First elected: 14th February 2002
Left House: 23rd March 2016 (Resignation (Northstead))
Speeches made during Parliamentary debates are recorded in Hansard. For ease of browsing we have grouped debates into individual, departmental and legislative categories.
e-Petitions are administered by Parliament and allow members of the public to express support for a particular issue.
If an e-petition reaches 10,000 signatures the Government will issue a written response.
If an e-petition reaches 100,000 signatures the petition becomes eligible for a Parliamentary debate (usually Monday 4.30pm in Westminster Hall).
These initiatives were driven by Huw Irranca-Davies, and are more likely to reflect personal policy preferences.
MPs who are act as Ministers or Shadow Ministers are generally restricted from performing Commons initiatives other than Urgent Questions.
Huw Irranca-Davies has not been granted any Urgent Questions
Huw Irranca-Davies has not introduced any legislation before Parliament
Huw Irranca-Davies has not co-sponsored any Bills in the current parliamentary sitting
The shale gas resources beneath Britain have the potential to bolster our energy security and add new sources of home-grown supply to our real diversity of imports.
We are committed to reducing carbon emissions by 80% by 2050 and natural gas, the cleanest of fossil fuels, will help us in meeting that target. Reports[1] have shown that the carbon footprint of electricity from UK produced shale gas would likely be significantly less than coal and also lower than imported Liquefied Natural Gas.
This will be especially significant as we displace energy generation from high carbon fuels as coal.
[1] Mackay-Stone report (requested by DECC), Potential Greenhouse Gas Emissions Associated with Shale Gas Extraction and Use, Sept 2013
The Government has not carried out any specific assessment of the effect of this amendment on UK businesses to date.
The Berry Amendment is a US Domestic Source Restriction established in the US Code that requires the Federal Government to procure textiles for any defence purpose from US suppliers, unless there is no domestic supplier available. It is possible, occasionally, for UK companies to benefit from partial exemptions to the Berry Amendment.
The trade team within the British Defence Staff in Washington DC can advise UK companies, on a case by case basis, on which opportunities may be considered as an exemption.
We are still at an early stage in the process of reforming the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI). Therefore, I am unable to make specific commitments as to the future shape of the scheme at this point.
However, Ofgem will continue to run the RHI under the current rules, while we consider reform of the scheme.
We are currently analysing feedback submitted during the Feed-in Tariff review consultation and intend to publish a Government response as soon as possible.
Officials have begun discussions with stakeholders, and we plan to consult on the changes in the New Year.
DECC publish estimates of the number of households without a gas connection by local authority. These are available on the Government website at:
The Government is concerned about the effect of changes in energy bills on all households and businesses, including those in rural areas and considers the needs of all types of households and businesses when developing policies.
We publish regular information on industrial energy prices and on domestic energy bills in DECC’s Quarterly Energy Prices. Industrial prices are only available at the UK level. Average domestic energy bills are produced for each of the 15 Public Electricity Supply (PES) regions in the UK:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/quarterly-energy-prices
We also publish regular information on the impact of policies on prices and bills.
The Criminal Justice Act 1987 provides that “The Director may investigate any suspected offence which appears to him on reasonable grounds to involve serious or complex fraud.”
Each case is assessed on its own facts and merits.
The Statement of Principle sets out some of the factors that the Director will take into account when considering the matter for investigation. All of these will be considered, and there is no minimum requirement or measure in respect of the different factors.
Each on its own or taken in combination can establish sufficient grounds for the Director to decide that the case is sufficiently large, complex or of wide public interest that it should be dealt with by the Serious Fraud Office.
The Criminal Justice Act 1987 provides that “The Director may investigate any suspected offence which appears to him on reasonable grounds to involve serious or complex fraud.”
Each case is assessed on its own facts and merits.
The Statement of Principle sets out some of the factors that the Director will take into account when considering the matter for investigation. All of these will be considered, and there is no minimum requirement or measure in respect of the different factors.
Each on its own or taken in combination can establish sufficient grounds for the Director to decide that the case is sufficiently large, complex or of wide public interest that it should be dealt with by the Serious Fraud Office.
The Criminal Justice Act 1987 provides that “The Director may investigate any suspected offence which appears to him on reasonable grounds to involve serious or complex fraud.”
Each case is assessed on its own facts and merits.
