Official Statistics: Joint Forest Sector Questionnaire: Final 2016 data

This release contains the data on UK wood production, imports and exports to be submitted to international organisations for the production of international statistics on forest products.




Official Statistics: Woodland Carbon Code statistics: data to September 2017

This release provides quarterly statistics on projects registered under the Woodland Carbon Code. The Woodland Carbon Code is a voluntary standard, initiated in July 2011, for woodland creation projects that make claims about the carbon they sequester (take out of the atmosphere). All projects must be placed on the Register of UK Woodland Carbon Projects. Their claims about potential carbon sequestration are validated by an independent certification body. Validated projects are then verified on a regular basis to confirm the progress of carbon sequestration.




National Statistics: Food statistics pocketbook 2017

Updated: Added request for feedback link to the Global and UK supply chapter.

This annual publication provides a round-up of statistics on food covering the economic, social and environmental aspects of the food we eat (excluding agriculture). It contains sections on:

  • the food chain
  • prices and expenditure
  • global and UK supply

Accompanying data sets and data sources

The information in the pocketbook comes from previously published government surveys run by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra)
and a wide range of other sources including government agencies and commercial organisations. The publication carries the National Statistics logo but is a combination of National Statistics and other statistics.
Those which are National Statistics are identified as being so. Data quality varies among the many data sources and where possible an indication is included in bullet points. For more information see the data set that
accompanies each chapter of the main publication.

Data uses

Researchers put this data to a wide range of uses spanning from informing decisions on the general public’s choices through to local food policy making. It is often used for statistics on the food industry,
on food prices, on balance of diet, international comparisons and food production to supply ratio.

Next update: see the statistics release calendar

Please answer 4 short questions (opens in Google Forms) to help us make the pocketbook better for you.

HTML format

We’ve published this year’s food statistics pocketbook as a HTML publication. We would like your feedback on this new approach and if you think there is anything we can improve? You can contact us via email or Twitter.

Defra statistics: family food

You can also contact us via Twitter: https://twitter.com/DefraStats




News story: PM’s open letter to EU citizens in the UK

As I travel to Brussels today, I know that many people will be looking to us – the leaders of the 28 nations in the European Union – to demonstrate we are putting people first.

I have been clear throughout this process that citizens’ rights are my first priority. And I know my fellow leaders have the same objective: to safeguard the rights of EU nationals living in the UK and UK nationals living in the EU. I want to give reassurance that this issue remains a priority, that we are united on the key principles, and that the focus over the weeks to come will be delivering an agreement that works for people here in the UK, and people in the EU.

When we started this process, some accused us of treating EU nationals as bargaining chips. Nothing could have been further from the truth. EU citizens who have made their lives in the UK have made a huge contribution to our country. And we want them and their families to stay. I couldn’t be clearer: EU citizens living lawfully in the UK today will be able to stay.

But this agreement will not only provide certainty about residence, but also healthcare, pensions and other benefits. It will mean that EU citizens who have paid into the UK system – and UK nationals into the system of an EU27 country – can benefit from what they’ve put in. It will enable families who have built their lives together in the EU and UK to stay together. And it will provide guarantees that the rights of those UK nationals currently living in the EU, and EU citizens currently living in the UK, will not diverge over time.

What that leaves us with is a small number of important points to finalise. That is to be expected at this point in negotiations. We are in touching distance of agreement. I know both sides will consider each other’s proposals for finalising the agreement with an open mind. And with flexibility and creativity on both sides, I am confident that we can conclude discussions on citizens’ rights in the coming weeks.

I know there is real anxiety about how the agreement will be implemented. People are concerned that the process will be complicated and bureaucratic, and will put up hurdles that are difficult to overcome. I want to provide reassurance here too.

We are developing a streamlined digital process for those applying for settled status in the UK in the future. This process will be designed with users in mind, and we will engage with them every step of the way. We will keep the cost as low as possible – no more than the cost of a UK passport. The criteria applied will be simple, transparent and strictly in accordance with the Withdrawal Agreement. People applying will not have to account for every trip they have taken in and out of the UK and will no longer have to demonstrate Comprehensive Sickness Insurance as they currently have to under EU rules. And importantly, for any EU citizen who holds Permanent Residence under the old scheme, there will be a simple process put in place to swap their current status for UK settled status.

To keep development of the system on track, the government is also setting up a User Group that will include representatives of EU citizens in the UK, and digital, technical and legal experts. This group will meet regularly, ensuring the process is transparent and responds properly to users’ needs. And we recognise that British nationals living in the EU27 will be similarly concerned about potential changes to processes after the UK leaves the EU. We have repeatedly flagged these issues during the negotiations. And we are keen to work closely with EU member states to ensure their processes are equally streamlined.

We want people to stay and we want families to stay together. We hugely value the contributions that EU nationals make to the economic, social and cultural fabric of the UK. And I know that member states value equally UK nationals living in their communities. I hope that these reassurances, alongside those made by both the UK and the European Commission last week, will provide further helpful certainty to the four million people who were understandably anxious about what Brexit would mean for their futures.




