Asked by: Anne Marie Morris (Conservative - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how his Department defines rurality.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
There is an official statistical rural urban classification, based on the 2011 Census, which determines settlements with populations of 10,000 or more as urban. Rural areas are defined as everywhere else and the classification determines rural towns (below 10,000 population); villages; and hamlets and isolated dwellings. The classification also distinguishes settlements in a sparse setting – where the surrounding area is sparsely populated.
A classification of local authority districts and other larger geographies also takes account of rural hub towns – towns with populations of 10,000 to 30,000 that are likely to provide important hub functions for the rural areas surrounding them.
Further details of the rural urban classification can be found at:
www.gov.uk/government/collections/rural-urban-classification
The rural urban classification is intended to support statistical analysis. Other definitions of rural could be more appropriate in some policy or analytical contexts.
Asked by: Anne Marie Morris (Conservative - Newton Abbot)
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 the Government Loneliness Strategy, what progress his department has made on convening a rural stakeholder group to (a) advise and support the work of Government Departments and (b) help support the communication of initiatives and good practice at a local level.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
Government has engaged closely with the Loneliness Action Group in the development of, and now implementation of, its loneliness strategy. Defra officials have engaged with the quarterly Loneliness Action Group meetings, to share updates and hear the group's views. The Minister for Sport and Civil Society, who leads Government's work on loneliness, spoke at the Loneliness Action Group conference in May 2019.
The Government is committed to tackling loneliness in rural areas. Last year the Minister for Rural Affairs co-hosted a roundtable on rural loneliness with the Minister for Loneliness.
We share learning and ensure effective implementation via stakeholder engagement. A rural stakeholder forum, a commitment in the Government’s loneliness strategy, was held earlier this year, co-hosted by Defra and Action with Communities in Rural England (ACRE). This was an opportunity for Government to listen to the challenges faced by rural communities trying to tackle loneliness and for attendees to share good practice. A further forum will be held in the autumn. The Minister for Rural Affairs held a smaller, more focused forum earlier this month. These events are part of ongoing conversations between Government and stakeholders on this important issue.
Asked by: Anne Marie Morris (Conservative - Newton Abbot)
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 the Loneliness Strategy, what steps his Department is taking with the Loneliness Action Group to (a) share learning on loneliness and (b) ensure the effective implementation of that strategy.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
Government has engaged closely with the Loneliness Action Group in the development of, and now implementation of, its loneliness strategy. Defra officials have engaged with the quarterly Loneliness Action Group meetings, to share updates and hear the group's views. The Minister for Sport and Civil Society, who leads Government's work on loneliness, spoke at the Loneliness Action Group conference in May 2019.
The Government is committed to tackling loneliness in rural areas. Last year the Minister for Rural Affairs co-hosted a roundtable on rural loneliness with the Minister for Loneliness.
We share learning and ensure effective implementation via stakeholder engagement. A rural stakeholder forum, a commitment in the Government’s loneliness strategy, was held earlier this year, co-hosted by Defra and Action with Communities in Rural England (ACRE). This was an opportunity for Government to listen to the challenges faced by rural communities trying to tackle loneliness and for attendees to share good practice. A further forum will be held in the autumn. The Minister for Rural Affairs held a smaller, more focused forum earlier this month. These events are part of ongoing conversations between Government and stakeholders on this important issue.
Asked by: Anne Marie Morris (Conservative - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of spending by the EU fisheries programme in the South West.
Answered by George Eustice
Demand for European Maritime and Fisheries Funding (EMFF) has been very high in the South West of England. 663 projects have been approved in the South West, with committed EMFF support totalling £16.6 million. This is compared to 325 projects for the rest of England, where the total committed EMFF support stands at £13.9 million. Therefore 67% of projects are located in the South West - and these receive 54% of the committed EMFF support for the grant scheme. It is clear that there is high local demand from industry and that the South West will gain significant benefits from this funding in terms of ensuring a long-term sustainable future for fisheries.
In the event of no deal being reached, all EMFF projects approved before the closure date of the current programme (December 2020) will be fully funded under a Treasury guarantee. This guarantee applies across the UK. We will continue to support applications for EMFF across the UK, including the South West, until the fund is fully committed.
The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) makes public all beneficiaries of the grant aid from EMFF through the Transparency Initiative. This data can be obtained from the MMO’s website here:
Asked by: Anne Marie Morris (Conservative - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make an assessment of the implications for her policies on the planned ban of microbeads.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
We are currently running a consultation on our proposals to ban microbeads in cosmetics and personal care products in preparation for the consultation which Defra carried out an assessment on the impacts of a ban. This concluded that a ban of this kind would help improve the state of the marine environment and address public concerns relating to consumer confidence in UK cosmetics. The impact on industry was considered to be low given that many companies had already committed to discontinuing their use.
Asked by: Anne Marie Morris (Conservative - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much the Department has paid in fines to the EU since 2010.
Answered by George Eustice
As from financial year 2010/11 Defra has accrued £336m for disallowance following the conclusion of EU audits, broken down by financial year as shown in the table below. This relates to a number of different Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) Schemes over a number of historical scheme years as disallowance is paid in arrears. These are the only fines that have been imposed on Defra by the EU since 2010.
Disallowance (*) £m | ||||
10/11 | 11/12 | 12/13 | 13/14 | 14/15 |
181 | 42 | 2 | 30 | 81 |
(*) Reflects the sums the European Commission have ruled cannot be reimbursed (i.e. the amounts they have “disallowed”).
Asked by: Anne Marie Morris (Conservative - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much her Department has paid in fines to the EU as a result of the Common Agricultural Policy since 2010.
Answered by George Eustice
As from financial year 2010/11 Defra has accrued £336m for disallowance following the conclusion of EU audits, broken down by financial year as shown in the table below. This relates to a number of different Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) Schemes over a number of historical scheme years as disallowance is paid in arrears. These are the only fines that have been imposed on Defra by the EU since 2010.
Disallowance (*) £m | ||||
10/11 | 11/12 | 12/13 | 13/14 | 14/15 |
181 | 42 | 2 | 30 | 81 |
(*) Reflects the sums the European Commission have ruled cannot be reimbursed (i.e. the amounts they have “disallowed”).