The Statement of Principle sets out some of the factors that the Director will take into account when considering the matter for investigation. All of these will be considered, and there is no minimum requirement or measure in respect of the different factors.
Each on its own or taken in combination can establish sufficient grounds for the Director to decide that the case is sufficiently large, complex or of wide public interest that it should be dealt with by the Serious Fraud Office.
The Criminal Justice Act 1987 provides that “The Director may investigate any suspected offence which appears to him on reasonable grounds to involve serious or complex fraud.”
Each case is assessed on its own facts and merits.
The Statement of Principle sets out some of the factors that the Director will take into account when considering the matter for investigation. All of these will be considered, and there is no minimum requirement or measure in respect of the different factors.
Each on its own or taken in combination can establish sufficient grounds for the Director to decide that the case is sufficiently large, complex or of wide public interest that it should be dealt with by the Serious Fraud Office.
The Criminal Justice Act 1987 provides that “The Director may investigate any suspected offence which appears to him on reasonable grounds to involve serious or complex fraud.”
Each case is assessed on its own facts and merits.
The Statement of Principle sets out some of the factors that the Director will take into account when considering the matter for investigation. All of these will be considered, and there is no minimum requirement or measure in respect of the different factors.
Each on its own or taken in combination can establish sufficient grounds for the Director to decide that the case is sufficiently large, complex or of wide public interest that it should be dealt with by the Serious Fraud Office.
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
We recognise the benefits of cooperation mechanisms and of opening our renewable support schemes to foreign generation in principle. This is why we signed the Memorandum of Understanding with Ireland. Whilst we have yet to agree with Ireland on any particular project, we remain open to new proposals.
The Government is ambitious for the market to deliver an increase in electricity interconnection capacity where projects demonstrate value for money and provide benefits to consumers. We are primarily focused on facilitating developer-led delivery. Already one interconnection project to Ireland, Greenlink, has been approved by Ofgem in the first round of cap and floor applications. More projects, including to Ireland, can apply to Ofgem’s second cap and floor application window which opens this month.
Assessment of local air quality is a matter for Local Authorities, following statutory guidance set by central Government and the devolved administrations. Central Government assesses air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions at a UK level using the National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory.
The Government is investing £780 million to give access to superfast broadband to 95% of UK premises by 2017. This will be achieved through two delivery phases. Until Phase 2 is complete, it is not possible to estimate precisely how many rural and coastal areas will not be covered by superfast broadband by 2017. Approximately 1.4 million premises are expected to fall within the remaining 5% hard to reach areas across the UK. We are currently exploring how to extend superfast broadband into these final areas.
To inform Defra’s policy brief on the rural economy published on 27 December 2014, an estimate was included for how much employment in rural areas could increase by 2025. This assumed employment could grow at the rate of projected population growth in rural areas (derived from Office for National Statistics population projections). Further details can be found in the policy brief: www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/390767/policy-brief-rural-productivity-pb14252.pdf
Tourism is one of the most important sectors of the rural economy. In recognition of this, the Government launched the Rural Tourism package aimed at growing the visitor economy in rural areas. Under that package, Visit England estimates that its promotional activity to attract visitors to the countryside has so far delivered an extra 1,851 full-time equivalent jobs and £100 million in visitor spend.
To date, the Rural Development Programme Skills and Knowledge Transfer Programme has provided training across England for 215,000 (non-unique) participants who have completed 220,000 training days. Delivery is still underway and an evaluation will be carried out.
Since the publication of the UK Food and Drink - International Action Plan in October 2013 we have supported 2,500 companies (1,500 more than we had pledged), opened over 100 markets for animal and animal products, implemented a faster export health certification system two months ahead of schedule and continued to champion British food and drink here and overseas at major trade shows and events. Full details of the progress made can be found in the One Year On report published on the Open to Exports website at http://opentoexport.com/article/uk-food-and-drink-international-action-plan-one-year-on-2/.
The agri-food and drink sector is worth over £100bn and includes the largest manufacturing sector worth over £26bn. Food and drink exports in 2013 were £18.9bn up £700m compared to 2012 and 39% above those in 2010.
The Secretary of State and I have spoken to the Chairman of First Milk to discuss the recent announcement on milk prices and the impact this will have on farmers. We are closely monitoring the situation and are in contact with milk industry experts to consider if any further action is appropriate.
I will continue to work closely with the dairy industry as a whole to manage price volatility. Most recently I met the Chairman of First Milk on Monday evening.
