Asked by: Fiona Bruce (Conservative - Congleton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on ensuring that UK farmers are not compromised by tariffs on future exports of agricultural produce to the EU.
Answered by George Eustice
My Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State routinely discusses agricultural trade with his Cabinet colleagues. The Government recently published a White Paper setting out its vision for a future free trade agreement with the EU which would allow tariff free trade and would accept some regulatory alignment in agri-food technical and food standards to eliminate any friction at the border.
Asked by: Fiona Bruce (Conservative - Congleton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues ensuring that farm productivity will not be affected by changes in the availability of non-UK EU labour when the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by George Eustice
Access to a sufficient and appropriately-skilled workforce is essential to continued industry growth, productivity and safety, and the Government is determined to get the best deal for the UK in our negotiations to leave the EU, including for our world-leading food and farming industry.
Defra Ministers have ongoing discussions with a range of Government departments, including the Home Office, about securing the workforce that the farming industry needs for the future.
Asked by: Fiona Bruce (Conservative - Congleton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the oral evidence given before the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee on 20 December 2017, what steps he has taken to ensure the maintenance of high food production standards for (a) domestic and (b) imported food after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by George Eustice
UK food law applies equally to food that is imported and food produced in the UK. When we leave the European Union, we will maintain our current standards. We have no intention of undercutting our own reputation for quality by lowering our food and animal welfare standards.
Defra are working closely with the Food Standards Agency and Department of Health and Social Care to ensure that the regulatory regime for food safety remains robust as the UK leaves the European Union, in order to protect public health and retain the confidence of consumers.
Asked by: Fiona Bruce (Conservative - Congleton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, to which legislation his Department has applied the Family Test, published in August 2014.
Answered by George Eustice
The government is committed to supporting families. To achieve this, in 2014 we introduced the Family Test, which aims to ensure that impacts on family relationships and functioning are recognised early on during the process of policy development and help inform the policy decisions made by Minsters. The Family Test was not designed to be a ‘tick-box’ exercise, and as such there is no requirement for departments to publish the results of assessments made under the Family Test.
Asked by: Fiona Bruce (Conservative - Congleton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 30 November 2017 to Question HL3576, what steps his Department is taking to strengthen families.
Answered by George Eustice
The government is committed to supporting families. To achieve this, in 2014 we introduced the Family Test, which aims to ensure that impacts on family relationships and functioning are recognised early on during the process of policy development and help inform the policy decisions made by Minsters. The Family Test was not designed to be a ‘tick-box’ exercise, and as such there is no requirement for departments to publish the results of assessments made under the Family Test.