Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
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 has made an assessment of the potential merits of banning the importation of dogs with cropped ears.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The practice of non-exempted mutilations such as cropping dogs' ears is abhorrent and has rightly been banned in the UK for over 10 years.
In August 2021, we consulted on proposed changes to the commercial and non-commercial movements of pets into Great Britain including the importation of dogs with cropped ears.
We are carefully reviewing the feedback from our consultation and wider engagement with stakeholders, and a summary will be published in due course.
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many dwellings have secured home insurance through the Flood Re scheme in Belfast East constituency in each year since that scheme's commencement in 2016.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Flood Re’s statistics run from October 2017 and are reported twice a year, with the most recent confirmed data in April 2021. The data shows a steady increase in the number of properties ceded to the Flood Re scheme within Belfast East.
Country | Constituency | Q4 2017 | Q2 2018 | Q4 2018 | Q2 2019 | Q4 2019 | Q2 2020 | Q4 2020 | Q2 2021 |
Northern Ireland | Belfast East | 392 | 364 | 395 | 479 | 550 | 550 | 583 | 635 |
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will ensure that the Agriculture Bill is carried over into the next session of Parliament.
Answered by George Eustice
If agreement is not reached on carry-over the Government will look to reintroduce Bills in the next session, and details on this will be set out in the Queen’s Speech.
Introducing a new Agriculture Bill in the next session is an opportunity to reflect on the scrutiny of the House of Commons and improve the legislation that will underpin our new domestic agriculture policy.
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what his Department's policy is on making the environmental principle of avoiding trans-boundary environmental damage applicable in both England and Northern Ireland.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
Transboundary environmental damage is covered by the environmental principle of prevention, which requires action to be taken to avert environmental damage rather than to simply tolerate or rectify it after it occurs.
Environmental policy is a devolved matter, subject to a small number of areas that are reserved. We have been working with officials in Northern Ireland to ensure that environmental protection and governance in Northern Ireland can be safeguarded after our departure from the EU.
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress has been made by each nation of the UK on developing common frameworks for environmental policy, legislation and regulation to (a) manage shared environmental assets and (b) meet environmental challenges after the UK has left the EU.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
The Government is working closely with the Scottish and Welsh Governments, and the Northern Ireland Civil Service, on a programme of work to develop common UK frameworks across a range of policy areas, including those relating to environmental policy, legislation and regulation. The Government has published two iterations of the frameworks analysis, in March 2018 and April 2019 respectively, which set out all the policy areas where EU law intersects with devolved competence and our approach in each area (1).
(1) https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/frameworks-analysis
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
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 add additional principles to those included in the Draft Environment (Principles and Governance) Bill 2018.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
No. We believe these principles are sufficient to ensure we achieve our vision of protecting the environment and leaving it in a better state than we found it.
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
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 ensure that the Office of Environmental Protection will take account of Northern Ireland’s specific environmental requirements should its jurisdiction apply there.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
Environmental policy is largely a devolved matter. Northern Ireland officials requested to make options available to ensure that environmental governance in Northern Ireland can be safeguarded after the UK’s departure from the EU. We are working in conjunction with officials in DAERA to ensure the forthcoming Environment Bill enables the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) to provide effective oversight of the environment in Northern Ireland should the Executive in Northern Ireland agree to it.
Executive officials’ agreement to extension of the Bill is on the basis of a default position that decisions on implementation will be left for returning Ministers and subject to the requisite Assembly scrutiny procedures.
If a Northern Ireland executive decides to use the OEP in the future, it will then be for the OEP to work with the Executive to address any issues specific to the needs of Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the Office of Environmental Protection will have a physical presence in Northern Ireland should it have jurisdiction there.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
Environmental policy is largely a devolved matter. Northern Ireland officials requested to make options available to ensure that environmental governance in Northern Ireland can be safeguarded after the UK’s departure from the EU. We are working in conjunction with officials in DAERA to ensure the forthcoming Environment Bill enables the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) to provide effective oversight of the environment in Northern Ireland should the Executive in Northern Ireland agree to it.
Executive officials’ agreement to extension of the Bill is on the basis of a default position that decisions on implementation will be left for returning Ministers and subject to the requisite Assembly scrutiny procedures.
If a Northern Ireland executive decides to use the OEP in the future, it will then be for the OEP to work with the Executive to address any issues specific to the needs of Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
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 will take to ensure that (a) Northern Ireland is represented on the Office of Environmental Protection’s (OEP’s) Board and (b) that the specific needs of Northern Ireland are taken into account when the OEP’s budget and strategy is agreed.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
Environmental policy is largely a devolved matter. Northern Ireland officials requested to make options available to ensure that environmental governance in Northern Ireland can be safeguarded after the UK’s departure from the EU. We are working in conjunction with officials in DAERA to ensure the forthcoming Environment Bill enables the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) to provide effective oversight of the environment in Northern Ireland should the Executive in Northern Ireland agree to it.
Executive officials’ agreement to extension of the Bill is on the basis of a default position that decisions on implementation will be left for returning Ministers and subject to the requisite Assembly scrutiny procedures.
If a Northern Ireland executive decides to use the OEP in the future, it will then be for the OEP to work with the Executive to address any issues specific to the needs of Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
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 will take to ensure Office of Environmental Protection staff have adequate knowledge and experience of Northern Ireland’s legislation and practices.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
Environmental policy is largely a devolved matter. Northern Ireland officials requested to make options available to ensure that environmental governance in Northern Ireland can be safeguarded after the UK’s departure from the EU. We are working in conjunction with officials in DAERA to ensure the forthcoming Environment Bill enables the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) to provide effective oversight of the environment in Northern Ireland should the Executive in Northern Ireland agree to it.
Executive officials’ agreement to extension of the Bill is on the basis of a default position that decisions on implementation will be left for returning Ministers and subject to the requisite Assembly scrutiny procedures.
If a Northern Ireland executive decides to use the OEP in the future, it will then be for the OEP to work with the Executive to address any issues specific to the needs of Northern Ireland.