The latest statistics for herds under bovine TB restrictions can be found online at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/incidence-of-tuberculosis-tb-in-cattle-in-great-britain
Statistics below county level are not available. For Gloucestershire and Somerset as a whole, the number of herds not officially TB free due to a bovine TB incident as at the end of January in each year since 2010, plus the latest published figures for September 2014, are shown below.
Gloucestershire | Somerset | |
January 2010 | 220 | 146 |
January 2011 | 228 | 220 |
January 2012 | 222 | 227 |
January 2013 | 230 | 254 |
January 2014 | 230 | 269 |
September 2014 | 185 | 194 |
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is due to complete a review into its monitoring and reporting of breaches of welfare legislation by the end of October.
Previously, only major and critical breaches were recorded, along with the actions taken to correct these. The FSA review is now also looking to strengthen recording of minor breaches. These minor breaches include where back-up stunning equipment is used or a second stun is carried out without the intervention of the Official Veterinarian and where there has been no injury, avoidable pain, distress or suffering to an animal. As with major and critical breaches, information on minor breaches would be collated centrally and reported to Defra, Welsh and Scottish Government on a monthly basis.
The study to determine whether cage-based breeding can meet the needs of game birds (AW1303) has not been published because it is still being peer reviewed.
In 2010, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) had 12 full time staff working in its Food Standards and Authenticity branch, which included food composition and standards as well as authenticity.
In the years 2008-2010, the FSA had between 3.5 and 4 staff members working solely on its Food Authenticity Research Programme, although other areas of authenticity-related policy work were carried out across the Standards branch.
The FSA has estimated that authenticity work associated with the food authenticity research programme had an annual research budget of around:
2008/09 | 2009/10 | 2010/11 |
£800,000 | £700,000 | £600,000 |
In 2010 22.6 full time equivalents (FTEs) were transferred to Defra under the Machinery of Government Changes.
Thirteen of these officials work wholly or partly on aspects of food authenticity. This includes work on food composition and standards, food labelling and related science, including developing methodologies for detecting food authenticity.
Three members of staff are dedicated to the Food Authenticity Research Programme in Defra, with additional support from an experienced external programme advisor.
The budget allocation for the Food Authenticity Research Programme transferred to Defra for 2011/12 onwards was £500,000 per year. This budget has been protected through re-prioritisation within Defra’s overall food science programme and actual spend on food authenticity in each of the last two years has been above this level, rising to £660,000 in 2013/14.
Defra works closely with the FSA which has responsibility for surveillance and enforcement. The FSA also makes available funds to Local Authorities as part of the National Co-ordinated Sampling Plan. These funds are not exclusively used for authenticity work, but a significant proportion funds authenticity testing. The funds allocated to the National Co-ordinated Sampling Plan were as follows:
2008/09 | 2009/10 | 2010/11 | 2011/12 | 2012/13 | 2013/14 |
£900,000 | £900,000 | £900,000 | £1.6 Million | £1.6 Million | £2.2 Million |
The Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (Ofqual), the independent regulator of qualifications in England, consulted recently on proposals for completing the reforms of GCSEs and A levels (http://comment.ofqual.gov.uk/completing-gcse-as-and-a-level-reform/), including principles to guide the subjects that may be offered in the future. The consultation closed on 30 July 2014 and Ofqual have not yet announced the outcome. These proposals do not remove specific subjects from the curriculum; however, they may have implications for the range of subjects available as GCSE or A level qualifications provided by awarding organisations. The removal of some qualifications may be as a result of low take up of specific qualifications or significant overlap of content. As Ofqual is independent of Ministers, and is accountable directly to Parliament, neither the Secretary of State nor her predecessor have therefore discussed the proposals with agriculture and horticulture representatives, although they were able to respond to the consultation directly. I have asked Ofqual’s Chief Regulator, Glenys Stacey, to write to the Hon. Member. A copy of her letter will be placed in the House of Commons Library.
I refer the Right Hon. Member to the answer I gave to the Hon. Member, the Member for Finchley and Golders Green, on 1 April 2014, Official Report, column 600W.
The Food Standards Agency and the City of London police, working with their counterparts across Europe, are taking forward complicated and far-reaching investigations into the Europe wide horsemeat fraud. The Crown Prosecution Service has announced that criminal proceedings have been instituted for the mislabelling of goat meat and the failure to comply with traceability requirements in relation to horsemeat. It would not be appropriate to comment further on ongoing criminal investigations.
