Neil Hudson MP: written questions
335 published records · newest first.
Written questions
Processed Food and SlaughterhousesDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 3 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 17619More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on how many (a) abattoirs and (b) food processing plants in (i) England and (ii) the UK are family-owned businesses.
Answer: This information is not held by the Food Standards Agency (FSA). There are 232 abattoirs approved by the FSA in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. The FSA is aware of which are sole traders, partnerships, and which are incorporated companies, but it do...
Answered 9 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordAvian Influenza: Disease ControlDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 27 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 16562More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress his Department has made on tackling avian influenza outbreaks in England.
Answer: Following the detection of notifiable avian influenza in poultry in England, Defra and the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) have stood up their well-established outbreak structures to control and eradicate disease, restore normal trade, and assist lo...
Answered 2 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordBluetongue Disease: Disease ControlDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 27 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 16561More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to help (a) farmers and (b) animal-related industries to reduce the likelihood of bluetongue virus spreading.
Answer: Early identification was crucial to enabling a rapid response to a bluetongue outbreak. Defra provided free pre-movement testing to animal keepers in counties at the highest risk of incursion from infected midges originating from the continent. A restrict...
Answered 2 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordFlood Control: FinanceDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 27 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 16528More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to paragraph 4.105 of the Autumn Budget 2024, published on 30 October, if he will maintain spending on flood resilience over the next five years.
Answer: We will invest £2.4 billion across 2024/25 and 2025/26 to improve flood resilience, by maintaining, repairing and building flood defences. Longer term funding decisions will be made at the next Spending Review.
Answered 3 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordWeather: Power FailuresDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 26 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 16271More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with (a) the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero and (b) energy companies on resilience capability in the event of instances of power cuts d
Answer: The Secretary of State has regular discussions with Cabinet colleagues on a range of issues, and Cabinet discussions are considered confidential. The Government works closely with electricity networks to continually improve and maintain the resilience of ...
Answered 3 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordFlood Control: DredgingDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 26 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 16269More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of dredging on flood mitigation.
Answer: Dredging and clearing channels are an important option for watercourse maintenance, where it is technically and cost effective, does not significantly increase flood risk for others downstream, and does not damage the environment and wildlife. Its effecti...
Answered 3 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordFlood Re: BusinessDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 26 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 16268More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of extending the Flood Re scheme to businesses.
Answer: Flood Re is a joint government and industry flood reinsurance scheme established specifically to help UK households at high risk of flooding to access affordable insurance. As such, it is funded via a levy on UK household insurers. Business insurance oper...
Answered 3 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordStorms: Bellwin SchemeMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 26 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 16267More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she has had discussions with Cabinet colleagues on activating the Bellwin Scheme in response to (a) Storm Bert and (b) other storms.
Answer: The impact of flooding, wherever it occurs, is traumatic for the communities impacted and I have great sympathy for all those affected. The government is ready to consider local authority requests for Bellwin Scheme support which can help with the reimbur...
Answered 29 Nov 2024
Original Parliament recordWeather: Armed ForcesDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 26 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 16266More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions his Department has had with the Ministry of Defence on the potential merits of using the Armed Forces during extreme weather events.
Answer: Defra has longstanding arrangements with the Ministry of Defence to secure military support for flood response when this is required. There are well practiced procedures for requesting Military Aid to the Civil Authorities (MACA) at national and local lev...
Answered 3 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordVegetarian SocietyDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 15 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 14476More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will publish the speech made by the Minister for Food Security and Rural Affairs at the Vegetarian Society event on 13 November 2024.
Answer: Minister Zeichner spoke briefly at this reception. This is something he often does at similar events. Defra does not routinely publish transcripts of such remarks and there are no plans to deviate from convention.
Answered 4 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordEmployers' Contributions: Small BusinessesTreasuryTabled 12 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 13851More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of increases in employer National Insurance contributions on small businesses in Epping Forest constituency.
Answer: Estimates of the impact on businesses in Epping Forest from changes to Employer NICs announced at Autumn Budget 2024 are not available.
Answered 18 Nov 2024
Original Parliament recordElectric Scooters: AccidentsDepartment for TransportTabled 12 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 13850More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of e-scooter use on the number of road related incidents in the last 12 months.
Answer: The Department collects road traffic casualty data for e-scooters using data reported by the police to the Department for Transport. In 2023 there were 1,292 collisions involving e-scooters, compared to 1,411 in 2022. There were 1,387 casualties in collis...
Answered 18 Nov 2024
Original Parliament recordAvian Influenza: Yorkshire and the HumberDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 11 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 13571More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress his Department has made on tackling cases of avian influenza in Yorkshire.
Answer: One case of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N5 has been confirmed in the Yorkshire area this season. This case follows recent detections of the HPAI H5N5 in wild birds in the region and is the first case confirmed since declaration of Great Bri...
Answered 15 Nov 2024
Original Parliament recordBluetongue Disease: Disease ControlDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 11 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 13570More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent progress his Department has made on tackling cases of bluetongue virus.
