Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will take steps to ensure that Northern Ireland is included in the free tree scheme this year.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Forestry is a devolved matter. Responsibility for tree planting in Northern Ireland is led by the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA). Defra regularly coordinates with DAERA. There are a number of tree planting schemes in Northern Ireland provided by non-governmental organisations.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential future impact of the H5N1 virus on dairy projects.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Through our bulk milk testing, wider surveillance and monitoring of past infections in cattle, we are confident the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) virus strain B3.13 that has been responsible for incidents of influenza of avian origin in cattle in the USA has not been detected in Great Britain. Our national reference laboratory at the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) Weybridge laboratory has also confirmed that temperatures used in pasteurisation would be effective in destroying any live virus.
The APHA has assessed the risk to livestock in Great Britain from this outbreak of Influenza A (H5N1) of avian origin in livestock in the USA, as very low (event is very rare but cannot be excluded) (Avian influenza in cattle in USA (publishing.service.gov.uk). The Food Standards Agency (FSA) have assessed the risk to UK consumers from HPAI strain B3.13 in imported milk, dairy products, colostrum and colostrum-based products originating from US dairy cattle as very low with medium uncertainty (Rapid Risk Assessment: Risk to UK consumers from Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) H5N1 B3.13 in US dairy products | Food Standards Agency). The Human Animal Infections and Risk Surveillance group (HAIRS) consider that the HPAI B3.13 strain presents at most a very low risk with regard to spread from animals-to-humans in the UK HAIRS risk statement: Avian influenza A(H5N1) in livestock - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
We do not currently anticipate any impact of influenza of avian origin on the dairy sector in the UK, nor on the supplies of milk. However, whilst the responsibility for animal health is devolved, all four UK administrations work closely together to consider and respond to animal disease threats. We remain vigilant and will continue to use our established systems to monitor for changes in risk through both HAIRS and our Veterinary Risk Group.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to discontinue the use of the pesticide thiamethoxam, in the context of its alleged toxicity to bees.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Pesticides are strictly regulated based on the risks and benefits of use. The Government will always take decisions according to these legal requirements and with full consideration of the evidence.
This government recognises that nature is at a crisis point across Britain. We will therefore change existing policies to prevent the use of those neonicotinoid pesticides that threaten our vital pollinators.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking with the Secretary of State for the Home Department to help prevent dog attacks on postal workers.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Responsibility for dog control is devolved in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
In England and Wales, owners whose dogs are dangerously out of control are breaking the law and the maximum penalty is a custodial sentence of up to 14 years. This includes in relation to attacks on postal workers.
Defra is working with the Home Office, police, local authorities and animal welfare groups to help prevent attacks by encouraging responsible dog ownership, to ensure dog control issues are addressed before they escalate and to make sure the full force of the law is applied. As part of this work, we will continue to consider whether the current dog control rules are sufficient to ensure communities are protected.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will take steps with the European Commission to allow the Northern Ireland Executive to allocate state aid to fisheries projects in the same manner as other UK nations.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
A key aim for this administration is to reset the UK government’s relationship with devolved governments in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland and EU and therefore look forward to discussions on a range of issues relating to the Windsor Framework, including State aid.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of the number of instances of fly tipping in the last six months.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Local authorities in England are required to report fly-tipping incidents and enforcement actions to Defra, which are published annually at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/env24-fly-tipping-incidents-and-actions-taken-in-england. This excludes the majority of private-land incidents.
Data for the 2023/24 reporting year will be published later this year.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much funding has been allocated to each of the devolved institutions to help tackle flooding in the last 12 months.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Shadow Minister (Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Flood defence spending is a devolved matter so questions about flood management spending and policy should be addressed directly to the devolved administrations. Defra does not have information on devolved administration spending.
The Barnett formula is applied in the normal way to any new funding provided to UK Government departments when the funding is allocated to those departments’ budgets. ‘Barnett’ funding to Devolved Administrations is not ring fenced.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the number of male incontinence bins in public toilets.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Shadow Minister (Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
I fully recognise the importance of ensuring that all men have access to the facilities they need so that they can dispose of their sanitary waste in a safe and dignified way. The Government encourages local authorities to consider such provision in public toilets to support those who may need them. Officials are discussing the provision of sanitary bins in public toilets with other relevant departments to ensure we are doing all we can to support this to happen.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has provided financial assistance to farmers to repair flood damage.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Shadow Minister (Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Farming Recovery Fund has been opened to provide farmers support to recover from uninsurable damage with grants of between £500 and £25,000 to return their land to the condition it was before exceptional flooding of Storm Henk. The fund was initially opened in nine English local authority areas where the Flood Recovery Framework has already been activated to help farms which have experienced the highest levels of flooding, and the eligibility for the Fund remains under review.
This forms part of a package of support available to farmers through the Flood Recovery Framework, including a grant of up to £2,500 through the Business Recovery Grant Scheme.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of levels of bovine tuberculosis.
Answered by Mark Spencer
Bovine TB is a devolved policy matter.
The latest bovine TB statistics published on GOV.UK, which can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/bovine-tb, continue to show a gradually improving picture in most headline indicators for England overall and particularly in the High Risk Area and the Edge Area. In 2023 the lowest annual incidence of TB in cattle herds in England was recorded since 2007. In the Low Risk Area, the incidence and prevalence of TB in cattle herds remain very low and stable.
During the 2023 calendar year, just over 20,000 cattle were slaughtered for TB-related reasons in England, having peaked at 34,500 in 2018.