Asked by: Austin Mitchell (Labour - Great Grimsby)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many contracts signed by her Department with suppliers of services or consultants include a clause providing that if the contract is abrogated by the Government, the provider or consultant will be compensated for lost income since 2010.
Answered by Dan Rogerson
The standard terms and conditions used by core Defra do not include compensation clauses in the event of termination of the contract. Reviewing all contracts signed since 2010 to identify possible exceptions to our standard terms would entail disproportionate costs.
Since January 2011, as part of the Government’s transparency programme, details of contracts worth over £10,000 are published online on Contracts Finder (https://www.gov.uk/contracts-finder).
Asked by: Austin Mitchell (Labour - Great Grimsby)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, for what reason seafood manufacturers are precluded from applying for regional structural aid; and for what alternative funding they can apply.
Answered by George Eustice
Seafood manufacturers are precluded from applying for regional structural aid through the provisions set out in the European Commission’s state aid rules for the fisheries sector which apply to businesses involved in the processing of fish and fisheries products, as well as to the catching sector. The Commission views this as necessary to avoid distortion of the market and to ensure consistency with the objectives of the European Union’s Common Fisheries Policy. However, support is available to small and medium-sized seafood manufacturers via the European Fisheries Fund, and its successor, the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund.
Any application for alternative funding would need to be considered on a case-by-case basis subject to the specific request.
Asked by: Austin Mitchell (Labour - Great Grimsby)
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 report of the inquiry into the wrongful selling of horsemeat; and what the reasons are for the time taken to publish that report.
Answered by George Eustice
Following the horsemeat fraud incident the Government commissioned Professor Chris Elliott, of Queen’s University Belfast, to carry out an independent review into the Integrity and Assurance of Food Supply Networks. This was not an inquiry into the horsemeat fraud itself but a much wider review of the issues which impact on consumer confidence in the authenticity of their food.
Professor Elliott’s Review was published on 4 September 2014 and sets out a systems approach to improve the food supply chain. The integrity of our food and empowering consumers to make informed choices are central to this Government’s vision of a competitive, resilient and growing UK food and farming sector. This is an important issue and it is only right that upon her appointment on 15 July 2014 the Secretary of State gave Professor Elliott’s final report the time and consideration it deserved before its publication. The report was published when Parliament returned after recess.
Asked by: Austin Mitchell (Labour - Great Grimsby)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans she has for implementation of the EU ban on fish discards; and what representations she has received on the sale or disposal of fish discarded before that ban comes into effect.
Answered by George Eustice
The UK secured a landing obligation as part of the reformed Common Fisheries Policy which entered into force on the 1 January 2014. The landing obligation comes into force in a phased timetable starting with pelagic fisheries on 1 January 2015 and extending to other fisheries from 2016.
Detailed preparatory work is underway with the fishing industry, European Union Member States and other stakeholders about how we can best implement these changes in practice. This includes supporting the industry in reducing discards ahead of the discard ban coming into effect, including through our successful catch quota scheme.
Asked by: Austin Mitchell (Labour - Great Grimsby)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many inshore fisheries and conservation authorities in England have bylaws to prohibit the setting of intertidal nets; and how many land-based officers in each authority police and enforce those bylaws.
Answered by George Eustice
Most Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authorities (IFCAs) in England have byelaws which affect net fishing activities in the intertidal zone. These byelaws vary between IFCAs, with each Authority prescribing certain net specifications, geographic areas, time restrictions and other limitations. Details of each IFCA's byelaws can be found on their respective websites.
The IFCAs with byelaws relating to intertidal nets are:
· Cornwall IFCA
· Devon and Severn IFCA
· Eastern IFCA
· Kent and Essex IFCA
· North Eastern IFCA
· North West IFCA
· Northumberland IFCA
· Southern IFCA
· Sussex IFCA
Isles of Scilly IFCA is the only Authority not to have any byelaws relating to intertidal nets, as this is not a fishing activity that takes place in the Isles of Scilly.
Most IFCAs have enforcement officers based both on land and at sea. These officers enforce all byelaws, not specifically those concerning intertidal nets. The latest figures held by Defra are:
Cornwall IFCA: 12 officers
Devon and Severn IFCA: 8 officers
Eastern IFCA: 10 officers, 3 land based
Kent and Essex IFCA: 2 land based officers, 6 sea based officers
North Eastern IFCA: 6 officers, 2 dedicated land based
North West IFCA: 8 mostly land based officers
Northumberland IFCA: 8 officers and 1 part time
Southern IFCA: 10 officers
Sussex IFCA: 4 officers
Asked by: Austin Mitchell (Labour - Great Grimsby)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many people have been prosecuted for setting intertidal nets in England in each of the last three years.
Answered by George Eustice
Prosecutions for setting intertidal nets in England are undertaken, for the most part, by the Inshore Fisheries & Conservation Authorities (IFCAs). The ten IFCAs manage sea fisheries resources to six nautical miles around the English coast.
· In 2011, North Eastern IFCA made one prosecution relating to intertidal nets and Cornwall IFCA had one case where a prosecution was commenced alongside another, potentially more serious, non-fisheries offence.
· In 2012 there were no prosecutions.
· In 2013, North Eastern IFCA made two prosecutions.
· To date in 2014, there are two cases under investigation by Cornwall IFCA,
one case under investigation by North Eastern IFCA, and three pending cases with Southern IFCA. These cases will not necessarily result in a prosecution in a court.
In all of these years there will be cases where warnings or cautions were issued or seizures were made instead of formal prosecutions.
Environment Agency records indicate that 12 people have been prosecuted in the past three years for setting an intertidal net which targeted or caught salmon or sea trout for which they did not have an Environment Agency licence to do so in England.
The River Tweed Commission (RTC) has its own legislation to control netting both in England and in Scotland which is included in The Scotland Act 1998 (River Tweed) Order 2006. In England, the RTC took seven prosecutions relating to intertidal nets in 2011, five prosecutions in 2012, and five prosecutions in 2013.