Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Penrith and The Border)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to help support Ukraine's agricultural sector.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK remains committed to supporting Ukrainian agriculture, a key sector of Ukraine’s economy.
The UK’s support includes committing £8 million to President Zelenskyy’s ‘Grain from Ukraine’ initiative, which supports grain production in Ukraine and ensures that Ukrainian grain reaches some of the poorest and most vulnerable people in the world.
Ukraine’s maritime corridor in the Black Sea, established with UK and other partners’ support, will help enable Ukraine to export its entire harvest this year, if current export volumes are maintained.
Following a request from Ukraine in 2022, the UK has also committed £2.2 million to develop a grain verification scheme, designed to tackle the well-documented appropriation of Ukrainian grain by Russian forces in occupied regions of Ukraine. This will help Ukraine to deter continued Russian theft of grain.
In May 2022, the UK was the first country to liberalise all tariffs and quotas with Ukraine, supporting Ukraine’s economy. This liberalisation will be extended until at least 2029 for most products.
Last year, the UK provided £16 million to help fund the Ukrainian response to the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam, which affected agricultural land, including donating pumping equipment and temporary barriers from the Environment Agency.
The UK was also pleased to host an agricultural roundtable at the Ukraine Recovery Conference 2023 to further facilitate investment in the Ukrainian agricultural sector.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Penrith and The Border)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department is taking steps to help support individuals that wish to donate vehicles to Ukraine.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Yes. Whilst the Government does not provide direct assistance to individuals looking to donate their vehicle to Ukraine we are supportive of efforts to make routes to donation available.
Following the Transport Secretary's letter to the Mayor of London on 31 January, the Mayor has now announced vehicles can be donated to Ukraine through TfL’s ULEZ scrappage scheme.
This will give ULEZ scrappage scheme applicants the option to donate suitable vehicles to Ukraine instead of scrapping them, and still receive the grant payment.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Penrith and The Border)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the accessibility of banking services to rural communities.
Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government believes that all customers, wherever they live, should have appropriate access to banking and cash services, and is monitoring this issue closely. It is imperative that firms recognise the needs of all their customers, including those who need to use in-person services.
UK customers can access banking services through a number of different channels. This includes in branches, Post Offices or Banking Hubs, as well as via telephone banking and through digital means such as mobile or online banking.
The Post Office allows personal and business customers to carry out everyday banking services at 11,500 Post Office branches across the UK. The Post Office is required by the Department for Business & Trade to ensure that 95% of the total rural population across the UK is within 3 miles of their nearest Post Office.
Banking Hubs are an initiative which enable customers of participating banks to access cash and banking services in shared facilities. Over 100 Banking Hubs have been announced so far, and the Government hopes to see these all open as soon as possible.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Penrith and The Border)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help support farmers with their mental health and wellbeing.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra recognises the vital work the charity sector is already doing to support farmers who are struggling to cope with the pressures of farming. Initiatives include in-person counselling support for farmers, crisis helplines, online services, mental health training for the farming sector and other outreach events designed to reach more farmers in need. Defra also established the Farmer Welfare Forum to bring together England's largest farming welfare organisations to ensure that Defra is fully informed on farmer wellbeing challenges.
The Prime Minister recently announced that Defra is exploring options to work with and support charitable organisations over the next 12 months. A share of £500,000 will be awarded to a number of farmer welfare charities to support their vital work in 2024/25. The main objective is to partner with charities that focus on farmer wellbeing, particularly those that help farming people struggling with stress, anxiety and/or depression and are in the most remote or hard to reach areas.
In addition, we are already providing expert business support to farmers under the Farming Resilience Fund. One of the key required outcomes for the Resilience Fund is that farmers’ mental health and wellbeing are supported, where required. Some delivery providers are offering this support from in-house experts and others are signposting support available from specialist external services. The Resilience Fund runs until March 2025 and any Basic Payment Scheme recipient in England is eligible to receive support. Further information is available on the GOV.UK website.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Penrith and The Border)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps his Department is taking to help support Ukrainian refugees living in the UK.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
As set out previously, local authorities will continue to receive a tariff payment to support our Ukrainian guests. Sponsors are also eligible for an ‘Thank You payment’ of £350 per month for the first 12 months of a Ukrainian guest’s stay in the UK and £500 thereafter.
We recognise through engagement with guests, other government departments, local councils, VCS organisations and sponsors that English is one of the main barriers to employment, so we announced £11.5 million in the Spring Budget 2023 to fund intensive English language courses and employment support for up to 10,000 eligible individuals under the Ukraine visa schemes.
