Asked by: Lord Randall of Uxbridge (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what amount of fuel subsidy is received by the UK pelagic fishing fleet.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Qualifying fishing vessels are eligible for two fuel duty reliefs: entitlement to use red diesel, taxed at a reduced rate of 10.18p per litre, and marine voyages relief. The government does not consider either of these to be fossil fuel subsidies.Asked by: Lord Randall of Uxbridge (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Neville-Rolfe on 5 April (HL3471), what consideration they are giving to the creation of a Deputy Lieutenancy to cover the administrative local government areas of Middlesex.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
No consideration is being given to the creation of a Lieutenancy for Middlesex. Middlesex is covered by the Lieutenancies of Greater London, Surrey and Hertfordshire.
Asked by: Lord Randall of Uxbridge (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Neville-Rolfe on 5 April (HL3471), whether they have received representations on the issue of the creation of a Deputy Lieutenancy for Middlesex, and what consideration they are giving to wider public engagement on the issue.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The creation of a Lieutenancy for Middlesex has been raised in previous PQs (HL9221, HL3471 and HL3783) and DLUHC has also received Ministerial Correspondence on the issue. No consideration is presently being given to wider public engagement on the issue.
Asked by: Lord Randall of Uxbridge (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether the WTO Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies prohibits fuel subsidies for fleets and vessels catching depleted fish stocks in UK waters.
Answered by Lord Douglas-Miller - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The WTO Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies prohibits specific subsidies, including specific fuel subsidies, for fishing or fishing related activities regarding an overfished stock. The UK does not provide specific fuel subsidies to the UK fishing fleet.
Asked by: Lord Randall of Uxbridge (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what progress they have made in reforming incentives, including subsidies for ecologically harmful activities, as required under Target 18 of the Global Biodiversity Framework.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
In May 2024, the UK plans to publish its National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP), which will set out national targets and policies for implementing targets in the Global Biodiversity Framework, including Target 18. This will include a target to identify any incentives and subsidies that are harmful to biodiversity. The UK already has a positive story to tell on reforming incentives through our work to deliver the Agricultural Transition. Our Environmental Land Management schemes will incentivise farmers to improve biodiversity, soil health and air and water quality, reduce agricultural emissions, restore peatland, and establish and restore woodlands and forests.
Asked by: Lord Randall of Uxbridge (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what representations Ministers have received on the potential for appointing a deputy lieutenant for the county of Middlesex.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
There is no Lieutenancy for the county of Middlesex and therefore no potential to appoint a Deputy Lieutenant of Middlesex.
Asked by: Lord Randall of Uxbridge (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is their timetable for the (1) introduction, and (2) implementation, of activity regulations under the Animals (Low-Welfare Activities Abroad) Act 2023.
Answered by Lord Douglas-Miller - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Animals (Low-Welfare Activities Abroad) Act 2023 provides a framework for the introduction of future bans on the advertising and offering for sale, in England and Northern Ireland, of low-welfare animal activities abroad.
Future decisions on which specific animal activities will fall in scope of the advertising ban will be evidence-based and subject to Parliamentary scrutiny. Sufficient, compelling evidence will be required to demonstrate why any specific advertising ban is needed.
This Government continues to make animal welfare a priority and we are currently exploring a number of options to ensure progress as soon as is practicable.
Asked by: Lord Randall of Uxbridge (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to expedite the delivery of the apex goal set out in the Executive Summary of the Environmental Improvement Plan 2023 to halt the decline in biodiversity and achieve 'thriving plants and wildlife'.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We are committed to meeting our ambitious target to halt and then reverse species decline and are accelerating action towards delivery.
In June last year we launched a multi-million-pound Species Survival Fund to provide early progress towards our species abundance targets and support the recovery of declining species. The fund will support projects focussed on the creation and restoration of wildlife-rich habitats, including on protected sites.
Through Natural England’s Species Recovery Programme Capital Grant Scheme, launched April 2023, we have also provided £14.5M of funding for 63 projects delivered in partnership with 74 different organisations to take action to halt and reverse the decline of 150 rare species, including the critically endangered European eel and the Greater Mouse-eared bat.
In November we announced the 34 projects selected for the £25 million second round of our Landscape Recovery scheme. These projects will collectively restore more than 35,000 hectares of peatland, sustainably manage more than 20,000 hectares of woodland, including some temperate rainforest, create over 7,000 hectares of new woodland and benefit more than 160 protected sites (SSSIs). This builds on the success of the first 22 Landscape Recovery projects which are already underway, aiming to restore more than 600 km of rivers and targeting the conservation of more than 260 flagship species. This is alongside increased incentives, announced in January, for farmers to deliver environmental outcomes which will support habitats and species through our Sustainable Farming Incentive and Countryside Stewardship schemes.
We are also rolling out Nature Recovery Projects across the country to create improved and better-connected habitats for wildlife and improve public access to nature. In July 2023 we launched a further six projects covering over 176,000 ha of land across England. These projects build on the G7 legacy project in Cornwall launched in 2021 and the five other nature recovery projects launched in 2022 which together span around 120,200 hectares.
Asked by: Lord Randall of Uxbridge (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to strengthen the marine protected area surrounding South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (GSGSSI) is currently undertaking the second 5-year review of its Marine Protected Area (MPA). The review is considering the effectiveness of the current MPA measures, including whether the underpinning scientific research and monitoring is sufficient, particularly in light of climate change, and whether effective monitoring and surveillance capacity is in place. The review will determine whether additional measures are required to achieve the stated MPA objectives. GSGSSI is committed to reporting on its review by early next year.
Asked by: Lord Randall of Uxbridge (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to publish a timebound strategy to meet their legal obligation to aim that fishing occurs at sustainable levels.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
As an independent coastal state, the UK now sets catch limits through negotiations with other coastal states, led by the best available science. In line with the sustainability objective in the Fisheries Act 2020, our aim is to achieve environmentally sustainable outcomes as well as socio-economic benefits. The UK Joint Fisheries Statement, published last November, lists 43 Fisheries Management Plans (FMPs) to be developed across the UK and sets out a timetable for their publication. The FMPs will set out policies to maintain or increase stocks to sustainable levels (or contribute to doing so). Our FMPs will contain short-, medium- and long-term time bound actions to be delivered over the lifetime of the plan. The actions are to support the sustainable management of fish stocks – they are based on the best available evidence and input from the fishing sector. We plan to publish the first FMPs by the end of this year.