Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to publish his Department's response to the consultation on the live exports of farm animals.
Answered by George Eustice
We are currently analysing the responses from the Call for Evidence on controlling live exports of farm animals for slaughter and how to improve animal welfare during transport once the UK leaves the EU. We also asked the Farm Animal Welfare Committee (FAWC) to look at what improvements could be made to the transport regulatory regime for all animals. We hope to receive the recommendations from the FAWC later in the year. In light of the evidence obtained and the FAWC report, we are planning to issue a Consultation setting out proposed policy reforms.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the Government’s policy is on the provision of fiscal incentives for the redistribution of surplus food for human consumption.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Retailers and manufacturers can already get tax relief on food they donate. Companies can get tax relief on trading stock that is produced but not sold. This includes food donated to charities - the cost of producing stock which is donated is deducted from their profits before tax is calculated.
The issue of food waste will continue to be a priority for the UK. The Government recently announced the creation of a new £500,000 Food Waste Reduction Fund to support projects that help increase redistribution in communities.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of extending the ban on importing the fur of cats, dogs and seals to that of all species in the fur trade.
Answered by George Eustice
The Government shares the British public’s high regards for animal welfare and, after we leave the EU, the Government plans to retain the current regulations banning the import of cat and dog fur and products, and seal skins and products from commercial hunts.
The Government has pressed for higher animal welfare standards worldwide to phase out cruel and inhumane fur farming and trapping practices in other parts of the world, which are banned here.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many (a) direct employees, (b) agency staff and (c) outsourced staff working for (i) his Department and (ii) agencies of his Department are paid less than the living wage, as defined by the Living Wage Foundation.
Answered by George Eustice
In April 2016 the Government introduced a higher minimum wage rate, called the National Living Wage, which all employers in the UK are required to pay to those aged 25 and over. Defra is compliant with the National Living Wage, and pays this regardless of age.
The National Living Wage is currently set at £7.83 and is different to the Living Wage (LW) or London Living Wage (LLW). These are an alternative hourly rate advocated by the Living Wage Foundation (LWF), which they believe represents a minimum income standard, reflecting the basic cost of living in the UK.
The current Living Wage, as defined by the LWF, is £10.20 p/h for London (referred to as the London Living Wage or LLW) and £8.75 p/h for the rest of the UK. The rates are revaluated each November.
There are no direct employees paid less than the Living Wage, as defined by the LWF, in core Defra, Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), Rural Payments Agency (RPA) and Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD).
There are 17 direct employees paid less than the Living Wage, as defined by the LWF, in the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS). 13 of these are apprentices (Living Wage accreditation does not require employers to pay the Living Wage to apprentices, in recognition of the costs of training); of the other four staff who are paid below the Living Wage, CEFAS has confirmed that these staff are paid in accordance with the National Living Wage.
Data for agency and outsourced staff working in Defra and its agencies is only available at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what his Department's estimate is of the amount of EU legislation and regulation that can be incorporated into UK law without amendment.
Answered by George Eustice
The European Union (Withdrawal) Bill will convert European Union law into UK law as it applies in the UK at the moment of exit. This will ensure that, wherever possible, the same rules and laws will apply the day after exit as they did before.
The Government is undertaking a detailed assessment of what corrections will be required to make that law function appropriately on exit day. The Department for Exiting the European Union is working closely with departments across Government to ensure we make the changes required to deliver a functioning statute book on exit in the most efficient manner possible.
Based on our analysis so far, we have identified a need to correct around 850 out of 1200 pieces of Defra-owned legislation as a result of EU exit. Based on current assumptions, we envisage it would require around 100 Statutory Instruments.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many people working for her Department or its executive agencies on a (a) directly employed, (b) agency or (c) outsourced basis are paid less than the living wage as defined by the Living Wage Foundation; and how many of those people are employed on zero-hours contracts.
Answered by George Eustice
There are no direct employees paid less than the Living Wage in core-Defra, Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), Rural Payments Agency (RPA) and Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD).
There are 2 direct employees currently paid less than the Living Wage in the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS), none of which are employed on zero-hours contracts. One is an apprentice and the other is about to have their salary increased to the Living Wage rate.
There are no employment agency staff paid less than the Living Wage in core-Defra, APHA, and VMD.
There are 95 employment agency staff paid less than the Living Wage in RPA. None are employed on zero-hours contracts. All are paid at least the National Living Wage as defined by the Government.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of introducing a national deposit return scheme as part of the Government's litter strategy.
Answered by Rory Stewart
As part of its Litter Strategy, published in 2014, the Scottish Government announced that it had commissioned a feasibility study and a call for evidence investigating the implementation of a deposit return system for single use drink containers in Scotland. This valuable work, published last year, highlighted significant uncertainties regarding the impacts and benefits that a deposit return system would have, notably regarding costs, environmental quality and littering, and existing waste collection systems. The Scottish Government is doing further work on the topic and we will consider any new evidence arising from this in the course of developing our own National Litter Strategy for England.
Defra analysed the costs and benefits of implementing a deposit return system for single use drink containers as part of the 2011 Review of Waste Policy in England, and to seek views in the 2012 consultation on higher packaging recycling targets. This work showed that introducing a deposit return system may increase recycling and reduce litter, but might impose additional costs on businesses, consumers and local authorities (which would lose revenue from recycling). However, we are lacking evidence to appropriately quantify these benefits and costs. The current approach has driven a significant increase in packaging waste recycling rates, from less than 47% in 2003 to nearly 65% in 2013.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will include the Food Insecurity Experience Scale survey in the next Family Food survey in order to assess households' vulnerability to hunger.
Answered by George Eustice
We do not intend to measure household food insecurity because there is no single definition of food insecurity. The Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES) is one method, but the factors that impact on household food security are complex. There are multiple indicators such as quality, variety and desirability of diet as well as total intake, not all of which are measured consistently. It is therefore very difficult and potentially misleading to develop a single classification of food insecurity.
The OECD ‘Society at a Glance 2014’ report published figures showing that the proportion of those who say they are finding it difficult to afford food in the UK declined over the past 5 years 2007 - 2012: from 9.8% to 8.1%. This was based on Gallup World Poll data which actually used one of the questions which form part of the FIES.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the Government uses the Food Insecurity Experience Scale survey to monitor UK households' vulnerability to hunger.
Answered by George Eustice
Defra does not use the Food Insecurity Experience Scale survey to monitor UK households’ vulnerability to hunger.
There is no single definition of food insecurity and Defra does not estimate numbers of households experiencing food insecurity. The factors that impact on household food security are complex. There are multiple indicators such as quality, variety and desirability of diet as well as total intake, not all of which are measured consistently. It is therefore very difficult and potentially misleading to develop a single classification of food insecurity.
However Defra does publish statistics annually to show the proportion of household income spent on food by (a) all households and (b) the lowest income 20% of households. The most recent statistics are in the food statistics pocketbook 2015 on the GOV.UK website.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many (a) direct employees, (b) agency staff and (c) outsourced staff working for her Department and its subsidiary agencies are paid less than the living wage.
Answered by George Eustice
For the core department and its executive agencies, the number of people currently employed on less than the living wage is as follows:
(a) As at 1 April 2015, all permanent staff are paid above the living wage. There are 7 apprentices paid below the Living Wage.
(b) 66 agency (temporary) staff are paid below the Living Wage;
(c) As at December 2014, 253 outsourced staff, employed by contractors with the central Department to provide office and building services in the central Department and its agencies, were paid below the Living Wage.