Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee Central)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of implementing an employer pays principle to help tackle (a) debt bondage and (b) labour exploitation of workers on the Seasonal Worker visa.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Together with the Seasonal Worker Scheme Taskforce, Defra jointly funded an independent investigation into the feasibility of applying the ‘employer pays principle’ to the horticulture sector, to understand how financial risks faced by workers can be mitigated.
The Government has considered the findings of the report but has no plans to mandate implementation of the employer pays principle in the horticulture sector. Welfare protections are already in place through the licensing and inspection processes provided by the Home Office and its agencies: the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority and UK Visas and Immigration.
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee Central)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has had discussions with the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government on the regulation of tied-accommodation for seasonal agricultural workers.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
Defra, Home Office, and Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government Ministers and their Officials regularly engage regarding a range of issues, including accommodation standards for seasonal workers.
The Government will work collaboratively on this issue, across the relevant departments, to improve the rights and protections for seasonal workers. We are exploring approaches at the national and local authority level and through engagement with the sector itself.
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee Central)
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 meet with the Seasonal Worker Interest Group to discuss worker welfare on the Seasonal Worker visa.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
The Home Office, in collaboration with Defra, is arranging a meeting on seasonal worker welfare issues hosted by the Minister for Farming, Daniel Zeichner, and the Minister for Migration, Seema Malhotra MP, later this month. Invitations have been sent to the Seasonal Worker Interest Group, and other interested parties, for this event, which will provide an opportunity to discuss these matters further.
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee Central)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the primary source of NOx is in the UK.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
The latest estimates made of annual pollutant emissions in the UK show that road transport accounts for 32% of NOx emissions, followed by emissions from energy generation (21%) and emissions from manufacturing and construction (17%).
Further information on the UK’s air pollutant emissions can be found on the National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory website: https://naei.beis.gov.uk/.
Information is also reported in the UK emissions statistical release:
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee Central)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what evidence her Department uses in respect of motorcycle emissions of NOx; how the practice of filtering is reflected in the emissions modelling that her Department uses; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
The method for estimating emissions from road transport, including powered two wheelers, is available in the latest National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory’s (NAEI) informative inventory report: https://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/assets/documents/reports/cat09/1904121008_GB_IIR_2019_v2.0.pdf. It uses the internationally recognised COPERT methodology produced by Emisia and if the abatement technology is already incorporated in the emission factor, then it will be reflected in the emissions estimates. Emission factors are presented in the EMEP/EEA Guidebook. The NAEI results for 2017 show that motorcycles and mopeds account for less than 0.5% of road traffic NOx emissions. The NAEI is subject to rigorous international reviews and has a continuous improvement programme to incorporate the latest available evidence.