DEFRA to give evidence on Common Frameworks Programme

The House of Lords Common Frameworks Scrutiny Committee will tomorrow be questioning the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), as it continues its inquiry into the Common Frameworks Programme.  

 DEFRA currently has 14 frameworks under development and the session will aim to encourage the department to indicate the frameworks which should be the committee’s priority in its scrutiny. The committee will also explore why the publishing of frameworks has been so severely delayed, as well as seeking a greater understanding of the content of the frameworks, and future parliamentary and stakeholder engagement.  

The session will take place virtually on Tuesday 25 January at 10:30 AM and can be followed on Parliament TV. 

Giving evidence will be: 

• Danny Jeyasingam, Deputy Director, Devolution Team, DEFRA 

Questions the Committee is likely to ask include: 

• Why has the publishing of the provisional frameworks for scrutiny continued to be significantly delayed in DEFRA? 
• Is there a contingency plan in place in case there is not enough time to agree final versions of frameworks before the Northern Ireland Assembly dissolves? 
• What interaction has the current Subsidy Control Bill had with the Agricultural Support Framework? Has the Bill been discussed with the devolved administrations within the forum of the framework? 
• For frameworks that have direct implications for North-South cooperation on the island of Ireland, were Irish Government officials consulted as part of the frameworks’ development? How do you plan to consult with Irish officials in the future? 
• Are any exemptions currently being discussed to the UK Internal Market Act 2020 in any of your framework areas? In particular are you discussing an exemption through the Resources and Waste Framework to allow the Welsh Government to take action on plastic?