Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Penrith and The Border)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what fiscal steps his Department is taking to help support the brewery industry.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government values the important contribution that the brewery industry makes to our economy and society. The new duty system, introduced on 1 August 2023, contains many benefits for brewers, including two new reliefs.
The new Small Producer Relief means that small producers now see reduced duty rates on all products below 8.5 per cent alcohol by volume (ABV) up to a production threshold.
The new Draught Relief means that all alcoholic products under 8.5 per cent ABV which are sold in containers of 20 litres or more and are sold to connect to a dispense system qualify for reduced duty rates. This relief provides a reduction in the duty on draught beer and cider products by 9.2 per cent.
As with all tax policy, the Government keeps the alcohol duty system under review as part of the annual Budget process.
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, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of funding a redevelopment of the Animal Plant and Health Agency Headquarters in Weybridge.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) provides high-quality surveillance, preparedness, detection and response to biosecurity threats from animal diseases - both those that might affect our ability to trade and those which pose a threat to animal and human health. To keep APHA’s Weybridge facility fit for purpose, support a major programme of essential maintenance, and secure the long-term future of critical capability, Defra established the Science Capability in Animal Health (SCAH) programme. This is backed by almost £400 million of funding in the current Spending Review period, including £200 million investment for SCAH and £197 million for critical works on site. The work which has commenced to safeguard and enhance the Weybridge site will enable its excellent scientists to continue at the forefront of science which protects the country, boosting our resilience against animal diseases.
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 his Department is taking to detect the illegal carrying of meat products into the UK.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
African swine fever (ASF) cases in Germany in 2022 represented new “jumps” in disease distribution towards the United Kingdom, following similar movements elsewhere in Europe. While we consider that the overall risk of entry of ASF virus into the UK from all combined pathways remains at medium, the particular pathway of human-mediated transport of non-commercial, infected products from the EU is considered to be high risk (please see the Animal and Plant Health Agency’s risk assessments for more detail).
As a result, we announced controls restricting the movement of pork and pork products into Great Britain (GB) to help safeguard Britain's pigs (please see further information here).
Travellers are no longer allowed to bring pork or pork products weighing over two kilograms into GB, unless they are produced to the EU’s commercial standards. The controls, which came into force in September 2022, strengthen the standards for bringing pork and pork products into GB from the EU and EFTA states.
This measure helps limit possibly infected pig meat being brought into GB through various means, such as in passengers’ luggage or in vehicles. The measure does not apply to commercial imports, which remain unaffected by the control.
There are Defra-sponsored checks carried out under the ASF safeguard measure and enforced by Port Health Authority officers and Border Force officers at ports and airports.
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 assessment he has made of the level of risk posed to the UK by the spread of African Swine Fever.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
African swine fever (ASF) cases in Germany in 2022 represented new “jumps” in disease distribution towards the United Kingdom, following similar movements elsewhere in Europe. While we consider that the overall risk of entry of ASF virus into the UK from all combined pathways remains at medium, the particular pathway of human-mediated transport of non-commercial, infected products from the EU is considered to be high risk (please see the Animal and Plant Health Agency’s risk assessments for more detail).
As a result, we announced controls restricting the movement of pork and pork products into Great Britain (GB) to help safeguard Britain's pigs (please see further information here).
Travellers are no longer allowed to bring pork or pork products weighing over two kilograms into GB, unless they are produced to the EU’s commercial standards. The controls, which came into force in September 2022, strengthen the standards for bringing pork and pork products into GB from the EU and EFTA states.
This measure helps limit possibly infected pig meat being brought into GB through various means, such as in passengers’ luggage or in vehicles. The measure does not apply to commercial imports, which remain unaffected by the control.
There are Defra-sponsored checks carried out under the ASF safeguard measure and enforced by Port Health Authority officers and Border Force officers at ports and airports.
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 to help prevent the spread of African Swine Fever to the UK.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
African swine fever (ASF) cases in Germany in 2022 represented new “jumps” in disease distribution towards the United Kingdom, following similar movements elsewhere in Europe. While we consider that the overall risk of entry of ASF virus into the UK from all combined pathways remains at medium, the particular pathway of human-mediated transport of non-commercial, infected products from the EU is considered to be high risk (please see the Animal and Plant Health Agency’s risk assessments for more detail).
As a result, we announced controls restricting the movement of pork and pork products into Great Britain (GB) to help safeguard Britain's pigs (please see further information here).
Travellers are no longer allowed to bring pork or pork products weighing over two kilograms into GB, unless they are produced to the EU’s commercial standards. The controls, which came into force in September 2022, strengthen the standards for bringing pork and pork products into GB from the EU and EFTA states.
This measure helps limit possibly infected pig meat being brought into GB through various means, such as in passengers’ luggage or in vehicles. The measure does not apply to commercial imports, which remain unaffected by the control.
There are Defra-sponsored checks carried out under the ASF safeguard measure and enforced by Port Health Authority officers and Border Force officers at ports and airports.
