Asked by: Dan Norris (Independent - North East Somerset and Hanham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what his plans to tackle wildlife crime are in North East Somerset and Hanham constituency.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 protects all wild birds and some wild animals in England and Wales. There are strict penalties in place for anyone who commits an offence under this and other wildlife legislation. Where any wildlife is harmed illegally the full force of the law should apply to proven perpetrators of the crime.
Defra supports the valuable work of the National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU). Defra is providing £424,000 for the NWCU in 2025-2026. The NWCU helps prevent and detect wildlife crime by obtaining and disseminating intelligence, undertaking analysis which highlights local or national threats and assisting law enforcers with investigations. The NWCU has also provided training to police officers across the UK, including three officers in Avon and Somerset Police. This training reflects the National Police Chiefs' Council wildlife crime strategy and provides comprehensive training in UK wildlife crime priorities and emerging trends. Additionally, the NWCU has supported Avon and Somerset with ten wildlife crime cases since January 2024.
Asked by: Dan Norris (Independent - North East Somerset and Hanham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many trees he expects to be planted in the Western Forest by the end of (a) 2025, (b) 2030, (c) 2035 and (d) 2040.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Western Forest has been selected as the first new national Forest in 30 years. The Western Forest is working with the National Forest Company to implement their plans. It is aiming to plant 20 million trees across the West of England by 2050. The forests target for end 2025 is 50 hectares of tree cover and contributing to 2,500 hectares by 2030. As planting density varies dependent on the type of woodland created or site-specific factors, we cannot accurately predict the number of trees to be planted by specific milestones.
Asked by: Dan Norris (Independent - North East Somerset and Hanham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what his planned timeline is for launching a consultation on the phasing out of the use of cages for farm animals.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
I refer the Hon. Member to the reply previously given to the hon. Member for Mid Dorset and North Poole, Vikki Slade, on 29 April 2025, PQ 47556.
Asked by: Dan Norris (Independent - North East Somerset and Hanham)
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 plans to take with the farming sector to ensure high standards of welfare for farmed animals kept in cages and other close confinement systems.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government was elected on a mandate to introduce the most ambitious plans to improve animal welfare in a generation. The Department is engaging with key stakeholders as part of the development of our overarching approach to animal welfare. We will be outlining more details on this in due course.
The Laying Hen Housing for Health and Welfare Grant was recently offered to commercial laying hen and pullet keepers in England. It supports these farmers to improve the health, welfare, and productivity of their flocks through access to £22.6 million in grants towards the cost of upgrading their housing. Applications closed on 18 September 2024, and all applicants have been contacted to notify them of next steps.
The use of cages and other close confinement systems for farmed animals is an issue which we are currently considering very carefully.
Asked by: Dan Norris (Independent - North East Somerset and Hanham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions his Department has had with authorities responsible for local nature recovery strategies on the land use framework consultation.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The consultation on Land Use in England is underway and the outcome will inform the publication of a Land Use Framework planned for later this year. Many of the authorities responsible for Local Nature Recovery Strategies were involved in discussions that informed the proposals and questions in the Land Use Consultation
During the consultation period, Government officials will be consulting with a wide range of respondents, including authorities responsible for Local Nature Recovery Strategies.
Asked by: Dan Norris (Independent - North East Somerset and Hanham)
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) pheasants and (b) partridges were imported for shooting in 2024.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
See the below table showing the number of Partridges and Pheasants imported into Great Britain in 2024. We cannot confirm whether the purpose of these imports was for hunting, as this is not recorded on the Import of products, animals, food and feed (IPAFF) system.
Species | Number of animals |
Partridges | 455,194 |
Pheasants | 487,488 |
Total | 942,682 |
This information is drawn from external IPAFF systems not directly controlled by the department.
Asked by: Dan Norris (Independent - North East Somerset and Hanham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Transport on planting trees along new roads.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Secretary of State has regular discussions with Cabinet colleagues on a range of issues, and Cabinet discussions are considered confidential.
Asked by: Dan Norris (Independent - North East Somerset and Hanham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress he has made on meeting the UK's obligations under the (a) United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change 10 and (b) Paris Agreement.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The 2015 Paris Agreement, Article 7 established the global goal on adaptation. At COP28, the UK adopted the UAE Framework for Global Climate Resilience and agreed to launch a two-year work programme on indicators related to those targets. Defra is working to meet these targets alongside other Government departments.
The UK has a Paris Agreement aligned, ambitious and credible Nationally Determined Contribution target to reduce all greenhouse gas emissions by at least 81% by 2035, compared to 1990 levels, excluding international aviation and shipping emissions.
The UK submitted its first UNFCCC Biennial Transparency Report in December 2024, detailing the UK’s mitigation efforts to reduce greenhouse gases and support for developing countries to tackle climate change.
The UK over-achieved against the first, second and third carbon budgets. We will deliver an updated Plan in due course out to the end of Carbon Budget 6 in 2037 with full detail of policy packages for all sectors.
Asked by: Dan Norris (Independent - North East Somerset and Hanham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many prosecutions there have been for slaughterhouses in England not having CCTV in the last five years.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
All approved slaughterhouses in England must have CCTV systems installed as required by the Mandatory Use of Closed-Circuit Television in Slaughterhouses (England) Regulations 2018. There have been no prosecutions for slaughterhouses in England for not having CCTV in the last five years.
Where non-compliances with the legislation are identified the Food Standards Agency will apply their enforcement hierarchy, from verbal and written warnings to enforcement notices and referral to the Crown Prosecution Service for prosecution.
Asked by: Dan Norris (Independent - North East Somerset and Hanham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what animal welfare protections exist for farmed animals at slaughterhouses.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Welfare of Animals at the Time of Killing (England) Regulations 2015 and assimilated Regulation (EC) No 1099/2009 on the protection of animals at the time of killing set out extensive requirements to protect the welfare of animals at slaughterhouses. Official Veterinarians of the Food Standards Agency (FSA) are present in all approved slaughterhouses to monitor and enforce these animal welfare requirements. The FSA has a zero-tolerance policy to animal welfare breaches and will take appropriate action where these occur.