Asked by: Chris Loder (Conservative - West Dorset)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the potential economic impact of the New Medium Helicopter contract on (a) the South West, (b) Dorset and (c) West Dorset constituency.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
We expect the New Medium Helicopter Procurement to be the subject of Competition. However, at this stage I am not able to comment on the impact of the competition on economic activity or job numbers.
Asked by: Chris Loder (Conservative - West Dorset)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what estimate she has made of the number of UK jobs created each time the UK signs a new free trade agreement.
Answered by Ranil Jayawardena
HM Government publishes scoping assessments to provide a preliminary assessment of a free trade agreement (FTA) in advance of negotiations. Following the conclusion of negotiations, a full Impact Assessment is published.
These set out HM Government’s current assessment of a new FTA, including the impact on wages and composition of employment across sectors.
Asked by: Chris Loder (Conservative - West Dorset)
Question
To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, how many services the Church of England has conducted specifically for the purposes of Baptising people seeking asylum in each of the last five years.
Answered by Andrew Selous - Second Church Estates Commissioner
Data are not kept on the nationality or migration status of those who seek Baptism. The content of the rite of Baptism remains the same for all.
Clergy are required by canon law to ensure that all who come to Baptism as adults are given appropriate teaching on the tenets of the faith and in encouragement to private spiritual devotion. Therefore, the preparation process may require specific, lengthier input and instruction of some groups of candidates before the clergyperson is confident of the independent faith of each individual.
Asked by: Chris Loder (Conservative - West Dorset)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that booster covid-19 vaccinations are accessible to eligible people in (a) West Dorset constituency and (b) Dorset.
Answered by Maggie Throup
The National Health Service is already contacting those who are eligible to receive a COVID-19 booster vaccine, including those in Dorset. Appointments are available via the National Booking System or alternatively through local community pharmacies. General practitioner practices in Dorset are also inviting patients for vaccination when they become eligible for a booster vaccination six months after their second dose.
Asked by: Chris Loder (Conservative - West Dorset)
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 commission the Foods Standards Agency to undertake a survey on methods of slaughter earlier than 2022 as planned.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
Defra has been working with the Food Standards Agency on the design of a slaughter survey to take place in February 2022. The timing of the survey has been carefully selected to represent a typical week for the meat processing industry, avoiding religious festivals, and for consistency with the previous survey.
This timescale also reflects the intention to build bespoke data collection and analysis software to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the survey. It is our plan to collect data on a more regular basis in future and the new software will enable us to do this.
Asked by: Chris Loder (Conservative - West Dorset)
Question
To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, how many clergy have taken their own lives in the last five years.
Answered by Andrew Selous - Second Church Estates Commissioner
Records are not held centrally on the causes of death of clergy. The Church of England provides resources for those experiencing stress and signposts to other resources from charities and organisations able to help. Some more information is available here: Supporting clergy health and wellbeing | The Church of England As chief pastors in their dioceses, diocesan bishops ensure pastoral care is available to clergy and is provided when needed.
The Church of England is committed to supporting those individuals and organisations working to help those at risk of self-harm and suicide. At a parish level many clergy play a key role themselves in providing counselling, comfort and support to those at risk. All suicides are tragedies, and whilst causes will vary, the death of any member of the clergy through suicide will be a matter of profound concern and deep sadness for all in the church, their community and all who have a responsibility for their pastoral care.
Asked by: Chris Loder (Conservative - West Dorset)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many NHS dentists there are in West Dorset.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
While data is not held specifically for West Dorset, there were 354 general dental practitioners delivering National Health Service care in Dorset in the 12-month period to 31 March 2021.
Asked by: Chris Loder (Conservative - West Dorset)
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 release the method of slaughter statistics for (a) 2019, (b) 2020 and (c) 2021.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The last method of slaughter survey was undertaken by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) in 2018 and the results were published in February 2019 - Farm animals: survey of slaughter methods 2018 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
The survey is not conducted annually and we are planning for it to be carried out again by the FSA in early 2022.
Asked by: Chris Loder (Conservative - West Dorset)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
What steps she is taking to support UK farmers during negotiations on a future trade deal with Australia.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
A UK-Australia deal will open up new opportunities for British farming. British beef and lamb are the best in the world and a deal with Australia is a first step to joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and opening up new opportunities for our agri-food exports in growing CPTPP markets across four continents. Any deal we sign with Australia will also include protections for UK agriculture and will not undercut UK farmers or compromise our high standards.
Asked by: Chris Loder (Conservative - West Dorset)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to help small fishing vessels, that have catches below the minimum threshold, to obtain support from the Seafood Response Fund.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The Seafood Response Fund did not have restrictions based on minimum vessel size but did utilise a minimum sales threshold of £10,000 recorded on sales notes supplied by registered buyers and sellers of fish between 1 January 2019 and 31 December 2019. The scheme was targeted in this way to ensure that Defra only supported businesses that participated in the seafood sector on a fulltime basis. Wider government support was available for businesses impacted by COVID-19, and the £10,000 threshold ensured the fisheries scheme represented value for money and was targeted at commercial fishing businesses that were reliant on seafood as their main source of income.
The Government remains committed to supporting the seafood sector, including small fishing vessels, and at the last Spending Review we announced £32.7 million in funding to support the sector. In England some of this funding is being used to deliver the Fisheries and Seafood Scheme, which will provide grant funding for projects that help seafood businesses of all sizes adapt to new export conditions, recover from the impacts of COVID-19 and achieve other sector priorities. Businesses outside England should contact their own fishing administrations to see what other support may be available.