The City of London Police, working with their counterparts across Europe, are taking forward complicated and far-reaching criminal investigations into the Europe-wide horsemeat fraud.
During the course of his Review into the Integrity and Assurance of Food Supply Networks, Professor Elliott and his team carried out site visits, and met many industry stakeholders, regulators and consumers, including representatives from the meat importation sector.
The use of beta-agonists such as ractopamine for growth promotion purposes is banned under Council Directive 96/22/EC. Third countries permitted to export to the EU are required to have equivalent standards, therefore meat from those countries entering the EU should not contain residues of these substances.
This issue has yet to be discussed in detail within the framework of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations. The Government will consider its negotiation position based on a range of factors including the environmental impact and public health benefit of such anti-microbial treatments that can reduce potential for foodborne illness.
The Government believes that the existing EU Novel Food controls on the use of cloned material already ensure adequate protection of Community consumers. The scientific advice we have makes clear that meat and milk from clones or their progeny is just as safe as that produced by more traditional methods. We do not therefore see the need for any further controls at this point.
The use of antibiotics as growth promoters has been banned in the EU since 2006. Third countries permitted to export to the EU are required to have equivalent standards, therefore meat from those countries entering the EU should not contain residues of these substances.
This issue has yet to be discussed in detail within the framework of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership TTIP negotiations and is unlikely to be until the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) delivers an opinion on the public health, safety and environmental impact of this treatment process. The Government will consider its position when the EFSA opinion becomes available.
Regulatory coherence offers greater compatibility of EU and US systems and helps to reduce the costs of complying with duplicate procedures at our borders. Leaders on both sides of the Atlantic have been clear that this is not about reducing regulatory standards. Any agreement will need to take into account EU and US rules on food safety, food labelling, animal welfare, worker protection and consumer protection. Regulatory coherence between the EU and US is not therefore expected to lead to lower standards of food production in the UK.
The existing EU rules which require GM-derived food to be labelled are not expected to be discussed or reviewed as part of the negotiations on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership.
The Government continues to support the European Commission in seeking equivalence in animal welfare standards between the EU and US as an important part of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations and will strongly resist any attempts to undermine our high national standards or those of our Community partners.
In parallel, we are working with the European Commission through the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) to ensure that global standards of animal welfare match those of the EU.
The Government wants to preserve the ability of the UK and EU to set and regulate standards for a range of issues (including consumer and worker protection, animal welfare and environmental sustainability) in order to address our future needs. The Government therefore wishes to enhance cooperation between the EU and US, without affecting the ability of governments to set policy on these issues.
I refer the hon. Member to my previous answer of 23 June 2014, Official Report, column 63W.
Public sector procurers are required to seek value for money through fair and open competition. Through our membership of the European Union and as a signatory to international agreements, our contracting authorities are required to treat suppliers from Europe and various other countries on an equal footing with UK suppliers. The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership is expected to incorporate these longstanding principles of EU and WTO (World Trade Organisation) law. The Public Services (Social Value) Act (2012) requires contracting authorities to consider the full social, environmental and economic value of public services procurements at the pre-procurement stage.
The Government wants UK companies to be successful in public procurement. The most appropriate way to do this is for companies to offer the goods and services at the right quality levels and to provide good value for money. The Government is determined to make access to public sector contracts easier and is introducing a simpler, streamlined method for procuring food and catering services that sets out public sector’s requirements more clearly. This was launched on 21st July in, “A Plan for Public Procurement of Food and Catering Services”.
The study commissioned by Defra to provide scientific evidence on whether cage-based breeding for pheasants and partridges can fully meet birds’ needs has been completed and is now being peer-reviewed. The study was commissioned in 2009 and was due to cost approximately £800,000. In 2010 Ministers reduced the cost to £426,000. The study will be published once the peer review is complete, later this year.
Professor Elliott's final report of the Review into the integrity and assurance of food supply networks is being finalised and will be published soon.
The Secretary of State forEnvironment, Food and Rural Affairs has met with Professor Chris Elliott twice since March 2014.
The veterinary risk assessment on pigs has recently been reviewed. We intend to publish this in a forthcoming consultation package on TB in non-bovine farmed and companion animals.