Asked by: Allison Gardner (Labour - Stoke-on-Trent South)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the Water Restoration Fund on river quality in Staffordshire.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
For too long, water companies have discharged unacceptable levels of sewage into our rivers, lakes and seas. That is why we are placing water companies under special measures through the Water (Special Measures) Bill, including giving environmental regulators powers to impose penalties on the civil standard of proof, in addition to new automatic penalties. The regulators will also be able to recover costs for a much greater range of enforcement activities.
For Price Review 2024, which runs from 2025 – 2030, Water companies will be delivering record levels of investment: £104 billion over the next five years. This gives the sector the opportunity for transformation, delivering better outcomes for customers and the environment
In October 2024, the Secretary of State, in conjunction with the Welsh Government, also launched an Independent Commission on the water sector regulatory system. This is a wide-ranging review to fundamentally transform how our water system works and clean up our rivers, lakes and seas for good.
Defra is evaluating how water company fines and penalties can be reinvested in improvements to the water environment. A final decision on this will be made later this year.
Asked by: Allison Gardner (Labour - Stoke-on-Trent South)
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 plans to ban the (a) sale and (b) use of shock collars for dogs.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government will introduce the most ambitious programme for animal welfare in a generation and will bring forward plans in due course. Ministers will be considering available evidence around the use of hand-controlled e-collars and their effects on the welfare of animals.
Asked by: Allison Gardner (Labour - Stoke-on-Trent South)
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 to end badger culling.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
On 30 August, the Government announced the start of work on a comprehensive new strategy to drive down bovine TB rates to save cattle and farmers’ livelihoods and end the badger cull by the end of this parliament.
The Government will work with farmers, vets, scientists and conservationists to rapidly strengthen and deploy a range of disease control measures.
A key part of the strategy is the ongoing development of a cattle vaccine, which is at the forefront of innovative solutions to help eradicate this disease. Planning is advanced on the next stage of field trials which will assess cattleBCG vaccination and the companion DIVA skin test on a broader cohort of herds to further inform our collective planning for delivery. We are continuing to work at pace but will only deploy the vaccine and companion DIVA skin test when we have all the right steps in place.
The new strategy will mark a significant step-change in approach to tackling this devastating disease. It will consider a range of further measures including boosting cattle testing, reducing the spread of disease through cattle movements, and deploying badger vaccination on a wider, landscape scale. This will build on Professor Sir Charles Godfray’s 2018 independent strategy review.
Work to underpin the policy with robust science has begun immediately and includes a survey of the badger population for the first time in a decade, a wildlife surveillance programme, the launch of a Badger Vaccinator Field Force and a badger vaccination study to increase badger vaccination at pace to drive down TB rates and protect badgers.
Asked by: Allison Gardner (Labour - Stoke-on-Trent South)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress his Department has made on preparing legislation to ban trail hunting.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This is a devolved matter with regard to Scotland and Northern Ireland; hunting with dogs is a reserved matter with respect to Wales and therefore, the information provided relates to England and Wales only.
The Government made a manifesto commitment to ban Trail Hunting as part of a set of measures to improve animal welfare. Work to determine the best approach for doing so is ongoing. Further announcements will be made in due course.
Asked by: Allison Gardner (Labour - Stoke-on-Trent South)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to introduce legislation to ban trail hunting.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This is a devolved matter with regard to Scotland and Northern Ireland; hunting with dogs is a reserved matter with respect to Wales and therefore, the information provided relates to England and Wales only.
The Government made a manifesto commitment to ban Trail Hunting as part of a set of measures to improve animal welfare. Work to determine the best approach for doing so is ongoing. Further announcements will be made in due course.