Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if her Department will take steps to introduce remote electronic monitoring of bycatch as part of licensing conditions for supertrawlers to access UK waters.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We will shortly be consulting on proposals to increase the use of remote electronic monitoring on English vessels and in English waters, including on large pelagic trawlers. The Scottish government consulted on similar measures in spring 2022.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she is taking steps to address concerns raised by (a) On The Hook and (b) other campaigns on the adequacy of standards set by seafood sustainability certification schemes.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra has made no assessment of the standards set by seafood certification schemes, which are voluntary and operate independently of Government. The Government remains fully committed to sustainable fishing, and Fisheries Management Plans will be a key tool through which we will work with industry to improve the sustainability and management of our fisheries.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that UK consumers can rely on the information provided by seafood certification schemes.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra has made no assessment of the standards set by seafood certification schemes, which are voluntary and operate independently of Government. The Government remains fully committed to sustainable fishing, and Fisheries Management Plans will be a key tool through which we will work with industry to improve the sustainability and management of our fisheries.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to tackle microplastic fibre pollution.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Plan for Water outlined our position that we will expect industry to develop low cost, effective microfibre filters on washing machine and encourage their effective use. With the plan being published only just last month, we are now considering the best actions for its implementation. As a first step, we will look to manufacturers to reduce costs and to provide appropriate evidence of the value of microfibre filters to persuade consumers to invest in them and use them correctly.
Defra funds Textiles 2030, a voluntary initiative with over 110 signatories from the fashion manufacturing industry covering 62% by sales of the UK clothing market. Signatories are committed to circular economy principles such as agreeing good design principles so that their products are durable and recyclable.
Our landmark Environment Act 2021 also provides general powers on design standards and requiring information on the resource efficiency of products. We are, therefore, exploring the best mix of policy measures to tackle the environmental impact of textiles.
Defra supports a range of research including the UK Water Industry Research project (performed by UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology) which reported in April 2022 that wastewater treatment plants remove 99% of microplastics by number and 99.5% by mass. The Water Industry National Environment Programme (WINEP) includes over £7.39 million of commitment from the water industry to further research microplastics removal through wastewater treatment processes to sludge, which may be a source of microplastics to final effluent discharges.
Technical experts from the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas) have been leading the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment to develop a new indicator for microlitter (including microplastics) in seafloor sediments. This will help us to track progress in reducing plastics in the environment at a regional scale.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs with reference to the oral statement of 25 May by the Minister for Food, Farming and Fisheries, Official Report, column 495, what plans he has to take forward the provisions of the Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill on (a) a ban on live exports, (b) reducing puppy smuggling and (c) primates as pets,; and to what timetable.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We will be taking forward measures in the Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill individually through other means during the remainder of this Parliament. This includes the manifesto commitments to ban live exports for fattening and slaughter and to crack down on puppy smuggling. We will also deliver the manifesto commitment to ban the keeping of primates as pets, which will be implemented via a statutory instrument to be laid this year.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to introduce mandatory animal-welfare labelling on supermarket products.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In 2021, Defra ran a call for evidence to gather data on the potential impacts of different types of labelling reform for animal welfare. We received over 1,600 responses and a summary of these responses is available on GOV.UK.
Based on the evidence provided, Defra committed in the Government’s Food Strategy to consult on improving and expanding mandatory animal welfare labelling, covering both domestic and imported products, in 2023.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether it remains her policy to implement the Action Plan for Animal Welfare, published on 12 May 2021.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We plan to take forward our ambitious agenda of animal welfare and conservation reforms, as outlined in the 2021 Action Plan for Animal Welfare, during the current Parliamentary session and beyond. We will continue to introduce and support legislative and non-legislative reforms when we can.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
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 implications for her policies of undercover investigation footage from Carr Farm in East Yorkshire published by the Daily Mail newspaper on 14 April 2023.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
All livestock are protected by comprehensive and robust animal health and welfare legislation: the Animal Welfare Act 2006 makes it an offence either to cause any captive animal unnecessary suffering or to fail to provide for the welfare needs of the animal; and The Welfare of Farmed Animals (England) Regulations 2007 set down detailed requirements on how farmed livestock should be kept. Breaches of animal welfare legislation are taken very seriously and every allegation that is reported to us is investigated.
Appropriate action is taken where welfare regulations are breached. It is imperative that any suspicion of animal cruelty is alerted to the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) in the first instance, so that timely investigations can take place and the welfare of animals can be safeguarded.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 28 March 2023 to Question 173051, what steps her Department have taken to examine the use of cages for laying hens.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We are providing a range of financial incentives for improving animal health and welfare to farmers through the new Animal Health and Welfare Pathway. These incentives focus on published health and welfare priorities for each sector and will include support for farmers wishing to transition away from the use of enriched ‘colony’ cages for laying hens.
Specifically, we are exploring options for large infrastructure grants, building on the animal health and welfare grants already available towards the cost of equipment and technology which offer improvements in the health and welfare of livestock.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she plans to provide funding to farmers to transition to cage-free farming systems in 2023.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We are providing a range of financial incentives for improving animal health and welfare to farmers through the new Animal Health and Welfare Pathway. These incentives focus on published health and welfare priorities for each sector and will include support for farmers wishing to transition away from the use of enriched ‘colony’ cages for laying hens and farrowing crates for pigs.
Specifically, we are exploring options for large infrastructure grants, building on the animal health and welfare grants already available towards the cost of equipment and technology which offer improvements in the health and welfare of livestock.