Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs, whether she plans to publish proposals for the introduction of mandatory animal welfare labelling for food.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
At the end of 2021, the Government ran a call for evidence to gather data on the impacts, cost and deliverability of different types of labelling reforms for animal welfare.
Building on this call for evidence, the Government announced in the recent Food Strategy that we will consult on mandatory animal welfare labelling reforms in 2023. Consultation proposals are being co-developed with stakeholders across the supply chain.
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 she plans to take to implement the Global Biodiversity Framework.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
In England, we have already committed to setting a target to halt the decline in species by 2030, in addition to at least one long-term target for biodiversity. Following agreement of the Global Biodiversity Framework at CBD COP 15 we will be setting out our approach to implementing the framework domestically in our Environmental Improvement Plan, due to be published in 2023. The Plan will set out our ambitions and approach to nature recovery, including our legally binding targets and the actions that will drive us towards reaching them.
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 he has made of the potential merits of investing fines given to water companies in improving waterways.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
On Wednesday 30th November we announced we will be channelling money from water company fines into schemes to improve the environment. The announcement is available on gov.uk at the webpage here:
Under our new plans, money from fines handed out to water companies that pollute our rivers and seas will be re-invested in schemes that benefit our natural environment.
Since 2015, the Environment Agency has concluded 56 prosecutions against water and sewerage companies securing fines of over £141 million.
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, with reference to the Answer of 7 June 2021 to Question 7936 on Animals: Antibiotics, what progress has been made on amending and supplementing the Veterinary Medicines Regulations 2013; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK Government and Devolved Administrations remain committed to reducing unnecessary use of antibiotics in animals.
Over the past year the Veterinary Medicines Directorate has engaged in a comprehensive dialogue with stakeholders about a broad range of changes that we propose to the Veterinary Medicines Regulations 2013 as they apply in Great Britain. These changes will help us to improve the operating environment for industry, improve prescription and supply of veterinary medicines and ensure safe and effective medicines continue to be available, including by reducing the development and spread of antimicrobial resistance.
As required by the Medicines and Medical Devices Act 2021, we are preparing to publish a consultation paper setting out our proposals for changes to the Regulations. This will provide the opportunity for all affected stakeholders to express their views on the proposed changes. Following the mandatory consultation period, we anticipate laying new legislation 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 his Department conducted a comparative review of free farrowing systems in the Uk and other countries in 2020 in response to the recommendation of the Independent Report of the Farm Animal Welfare Committee entitled Opinion on Free Farrowing Systems, published in November 2015.
Answered by Scott Mann - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Defra’s Action Plan for Animal Welfare, published last year, outlined that we would be examining the confinement of farm animals, including the use of farrowing crates for pigs. As part of this examination, we are considering the many different pig production systems, used both in the United Kingdom and in other countries.
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 launch a consultation on banning the sale of eggs produced from caged hens; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Steve Double
The Government are committed to phasing out confinement systems and supporting the industry to do so, not least to underpin UK food security. However, as reiterated by the Minister for Farming, Fisheries and Food at the ‘End the Cage Age’ debate held in June, we do need to work carefully and sensitively with the pig and poultry sectors as any transition must be done with, rather than against, these industries.
This is an extremely challenging time for Britain’s farmers, with enormously increased input costs — of food, fuel and fertiliser — affecting almost all production systems to a greater or lesser extent, and of course for the general public who are faced with significant challenges around the cost of living.
So, any decisions by Government on this issue, including timing of consultations, must be carefully considered in light of these wider, and clearly highly important, priorities. We have a course of action in play and will progress with our plans to transition away from use of cages in farming systems as soon as the time is right.
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 his Department has made of the potential merits of enabling a cultivated meat sector in the UK on the environment and on achieving net zero ambitions.
Answered by Steve Double
The Government has made no formal assessment of the role cultivated meats might play in reducing intensive farming levels or supporting animal welfare objectives
The cultivated meat sector probably presents great potential though we will only be able to fully understand the likely impact on greenhouse gas emissions when the specifics of the industry are more clearly identified and the evidence base is better established.
Defra officials and others from across Whitehall will continue to work together to assess the analysis of the cultivated meat sector as the industry develops, to understand the potential of this novel technology.
The recently published Government Food Strategy identifies new opportunities to make the food system healthier, more sustainable, more resilient, and more accessible for everyone across England. It sets out how we will deliver a sustainable, nature-positive food system that provides choice and access to high quality products supporting healthier and home-grown diets for all.
The Government is also making significant investments to unlock innovation and translate our world leading research into practical, farmer-led solutions that improve productivity, environmental sustainability and resilience, and which move towards net zero emission farming systems.
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 his Department has made of the potential role of cultivated meat products in (a) reducing intensive farming levels and (b) supporting animal welfare objectives.
Answered by Steve Double
The Government has made no formal assessment of the role cultivated meats might play in reducing intensive farming levels or supporting animal welfare objectives
The cultivated meat sector probably presents great potential though we will only be able to fully understand the likely impact on greenhouse gas emissions when the specifics of the industry are more clearly identified and the evidence base is better established.
Defra officials and others from across Whitehall will continue to work together to assess the analysis of the cultivated meat sector as the industry develops, to understand the potential of this novel technology.
The recently published Government Food Strategy identifies new opportunities to make the food system healthier, more sustainable, more resilient, and more accessible for everyone across England. It sets out how we will deliver a sustainable, nature-positive food system that provides choice and access to high quality products supporting healthier and home-grown diets for all.
The Government is also making significant investments to unlock innovation and translate our world leading research into practical, farmer-led solutions that improve productivity, environmental sustainability and resilience, and which move towards net zero emission farming systems.
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 he will introduce a ban on the domestic (a) advertising and (b) sale of (i) elephant rides and (ii) other wild animal experiences overseas.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
This Government takes the welfare of all animals seriously and the Government has been made aware that animals including Asian elephants, that are part of tourist attractions, can be subjected to cruel and brutal training practices to ensure their compliance.
As set out in our Action Plan for Animal Welfare, we are committed to promoting high animal welfare standards, both at home and abroad. We have engaged with the travel industry and other stakeholder organisations, and we support measures which ensure that money from tourists from this country is not channelled towards animal experiences abroad that involve the unacceptable treatment of animals.
The Government is committed to exploring available options to deliver the action plan, including to limit the advertising and offering for sale of these experiences.
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 he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing mandatory CCTV in fish slaughterhouses, in line with Mandatory Use of Closed Circuit Television in Slaughterhouses (England) Regulations 2018, which mandates the use of CCTV in all slaughterhouses for terrestrial farmed animals but excludes fish slaughterhouses.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Mandatory Use of Closed Circuit Television in Slaughterhouses (England) Regulations 2018 requires slaughterhouses to provide official veterinarians with access to CCTV footage. Official veterinarians will view CCTV footage daily. As there are no official veterinarians or routine animal welfare inspection programmes in farmed fish processing premises CCTV footage, were it to be mandated, would not be viewed.
Any allegations of welfare or health issues are investigated by the Animal and Plant Health Agency and Cefas, and where there are non-compliances with the regulations, appropriate action is taken.
As part of the Action Plan on Animal Welfare we are considering general improvements that could be made to the welfare of farmed fish at the time of killing. We have also asked the Animal Welfare Committee (AWC) to update its 2014 Opinion on the welfare of farmed fish at the time of killing and look forward to receiving AWC’s updated advice later this year.