Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to increase resource allocation for wildlife licensing applications under the Deer Act 1991 and the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 to improve interdepartmental communication between the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Home Office on this matter and to streamline deer licence applications.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra has no current plans to increase resource allocation for wildlife licensing applications under the Deer Act 1991.
The Home Office assesses applications for the use of animals in science under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986. This legislation is not the same as wildlife licensing applications.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to enact species-specific slaughter legislation to protect farmed fish.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Animal Welfare Act 2006 makes it an offence to cause unnecessary suffering to any protected animal, including fish, or to fail to provide for the welfare needs of a protected animal, for which that person is responsible. Legislation on the protection of animals at the time of killing also requires that farmed fish are spared avoidable pain, distress or suffering during their killing and related operations.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following the publication of their food strategy for England on 15 July, what steps they plan to take to boost domestic fruit and vegetable production.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is committed to our horticulture sector and the vital role it plays in strengthening food security by ensuring a reliable and sustainable supply of fresh home-grown produce.
The Good Food Cycle, published as part of our food strategy gives the food sector a blueprint for an economically successful and innovative domestic food sector, including horticulture. It will work alongside the Farming Roadmap, the Land Use Framework, the Circular Economy Strategy and the Environmental Improvement Plan to deliver a resilient and healthy food system, that works with nature and supports farmers, growers and food producers.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential welfare issues from facilities in which short-term care is offered to dogs; and how they plan to protect both dogs, and the communities in which such facilities are situated.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018 were developed to help improve welfare standards across a range of activities including dog day care, home boarding for dogs and kennelling.
Defra undertook a post-implementation review of the Regulations, which was published in December 2024. The review can be found here and a copy is attached to this answer. The Government is considering the findings.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to implement a long-term management plan and consultation regarding beaver reintroduction and recovery; and what plans they have, if any, to provide financial support to landowners wishing to reintroduce beavers into the wild on their land.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This is a devolved matter, and the information provided therefore relates to England only.
On 28 February 2025, Defra announced its new approach to beavers, including a commitment to developing a long-term management plan for beavers in England. We are developing our approach to this work and will engage stakeholders in due course to work together to develop a vision for managing the long-term reintroduction and recovery of beaver populations in England.
Defra has no plans to provide financial support to landowners wishing to reintroduce beavers into the wild on their land. A licence is required from Natural England to release beavers into the wild. Any project seeking a license must demonstrate that they have enough funding for the duration of the wild release project, which is usually 10 years.
Defra does offer support for living alongside beavers through Environmental Land Management (ELM) funding. ELM support and advice for land managers is available through Countryside Stewardship (Higher Tier) and capital grants. In addition, some actions in the Sustainable Farming Incentive also have a role to play in riparian management.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government why wild release beaver projects are required to produce a 10-year project plan; and what steps they are taking, if any, to support communities and landowners seeking to release beavers into the wild where there is high social and ecological feasibility, but who lack the resources to commit to a project plan covering at least a 10-year period.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This is a devolved matter, and the information provided therefore relates to England only.
Whilst beavers can bring many benefits, their reintroduction must be carefully planned to avoid negative effects on farming, food production, and infrastructure. They pose challenges to those responsible for land and infrastructure in some locations, especially if their activity is not effectively managed.
The requirement for a 10-year project plan ensures that the licence holder takes responsibility for minimising the risk of negative effects and works with local landowners and managers to ensure the community has the support it needs to learn to live alongside beavers.
It is the responsibility of any beaver wild release project to secure the necessary resources for the duration of the project, as per the beaver wild release licensing criteria set out by Natural England. The Government is not providing funding for wild release licence applications.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the paper by Torgerson and others published in the Royal Society Open Journal on 11 June claiming that other studies of badger culls contain methodological weaknesses; and what plans they have, if any, to ensure that the Cornwall Badger Vaccination Pilot has a peer-reviewed protocol before any work can continue.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Work has started on a comprehensive new bovine TB strategy for England, to continue to drive down disease rates to save cattle and farmers’ livelihoods and end the badger cull by the end of this Parliament.
The evidence surrounding bovine TB control, including recent studies such as the paper by Torgerson, is being independently reviewed by a panel of experts led by Professor Sir Charles Godfray, which the Government has reconvened.
Unlike previous badger culling studies, the Cornwall Badger Project is focused on testing different methods of delivering badger vaccination, rather than evaluating the impact on bovine TB in cattle. The project is being delivered by the NFU in partnership with the Zoological Society of London, who have a track record of publishing peer-reviewed research on the subject of badger vaccination. The project will continue to be regularly reviewed by Defra as it progresses.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Hayman of Ullock on 12 April (HL6470), what progress they have made on the review of the Feral Wild Boar Action Plan, and when they expect that review to be completed and published.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Primary responsibility for wild boar management lies with local communities and individual landowners. Following a review of available guidance and in consultation with stakeholder organisations through the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB)-led feral wild boar working group Defra will not be updating the feral wild Boar in England action plan which was published in 2008 in response to the first expansion of feral wild boar in the Forest of Dean. However, as part of ongoing work on improvements to contingency plans relating to wildlife disease management, guidance on Defra’s approach to feral wild boar in England and management of feral wild boar in relation to exotic disease risks are being reviewed and will be published on gov.uk in due course. This will be in addition to the advice and further information on licensing and legislation relating to wildlife management including wild boar which is already available on GOV.UK
Defra works closely with stakeholder organisations to ensure communities, local authorities and landowners have access to guidance and information where needed to control populations and mitigate the impact of feral wild boar in their areas working alongside government action to monitor the disease risks posed by feral wild boar.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have made an assessment of the cost to local authorities of cleaning up discarded cigarette filters since their estimate in 2021.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government has not made a further assessment of the cost to local authorities of cleaning up discarded cigarette filters since the estimate from the 2021 report by WRAP. This estimated annual costs of £46 million to local authorities from cigarette butts (primarily discarded filters) and found that cigarette butts likely accounted for 7% of total litter costs to local authorities.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the long-term sustainability of farmed salmon in the context of farmed salmon feed production worsening food security in Southeast Asia and West Africa and exacerbating global inequalities.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Farmed salmon is a key UK food export, and the sector provides vital support to many remote or fragile communities, particularly in Scotland, where its production is concentrated. While aquaculture policy is a devolved matter, the UK Government regularly raises in a variety of international fisheries forums the need to ensure the long-term sustainability of farmed fish.