To match an exact phrase, use quotation marks around the search term. eg. "Parliamentary Estate". Use "OR" or "AND" as link words to form more complex queries.

Keep yourself up-to-date with the latest developments by exploring our subscription options to receive notifications direct to your inbox

Written Question
Fisheries: Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland
Monday 15th October 2018

Asked by: Andrew Murrison (Conservative - South West Wiltshire)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, on which dates in 2018 (a) Ministers and (b) officials met with Irish counterparts to discuss the Voisinage Agreement.

Answered by George Eustice

The UK Government remains committed to the principles behind the Voisinage Agreement and to continued cooperation between Northern Ireland and Ireland. I wrote to Minister Creed, the Irish Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, on 6 June to reiterate our concerns about the suspension of the Voisinage Agreement by Ireland. The Secretary of State further raised the issue with Minister Creed when they met on 13 June. Defra officials have also raised the matter with Irish counterparts on separate occasions.

Speech in Commons Chamber - Wed 10 Oct 2018
Agriculture Bill

"My hon. Friend will know, because his constituency neighbours mine, that Arla, one of the biggest producers of dairy products, is in my constituency. In welcoming this Bill, as both he and I clearly do, does he nevertheless share the concerns of Arla as a first purchaser that clause 25 …..."
Andrew Murrison - View Speech

View all Andrew Murrison (Con - South West Wiltshire) contributions to the debate on: Agriculture Bill
Speech in Commons Chamber - Thu 13 Sep 2018
Scallop Fishing: Bay of Seine

"The Minister will be aware that the bay of Seine is not the only potential flashpoint in the waters of European Union member states. What assessment has he made of the potential for other issues of this sort arising elsewhere? In particular, what is he doing about the Voisinage agreement …..."
Andrew Murrison - View Speech

View all Andrew Murrison (Con - South West Wiltshire) contributions to the debate on: Scallop Fishing: Bay of Seine
Speech in Commons Chamber - Wed 04 Jul 2018
Sustainable Fisheries

"We will need a growing and sustainable workforce if we are to land more of our own fish, yet approximately half those who undertake the difficult and poorly paid work done by crew on board fishing vessels are from outside the British Isles. What will be done to ensure that …..."
Andrew Murrison - View Speech

View all Andrew Murrison (Con - South West Wiltshire) contributions to the debate on: Sustainable Fisheries
Speech in Commons Chamber - Mon 24 Apr 2017
Air Quality Strategy

"Does my right hon. Friend share my sadness at the lack of contrition displayed on the Opposition Benches, given that Labour’s unquestioned adoption of policy in the early part of the last decade resulted in a massive increase in the number of diesel vehicles, making the air in places such …..."
Andrew Murrison - View Speech

View all Andrew Murrison (Con - South West Wiltshire) contributions to the debate on: Air Quality Strategy
Speech in Commons Chamber - Thu 20 Apr 2017
Oral Answers to Questions

"What can be done to encourage the European Union to promote the processing of foodstuffs in developing countries? I am thinking particularly of olive oil and coffee, where the value added tends to be within the European Union...."
Andrew Murrison - View Speech

View all Andrew Murrison (Con - South West Wiltshire) contributions to the debate on: Oral Answers to Questions
Speech in Commons Chamber - Mon 27 Feb 2017
Future Flood Prevention

"I am listening with great interest to my hon. Friend’s speech. Is he familiar with the practice undertaken by some local authorities of diverting floodwater from roads on to farmers’ fields without permission, thus washing away topsoil of the sort that I think he is about to touch on, and …..."
Andrew Murrison - View Speech

View all Andrew Murrison (Con - South West Wiltshire) contributions to the debate on: Future Flood Prevention
Written Question
Oilseed Rape
Tuesday 31st January 2017

Asked by: Andrew Murrison (Conservative - South West Wiltshire)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, on what dates she has met representatives of the (a) agricultural and (b) retail sectors to discuss the decline in oilseed rape harvests; and what steps she has taken as a result of those meetings.

Answered by George Eustice

There is no record of discussions with representatives of the agricultural or retail sectors to discuss the decline in oilseed rape harvests specifically. Defra continues to support the improvement of oilseed rape through its Oilseed Rape Genetic Improvement Network (OREGIN). This network is dedicated to the development of new pre-breeding material with key resilience traits such as resistance to fungal pathogens, improved nutrient uptake efficiency, rooting and establishment as well as improved quality traits

Written Question
Cadmium: Pollution
Wednesday 21st December 2016

Asked by: Andrew Murrison (Conservative - South West Wiltshire)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if her Department will quantify the contribution to soil cadmium levels of (a) phosphate-based fertilisers and (b) environmental pollution.

Answered by George Eustice

Defra does not hold the information requested.

The rate at which cadmium levels in soil change is measured in decades, and to calculate the contribution to soil cadmium levels of (a) phosphate-based fertilisers and (b) environmental pollution would require historical data on cadmium input rates that have not been collected. In particular, the cadmium concentration of phosphate-based fertilisers is not regulated in the UK, and Defra does not collect data on it.

However, Defra does have a recent estimate of the current average rate of input of cadmium into European soils through various mechanisms. For (a) phosphate-based fertilisers this is 0.8 grams of cadmium per hectare per year; and for (b) environmental pollution this is 0.35 grams of cadmium per hectare per year. This estimate is part of the evidence base for an EU fertiliser regulation proposed in March, which limits the concentration of cadmium allowed in phosphate-based EC fertilisers.

Written Question
Cadmium: Pollution
Tuesday 20th December 2016

Asked by: Andrew Murrison (Conservative - South West Wiltshire)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had with (a) her EU counterparts, (b) the EU Commission and (c) sedimentary phosphate exporters on mitigating the effect of cadmium reduction in phosphate fertilisers set in the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and the Council COM(2016)157/F1.

Answered by George Eustice

The Secretary of State has not directly discussed the proposal with her EU counterparts, the Commission, or sedimentary phosphate exporters. Defra officials continue to represent UK interests at Council working group with the Commission on the negotiations for the draft regulation first proposed in March 2016. Defra has involved a range of stakeholders including representatives of sedimentary phosphate exporters. A Council First Reading position is expected to be voted upon by Ministers at a Competitiveness Council in early 2017.