Asked by: George Eustice (Conservative - Camborne and Redruth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 14 May 2019 to Question 250476, whether the two candidates who declared that their principal employment was in the private sector but were not appointed were considered appointable by (a) advisory appointments panel and (b) the Minister.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
Any appointment to the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) is made in line with the Cabinet Office Governance Code on Public Appointments:
The most recent MAC appointments were made in 2017. The criteria for those appointments and the information to be submitted by candidates were set out in the advertisement on the HM Government Public Appointments website: https://publicappointments.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/appointment/migration-advisory-committee-member-2/.
Under the Code, Ministers decide which applicants should be interviewed by an independent Advisory Assessment Panel. The Panel reports its assessment to Ministers, including its views on which candidates are appointable. Ministers consider the advice of the panel, but are not bound by its views. Ministers determine merit and make the final appointment decision.
In the 2017 MAC recruitment round, the two candidates not appointed who declared their principal employment was in the private sector, were not considered as appointable by the panel. Ministers considered the report of the panel before deciding which candidates to appoint.
Asked by: George Eustice (Conservative - Camborne and Redruth)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the EU Withdrawal Agreement enables the UK to invoke Hague Preference during the implementation period.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
Article 130(4) of the Withdrawal Agreement provides for the relative stability keys for the allocation of fishing opportunities to be maintained during the implementation period. This provision is intended to ensure that the UK’s share of quota cannot be reduced and that the UK will continue to be able to invoke Hague Preference during the implementation period.
Asked by: George Eustice (Conservative - Camborne and Redruth)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the effect on the rabbit population of type 2 rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Animal and Plant Health Agency has not made an assessment of the impact of rabbit haemorrhagic disease type 2 on rabbit populations, but has followed the course of the disease since 2010. The disease currently has a wide geographical distribution, and significant local mortalities have been caused by type 2 rabbit haemorrhagic disease in local wild rabbit populations.
Asked by: George Eustice (Conservative - Camborne and Redruth)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the reference to article 43(3) of the TFEU and the relative stability keys referred to in Article 130 of the Withdrawal Agreement include the interpretive recitals 36 and 37 concerning Hague Preference which are contained within EU regulation 1380/2013.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
Article 130 of the Withdrawal Agreement provides for the relative stability keys for the allocation of fishing opportunities to be maintained during the implementation period. This provision is intended to ensure that the UK’s share of quota cannot be reduced and that the UK will continue to be able to invoke Hague Preference during the implementation period. The recitals to the basic Common Fisheries Policy Regulation (Regulation 1380/2013) make clear that relative stability should take account of the Hague Resolution and therefore this would be included in the reference to ‘relative stability keys’ in Article 130.
Asked by: George Eustice (Conservative - Camborne and Redruth)
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 confirmation of cases of type 2 rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus in hares in January 2019, what epidemiological modelling (a) his Department and (b) the Animal and Plant Health Agency have conducted to assess the potential effect of that disease on the hare population.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
There has not been any epidemiological modelling on rabbit haemorrhagic disease in hares carried out by Defra or the Animal and Plant Health Agency. There is insufficient evidence on rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus in hares to allow valid modelling.
Asked by: George Eustice (Conservative - Camborne and Redruth)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what research projects (a) his Department and (b) his department's agencies have (i) commissioned and (ii) plan to commission into type 2 rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
There are diagnostic tests and vaccines for rabbit haemorrhagic disease available for use in rabbits. We have no immediate plans for additional research, but will keep this under review.
Asked by: George Eustice (Conservative - Camborne and Redruth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the oral contribution of the Minister for Immigration on 30 April 2019, Official Report Columns 84-87WH, how many applicants for positions on the Migration Advisory Committee who satisfied the criteria of having had business experience were subsequently deemed unappointable by the Selection Panel for recruitment processes that have taken place since 2013.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
Any appointment to the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) will be made in line with the Cabinet Office Governance Code for Public Appointments 2016. The Government will consider the position of the MAC Chair shortly.
Information about the business experience of candidates is not collected in the form requested.
Following the publication of the Governance Code in 2016, candidates for public appointments have been given the option to declare the sector of their principal employment. In the recruitment campaign for MAC members in 2017, two candidates, neither of whom was appointed, declared that their principal employment was in the private sector. This does not mean that other candidates did not have business experience which they chose to highlight in their application or, if appropriate, their interview.
Asked by: George Eustice (Conservative - Camborne and Redruth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the oral contribution of the Minister for Immigration on 30 April 2019, Official Report, Col 85WH, how many applicants for positions on the Migration Advisory Committee satisfied the criteria of having had experience of business in recruitment processes that have taken place since January 2013.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
Any appointment to the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) will be made in line with the Cabinet Office Governance Code for Public Appointments 2016. The Government will consider the position of the MAC Chair shortly.
Information about the business experience of candidates is not collected in the form requested.
Following the publication of the Governance Code in 2016, candidates for public appointments have been given the option to declare the sector of their principal employment. In the recruitment campaign for MAC members in 2017, two candidates, neither of whom was appointed, declared that their principal employment was in the private sector. This does not mean that other candidates did not have business experience which they chose to highlight in their application or, if appropriate, their interview.
Asked by: George Eustice (Conservative - Camborne and Redruth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when his Department plans to begin the recruitment process for a new chair of the Migration Advisory Committee.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
Any appointment to the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) will be made in line with the Cabinet Office Governance Code for Public Appointments 2016. The Government will consider the position of the MAC Chair shortly.
Information about the business experience of candidates is not collected in the form requested.
Following the publication of the Governance Code in 2016, candidates for public appointments have been given the option to declare the sector of their principal employment. In the recruitment campaign for MAC members in 2017, two candidates, neither of whom was appointed, declared that their principal employment was in the private sector. This does not mean that other candidates did not have business experience which they chose to highlight in their application or, if appropriate, their interview.
Asked by: George Eustice (Conservative - Camborne and Redruth)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the current maximum penalty is for a breach of the Hares Preservation Act 1892.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
The current maximum penalty for a breach of the Hares Preservation Act 1892 is level 1 on the standard scale, i.e. £200.