Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies on the UK's defence position in the Indo-Pacific region of the Australian national defence strategy.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
I welcome the recent release of Australia’s inaugural National Defence Strategy. The United Kingdom and Australia consult closely on our respective defence and security strategies and the themes and challenges identified in the National Defence Strategy have clear parallels in the refreshed Integrated Review and Defence Command Paper. Both countries’ strategies prioritise cooperation with partners, particularly in the Indo Pacific, to strengthen collective security.
The UK has delivered on its ambition for a tilt to the Indo-Pacific and is now putting our approach on a long-term strategic footing, working with Australia and others. The UK and Australia also both recognise that the security and prosperity of the Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific are inseparable. We continue to work closely with Australia to defend global rules and norms.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
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 ensure home grown crops are resilient to climate change, in the context of increased (a) rainfall and (b) warmer weathers.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Our fantastic British farmers are world leaders and carefully plan their planting to suit the weather, their soil type and their long-term agronomic strategy. I understand the increasing importance of farmers having access to crop varieties that are resistant to climate change and variable weather conditions, to maintain crop quality and yields.
The third National Adaptation Programme (NAP3) was published in July 2023, and addresses the 61 risks and opportunities identified in the third Climate Change Risk Assessment. NAP3 includes dedicated responses to risks to domestic agricultural productivity and UK food availability, safety and quality from climate change overseas.
One of these responses, the recent Precision Breeding Act, is a major step in unlocking growth and innovation in technologies like gene editing and supports Defra’s efforts to reinforce food security in the face of climate change. Through the Act we want to encourage researchers and commercial breeders to be at the forefront of capturing the potential benefits of precision breeding for British farmers and consumers. For instance, research into wheat that is resilient to climate change is currently underway at the John Innes Centre. Gene editing techniques have been used to identify a key gene in wheat that can be used to introduce traits such as heat resilience whilst maintaining high yield. This could help to increase food production from a crop that 2.5 billion people are dependent on globally.
Also included in the NAP3, Defra’s flagship breeding research programme, the Genetic Improvement Networks (GINs) on Wheat, Oil Seed Rape, Pulses and Vegetable crops identify genetic traits to improve productivity, sustainability, resilience and nutritional quality of our crops. The GINs also provide a platform for knowledge exchange for breeders, producers, end users and the research base, and a means for the delivery of scientific knowledge, resources and results to add value to wheat crops.
The £270 million Farming Innovation Programme also supports industry-led research and development in agriculture and horticulture. All projects support productivity and environmental outcomes that will benefit farmers and growers in England. In our latest ‘climate smart’ farming themed competition, we awarded over £11 million to projects investigating novel approaches to growing and managing crops. Previous competitions have also supported crop-related research.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has had recent discussions with the National Farmers' Union of England and Wales on steps to improve crop resilience.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Our fantastic British farmers are world leaders and carefully plan their planting to suit the weather, their soil type and their long-term agronomic strategy. I understand the increasing importance of farmers having access to crop varieties that are resistant to climate change and variable weather conditions, to maintain crop quality and yields.
The third National Adaptation Programme (NAP3) was published in July 2023, and addresses the 61 risks and opportunities identified in the third Climate Change Risk Assessment. NAP3 includes dedicated responses to risks to domestic agricultural productivity and UK food availability, safety and quality from climate change overseas.
One of these responses, the recent Precision Breeding Act, is a major step in unlocking growth and innovation in technologies like gene editing and supports Defra’s efforts to reinforce food security in the face of climate change. Through the Act we want to encourage researchers and commercial breeders to be at the forefront of capturing the potential benefits of precision breeding for British farmers and consumers. For instance, research into wheat that is resilient to climate change is currently underway at the John Innes Centre. Gene editing techniques have been used to identify a key gene in wheat that can be used to introduce traits such as heat resilience whilst maintaining high yield. This could help to increase food production from a crop that 2.5 billion people are dependent on globally.
Also included in the NAP3, Defra’s flagship breeding research programme, the Genetic Improvement Networks (GINs) on Wheat, Oil Seed Rape, Pulses and Vegetable crops identify genetic traits to improve productivity, sustainability, resilience and nutritional quality of our crops. The GINs also provide a platform for knowledge exchange for breeders, producers, end users and the research base, and a means for the delivery of scientific knowledge, resources and results to add value to wheat crops.
The £270 million Farming Innovation Programme also supports industry-led research and development in agriculture and horticulture. All projects support productivity and environmental outcomes that will benefit farmers and growers in England. In our latest ‘climate smart’ farming themed competition, we awarded over £11 million to projects investigating novel approaches to growing and managing crops. Previous competitions have also supported crop-related research.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make his policy to reinstate a hard shoulder on all smart motorways.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
On 16 April 2023, the Government announced that all plans for new smart motorways have been cancelled, recognising the lack of confidence felt by drivers and cost pressures. This means no new smart motorways will be built.
We are focused on investing £900m to add further safety improvements to existing smart motorways, including constructing over 150 extra emergency areas – so that people can continue to get around easily and with increased confidence.
Restoring the hard shoulder while maintaining capacity would be hugely disruptive, both for road users and local communities, and come at a significant financial cost, and a potential impact on the overall safety of the road network.
Any reduction in capacity on our Strategic Road Network could put more drivers and passengers at risk of death or serious injury by forcing them on to less safe local roads.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make it his policy to collect data on the reasons people do not claim Universal Credit when required to do so by the managed migration process.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
A survey commenced in April this year where we contacted people who have not claimed Universal Credit following receipt of the migration notice. Findings from this survey will be published in due course.
We published research on Tax Credit only claimants on 29 February 2024 Move to Universal Credit – insight on Tax Credit migrations and initial Discovery activity for wider benefit cohorts - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has (a) made an assessment of the potential impact of Universal Credit migration on disabled people and (b) put support in place for disabled people affected by that migration.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The DWP continue to learn and iterate our approach as we progress our Move to Universal Credit activity. We remain committed to ensuring that the transition to Universal Credit works as smoothly as possible for all customers, including the most vulnerable in society. Our latest insight publication is available on GOV.UK - Move to Universal Credit – insight on Tax Credit migrations and initial Discovery activity for wider benefit cohorts - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
We have developed an enhanced support journey for ESA and Income Support customers and remain confident that this provides effective support for our most vulnerable customers.
All customers can also use the independent Help to Claim service run by Citizens Advice and Citizens Advice Scotland which provides support across England, Scotland, and Wales as well as accessing face to face support at job centres.
Also, we continue to work with a broad range of external stakeholders to gather their insight and experience of working with our mutual customers, to learn and develop our approach for moving legacy benefit customers to Universal Credit.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 18 March 2024 to Question 902040 on Universal Credit, when he will publish constituency level data setting out how many Universal Credit Migration Notice letters he plans to send.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department publishes regular Move to Universal Credit statistics, which can be found at: Move to Universal Credit statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). The next release, on Tuesday 14 May 2024, will include statistics, including Migration Notices sent, by Parliamentary Constituency level. Forecasts at constituency level are not readily available.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether she has had recent discussions with Cabinet colleagues on preparations for a potential heatwave in summer 2024.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department works closely with a variety of stakeholders to ensure cross-sector preparedness in advance of potential risks that may manifest. From a seasonal preparedness perspective as we approach summer 2024, we are confident that, due to the diverse nature of the electricity system and the highly resilient equipment that is used throughout, the risks associated with extreme heat are low and it is unlikely that customers will be impacted. In the highly unlikely circumstance that the risks associated with extreme heat materialise, the most likely impact would be localised electricity disruption, for which electricity network operators have robust plans in place to mitigate.