Asked by: Michael McCann (Labour - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the potential effects on school milk provision in the UK of the announcement by the EU Commission in December 2014 that the EU School Milk Scheme will be evaluated as part of CAP simplification.
Answered by George Eustice
In principle, I support the reform of the EU scheme which the Commission first proposed in January 2014. However, work on this dossier has become bogged down on a number of important issues, including Member State concerns about the correct legal basis for the proposals, the nature of their objectives and scope, and the main financial provisions. I therefore support the Commission’s decision to review it. Defra will engage constructively with this process. In the meantime, the existing arrangements for school schemes – agreed during CAP reform and set out in Regulation (EU) No 1308/2103 – will continue to apply. Under the EU scheme, UK school children benefit from subsidies worth approximately £3.5 million a year.
In addition to the EU subsidy scheme, all pre-school children in England, Scotland and Wales who are under 5 and in day care are eligible for free milk under our domestic nursery milk scheme. The total cost of the scheme was £61 million in 2012-13.
Asked by: Michael McCann (Labour - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions officials in her Department have had with stakeholders on development of a national strategy for implementation of the European School Milk Scheme.
Answered by George Eustice
The development of a national strategy to implement the existing, long-established EU School Milk Scheme is not expected to involve substantive changes of policy or of practice. On this basis, a formal consultation is not envisaged. However, Defra officials are engaging with a range of stakeholders in the interests of transparency and to set out our approach. The EU Commission has proposed a more substantial overhaul of the scheme which, if agreed, would take effect from 2016 onwards. The Department intends to consult on this wider process although no timescale has yet been established.
Asked by: Michael McCann (Labour - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans her Department has to consult stakeholders on the development of a national strategy for implementation of the European School Milk Scheme.
Answered by George Eustice
The development of a national strategy to implement the existing, long-established EU School Milk Scheme is not expected to involve substantive changes of policy or of practice. On this basis, a formal consultation is not envisaged. However, Defra officials are engaging with a range of stakeholders in the interests of transparency and to set out our approach. The EU Commission has proposed a more substantial overhaul of the scheme which, if agreed, would take effect from 2016 onwards. The Department intends to consult on this wider process although no timescale has yet been established.
Asked by: Michael McCann (Labour - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many cases funded by legal aid against his Department where public interest lawyers have represented clients were won by his Department in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Anna Soubry
It is not possible to give a definitive answer to this question, since in a number of cases where there were multiple issues before it, the Court found for the claimant on some issues and for the defendant on others.
Asked by: Michael McCann (Labour - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, in how many cases against his Department funded by legal aid public interest lawyers represented clients in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Anna Soubry
All of the judicial review proceedings relating to Iraq and Afghanistan brought by the firm Public Interest Lawyers (PIL) in the last ten years have been publicly funded through the legal aid budget. According to available records PIL has represented approximately 200 clients in issued judicial review proceedings. It is not possible to provide a meaningful annual breakdown as some claims made in one year have had further claimants joined to them in subsequent years.
Asked by: Michael McCann (Labour - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much public interest lawyers have received in legal aid for cases against the Minstry of Defence in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Shailesh Vara
The Legal Aid Agency (LAA) cannot separately identify legal aid cases against the Department for Work and Pensions, the Ministry of Defence and the Home Office. Opponents are not systematically recorded against Legal Aid cases.
The net payments to Public Interest Lawyers over the past ten tears were:
Financial Year | Net Payments |
FY2003-2004 | £139,620.72 |
FY2004-2005 | £158,282.52 |
FY2005-2006 | £251,844.27 |
FY2006-2007 | £299,667.99 |
FY2007-2008 | £577,263.60 |
FY2008-2009 | £628,527.75 |
FY2009-2010 | £267,433.88 |
FY2010-2011 | £439,268.02 |
FY2011-2012 | £331,238.85 |
FY2012-2013 | £50,633.27 |
These payments cover all work undertaken by the firm under legal aid. The payments made will be offset by recoupment on successful cases where the opponent has paid the costs.
