The Government annually publishes Family Food, which draws on data from the Living Cost of Food Survey. This publication includes questions on household spend on food, including that by the lowest 20% income households, which has remained constant at around 16% for a number of years.

The Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES), developed by the Voices of the Hungry project of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) is used to collect food security data in up to 150 countries under the Gallup World Poll. The Department for International Development supports this work financially and updated results will be published later this year by the FAO. We understand from the FAO that global FIES results will be launched in June, and the individual country level estimates, which are three-year averages, will be published in September.

Since 8 May 2015 two official documents and 12 official sensitive documents have been recorded as lost by Defra.

The most recent UK Production to Supply Ratio is 61% for all food and 76% for indigenous type food.

We do not predict future ratios given the uncertainty over the many dependent factors including global food commodity prices, exchange rates, climate and weather, as well as discrete factors such as plant and animal disease. However, the Government has a policy of supporting our food and farming industry so that we can grow more and sell more British produce.

The average amount of compensation paid, per animal, to dairy farmers whose cattle have been compulsory slaughtered for bovine TB for the last five years is shown in the table below. These include all reactors and contacts. It is rarely necessary to slaughter an entire herd.

Year

Average Value

2012

£1,205.33

2013

£1,181.03

2014

£1,151.47

2015

£1,066.74

2016

£936.54

The values in the table are for England only. Both the Scottish and Welsh Governments pay and record compensation payments separately to farmers who have had their animal’s compulsory slaughtered for bovine TB.

The information requested is not collated centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

It is the responsibility of individual horse owners to ensure that their horses are identified and registered on the Central Equine Database. Local Authorities are responsible for enforcing these requirements.

Defra launched a consultation on 5 April 2017 to implement requirements relating to the identification and registration of equines and the new Central Equine Database. It is published at:

https://consult.defra.gov.uk/equine-id/revised-eu-rules-on-equine-id-eu-reg-eu-2015-262

No such reports have been commissioned or published in the last 12 months.

If readers remember, in my role as Cornwall Councillor, I asked for Porthleven West Sands dog banning order to be reviewed in-light of legislation changes in the Clean Neighbourhood and Environment Act 2005 and Anti-Social Behaviour Crime & Policing Act 2014.

Listening to all sides I put forward an alternative ban period for Porthleven West to Cornwall Council. This was also supported by Porthleven Town Council. These changes have now been legally accepted by the signing of the Cornwall Council Public Space Protection (Dogs on Beaches) Order 2017.

The new Order for Porthleven West will come into force on the 1st May and be as follows:

• Dogs on beaches will be banned between the hours of 9.00am and 7.00pm;
• From 1 May to 30 September of each year.

New signage will be installed in the next week or so. This is a change from the 7am to 7pm ban from April till October. There are no changes for access to the beach for dogs East of Blue Buoy Steps.

Timings and periods on all other beaches can be found HERE

There are exemptions as this Order does not apply to any person who:

• Is registered as a blind person in a register compiled under Section 29 or the National Assistance Act 1948; or
• Is deaf, in respect of a dog trained by Hearing Dog for Deaf People and upon which he relies for assistance; or
• Has a disability which requires being in charge of an Assistance Dog registered with Assistance Dogs UK and upon which he relies for assistance.

The Environment Agency have requested to close the footpath crossing Loe Bar to carryout works on their equipment. From my understanding, this is to enhance the culvert that discharges water from the river Cober and Loe Pool and is part of the new flood prevention scheme for Helston.

This footpath as shown on the map below will be The Location of the footpath is: Footpath 6, Porthleven and Footpath 4, Gunwalloe. The path will be closed from the 1st May 2017 to 30th September 2017 (24 hours weekends included)

I am seeking clarification on how much is closed and whether the public can access this area.

Today, the ‘statement as to persons nominated’ to stand for the Cornwall Council Elections has been issued. I am one of four candidates who will be seeking election, or in my case re-election to the Porthleven and Helston West seat.

