash dieback.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Lord Chamberlain (HM Household)
Since ash dieback was first detected in the UK, we have restricted the movement of ash trees from outside Europe to protect against other strains of the pathogen, and invested more than £8 million to advance our scientific understanding of this disease.
We have conducted the world’s largest screening trials for tolerant trees and have planted over 3000 trees of 1000 genotypes in the first UK archive of tolerant ash. They have been drawn from a wide geographic spread, and new trees will continue to be added, to maximise the genetic diversity in the collection and facilitate the possibility of a future breeding programme of resilient ash.
Guidance for landowners on managing diseased ash has also been published, including a toolkit for Local Authorities, which has been downloaded nearly 20,000 times. Defra also provides restoration grants, to support replanting with alternative species where ash dieback is present.
We continue to invest in research to enhance our understanding of the disease, improve management and identify resistant trees.
Since ash dieback was first detected in the UK, we have restricted the movement of ash trees from outside Europe to protect against other strains of the pathogen, and invested more than £8 million to advance our scientific understanding of this disease.
We have conducted the world’s largest screening trials for tolerant trees and have planted over 3000 trees of 1000 genotypes in the first UK archive of tolerant ash. They have been drawn from a wide geographic spread, and new trees will continue to be added, to maximise the genetic diversity in the collection and facilitate the possibility of a future breeding programme of resilient ash.
Guidance for landowners on managing diseased ash has also been published, including a toolkit for Local Authorities, which has been downloaded nearly 20,000 times. Defra also provides restoration grants, to support replanting with alternative species where ash dieback is present.
We continue to invest in research to enhance our understanding of the disease, improve management and identify resistant trees.
Asked by: Earl of Leicester (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of ash trees that were felled in England in each year between 2012 and 2022.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Lord Chamberlain (HM Household)
The Government does not collect data on the number of individual ash trees that have been felled, including those affected by ash dieback, but between May 2018 and February 2023, the Forestry Commission has recorded a total of 7271 felling licence applications containing ash (making up a component of the trees planned for felling). The felling licence system in operation prior to May 2018 does not allow the species breakdown to be reported.
The number of approved felling licences with ash since May 2018 are as follows:
Year | Total |
2018 | 370 |
2019 | 1433 |
2020 | 1548 |
2021 | 1855 |
2022 | 1752 |
2023 | 313 |
Grand Total | 7271 |
However, precise estimation is challenging because felling in some circumstances, such as when public safety is at risk, does not require a felling license, and the issuing of a felling license does not come with an obligation to conduct the felling works.
Where appropriate, approved felling licences carry legally enforceable restocking conditions to ensure any trees felled are replaced using suitable means and to ensure tree and woodland cover is maintained for future generations.
Asked by: Earl of Leicester (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Markham on 5 December 2022 (HL3057), what assessment they have made of the Cochrane Review on Physical interventions to interrupt or reduce the spread of respiratory viruses, published on 30 January 2023; and whether they will update their guidance on face coverings in response to those findings.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government is aware of the Cochrane Review published on 30 January 2023, which concludes that there is uncertainty about whether wearing masks helps to slow the spread of respiratory viruses based on the studies assessed.
The National Infection Prevention and Control Manual (NIPCM), published on the National Health Service website in April 2022 in an online-only format and most recently updated in January 2023, is consistent with the recommendations in the Cochrane Review. The NIPCM is used by healthcare providers in all healthcare settings in England and is complemented by pathogen/disease specific guidance produced by the UK Health Security Agency.
The NIPCM does not require patients or visitors to NHS settings to routinely wear a face mask. However, there are some circumstances where it is recommended by a local risk assessment that patients and visitors to care settings wear masks, for example, where patients are at high risk of infection due to immunosuppression.
Asked by: Earl of Leicester (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Cochrane Review Physical interventions to interrupt or reduce the spread of respiratory viruses, published on 20 November 2020, which found that mask use in the community was unlikely to be effective in containing the transmission of any respiratory infection, including COVID-19, whether they will review their guidance on face coverings.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
In November 2021, the UK Health Security Agency published The effectiveness of face coverings to reduce transmission of COVID-19 in community settings: A rapid review (update 2) to identify and examine the latest available evidence on the effectiveness of face coverings to reduce transmission of COVID-19 in the community. The review includes 25 studies, two randomised controlled trials and 23 observational studies undertaken to 14 September 2021. The evidence suggests that face coverings reduce the spread of COVID-19 in the community through source control, wearer protection, and universal masking. A copy of the review is attached.
As and when any new evidence on the effectiveness of face coverings emerges, we will consider whether any guidance should be amended.
Asked by: Earl of Leicester (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how much money they have paid out to farm businesses in England in advanced payment of the Basic Payment scheme.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Lord Chamberlain (HM Household)
As of 22 July 2022, 42.74% of farm businesses have been issued with Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) advance payments. This equates to a total value of £54.7M released in advance BPS funding.
The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) is forecasting to have paid over 60,000 farmers (approx. 73%) by the end of the month. By the end of the second week of August, they expect to have paid 82,000 farmers who are eligible to receive a payment at this time. Prior to the payment run, RPA undertook preliminary checks to ensure the agreed funds were ready for release on schedule. There will inevitably be a small number of farmers who cannot be paid, for reasons such as: low claim value (under £1k); outstanding probate; and absence of bank details. RPA made efforts to contact all customers ahead of time where bank details were not held, in order to minimise the number of farmers whose payments could not be made. RPA will write to all farmers they believe are unlikely to receive their payment by the end of August.
Asked by: Earl of Leicester (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what percentage of farm businesses in England have received the advance payment of their Basic Payment Scheme from the Rural Payments Agency.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Lord Chamberlain (HM Household)
As of 22 July 2022, 42.74% of farm businesses have been issued with Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) advance payments. This equates to a total value of £54.7M released in advance BPS funding.
The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) is forecasting to have paid over 60,000 farmers (approx. 73%) by the end of the month. By the end of the second week of August, they expect to have paid 82,000 farmers who are eligible to receive a payment at this time. Prior to the payment run, RPA undertook preliminary checks to ensure the agreed funds were ready for release on schedule. There will inevitably be a small number of farmers who cannot be paid, for reasons such as: low claim value (under £1k); outstanding probate; and absence of bank details. RPA made efforts to contact all customers ahead of time where bank details were not held, in order to minimise the number of farmers whose payments could not be made. RPA will write to all farmers they believe are unlikely to receive their payment by the end of August.