Asked by: Ian C. Lucas (Labour - Wrexham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many staff appointed after 24 June 2016 in his Department hold a post that includes work on the UK leaving the EU.
Answered by George Eustice
Over 80% of Defra’s agenda is affected by the UK’s departure from the European Union and as a result, many roles across the Defra group are now supporting work related to the UK’s departure from the EU, either directly or indirectly. We continue to keep our resourcing plans under review, focusing both on recruitment and increasing the capability of new and existing staff.
Defra has recruited over 550 additional staff, comprising both policy generalists and specialists of whom around 400 have already taken up post. The majority of these new staff are employed in the central department where they are working on a range of projects to enable a successful withdrawal from the EU.
Asked by: Ian C. Lucas (Labour - Wrexham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what her policy is on the European Food Safety Authority's review on the evidence on the impact of neonicotinoids; and what representations she has made to that Authority on that review.
Answered by George Eustice
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) review on the evidence on the impact of neonicotinoids is an important opportunity to produce an up-to-date assessment of this issue. EFSA has just completed the data collection phase and the UK will contribute fully to the review as it progresses.
Asked by: Ian C. Lucas (Labour - Wrexham)
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 Adaptation Sub-Committee Progress Report 2014, what steps she is taking to minimise the risks to the well-being of UK citizens identified in that report.
Answered by Rory Stewart
The National Adaptation Programme report sets out over 370 actions that are being taken to address the risks identified in the UK Climate Change Risk Assessment, many of which impact on the well-being of UK citizens. The Government is committed to continue implementing the National Adaptation Programme, working across Government and with business, councils, civil society and academia.
Asked by: Ian C. Lucas (Labour - Wrexham)
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 publish the final version of her Department's report, Shale Gas: Rural Economy Impacts.
Answered by Rory Stewart
The full version of the draft rural economy impacts paper was released on 1 July and is available on https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/draft-shale-gas-rural-economy-impacts-paper. The draft paper was intended as a rapid review of existing literature; it is not analytically robust. Work on this paper was discontinued and we have no plans to update it.