Asked by: Michael McCann (Labour - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much public interest lawyers have received in legal aid for cases against the Home Office in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Shailesh Vara
The Legal Aid Agency (LAA) cannot separately identify legal aid cases against the Department for Work and Pensions, the Ministry of Defence and the Home Office. Opponents are not systematically recorded against Legal Aid cases.
The net payments to Public Interest Lawyers over the past ten tears were:
Financial Year | Net Payments |
FY2003-2004 | £139,620.72 |
FY2004-2005 | £158,282.52 |
FY2005-2006 | £251,844.27 |
FY2006-2007 | £299,667.99 |
FY2007-2008 | £577,263.60 |
FY2008-2009 | £628,527.75 |
FY2009-2010 | £267,433.88 |
FY2010-2011 | £439,268.02 |
FY2011-2012 | £331,238.85 |
FY2012-2013 | £50,633.27 |
These payments cover all work undertaken by the firm under legal aid. The payments made will be offset by recoupment on successful cases where the opponent has paid the costs.
Asked by: Michael McCann (Labour - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many cases against the Department for Work and Pensions were funded by legal aid in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Shailesh Vara
The Legal Aid Agency (LAA) cannot separately identify legal aid cases against the Department for Work and Pensions, the Ministry of Defence and the Home Office. Opponents are not systematically recorded against Legal Aid cases.
The net payments to Public Interest Lawyers over the past ten tears were:
Financial Year | Net Payments |
FY2003-2004 | £139,620.72 |
FY2004-2005 | £158,282.52 |
FY2005-2006 | £251,844.27 |
FY2006-2007 | £299,667.99 |
FY2007-2008 | £577,263.60 |
FY2008-2009 | £628,527.75 |
FY2009-2010 | £267,433.88 |
FY2010-2011 | £439,268.02 |
FY2011-2012 | £331,238.85 |
FY2012-2013 | £50,633.27 |
These payments cover all work undertaken by the firm under legal aid. The payments made will be offset by recoupment on successful cases where the opponent has paid the costs.
Asked by: Michael McCann (Labour - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many cases against the Ministry of Defence were funded by legal aid in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Shailesh Vara
The Legal Aid Agency (LAA) cannot separately identify legal aid cases against the Department for Work and Pensions, the Ministry of Defence and the Home Office. Opponents are not systematically recorded against Legal Aid cases.
The net payments to Public Interest Lawyers over the past ten tears were:
Financial Year | Net Payments |
FY2003-2004 | £139,620.72 |
FY2004-2005 | £158,282.52 |
FY2005-2006 | £251,844.27 |
FY2006-2007 | £299,667.99 |
FY2007-2008 | £577,263.60 |
FY2008-2009 | £628,527.75 |
FY2009-2010 | £267,433.88 |
FY2010-2011 | £439,268.02 |
FY2011-2012 | £331,238.85 |
FY2012-2013 | £50,633.27 |
These payments cover all work undertaken by the firm under legal aid. The payments made will be offset by recoupment on successful cases where the opponent has paid the costs.
Asked by: Michael McCann (Labour - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many cases against the Home Office were funded by legal aid in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Shailesh Vara
The Legal Aid Agency (LAA) cannot separately identify legal aid cases against the Department for Work and Pensions, the Ministry of Defence and the Home Office. Opponents are not systematically recorded against Legal Aid cases.
The net payments to Public Interest Lawyers over the past ten tears were:
Financial Year | Net Payments |
FY2003-2004 | £139,620.72 |
FY2004-2005 | £158,282.52 |
FY2005-2006 | £251,844.27 |
FY2006-2007 | £299,667.99 |
FY2007-2008 | £577,263.60 |
FY2008-2009 | £628,527.75 |
FY2009-2010 | £267,433.88 |
FY2010-2011 | £439,268.02 |
FY2011-2012 | £331,238.85 |
FY2012-2013 | £50,633.27 |
These payments cover all work undertaken by the firm under legal aid. The payments made will be offset by recoupment on successful cases where the opponent has paid the costs.