Asked by: Lord Trees (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Animal Welfare Committee report Opinion on the welfare implications of different methods and systems for the catching, carrying, collecting and loading of poultry, published in March 2023, whether they have any plans to introduce the recommendation contained in that report to amend the law so that "it is legally permitted to lift chickens, and turkeys weighing less than 10-kg, by two legs".
Answered by Lord Douglas-Miller - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Animal Welfare Committee Opinion on the welfare implications of different methods and systems for the catching, carrying, collecting and loading of poultry was published in February 2024. We are carefully considering its findings before deciding on next steps and are working with the Welsh and Scottish Governments to ensure a consistent approach across Great Britain.
Asked by: Lord Trees (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is their timetable for consulting on activity regulations under the Animals (Low-Welfare Activities Abroad) Act 2023.
Answered by Lord Douglas-Miller - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Animals (Low-Welfare Activities Abroad) Act 2023 provides a framework for the introduction of future bans on the advertising and offering for sale, in England and Northern Ireland, of low-welfare animal activities abroad.
Future decisions on which specific animal activities will fall in scope of the advertising ban will be evidence-based and subject to Parliamentary scrutiny. Sufficient, compelling evidence will be required to demonstrate why any specific advertising ban is needed.
This Government continues to make animal welfare a priority and we are currently exploring a number of options to ensure progress as soon as is practicable.
Asked by: Lord Trees (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the risk of Dengue Fever being transmitted in the UK, now and in the future.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Dengue is a mosquito-borne infection that is transmitted by the bite of an infected Aedes mosquito from the Stegomyia subgenus. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) undertakes surveillance of dengue cases in the United Kingdom. All cases identified in the UK to date are imported cases where a human has been infected abroad then travelled to the UK. There is no current evidence of the presence of mosquito species that can transmit dengue in the UK and there is no risk of acquisition of infection within the UK.
Changing weather conditions favourable for the proliferation of mosquitoes and the expansion outside of historical areas of transmission secondary to climate change may lead to changes in dengue transmission beyond current endemic areas. UKHSA have published modelling on the future risk of establishment of mosquito species that can transmit dengue in the UK, and undertake daily international horizon scanning via epidemic intelligence to track changing dengue epidemiology globally. Detections of invasive mosquitoes are responded to in line with the national contingency plan to prevent the establishment of mosquitoes that can transmit dengue.
Asked by: Lord Trees (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of their progress in meeting the commitment in the UK–EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement to "ensure that … sanitary and phytosanitary measures do not create unnecessary barriers to trade".
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) includes a sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) chapter which allows the UK and the EU to take a risk-based approach to our respective SPS border controls and provides a basis for cooperation on avoiding unnecessary barriers to trade. Officials meet their counterparts on a regular basis to discuss the SPS provisions of the TCA.
Where issues are raised, we are happy to pursue appropriate resolution. For example, through the provisions of the SPS Chapter, the UK is working with the EU to take forward electronic certification, which will facilitate trade through reducing delays and reducing business administration.
Asked by: Lord Trees (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the welfare implications of ther baiting of electrified fences used to keep animals in or out of defined areas.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
In England, wildlife is protected by law through legislation such as the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017.
Section 11 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 prohibits certain methods of killing or taking wild animals. Under subsection 2(c), a person will be guilty of an offence if they set in position any electrical device for killing or stunning, calculated to cause bodily injury to any wild animal included in Schedule 6 of that Act, such as badgers and hedgehogs. It is also an offence under regulation 45 of the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017 to use electrical and electronic devices capable of killing or stunning, for the purpose of capturing or killing a European protected species, or for any of the protected species listed on Schedule 4 of those Regulations.
The Government has not made a specific assessment of the welfare implications of the baiting of electrified fences.
Asked by: Lord Trees (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what proportion of those testing positive for COVID-19 as a result of a polymerase chain reaction test, and subsequently included in the national statistics, (1) display symptoms of the virus at the time of the test, and (2) subsequently develop such symptoms.
Answered by Lord Bethell
We do not publish data in the format requested.
Asked by: Lord Trees (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what measures they are taking to monitor the numbers and distribution of feral boar in the UK; and what steps are being taken to control their numbers.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
Wildlife management in the UK is a devolved issue.
In England, the majority of feral wild boar are thought to reside within the Forest of Dean. This public forest estate is managed by the Forestry Commission which undertakes an annual population survey of the feral wild boar in the Forest of Dean public estate, the results of which are on their website.
Forestry England rangers cull feral wild boar in the Forest of Dean public estate to stop the growth of the population.
On other land, feral wild boar population management is the responsibility of the landowner. The Government can support landowners by providing advice.
Asked by: Lord Trees (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many statutory instruments in total the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) has laid before Parliament, and (2) is planning to lay, in relation to the UK leaving the EU; and how many such instruments have been approved by Parliament to date.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
Defra has already laid a substantial number of the statutory instruments necessary in order to maintain a fully functioning statute book for our departure from the EU.
As of 4 March, in relation to the UK leaving the EU, we have laid a total of 114 statutory instruments (23 of which were on behalf of Northern Ireland) before Parliament, and plan to lay a further 11 (3 on behalf of Northern Ireland). We have made a total of 63 SIs.
Asked by: Lord Trees (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to build capacity in the Higher Education system to address the shortage of veterinary surgeons in England.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The government recognises the importance of ensuring there are sufficient skilled graduates to meet industry demand. We are working with different veterinary sector stakeholders, to look at ways of increasing veterinary school capacity and the number of graduates in all UK vet schools going forward.
The government also subsidises the costs of teaching high-cost subjects such as veterinary medicine, where tuition fee income does not meet the costs of teaching. This is supported through the teaching grant allocated annually to providers via the Office for Students.
In 2018/19, the recurrent teaching grant provided by the government totals £1,290 million, of which £681 million is specifically targeted at supporting high-cost subjects, including veterinary science. This is currently around £10,000 per veterinary science student.
English higher education providers are autonomous institutions. Their institutional autonomy, which includes decisions as to what they teach, is protected by the Higher Education and Research Act 2017.
However, the lifting of student number controls in 2015/16 means that there is no longer an artificial cap on the numbers of students that higher education providers are able to recruit, including for veterinary science courses.
There has been progress in the sector in increasing places for veterinary students. The first cohort of students to graduate with the University of Surrey's new veterinary degree is scheduled for July 2019, thereby bringing more domestically trained vets in to the profession. Alongside this, the new Harper and Keele Veterinary School will be commencing its new 5 year degree course in 2020.
Asked by: Lord Trees (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to expedite (1) the decision-making process, and (2) the processing of applications for the UK Research and Innovation Strength in Places initiative.
Answered by Lord Henley
During 2018, UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) invited ‘expression of interest’ bids into Wave 1 of the Strength in Places Fund. All eligible bids were considered by an independent assessment panel, which made recommendations to UKRI. UKRI is currently in the process of finalising the assessment process, and will notify those bids proceeding to the full stage in due course.