Asked by: George Hollingbery (Conservative - Meon Valley)
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 5 January 2015 to Question 219112, if she will publish a list of all the documents that the review of domestic management measures for bass will take into account.
Answered by George Eustice
The current review of the domestic management measures for bass should be completed within the next few weeks. Aligned with work at European level to reverse the steep decline in bass stocks, the high-level review will focus principally on the need for any change to our current domestic management measures, such as the catch limits on commercial fishing for bass, minimum landing size for bass and protection of bass nursery areas. Where it is identified that action is required, this work will be further developed and, where national legislation may be required, will follow the usual legislative process. We will seek the views of key stakeholders on the way forward. Any proposed national legislation will be subject to public consultation involving stakeholders, other government departments and interested parties. The relevant documentation to support the new legislation will be made publically available, where not already published.
Asked by: George Hollingbery (Conservative - Meon Valley)
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 5 January 2015 to Question 219112, when she expects the review of domestic management measures for bass to be completed.
Answered by George Eustice
The current review of the domestic management measures for bass should be completed within the next few weeks. Aligned with work at European level to reverse the steep decline in bass stocks, the high-level review will focus principally on the need for any change to our current domestic management measures, such as the catch limits on commercial fishing for bass, minimum landing size for bass and protection of bass nursery areas. Where it is identified that action is required, this work will be further developed and, where national legislation may be required, will follow the usual legislative process. We will seek the views of key stakeholders on the way forward. Any proposed national legislation will be subject to public consultation involving stakeholders, other government departments and interested parties. The relevant documentation to support the new legislation will be made publically available, where not already published.
Asked by: George Hollingbery (Conservative - Meon Valley)
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 5 January 2015 to Question 219112, how the review of domestic management measures for bass will engage with other government departments, stakeholders and other interested parties from outside her Department.
Answered by George Eustice
The current review of the domestic management measures for bass should be completed within the next few weeks. Aligned with work at European level to reverse the steep decline in bass stocks, the high-level review will focus principally on the need for any change to our current domestic management measures, such as the catch limits on commercial fishing for bass, minimum landing size for bass and protection of bass nursery areas. Where it is identified that action is required, this work will be further developed and, where national legislation may be required, will follow the usual legislative process. We will seek the views of key stakeholders on the way forward. Any proposed national legislation will be subject to public consultation involving stakeholders, other government departments and interested parties. The relevant documentation to support the new legislation will be made publically available, where not already published.
Asked by: George Hollingbery (Conservative - Meon Valley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what contribution the UK made to the design and scope of emergency EU measures to manage sea bass stocks.
Answered by George Eustice
At the December Council we secured a statement that underlined the commitment of the European Commission and Member States involved in the bass fishery to take urgent action to reduce fishing pressure, protect spawning aggregations and so prevent a collapse of the stock. The Government followed up this commitment by formally requesting emergency measures to protect bass during the spawning season (January to April). The Commission has responded positively and has now tabled such a measure based on the UK request for consideration by the fisheries management committee. If adopted, the Commission regulation will come into effect on the day after its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
Asked by: George Hollingbery (Conservative - Meon Valley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress has been made on the implementation of emergency EU measures to manage sea bass stocks.
Answered by George Eustice
At the December Council we secured a statement that underlined the commitment of the European Commission and Member States involved in the bass fishery to take urgent action to reduce fishing pressure, protect spawning aggregations and so prevent a collapse of the stock. The Government followed up this commitment by formally requesting emergency measures to protect bass during the spawning season (January to April). The Commission has responded positively and has now tabled such a measure based on the UK request for consideration by the fisheries management committee. If adopted, the Commission regulation will come into effect on the day after its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
Asked by: George Hollingbery (Conservative - Meon Valley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the process and timetable is for implementation of emergency EU measures to manage sea bass stocks.
