Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which public authorities are responsible for enforcing the requirement for cats to be microchipped under the Microchipping of Cats and Dogs (England) Regulations 2023.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Local authorities and the police have powers to enforce breaches of the Microchipping of Cats and Dogs (England) Regulations 2023.
Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many financial penalties have been imposed for offences relating to the requirement to microchip cats since 10 June 2024; and what the total value of those penalties was.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The information requested on enforcement and prosecutions is not held centrally by Government.
Defra will keep under review whether to grant local authorities the power to issue conditional fixed penalty notices for non-compliance with microchipping regulations for dogs and cats.
As set out in the Animal Welfare Strategy for England, Defra will continue to support the roll out of cat microchipping.
Defra has not carried out a formal assessment of trends in compliance with the statutory requirement for cats to be microchipped since 10 June 2024.
Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of trends in the level of compliance with the statutory requirement for cats to be microchipped since 10 June 2024.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The information requested on enforcement and prosecutions is not held centrally by Government.
Defra will keep under review whether to grant local authorities the power to issue conditional fixed penalty notices for non-compliance with microchipping regulations for dogs and cats.
As set out in the Animal Welfare Strategy for England, Defra will continue to support the roll out of cat microchipping.
Defra has not carried out a formal assessment of trends in compliance with the statutory requirement for cats to be microchipped since 10 June 2024.
Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many (a) enforcement notices have been issued and (b) prosecutions have been brought for failure to comply with cat microchipping requirements under the Microchipping of Cats and Dogs (England) Regulations 2023 since 10 June 2024.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The information requested on enforcement and prosecutions is not held centrally by Government.
Defra will keep under review whether to grant local authorities the power to issue conditional fixed penalty notices for non-compliance with microchipping regulations for dogs and cats.
As set out in the Animal Welfare Strategy for England, Defra will continue to support the roll out of cat microchipping.
Defra has not carried out a formal assessment of trends in compliance with the statutory requirement for cats to be microchipped since 10 June 2024.
Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department plans to consult horticultural businesses in the design and testing of new digital systems and processes for the movement of plants and plant products before those systems become mandatory.
Answered by Jenny Riddell-Carpenter - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government remains committed to delivering for traders and removing unnecessary trade barriers. The Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Agreement will mean most movements of plants and plant products between Great Britain and the European Union being undertaken without the certificates or SPS border controls that are currently required.
Defra is engaging with key stakeholders to understand business needs ahead of the implementation of the SPS Agreement. This includes plans to work with sector stakeholders on how best to support businesses with preparing for and transitioning to new digital systems and processes under the SPS agreement.
Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when she plans to bring forward legislation to ban the use of lead in ammunition; when the three‑year transition period is scheduled to begin; and if her Department will publish confirmation of the scope of the policy including exemptions.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government intends to bring forward legislation, as stated in our Environmental Improvement Plan. The transition period begins once the amendment comes into force via statutory instrument. The scope of the policy is set out in the decision report and draft amendment, viewable on GOV.uk via the following link: UK REACH restriction for lead in ammunition, 27 June 2025 - GOV.UK.
Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
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 has taken to offer farmers badger vaccination in 2025 to tackle bTB in wildlife populations.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
Badger vaccination is proven to significantly reduce the risk of infection and spread of disease within badger populations. The Government is committed to strengthening the evidence on how badger vaccination reduces TB in cattle. We know this is crucial for giving the wider farming industry confidence that participating in badger vaccination will have a positive effect on their cattle.
We are working with a range of organisations to continue the rollout of badger vaccination in England. This includes large-scale vaccination delivery by Animal and Plant Health (APHA) field teams, and an industry delivered vaccination approach in East Sussex. This work is demonstrating that large scale vaccination of badgers is practical, including in previously culled areas.
As part of the announcement of the start of work on a comprehensive new bovine TB strategy, the Government also outlined several actions it is taking immediately to underpin the policy with robust science and further increase badger vaccination at pace. This is available at the link below and includes:
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-to-end-badger-cull-with-new-tb-eradication-strategy.
Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
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 issue supplementary cull licences in 2025.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
The Government has started work on a comprehensive new bovine TB strategy, to continue to drive down disease rates to save cattle and farmers’ livelihoods and to end the badger cull by the end of this Parliament.
Licensing and authorisation decisions are made by Natural England as the delegated licensing authority for badger control in England. In accordance with the published policy guidance, which is available at the link below, no new intensive or supplementary badger control licences can be issued in 2025.
Existing cull processes will be honoured to ensure clarity for farmers involved in these culls whilst new measures can be rolled out through the new strategy. However, all remaining licences in the High Risk and Edge Area of England will end by January 2026.
Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to (a) define and (b) set standards for the use of (i) biodegradable and (ii) compostable plastics.
Answered by Mary Creagh
A Circular Economy Taskforce of experts has been convened from across government, industry, academia and civil society to help us develop a Circular Economy Strategy for England and a series of roadmaps detailing the interventions that the Government and others will make on a sector-by-sector basis.
Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to assess the potential toxicity of bioplastics; and whether he plans to introduce specific toxicity testing requirements beyond existing waste management regulations.
Answered by Mary Creagh
Chemical substances, including monomers, which are constituent components of bioplastics manufactured in or imported into the UK are subject to the requirements of our regulatory framework. This includes UK REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation & Restriction of Chemicals), for which Defra has policy responsibility, and which requires manufacturers and importers to understand the hazards of the chemicals they are placing on the market, including their toxicity and ecotoxicology.