Asked by: George Eustice (Conservative - Camborne and Redruth)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when the UK Agricultural Partnership (a) last met and (b) will meet next.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK Agriculture Partnership (UKAP) has already brought together governments and leading experts from across our four nations to discuss the crucial issues of food security, water quality and soil health, at agricultural centres of excellence in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The last UKAP event was held in July 2022 at the James Hutton Institute in Dundee.
We intend to hold the next partnership meeting shortly and are currently in discussions with devolved governments regarding the next host.
Asked by: George Eustice (Conservative - Camborne and Redruth)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when she plans to open the industry-led Research and Development Syndicates for applications.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Industry-led Research and Development Syndicates formed part of the first competitions under the Farming Innovation Programme, launched in October 2021.
Asked by: George Eustice (Conservative - Camborne and Redruth)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when the Government plans to publish the horticulture strategy.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The domestic horticulture sector plays an important role in the resilience of our food system as well as an important part of our wider economy. We are delivering for the sector by investing more than £168 million to drive innovation and support food production, and have passed the new Genetic Technology Act to reduce the regulatory burden and unlock the potential of new technologies.
Defra regularly engages with the horticulture industry's representatives and our existing stakeholder forums help inform future policy development and support for the sector.
Later this year, we will respond to the Labour Review and we will consider if a further tailored action plan is required. I look forward to discussing this and other issues at the upcoming Farm to Fork Summit.
Asked by: George Eustice (Conservative - Camborne and Redruth)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with representatives of the horticulture industry on the development of the Horticulture Strategy.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The domestic horticulture sector plays an important role in the resilience of our food system as well as an important part of our wider economy. We are delivering for the sector by investing more than £168 million to drive innovation and support food production, and have passed the new Genetic Technology Act to reduce the regulatory burden and unlock the potential of new technologies.
Defra regularly engages with the horticulture industry's representatives and our existing stakeholder forums help inform future policy development and support for the sector.
Later this year, we will respond to the Labour Review and we will consider if a further tailored action plan is required. I look forward to discussing this and other issues at the upcoming Farm to Fork Summit.
Asked by: George Eustice (Conservative - Camborne and Redruth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what further steps his Department has taken to progress the outstanding elements of recommendation five of the Truro Review following the publication of the 3-year Assessment of Implementation of the Truro Review in April 2022.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
We welcome the findings of the Independent Review of our work to take forward the Bishop's recommendations. We will continue to ensure that progress made is embedded and that Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) is central to our wider human rights work.
Since the Review, we have hosted the International Ministerial conference on FoRB, working with the PM's Special Envoy for FoRB, and announced £500,000 of new funding to support FoRB defenders and to provide legal expertise to countries where FoRB is under pressure.
We continue to work with UN, G7, and other multilateral fora to promote FoRB and Ministers and officials regularly raise specific cases of concern. Ministers do not shy away from challenging those we believe are not meeting their obligations, whether publicly or in private.
Asked by: George Eustice (Conservative - Camborne and Redruth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what further steps his Department has taken to progress the outstanding elements of recommendation 12 of the Truro Review following the publication of the 3-year Assessment of Implementation of the Truro Review in April 2022.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
We welcome the findings of the Independent Review of our work to take forward the Bishop's recommendations. We will continue to ensure that progress made is embedded and that Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) is central to our wider human rights work.
Since the Review, we have hosted the International Ministerial conference on FoRB, working with the PM's Special Envoy for FoRB, and announced £500,000 of new funding to support FoRB defenders and to provide legal expertise to countries where FoRB is under pressure.
We continue to work with UN, G7, and other multilateral fora to promote FoRB and Ministers and officials regularly raise specific cases of concern. Ministers do not shy away from challenging those we believe are not meeting their obligations, whether publicly or in private.
Asked by: George Eustice (Conservative - Camborne and Redruth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department has taken steps to implement recommendation 17 of the Bishop of Truro's independent review of his Department's support for persecuted Christians in the period since the publication of the report entitled Assessment of the implementation of recommendations of Bishop of Truro’s independent review of FCDO support for persecuted Christians of 15 April 2022.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
We welcome the findings of the Independent Review of our work to take forward the Bishop's recommendations. We will continue to ensure that progress made is embedded and that Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) is central to our wider human rights work.
Since the Review, we have hosted the International Ministerial conference on FoRB, working with the PM's Special Envoy for FoRB, and announced £500,000 of new funding to support FoRB defenders and to provide legal expertise to countries where FoRB is under pressure.
We continue to work with UN, G7, and other multilateral fora to promote FoRB and Ministers and officials regularly raise specific cases of concern. Ministers do not shy away from challenging those we believe are not meeting their obligations, whether publicly or in private.
Asked by: George Eustice (Conservative - Camborne and Redruth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what further steps his Department has taken to progress the outstanding elements of recommendation 4 of the Truro Review following the publication of the 3-year Assessment of Implementation of the Truro Review in April 2022.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
We welcome the findings of the Independent Review of our work to take forward the Bishop's recommendations. We will continue to ensure that progress made is embedded and that Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) is central to our wider human rights work.
Since the Review, we have hosted the International Ministerial conference on FoRB, working with the PM's Special Envoy for FoRB, and announced £500,000 of new funding to support FoRB defenders and to provide legal expertise to countries where FoRB is under pressure.
We continue to work with UN, G7, and other multilateral fora to promote FoRB and Ministers and officials regularly raise specific cases of concern. Ministers do not shy away from challenging those we believe are not meeting their obligations, whether publicly or in private.
Asked by: George Eustice (Conservative - Camborne and Redruth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what further steps his Department has taken to progress the outstanding elements of recommendation six of the Truro Review following the publication of the 3-year Assessment of Implementation of the Truro Review in April 2022.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
We welcome the findings of the Independent Review of our work to take forward the Bishop's recommendations. We will continue to ensure that progress made is embedded and that Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) is central to our wider human rights work.
Since the Review, we have hosted the International Ministerial conference on FoRB, working with the PM's Special Envoy for FoRB, and announced £500,000 of new funding to support FoRB defenders and to provide legal expertise to countries where FoRB is under pressure.
We continue to work with UN, G7, and other multilateral fora to promote FoRB and Ministers and officials regularly raise specific cases of concern. Ministers do not shy away from challenging those we believe are not meeting their obligations, whether publicly or in private.
Asked by: George Eustice (Conservative - Camborne and Redruth)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many Countryside Stewardship agreements have been made under powers conferred in regulations under Section 98 of the Environmental Protection Act 1995.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
There are a total 22,671 Countryside Stewardship agreements that have been made under powers conferred in regulations under section 98 of the Environmental Protection Act 1995.