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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...
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...
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
What recent comparative assessment he has made of growth in average earnings and the rate of inflation since May 2010.
What recent comparative assessment he has made of growth in average earnings and the rate of inflation since May 2010.
Inquests into Deaths of Military Personnel
I wish to present a petition initiated by my constituents Charles and Susan Fleeting, as well as by other constituents of mine and across the United Kingdom, following the death of their son, Robert, at RAF Benson in September 2011. The related petition has more...
Inquests into Deaths of Military Personnel
I wish to present a petition initiated by my constituents Charles and Susan Fleeting, as well as by other constituents of mine and across the United Kingdom, following the death of their son, Robert, at RAF Benson in September 2011. The related petition has more...
It has been reported in The Guardian, so it must be true, that the Deputy Prime Minister is spending at least two days a week in his constituency because he fears losing his seat to Labour’s Oliver Coppard. Will the right hon. Gentleman tell us whether the role of Deputy Prime Minister is now part time; and if it is, will he give up half his salary?
It has been reported in The Guardian, so it must be true, that the Deputy Prime Minister is spending at least two days a week in his constituency because he fears losing his seat to Labour’s Oliver Coppard. Will the right hon. Gentleman tell us whether the role of Deputy Prime Minister is now part time; and if it is, will he give up half his salary?
It is a novel concept for the hon. Gentleman to seek to criticise me for doing the work that I have done with great pleasure and relish for the past 10 years, which is to be a dutiful constituency MP, as well as a party leader and Deputy Prime Minister. I make no apologies for the fact that week in, week out I attend—as I hope the hon. Gentleman does—to constituency duties as a constituency MP.
If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.
If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.
If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.
If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.
Does the Deputy Prime Minister agree that with so many different constitutional processes under way and so many different views being expressed on our country’s constitutional future, we are in danger of creating an even bigger dog’s breakfast than we already have?
Does the Deputy Prime Minister agree that with so many different constitutional processes under way and so many different views being expressed on our country’s constitutional future, we are in danger of creating an even bigger dog’s breakfast than we already have?
As I explained, excessive neatness—the idea that we have everything rolled into one single process and decided simultaneously—is probably unrealistic and undesirable. But especially in the wake of the Smith commission and the debates we are having about how we administer votes in this House on English and Welsh matters, we need a wider constitutional convention stretching into the next Parliament to bring all the different threads together in the way that the hon. Gentleman implies.
What steps she is taking to support local authorities tackling air pollution in urban areas.
What steps she is taking to support local authorities tackling air pollution in urban areas.
Local authorities are key to achieving improvements in air quality. We are taking steps to support them, including enabling them to focus more on practical actions to reduce air pollution through plans to streamline reporting requirements. We have DEFRA’s £1 million air quality grant programme, and we are also funding local transport projects. For example, £560 million has been allocated from the Government’s local sustainable transport fund between 2011 and 2015.
I thank the Minister for his answer, but he will know that on 26 September DEFRA published a report on air pollution showing that there has been no improvement in the UK’s air quality over the past year and that 38 of the 43 zones exceed the legal limit for nitrogen dioxide. What is going wrong?
I thank the Minister for his answer, but he will know that on 26 September DEFRA published a report on air pollution showing that there has been no improvement in the UK’s air quality over the past year and that 38 of the 43 zones exceed the legal limit for nitrogen dioxide. What is going wrong?
We are taking action locally, nationally and at the European level on the regulation of vehicle emissions, which is crucial to tackling this pollution. The Government are making progress on the issue, and we welcome what local authorities across the country are doing to engage with us on improving air quality locally and meeting our obligations.
If he will encourage Israelis and Palestinians to participate in projects which bring them together and build a new generation of leaders committed to peace and dialogue.
If he will encourage Israelis and Palestinians to participate in projects which bring them together and build a new generation of leaders committed to peace and dialogue.
Despite the tragic events during the summer, we remain committed to supporting efforts for peace. Our embassy in Tel Aviv and the British consulate general in Jerusalem work closely with all sectors of society, including the ultra-Orthodox communities, Israeli Arabs and Palestinian communities affected by the occupation, to build constituencies for peace.
I thank the Minister for his answer, but on an International Development Committee visit to the middle east earlier this year, it was noted that the conflict fund had insufficient funding to support groups that were promoting peace from both sides. I urge the Minister to expand the conflict fund pool and look again at organisations such as Cherish, Parents Circle and Middle East Education Through Technology, which are trying to get peace in the region.
I thank the Minister for his answer, but on an International Development Committee visit to the middle east earlier this year, it was noted that the conflict fund had insufficient funding to support groups that were promoting peace from both sides. I urge the Minister to expand the conflict fund pool and look again at organisations such as Cherish, Parents Circle and Middle East Education Through Technology, which are trying to get peace in the region.
Certainly, the Department for International Development, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Ministry of Defence are keen to receive strong applications for the conflict, stability and security fund—as the conflict fund is now called—for joint projects that bring Palestinians and Israelis together to achieve peace. This is the first time I have heard that there are issues to do with the funding. I will certainly look at it and write to the hon. Gentleman.
If she will make a statement on her departmental responsibilities.
If she will make a statement on her departmental responsibilities.
What assessment he has made of the effects of the distribution of housing benefit in Scotland.
What assessment he has made of the effects of the distribution of housing benefit in Scotland.
In recent months, I have met every local authority in Scotland to discuss a wide range of issues, including housing benefit.
A report by my trade union, the GMB, shows that huge sums of housing benefit are paid to company landlords in Scotland. Bearing in mind the Secretary of State’s earlier answer, will the Minister meet me to discuss how we can bring together the UK, Scottish and local governments to ensure that we get best value for housing benefit and that we can create new houses and new jobs, rather than fill the pockets of company landlords?
A report by my trade union, the GMB, shows that huge sums of housing benefit are paid to company landlords in Scotland. Bearing in mind the Secretary of State’s earlier answer, will the Minister meet me to discuss how we can bring together the UK, Scottish and local governments to ensure that we get best value for housing benefit and that we can create new houses and new jobs, rather than fill the pockets of company landlords?
I would certainly be happy to meet the hon. Gentleman, with a view to convening such a meeting.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
All of the judicial review proceedings relating to Iraq and Afghanistan brought by the firm Public Interest Lawyers (PIL) in the last 10 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.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) 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;
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) 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;
The Department does not centrally record information about the identity of claimants' representatives or information relating to claimants' funding arrangements. This information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.