Asked by: Alan Brown (Scottish National Party - Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Prime Minister's oral contribution of 25 July 2019, Official Report, column 1497, what the timescale is for the allocation of the £160 million to the Scottish Government.
Answered by George Eustice
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Alan Brown (Scottish National Party - Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to his Department's consultation on cleaner domestic burning of solid fuels and wood in England, what different types of PM2.5s released when burning (a) smokeless briquettes, (b) wet wood, (c) dried wood and (d) house coal on open domestic fires in England his Department is assessing; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
Our assessments of emissions of pollutants from domestic combustion sources use a range of data which are based on established international reporting. These use different conversion factors for different fuels but do not distinguish between different types of PM2.5.
Asked by: Alan Brown (Scottish National Party - Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
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 launch his consultation on the regulation of dairy contracts.
Answered by George Eustice
The Government is committed to improving supply chain fairness and intends to introduce regulation in the dairy sector to improve contractual practice. We will be launching a formal consultation to gather views from all interested stakeholders. We are planning to do this as soon as possible and will provide a definite date in due course.
Asked by: Alan Brown (Scottish National Party - Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the contribution of the Scotch whisky industry to employment in the food and drink sector.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
My department has not made an assessment that looks specifically at the contribution that the Scotch Whisky industry makes to employment in the food and drink sector. Nonetheless we work closely with the industry, particularly the Scotch Whisky Association, who in 2015 published a report which found that the Scotch Whisky industry supports over 40,000 UK jobs, including over 10,000 employed directly by the industry in Scotland.
Through close engagement with the industry and assessment of empirical data such as trade statistics, excise duty and VAT, HM Government is fully aware of the large contribution that Scotch Whisky makes to both the Scottish and wider UK economy.
Asked by: Alan Brown (Scottish National Party - Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he last met the hon. Member for Aberdeen South to discuss fishing quotas.
Answered by George Eustice
The Secretary of State regularly meets honourable members from across the house to discuss a range of issues.
Asked by: Alan Brown (Scottish National Party - Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he last met the hon. Member for Banff and Buchan to discuss fishing quotas.
Answered by George Eustice
The Secretary of State regularly meets honourable members from across the house to discuss a range of issues.
Asked by: Alan Brown (Scottish National Party - Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when the Fisheries Bill will be published; for what reasons it will not be published by the end of the year; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by George Eustice
The Government set out an ambitious legislative programme in the Queen's speech in June. The timescales for the Fisheries Bill will be announced in the usual manner in due course.
Asked by: Alan Brown (Scottish National Party - Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what proportion of food consumed in the UK was imported in each year since 2007.
Answered by George Eustice
Based on the farm-gate value of raw food, the proportion of UK consumption which was imported is shown in the table below.
2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 |
49% | 48% | 49% | 49% | 47% | 46% | 46% | 46% | 48% | 51% |
More detail on the geographic origin of food consumed domestically, including the proportion of UK produced food which is exported, is published in the Agriculture in the UK annual reports on the Defra website:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/agriculture-in-the-united-kingdom.
The figures above are not a measure of ‘self-sufficiency’. The more commonly used ‘production to supply ratio’ which also contains food produced here and then exported is shown below.
2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | |
All food % | 60 | 60 | 59 | 61 | 64 | 63 | 60 | 62 | 61 | 60 |
Indigenous type food % | 73 | 73 | 72 | 75 | 78 | 77 | 73 | 76 | 76 | 76 |
Asked by: Alan Brown (Scottish National Party - Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
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 Scottish farming stakeholders on the adequacy of the Common Agricultural Policy's set-aside policy; and how any successor programme will take cognisance of (a) Scottish land topography and (b) the standard farm in Scotland.
Answered by George Eustice
The Secretary of State discussed farming issues extensively on his visit to the Royal Highland Show in June. Ministers and officials continue to work closely with the Scottish Government and Scottish stakeholders on a future farming policy that works for all parts of the United Kingdom.
Asked by: Alan Brown (Scottish National Party - Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
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 Scottish farming stakeholders on the practicality of the Common Agricultural Policy's three crop policy; and how any successor programme will take cognisance of existing Scottish farm land bio diversity.
Answered by George Eustice
The Secretary of State discussed farming issues extensively on his visit to the Royal Highland Show in June. Ministers and officials continue to work closely with the Scottish Government and Scottish stakeholders on a future farming policy that works for all parts of the United Kingdom.