Asked by: David Mackintosh (Conservative - Northampton South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Cayman Island counterpart on preventing the practice of farming the Cayman Turtle for meat and tourist entertainment.
Answered by Alan Duncan
Neither I nor The Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Noble Friend, the Rt Hon. Baroness Anelay of St Johns, the FCO Minister with responsibility for the Overseas Territories, have had discussions with the Cayman Islands government about farming the Cayman Turtle for meat and tourist entertainment. Responsibility for animal welfare and tourism, is devolved to the elected government of the Cayman Islands under the terms of their Constitution.
Asked by: David Mackintosh (Conservative - Northampton South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the correlation between prices in the mobile phones market and the uneven distribution of mobile spectrum.
Answered by Matt Hancock
This is a matter for Ofcom. DCMS has noted Ofcom's competition and consumer assessment, as set out in its successive consultations on the forthcoming auction of 2.3 and 3.4 GHz spectrum.
Asked by: David Mackintosh (Conservative - Northampton South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions she has had with local authorities on the effect on (a) mobile coverage of uneven mobile spectrum holdings and (b) the potential benefits of introducing a 30 per cent cap on those holdings.
Answered by Matt Hancock
This is a matter for Ofcom. DCMS has noted Ofcom's competition and consumer assessment, as set out in its successive consultations on the forthcoming auction of 2.3 and 3.4 GHz spectrum.
Asked by: David Mackintosh (Conservative - Northampton South)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had with her Chinese counterpart on preventing the breeding of tigers for commercial purposes.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
I met the Chinese delegation to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) 17th Conference of Parties, including the Vice Minister of the State Forestry Administration, in London on 21 September 2016 immediately prior to the Conference. Although discussions did not specifically include the commercial breeding of tigers, we did discuss the conservation of a number of species including tigers.
At the Conference the UK, working with Member States of the European Union and other countries, achieved strong outcomes for tigers including the agreement of proposals to scrutinise captive breeding facilities.
Asked by: David Mackintosh (Conservative - Northampton 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 she has made of the effectiveness of the National Wildlife Crime Unit in tackling wildlife crime and protecting endangered species.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Crawley, Henry Smith, on 7 July 2016, PQ UIN905727.
Asked by: David Mackintosh (Conservative - Northampton 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 she is taking to prevent further reductions in the world populations of elephants, rhinos and other species.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
The Government works with a range of governments and international organisations on the conservation of endangered species, including elephants and rhino, through a number of fora. This includes the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) which protects around 35,000 species from unsustainable international trade. I attended the CITES Conference of Parties held in Johannesburg from 24 September to 5 October 2016, where the UK, working with the Member States of the European Union and other countries, played a major role in achieving strong outcomes for a number of species, including elephants and rhinos, that will help ensure their survival in the wild.
Poaching is a major threat to elephants, rhino and other species and the UK has played a leading role in efforts to combat the illegal wildlife trade. The UK was represented by the Secretary of State at the Illegal Wildlife Trade Vietnam conference, on 17-18 November 2016 in Hanoi, where new concrete actions to deliver on the commitments agreed at the previous London and Botswana conferences in 2014 and 2015 were secured. In addition, the Secretary of State announced an additional £13 million for measures tackling the illegal wildlife trade, doubling our investment.
Asked by: David Mackintosh (Conservative - Northampton South)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had with the government of India on the conservation of Asian elephants and the potential merits of banning the use of elephants in tourist attractions.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
Prime Ministers David Cameron and Narendra Modi met in London in November 2015 and issued a joint statement in which they resolved to work together to improve protection for both captive and wild Asian elephants. There have been no discussions with the Indian Government specifically on banning the use of elephants in tourist attractions or preventing the capturing and breaking of young elephants for use in the tourism industry. However, further official level discussions have taken place with the Indian High Commission to discuss the joint statement and discuss specific areas on which we might work constructively beyond international fora such as the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).
Within CITES the UK has led on securing agreement to measures to increase focus on protecting Asian elephants. These include the strengthening of national legislation and enforcement to combat illegal trade in live Asian elephants, for range countries to develop strategies to manage their captive domestic populations and to develop and apply a regional registration and marking system covering domestic Asian elephants.
Asked by: David Mackintosh (Conservative - Northampton 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 she is taking to support the Indian government in protecting Asian elephants.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
Prime Ministers David Cameron and Narendra Modi met in London in November 2015 and issued a joint statement in which they resolved to work together to improve protection for both captive and wild Asian elephants. There have been no discussions with the Indian Government specifically on banning the use of elephants in tourist attractions or preventing the capturing and breaking of young elephants for use in the tourism industry. However, further official level discussions have taken place with the Indian High Commission to discuss the joint statement and discuss specific areas on which we might work constructively beyond international fora such as the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).
Within CITES the UK has led on securing agreement to measures to increase focus on protecting Asian elephants. These include the strengthening of national legislation and enforcement to combat illegal trade in live Asian elephants, for range countries to develop strategies to manage their captive domestic populations and to develop and apply a regional registration and marking system covering domestic Asian elephants.
Asked by: David Mackintosh (Conservative - Northampton 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 she is taking to promote a ban on trade of captive lion parts.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
The UK takes the conservation of lions seriously. There are strict controls in place for international trade in wild lion parts; however the Government currently has no plans to promote a ban on trade of captive lion parts.
Asked by: David Mackintosh (Conservative - Northampton 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 she is taking to promote the up-listing of African lions to Appendix 1 of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
At the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) earlier this year, it was decided that lions should not be uplisted to Appendix I of the Convention. The Government supported this decision.
Based on the biological and other listing criteria under CITES, our assessment is that the entire lion population of Africa does not currently meet the criteria for inclusion in Appendix I. This is notably the case for Southern African lion populations, which have an increasing population trend.
The UK takes the conservation of lions seriously. At the CITES Conference of the Parties, the UK played an instrumental role in banning the trade in wild lion bones, which represents a key conservation concern. We also supported a broad range of decisions to support African lion conservation on a continent-wide basis.