Answered by George Eustice
At the December Council we secured a statement that underlined the commitment of the European Commission and Member States involved in the bass fishery to take urgent action to reduce fishing pressure, protect spawning aggregations and so prevent a collapse of the stock. The Government followed up this commitment by formally requesting emergency measures to protect bass during the spawning season (January to April). The Commission has responded positively and has now tabled such a measure based on the UK request for consideration by the fisheries management committee. If adopted, the Commission regulation will come into effect on the day after its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
Asked by: George Hollingbery (Conservative - Meon Valley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will take steps to introduce domestic technical measures to reduce sea bass mortality so that stocks can rebuild.
Answered by George Eustice
We still need action at EU level to ensure stocks can rebuild. The Commission and the Member States involved in this fishery have undertaken to remain committed to doing the utmost possible, as of the start of the fishing season in January 2015, to reduce fishing pressure and protect spawning aggregations.
This process need not preclude or delay action at UK level, however, and I have already undertaken to ensure that a review of our domestic management measures for bass now commences as a matter of priority.
Asked by: George Hollingbery (Conservative - Meon Valley)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the overall budget for the Care First programme was in each year of that programme.
Answered by Priti Patel
Care First was funded as part of the Young Person’s Guarantee. The final budget allocation for Care First was £75m across 2009/10 and 2010/11. The Young Person’s Guarantee was replaced by the Youth Contract.
Asked by: George Hollingbery (Conservative - Meon Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the average (a) chief executive/secretary remuneration and (b) number of full-time equivalent staff was in each of his Department's (i) advisory non-departmental public bodies, (ii) executive agencies, (iii) executive non-departmental public bodies, (iv) non-ministerial departments and (v) tribunal non-departmental public bodies in the most recent period for which figures are available.
Answered by Dan Poulter
Advisory non-departmental public bodies (ANDPBs) do not generally employ staff but are supported by their parent department. Seven of the Department’s eight ANDPBs do not have staff and the eighth, the Independent Reconfiguration Panel, reported two full-time equivalent (FTE) staff in the Public Bodies 2014 Report.
Of the eight ANDPBs, the Independent Reconfiguration Panel has a paid Chief Executive/Secretary position with a salary of £112,200.
The average Chief Executive remuneration for the executive agencies is £167,500.
The average number of FTE staff for the Department’s executive agencies as at 31 October 2014 was 3,244.
The average Chief Executive remuneration for executive non-departmental public bodies is £175,357.
The average number of FTE staff for the Department’s executive non-departmental public bodies as at 31 October 2014 was 1,635
Non-ministerial departments (Food Standards Agency):
The last period for which figures are available is the 2013-14 financial year.
For that period the Chief Executive remuneration was a salary of between £140,000 and £145,000 plus bonus of between £10,000 and £15,000.
The average number of FTE staff was 1,264 for 2013-14. This figure excludes the board and temporary staff (contractors, agency staff, casuals and staff on fixed term contracts). The average FTE staff including temporary staff and Board members was 1,787. Both figures exclude staff who are members of the FSA Scientific Advisory committees.
The last annual report and accounts for the FSA can be found at:
http://www.food.gov.uk/sites/default/files/multimedia/pdfs/publication/fsa-report-accounts-2014.pdf
The Department does not have any tribunal non-departmental public bodies.
Asked by: George Hollingbery (Conservative - Meon Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the implications of recent research on the effect of pre-exposure prophylaxis for reducing the spread of HIV.
Answered by Jane Ellison
In the United Kingdom, the PROUD study (http://www.proud.mrc.ac.uk/), co-sponsored by the Medical Research Council, University College London and Public Health England, is an open-label trial of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) use among most-at-risk human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) negative gay and other men who have sex with men (MSM).
A major aim of the study is to determine whether PrEP reduced new HIV infections while taking into account changes in risk behaviour and adherence. The study has announced interim results showing that the use of PrEP is highly protective against HIV acquisition:
http://www.proud.mrc.ac.uk/PDF/PROUD%20Statement%20161014.pdf.
However, we must await the full analysis before we can assess the impact that PrEP may have on reducing the spread of HIV in the MSM population.