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, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of the Border Target Operating Model on biosecurity.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Border Targeting Operating Model (BTOM) successfully delivers a science based dynamic approach to border controls and is designed to change responsively to ensure controls are targeted where risk is greatest. This will provide assurance to our trading partners and the UK consumer that imported food and feed products meet our high safety standards. This approach seeks to bring in critical biosecurity controls as soon as possible, but uses a global risk-based model, data and technology to reduce the burden on businesses wherever possible.
Health certification will provide assurance that an official vet or plant health inspector in the exporting country has checked the goods and confirmed that they are free of pests or diseases and comply with GB’s import health requirements. Inspections increase our surveillance capability to intercept non-compliant goods, detect emerging pest or disease threats, and identify any problems with the certification process in exporting countries. Local authority food standards officials have found examples of pork imported from EU countries with widespread African Swine Fever (ASF). Such countries are not allowed to export pork under EU rules due to the biosecurity threat posed by ASF. The controls in the BTOM, specifically the requirement for Export Health Certificates, would have prevented this: an official vet would refuse to certify such a consignment.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Penrith and The Border)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to reduce waiting times for (a) urgent and (b) non-urgent referrals of patients from General Practice to hospitals in (i) Cumbria and (ii) England.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Cutting waiting lists is one of this Prime Minister’s top priorities. We are making good progress on tackling the longest waits, and ensuring patients get the care they need when they need it. That is why we have published the elective recovery plan, which sets clear ambitions to eliminate long waits for planned National Health Service treatment. The overall vision is to eradicate waits of longer than a year for elective care by March 2025.
To facilitate this across elective services, we are increasing activity, with plans to spend more than £8 billion from 2022/23 to 2024/25. This will expand capacity though creating a new network of community diagnostic centres, including three in Cumbria, and maximising all available independent sector capacity. We are managing demand through specialised advice in primary care and giving patients more control over where they receive their care. We are also increasing productivity through transforming outpatient services, developing new surgical hubs to increase theatre productivity, and working actively with trusts to support and challenge their performance.
The latest published figures show that the 62-day backlog has fallen 36% since its peak in the pandemic. The NHS introduced the Faster Diagnosis Standard (FDS), which aims to ensure patients have cancer diagnosed or ruled out within 28 days of urgent suspected cancer referral from a general practice or screening services. Latest FDS performance was at 71.9% in November 2023 against the national standard of 75%.
To achieve the FDS target, NHS England are streamlining cancer pathways, including timed cancer pathways, to speed up diagnosis in the three key cancer pathways: lower gastrointestinal, prostate, and skin.
We are also implementing non symptom specific pathways for patients who present with non-specific symptoms, or combinations of non-specific symptoms, that can indicate several different cancers.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Penrith and The Border)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to support General Practices at risk of closure.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
General Practices (GPs) close for a variety of reasons, including mergers or retirement. A reduction in GP numbers does not mean a reduction in the quality of care. When a GP does close, patients are informed of the closure and advised to register at another local practice of their choice within their area.
The closure of a GP surgery is an issue that is considered and decided upon by local commissioners, following an application from a GP provider. It is for local commissioners to determine what services and care pathways are put in place, in order to best serve the needs of their patient population.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Penrith and The Border)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what steps the Government is taking to help tackle refusal of entry of guide dogs into business establishments.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Under the Equality Act 2010, businesses and public bodies that provide goods and services to the public must not unlawfully discriminate against disabled people, including those with assistance dogs.
The Act places a duty on service providers to make reasonable adjustments to improve access to premises, buildings and services. This could include allowing the use of assistance dogs so that disabled customers are not placed at a substantial disadvantage compared to non-disabled customers.
The Disability Action Plan published on 5th February 2024 includes an action to establish an assistance dogs and animals working group, which will consider issues including how to educate businesses on the rights of assistance dog owners and to help simplify reporting access refusals.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Penrith and The Border)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to support land-based education.
Answered by Robert Halfon
Land-based colleges play a central role in meeting local and national skills needs, including supporting the department's commitments on Net Zero. These colleges are significant assets to their local communities, enabling people of all backgrounds to gain sought-after skills, get good jobs and climb the ladder of opportunity.
Departmental officials are working closely with Landex and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to develop a strategy for land-based colleges which recognises their central role in supporting the delivery of key national priorities. This strategy will position land-based colleges within the Green Jobs Plan as hubs of skills training and technical innovation, boosting take-up in rural areas of high-quality skills training and ensuring high-quality, updated technical qualifications are available in each local area.
In addition to receiving capital funding, land-based colleges have benefitted from the £300 million the department has invested in the 21 employer led Institutes of Technology, which are leading the development of technical qualifications in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics related areas.
In the 2023/24 academic year, land-based colleges also benefitted from a significant uplift in the specialist programme cost weighting from 1.75 to 1.975. This means where young people are taking specialist land-based courses at these institutions, they now attract a 97.5% uplift on the core funding rate.