This programme provides free online English lessons and employment support to Ukrainian arrivals to help them improve their job prospects.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Penrith and The Border)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has made a recent assessment of the scale of food shortages in Yemen.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UN's Humanitarian Response Plan for 2024 identifies that 17.6 million people continue to suffer from acute food insecurity in Yemen. The ongoing conflict, insecurity and economic crisis remain the main drivers.
Furthermore, the disruption to shipping in the Red Sea caused by Houthi attacks risks driving up costs of food and humanitarian aid supplies to Yemen. The Houthis have been attacking the very sea lanes that the Yemeni people depend on: 90 percent of food staples, such as wheat are, imported.
The UK is committed to provide continued humanitarian assistance to help alleviate the dire conditions faced by millions of Yemenis. This financial year (FY23/24), the UK's £88 million humanitarian pledge has contributed to providing food to at least 100,000 of the most vulnerable every month, providing lifesaving healthcare through 400 healthcare facilities and treating 22,000 of severely malnourished children.
The UK is committed to ensuring freedom of navigation and trade.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Penrith and The Border)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential impact of solar farms on the availability of agricultural land.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Solar and farming can be complementary, and the Government encourages deployment of solar technology that delivers environmental co-benefits, with consideration for ongoing food production.
The Government recognises the need to preserve our most productive farmland as far as possible. The recently published and updated National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) sets out that planning policies and decisions should contribute to and enhance the natural and local environment by recognising the intrinsic character and beauty of the countryside, including the economic and other benefits of the best and most versatile agricultural land.
Where significant development of agricultural land is demonstrated to be necessary, areas of poorer quality land should be preferred to those of a higher quality. The availability of agricultural land used for food production should be considered, alongside the other policies in the NPPF, when deciding what sites are most appropriate for development.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Penrith and The Border)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has made a recent assessment of the scale of food shortages in Sudan.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
17.7 million people in Sudan (37 percent of the population) are now thought to be experiencing acute food insecurity. This is likely to worsen in the coming months. As much as 70 percent of the population could be experiencing acute food insecurity by June. The conflict has now spread to the "breadbasket" state of Jazira, where food production, grain milling, storage and transportation, are heavily impacted. The UK is pushing for a concerted international community response. In November, at the Global Food Security Summit in London, the UK pledged a further £14.3 million in humanitarian aid for Sudan, bringing our total support package for Sudan to £38 million for 2023-2024, which includes some food and nutrition assistance.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Penrith and The Border)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has made an assessment of the impact of the disruption to shipping in the Red Sea on global transfer of (a) fertiliser and (b) energy.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Red Sea is a vital sea lane for international shipping. 12 per cent of international trade, worth over $1 trillion, passes through the Bab al-Mandab Strait and the Suez Canal every year. The global economy has therefore been threatened by the Houthi's dangerous and destabilising attacks since 19 November.
Djibouti and Ethiopia, for example, are particularly dependent on importing fertilisers through the Red Sea (75 per cent from Morrocco, and 70 per cent from North Africa, respectively). Supply of fertiliser is time sensitive (because it is needed at specific points in a crop's life) and so delays in delivery may be more impactful on such countries' food security, than the consequences of delays to other goods.
The Department for Transport assesses jet fuel to be the most concerning commodity at risk of this disruption; globally, 30 per cent of seaborne jet fuel, 12 per cent of seaborne oil, and 8 per cent of seaborne liquefied natural gas (LNG) passes through the Red Sea.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Penrith and The Border)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has made a recent assessment of the scale of food shortages in Gaza.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK is increasingly concerned over the growing food insecurity in Gaza. Palestinian civilians are facing a devastating and growing humanitarian crisis in Gaza. We want to see an end to the fighting in Gaza as soon as possible. We are calling for an immediate pause to get aid in and hostages out, then progress towards a sustainable, permanent ceasefire, without a return to destruction, fighting and loss of life.
We remain committed to getting humanitarian aid to the people in Gaza who desperately need it. The UK is providing £60 million in humanitarian assistance to support partners including the British Red Cross, UNICEF, the WFP and Egyptian Red Crescent Society (ERCS) to respond to critical food, fuel, water, health, shelter and security needs in Gaza. We will continue to support and have supported the WFP to deliver a new humanitarian land corridor from Jordan into Gaza. 750 tonnes of life-saving food aid arrived in the first delivery and a second delivery of 315 tonnes has been made.