Asked by: Lord McColl of Dulwich (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have set a target for the time between a local authority agreeing that noise from residential premises constitutes a statutory nuisance and the cessation of such noise.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Defra is responsible for the domestic legislation covering statutory nuisances, although local authority environmental health departments are the main enforcers of the statutory noise regime under the Environmental Protection Act, 1990.
Sources of noise nuisance are highly individual, and while some can be dealt with swiftly and straightforwardly, others will require works to be carried out or other steps to be taken which may be more complex and time consuming. As such, the Government considers that decisions around the timeframe for complying with a noise abatement order must be a matter for local authorities to decide within individual situations.
Asked by: Lord McColl of Dulwich (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to adopt the definition of "wholegrain" developed by the Whole Grain Initiative.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
There are no immediate plans to adopt a definition of wholegrain into law. Work to consider a definition for wholegrain has been added as part of the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) future work programme. Existing food labelling legislation ensures that the labelling and marketing of food does not mislead consumers.
Asked by: Lord McColl of Dulwich (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether chickens are still being killed commercially by electrocution, upside down, on a conveyer belt; if not, how they are killed commercially; and if so, what assessment they have made of the use of that method on the spread of campylobacter.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
A 2018 survey conducted by the Food Standards Agency on all slaughter methods used in approved slaughterhouses in England and Wales showed that during the survey period around 70% of broiler chickens were gas stunned and around 20% were stunned in an electrical water bath. The results of the survey can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/farm-animals-survey-of-slaughter-methods-2018.
The particular features of permitted stunning methods are based assessments by the EU Food Safety Authority (EFSA) of the scientific evidence relating to welfare at slaughter. In terms of food safety, all permitted stunning and slaughter methods have to meet the same official controls and requirements on the spread of campylobacter.