In the next few weeks, I will be out and about delivering my leaflets and knocking on doors. I really hope residents will know of the work I have carried out over the last few years and vote for me on May 4th.

The official nominations are:

Porthleven has been without a Town Warden since Rod Barnes retired. This is a hugely important role and therefore, Porthleven Town Council was very keen to replace Rod.

From an advert placed, five candidates applied and all were interviewed. The field of candidates was strong, but the three person panel of the Mayor, Cllr Bev Plunkett and myself appointed Carol Jewell to the post.

I would like to congratulate Carol on her appointment to this position. Carol will be an excellent Town Warden. I would also like to thank all who applied and made the panel’s decision a tough one to make.

Carol Jewell – The Porthleven Town Warden

Defra has no figures on spending specifically on the services of management consultants. Spend figures recorded under consultancy also include IT consultancy, technical consultancy, legal and financial advice, and project and programme management. Consultancy spend increased significantly in 2013/14 and 2014/15 as a result of third party support on IT programmes, for example Defra’s Shared Service Centre and CAP Delivery Programme. There are no separate records for management consultancy.

Category

Spend by Financial year

2010-11

2011-12

2012-13

2013-14

2014-15

2015-16

Consultancy

7,370,397

4,657,302

3,500,291

12,283,077

20,892,135

9,754,717

The information is in the table attached.

As we prepare to leave the EU, we are looking at removing rules that are unnecessarily burdensome, focusing instead on what works best for the UK. We want to free our farmers to grow more, sell more and export more British food, whilst upholding our high standards for the environment. No decisions have been taken in relation to individual pieces of legislation, including EU Marketing Standards for fresh fruit and vegetables. We will consult widely with all those affected before making any changes.

Routine post-mortem surveillance for TB in deer carcases has been conducted nationally for many years.

Visible lesions of TB are notifiable to the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), who will facilitate the collection and submission for laboratory culture of any affected tissues. Positive culture results are relatively rare. Confirmed TB cases in wild deer may nevertheless trigger enhanced TB surveillance around that case, both to identify whether there has been any spread of disease to cattle herds and to limit the number of affected animals.

The IT service provider contracted by Defra provides services to other public authorities under the same contract, and in some cases at the same premises. Therefore, the information provided below also includes websites visited by staff from these authorities, as it is not possible to distinguish their visits from those made by Defra staff. Information on websites visited is only available from the service provider for a 6 month period.

Top 5 Websites visited in the past 6 months (28 September – 27 March 2017)

1. bbc.co.uk

2. genesis.naturalengland.gsi.gov.uk

3. edigital.survey.com

4. defra.condecosoftware.com

5. google.co.uk

NHS England has announced today that there will be a 12 bed child and adolescent mental health unit in Cornwall. This unit will be located in Bodmin and will be available for young people up to the age of 18.  This amazing news will mean that fewer children and young people will have to be placed on general wards, adult units or specialist units outside of Cornwall.

As a long time campaigner for such a unit in Cornwall, I very much welcome this announcement as the young people of Cornwall and their families deserve a unit such as this. I am very pleased NHS England have listened to our concerns and approved the funding for this unit. It has been a long time coming, but I am glad it has finally happened.

The Government remains fully committed to controlling and managing UK waters after we leave the EU in accordance with our rights and obligations under international law.

We are considering the issue of the London Fisheries Convention carefully to ensure we have full control of UK waters after we leave the EU and, as the Prime Minister said on 29 March 2017, we hope to be able to say something about it soon.

The Government does not hold records on the frequency of use of the powers available under the Animals Act 1971, as amended by the Control of Horses Act 2015 to make it easier to detain and manage unlawfully placed horses on land in England. Nevertheless, local authorities, land owner representatives and animal welfare organisations welcomed the new measures introduced in 2015.

The AHDB promotes British agricultural produce both domestically and overseas. The annual budget of the AHDB is approximately £60 million. We are also working with industry to identify opportunities to open new markets after leaving the EU and to support farm businesses that want to develop brands around food provenance.