Lord Inglewood

There are gas or combined gas and electricity lamps in New Palace Yard, Peers Car Park and Old Palace Yard and Black Rod’s Garden. Those in New Palace Yard have been degassed ready for conversion to electricity, with planning consent granted in 2019. The lamp columns and globes will remain unchanged after conversion and engagement continues with Westminster City Council and Historic England to ensure the new LED lights are comparable in appearance to the original gas. There are no immediate plans to convert other lamps to electricity, but all are due to be converted in the near future in tandem with other works impacting on gas supply pipes and in line with work to make Parliament more environmentally sustainable.

The Royal Parks, a public corporation and independent charity, is contracted by DCMS to manage the Royal parks, which are Crown land for which management responsibility rests with His Majesty’s Government. There are approximately 360 gas lamps within the sites which The Royal Parks manages, of which approximately 215 are listed. There is no programme currently in place to switch existing gas lamps to electricity, but such matters are kept under review. My Department is not aware of any other gas lamps within our own estate.

A comprehensive analysis of local provision needs for Newton Rigg and the surrounding area was undertaken in 2020 by the Further Education Commissioner and the Education and Skills Funding Agency. The core objective of this analysis was to establish if there was a need for college provision within the general vicinity of Newton Rigg campus. It considered the location of neighbouring further education colleges in relation to travel to learn options and identified that the majority of enrolments could be accommodated at other statutory further education institutions. Where gaps in provision were identified, alternative arrangements for the next academic year have been introduced to ensure continuity of delivery after Newton Rigg closes.

If further evidence of gaps in provision are highlighted as a result of the closure of Newton Rigg in support of local authorities’ statutory duty to secure provision in an area, the Education and Skills Funding Agency will consider requests to fill a gap in provision. Where this cannot be met through negotiation with good existing providers the requirements are put out to tender through open competition.

We routinely consider the legal implications of decisions that are made.

Officials from the Education and Skills Funding Agency continue to work closely with the Further Education Commissioner’s team with regard to the closure of Newton Rigg.

The Government shares the public’s high regard for the UK’s environmental protections, food standards and animal welfare. All agri-food products must comply with the UK’s import requirements in order to be placed on the UK market. For example, hormone-treated beef and chlorinated chicken are banned in the UK and the Prime Minister has been clear that these will not be allowed to enter the UK market. This includes products from longstanding trading partners alongside products traded under the terms of new Free Trade Agreements.

The Forest Risk Commodities Scheme will be introduced through provisions in Schedule 17 of the Environment Act 2021. This new due diligence legislation requires regulated organisations to establish and implement a due diligence system for any regulated commodity, and any products derived from them, that they use in their commercial activities. The scheme will cover foodstuffs, including cattle products (excluding dairy), cocoa, palm oil and soy.

We remain firmly committed to upholding our world-leading environmental, food and animal welfare standards as an independent trading nation.

All agri-food products must comply with our import requirements in order to be placed on the UK market, whether they are subject to tariffs or not. This may include some products produced to different animal welfare or environmental standards. This has always been the case and includes products from the EU and other longstanding trading partners.

The UK will not compromise its high standards of environmental protection, animal welfare and food safety in any trade partnerships or agreements. We are clear that more trade will not come at the expense of our values and we will continue to champion high standards globally.

The UK is a world leader on environmental and animal welfare standards. Environmental and animal welfare considerations continue to be central to our approach to agricultural trade in line with our clear manifesto commitment that the UK's high environmental protection, animal welfare and food standards will not be compromised by our trade negotiations.

Under the Agriculture Act 2020, we have a legal duty to assess the impact of all our schemes, including our new environmental land management schemes, on food production. The first Food Security Report was published in December 2021. The Government will continue to monitor the situation in Ukraine and respond appropriately.

On 30 March the Government announced steps to assist farmers, address uncertainty and keep costs down. Planned changes to the use of urea fertiliser have been delayed by at least a year. The delay has been made to help farmers deal with rising input costs and to give them more time to adapt.

The Government also published revised statutory guidance on how farmers should limit the use of slurry and other farmyard manure at certain times of the year. This will be supported through new slurry storage grants as of this year, helping farmers reduce their dependence on artificial fertiliser.

Alongside this, the Government has published further details on the Sustainable Farming Incentive. The scheme will pay farmers to build the health and fertility of their soil and reduce soil erosion which are essential for sustainable food production, helping to bolster food security and longer-term resilience of the sector.

The Government will pay farmers to help with the costs of sowing nitrogen fixing plants and green manures or in advance of their crops. This will help substitute some of their fertiliser requirements for the coming season and reduce their dependence on manufactured fertilisers linked to the price of gas. In addition, an industry fertiliser roundtable has been set up and chaired by the Farming Minister, to work on these issues, identify solutions and better understand the pressures facing farmers at this time.