Press release: UK &Taiwan Share Experience on Renewable Energy and Green Finance

A UK trade and technology mission visits Taiwan on 18-20 October to share the UK’s experience in the renewable energy sector, focussing particularly on offshore wind. With the largest ever number of the UK renewable energy delegates to Taiwan, this mission is part of the British Office’s “Innovation is GREAT” campaign, which will introduce innovative British technologies and services to Taiwan.

Made up of 50 representatives from 30 UK companies, the mission comprises two separate delegations: * an offshore wind mission led by Mr Huub den Rooijen, Director of Energy, Minerals & Infrastructure of The Crown Estate, in Taiwan to share the UK’s experiences of developing and managing the world’s largest offshore wind market; and * a Green Finance Mission, including representatives from the City of London Corporation, the London Stock Exchange, the Green Investment Group and other leading UK green finance institutions, here to share UK experiences of promoting investment in clean energy technology and discuss regulatory and policy tools that can help the development of Taiwan’s green finance sector.

Both groups participated in the 12th “UK-Taiwan Renewable Energy Conference” today (19 October), sharing their extensive expertise on the renewable energy sector. The Conference was held in collaboration with the Bureau of Energy, Ministry of Economic Affairs and covered a wide range of topics, including cross government working, marine engineering, training, green financing and operation & maintenance.

Catherine Nettleton, Representative of the British Office, said in her opening remarks: “Renewable energy is a remarkable economic driver for the UK. Our experience tells us that it can be very challenging to start a new industry, but it will be exciting to see Taiwan starting its first offshore wind farm in the foreseeable future. This mission from the UK is our largest ever, including a range of experts in the field. I’m pleased that Britain is a strong partner for Taiwan in its efforts to develop offshore wind.”

A memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between ChangHua County and UK Aon Taiwan Ltd was signed at the Conference today, representing the strong collaboration between the UK and Taiwan to successfully develop offshore wind in Taiwan. During its 2-day visit, the delegation will visit ChangHua County to learn more about the region’s commitment to green energy development and the environment.

British firm ODE Ltd also officially launched its Taiwan Office at today’s event, and has already begun recruiting skilled Taiwanese engineers.

The Green Finance delegation took part in a UK Taiwan Green Finance Roundtable with the Financial Supervisory Commission on Wednesday 18 October where policy makers and representatives of the financial services industry discussed how to accelerate investment into renewable energy. Sherry Madera, Asia Adviser, City Of London Corporation also delivered a presentation entitled “UK Green Finance Initiative: Turning Ambition into Action” in an event co-organised by the European Chamber of Commerce, the British Chamber of Commerce and the British Office Taipei.

On Thursday 12 October, the UK launched its Clean Growth Strategy to build on the success to date in delivering emissions reductions while growing the economy; UK emissions have fallen by 42% since 1990 while the economy has grown by 67%. The Clean Growth strategy announced by UK’s Department for Business, Energy, Industrial strategy provides NTD23.5 billion of fund for less established technologies, such as offshore wind, with the next one planned for spring 2019.

The UK was the first country in the world to adopt statutory emission reduction targets, which require the Government to reduce emissions by 80% of the 1990 level by 2050 (Climate Change Act 2008). As part of the green industry, the UK has taken a 3.7% share of the global market for green goods and services. This puts the UK in sixth place globally.

The UK is already the world leader in offshore wind, with 6.5GW of capacity operating today, the largest in the world with continuous emphasis on technological innovation. The UK is expecting a total of 10GW to be installed by 2020, by which point offshore wind will supply between 8 and 10 percent of the UK’s electricity annually. Renewable energy is a remarkable economic driver in the UK, more than 1 million jobs have so far been created in renewable energy and the total industry is worth £117 billion. The UK is also one of the world’s most attractive countries to invest in renewable energy projects.

More information:

UK supply – the UK has developed the largest offshore wind market in the world and has strengths that complement the Taiwan market. Where there is a need for products and services that are unique to this industry the UK has solutions. There are three key areas where UK support can work:

  • Expertise: Taiwan is in a similar position as the was UK 15 years ago, and we have experts that can support this new market and deliver projects on time and efficiently. The key areas for cooperation are early stage development, design, engineering, installation support and O&M. When London Array started installing wind turbines in 2011 it was taking some 60 days to install and commission each turbine. Last month, it took 14hrs to install and commission a wind turbine on Dudgeon.

  • Specialist equipment: the industry has evolved now to a mature state and prices are driving down, a key influencer has been the development of dedicated equipment, and the UK has some of the best manufacturers in the world. These include manufacturing cables, cable protection, specialist vessel equipment, turbines blades, substation electrical equipment and substations.

  • Marine operations: to build and maintain these huge offshore wind farms, the UK has developed a world leading fleet of installation vessels and operations and maintenance vessels. Along with this we have world leading companies to support in coordinating vessel operations and monitor the efficiency and safety of everyone working offshore.

Complementing Taiwan: there is a need for local content in the Taiwanese market; and an appetite to develop a home supply chain. The UK’s approach is to encourage partnership with local companies who have the potential to deliver in the market. The key areas for local content can be in major or secondary fabrication for foundations and towers, vessels for installation support, technicians (having learned from UK counterparts), installation port services and operations and maintenance.