Answer: Defra acted quickly to contain bluetongue serotype 3 (BTV-3) when the first case this season was detected on 26 August 2024, implementing zones with movement controls on susceptible livestock to prevent spread. These disease control restrictions have been...
Answered 15 Nov 2024
Original Parliament recordUniversal Credit: FarmersDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 5 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 12795More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the accessibility of Universal Credit for farmers.
Answer: We have engaged with the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) and farmers to raise awareness on how they can access services through various channels including partnering with NFU at county shows, providing NFU an informative toolkit and continuation of inviting...
Answered 11 Nov 2024
Original Parliament recordAgriculture and Floods: FinanceDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 5 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 12794More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions his Department has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on (a) farming and (b) flood funding for the remainder of this Parliament.
Answer: Defra’s farming budget will be £2.4 billion in 2025/26. This will include the largest ever budget directed at sustainable food production and nature’s recovery in our country’s history: £1.8 billion for environmental land management schemes. This funding ...
Answered 20 Nov 2024
Original Parliament recordAnimal and Plant Health Agency: WeybridgeCabinet OfficeTabled 5 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 12781More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of including the potential risks associated with not fully rebuilding the Animal Plant and Health Agency Headquarters in Weybridge in the National Risk Regis
Answer: All risks in the National Risk Register, including those related to animal and plant health, are kept under review to ensure that they are the most appropriate scenarios to inform emergency preparedness and resilience activity and to reflect the risk land...
Answered 15 Nov 2024
Original Parliament recordImport Controls: Port of DoverDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 5 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 12780More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 5 November to Question 11902 on Import Controls: Port of Dover, when checks on animals at Border Control Posts will begin.
Answer: We are reviewing the date for implementing specific post-Brexit border checks set out in the Border Target Operating Model (BTOM) and will publish more information on these soon. We continue to maintain essential border controls to protect our national bi...
Answered 11 Nov 2024
Original Parliament recordProstate Cancer: Blood TestsDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 4 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 12577More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to encourage GPs to proactively discuss (a) prostate cancer risk and (b) the option to have a prostate-specific antigen test with (i) Black men aged 45 and over and (ii) men
Answer: The Prostate Cancer Risk Management Programme (PCRMP) provides general practitioners (GPs) with information and guidance to counsel men who have no symptoms, but who wish to have a Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) test. It highlights the potential benefits...
Answered 11 Nov 2024
Original Parliament recordImport Controls: Port of DoverDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 30 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 11902More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the capability to do random physical (a) animal and (b) plant checks on site in the Port of Dover.
Answer: Defra will continue to monitor and review the impact of the new controls. We will work closely with industry, trade partners and enforcement agencies to minimise disruption and costs to trade, while continuing to protect our biosecurity. The Port of Dover...
Answered 5 Nov 2024
Original Parliament recordInland Border Facilities: AshfordDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 30 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 11901More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure vehicles sent to the Border Control Post at Sevington (a) go there directly and (b) do not unload their contents en route.
Answer: The risk of legitimate commercial loads not attending Sevington is mitigated by robust, data-backed enforcement options. Consignments called to Sevington for an inspection will have completed the necessary customs declarations and pre-notifications. These...
Answered 5 Nov 2024
Original Parliament recordInland Border Facilities: AshfordDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 30 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 11900More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the compliance of (a) people and (b) vehicles told to go to the Border Control Post at Sevington for checks.
Answer: Due to the intelligence led and dynamic nature of our biosecurity controls and to ensure operations are not impacted, we are unable to share data on Sanitary and phytosanitary checks. Consignments called to Sevington for an inspection will have completed ...
Answered 5 Nov 2024
Original Parliament recordMulti-Sport Grassroots Facilities ProgrammeDepartment for Culture, Media and SportTabled 29 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 11668More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she plans to maintain the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme.
Answer: The Government is investing £123 million UK-wide in grassroots facilities via the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme in 2024/25. At the Autumn Budget on 30 October 2024, the Government confirmed our continued support for elite and grassroots spor...
Answered 4 Nov 2024
Original Parliament recordRetail Trade: Epping ForestDepartment for Business and TradeTabled 29 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 11650More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he is taking to help support high street businesses in Epping Forest.
Answer: At Budget the Chancellor announced a number of measures to support high street businesses, ideally in Epping Forest’s regeneration including permanently lowering tax rates for retail, hospitality and leisure properties from 2026/27, extending RHL relief a...
Answered 5 Nov 2024
Original Parliament recordSudan: Humanitarian AidForeign, Commonwealth and Development OfficeTabled 28 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 11386More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to provide humanitarian assistance in Sudan.
Answer: The Sudan conflict has created the worst humanitarian crisis in the world with 24.8 million people in need of assistance. The UK continues to provide humanitarian assistance to support people in Sudan and those who've fled the country. The UK's ODA this y...
Answered 1 Nov 2024
Original Parliament record
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