Asked by: Elliot Colburn (Conservative - Carshalton and Wallington)
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 encourage local authorities to collect and scan cats injured or killed in road traffic accidents for a microchip and inform their owners.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
It is established good practice for local authorities to scan any cat or dog found on the streets so that the owner can be informed. Cats Protection reports that 80% of councils in England routinely scan cats involved in accidents.
Additionally, Highways England has clear guidelines for contractors to follow when they find a deceased cat or dog. This process is designed with owners in mind, giving them the best chance of being informed of the incident to allow closure. The process is laid out in the Network Management Manual and in 2015 the necessary arrangements were made in all Highways England’s contracts to collect and identify cats and dogs killed on the strategic road network and to contact their owners.
Asked by: Elliot Colburn (Conservative - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to his answer to Q40 in the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee's oral evidence session on The work of DEFRA, HC 261, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of strengthening requirements for cats entering the UK.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The end of the transition period will present new opportunities for managing our own Pet Travel rules and welfare arrangements for all pets, including cats. We are listening to the concerns of stakeholders around future requirements and the Government is developing a range of options to ensure there are robust controls on disease and animal welfare whilst allowing pet owners to continue to be able to travel to and from the EU with the minimum of disruption.
Asked by: Elliot Colburn (Conservative - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent steps he has taken to ensure that (a) dog and (b) cat meat is not being consumed in the UK.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The Government shares the public's high regard for animal welfare, including the welfare of dogs and cats. The UK is a leader when it comes to the protection of animals, and we intend to go even further now that we have left the EU.
The Government is appalled by the prospect of dogs and cats being consumed. However, it is already illegal to sell dog and cat meat for human consumption and we have seen no evidence that dog or cat meat is being sold or consumed in this country. The organisation behind the recent campaign to ban the consumption of dog and cat meat in this country acknowledged this point.
We are confident that our current position sends a clear message that the slaughter and consumption of dogs and cats will never be acceptable. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office raises concerns about the welfare of animals with other governments at every suitable opportunity, and we are pleased to hear that authorities in China are proposing to ban the consumption of dog and cat meat.
Asked by: Elliot Colburn (Conservative - Carshalton and Wallington)
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 (a) adequacy of the regulation and enforcement of pet imports, (b) trends in the level of pet imports during the covid-19 outbreak and (c) effect of the UK leaving the EU on pet imports.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
Defra takes the illegal importation of pets seriously. It is an abhorrent trade which causes suffering to animals and puts the health of pets and people in the UK at risk.
In terms of the regulation and enforcement of non-commercial pet travel movements, we operate one of the most rigorous and robust pet travel checking regimes in the world. All pet animals entering Great Britain on approved routes under the EU Pet Travel Scheme undergo documentary and identity checks, and the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) works collaboratively with Border Force and other operational partners at ports, airports and inland, sharing intelligence to enforce the Pet Travel Scheme, disrupt illegal imports and seize non-compliant animals. Any animals found to be non-compliant with the Pet Travel Scheme rules may be refused entry or detained until compliant.
Regarding changing levels of pet imports (both commercial and non-commercial) during the COVID-19 lockdown, APHA has confirmed that during the initial period of lockdown (March-April 2020), we saw a reduction of pet movements. This increased to relatively routine figures as COVID-19 movement restrictions were eased. On non-commercial pet travel, 14,718 pets were moved into Great Britain in March 2020. Numbers of movements then fell to 1,834 in April 2020 and rose to 4,810 in May 2020. On the commercial imports of cats, dogs and ferrets under the Balai Directive, 2,506 animals were imported into the UK in March 2020, falling to 1,114 in April 2020. Numbers of commercial imports are steadily rising again and now sit at 6,741 for the month of August 2020.
The end of the Transition Period may open up new opportunities for managing our own commercial and non-commercial import and pet travel arrangements. The Government will be considering our pet travel and import arrangements (including for puppies and kittens) as part of cracking down on puppy smuggling in line with our manifesto commitment.
Asked by: Elliot Colburn (Conservative - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Cats report entitled Cats as Companions: Can Cats Help Tackle Loneliness, published July 2020, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care of the effectiveness of pet ownership on (a) reducing loneliness and (b) reducing cost to the NHS.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
I recognise the important role that pets play in providing companionship to owners of all ages in this country. Recent events have highlighted how much we, as a nation of animal lovers, value this companionship, as we experienced restrictions in social contact and saw an increased demand for pets, including cats, both for purchase and rehoming. I agree with the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Cats that cats can help alleviate loneliness.
Defra officials will engage with the Department of Health and Social Care in relation to any actions they wish to take relating to those aspects and recommendations in the report covering mental health issues and associated NHS costs.
Asked by: Elliot Colburn (Conservative - Carshalton and Wallington)
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 number of pregnant dogs illegally imported into the UK in 2020.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) only holds records of pregnant dogs where other non-compliances were found at time of interception on entry to Great Britain. APHA does not record details of compliant animals which were pregnant at time of interception.
According to APHA records, eight dogs were seized in 2020 under Council Regulation (EC) no 1/2005, Annex I, FITNESS FOR TRANSPORT, Chapter I, 2(c) ‘pregnant females for whom 90% or more of the expected gestation period has already passed’. An additional 11 pregnant bitches not in their last 10% were seized in 2020.
Asked by: Elliot Colburn (Conservative - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans her Department has to bring forward legislative proposals to strengthen the rules of the Pet Travel Scheme.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The Government takes the welfare of all animals seriously, and that is why we have committed to cracking down on puppy smuggling. Looking to the future, leaving the EU after the transition period may open up new opportunities for managing our own pet travel arrangements, including ensuring there are robust controls on disease and animal welfare.
Asked by: Elliot Colburn (Conservative - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of the recommendations of Dogs Trust’s 2018 report entitled, Puppy Smuggling: When will this cruel trade end.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
Defra takes the issue of puppy smuggling seriously. It is an abhorrent trade which causes suffering to puppies and puts the health of pets and people in the UK at risk. We continue to work closely with Dogs Trust to address this issue and understand the evolving trade.
The Government is developing a range of options to strengthen our efforts to tackle puppy smuggling, taking into consideration the recommendations of Dogs Trust and other stakeholders. As part of this work, we have conducted a renewed rabies risk assessment and have commissioned assessments to understand the risks posed by tapeworms, as well as ticks and tick-borne disease. The results of these will be used to inform our future policy options.
Asked by: Elliot Colburn (Conservative - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many invalid emission reporting results there were at the Viridor energy recovery facility incinerator on Beddington lane in south London during January 2020.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency (EA) as the regulatory body for the site will receive the returns from the operator for January 2020. These will be submitted to the EA in April 2020 as part of the quarterly reporting process. This information is then reviewed and validated by the EA. Following this process the EA will be able to confirm the number of invalid emissions, if any.
Asked by: Elliot Colburn (Conservative - Carshalton and Wallington)
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 level of carbon monoxide emissions from the Viridor energy recovery facility incinerator on Beddington Lane in South London during January 2020.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency (EA) regulates the Energy Recovery Facility (Erf) in Beddington Lane, Sutton through an Environmental Permit under the Environmental Permitting Regulations 2010. The permit has strict conditions relating to acceptable levels of emissions of substances. The ErF operator (Viridor) is required to continuously and periodically monitor the emissions from the Erf stacks and submit the monitoring data quarterly to the EA.
The EA assesses all data submitted including breaches in emission limits for trends and requires the operator to investigate issues and take actions to rectify them.
The quarterly monitoring data that covers January 2020 is due to be submitted to the EA before end of April 2020. The EA have not received any notifications for breaches in emission limits during January 2020.