Asked by: Anthony Browne (Conservative - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when his Department plans to respond to the consultation entitled Ending the retail sale of peat in horticulture in England and Wales, which closed on 18 March 2022.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
The Government has always been clear about the need to end the use of peat and peat-containing products in horticulture in England. The Government therefore published a full consultation on banning the sale of peat and peat-containing products in the amateur sector by the end of this Parliament in England and Wales.
The Government also asked for any evidence stakeholders can provide on the impacts of ending the use of peat and peat-containing products. We received over 5000 individual responses to the consultation, many of which contained detailed data and supporting evidence. We are aiming to publish our formal response to the consultation as soon as possible.
Asked by: Anthony Browne (Conservative - South Cambridgeshire)
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 ensure that bonuses paid to senior water company management are aligned with their company’s requirements to meet environmental objectives.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
The Board Leadership, Transparency and Governance principles issued by Ofwat set out expectations on transparency of executive pay (see link here: Board leadership, transparency and governance – Ofwat). Water companies are now required by their licence conditions to meet the objectives of the principles, and to demonstrate the link between their performance and performance-pay for executive teams.
Asked by: Anthony Browne (Conservative - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will increase the fines permissible within Section 30 of the Game Act 1831 for hare coursing offences.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
There are no current plans to amend the penalties in the Game Act 1831 for hare coursing offences.
The Government takes wildlife crime seriously and is committed to ensuring the protection this legislation offers wildlife is effectively enforced. It recognises the problems and distress which hare coursing causes for rural communities. Poaching (including hare coursing) is one of the UK’s six wildlife crime priorities, which are set by the UK Wildlife Crime Tasking and Co-ordination Group, supported by the Wildlife Crime Conservation Advisory Group, chaired by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee. The National Wildlife Crime Unit, funded partly by Defra and the Home Office, assists regional police forces in tackling these crimes by gathering and analysing intelligence, sharing this with the police and assisting police investigations.
A hare coursing roundtable meeting was held on 3 September between Defra, Home Office, police, National Farmers Union and other rural organisations to bring parties together to establish a shared understanding of the barriers to tackling hare coursing effectively and identify potential ways forward.
Asked by: Anthony Browne (Conservative - South Cambridgeshire)
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 level of farming income lost as a result of (a) illegal hare coursing and (b) damage to farmlands resulting from illegal hare coursing.
Answered by Victoria Prentis
The Government has not made an estimate of the level of farming income lost as a result of hare coursing.
The Government recognises the problems and distress which hare coursing causes for rural communities. The Hunting Act 2004 bans all hare coursing in England and Wales, including both organised and unregulated events, and all participation in or attendance at such events.
We are working with the police and stakeholders to look at further ways this issue can be addressed.