Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
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 support farmers in Northumberland in preparation for the UK leaving the EU.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
The Agriculture Bill is part of the Government’s programme of critical legislation to deliver a smooth departure from the EU. We will create an ambitious new system based on paying “public money for public goods” including improving air and water quality and habitats for wildlife.
Due to the environment and cultural and natural heritage of upland areas, fell farmers like those in Northumberland will be well placed to benefit from the new system which will reward farmers for the public value of the goods they provide.
A smooth and gradual seven year transition away from the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy will mean that farmers and land managers can plan ahead. The Government has already pledged to continue to support farmers financially by committing the same cash total in funds for farm support until the end of this Parliament.
As any responsible Government would, we are also preparing for the possibility of no deal, which is why we have contingency plans in place to minimise disruption for the food and farming sector as much as possible.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many game birds are kept in barren cages; and what legal recourse is available in relation to people caught keeping game birds in those cages.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government shares the public’s high regard for animal welfare and the welfare of our farmed livestock is protected by comprehensive and robust legislation.
The welfare of gamebirds is protected by the Animal Welfare Act 2006 which makes it an offence to cause unnecessary suffering. This is backed up by the statutory Code of Practice for the Welfare of Gamebirds Reared for Sporting Purposes, which recommends that barren cages should not be used for breeding birds. Keepers are required by law to have access to, and be familiar with this code, which encourages the adoption of high standards of husbandry. Failure to observe the provisions of a code may also be used in support of a prosecution.
Whatever the system of production, the most important factor in determining animal welfare is good stockmanship and the correct application of husbandry standards. This reflects the advice of our expert body, the Farm Animal Welfare Committee.
Data on numbers of gamebirds kept in barren cages is not held centrally by Defra.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many inspections of game bird farms were undertaken by (a) the Animal and Plant Health Agency and (b) local trading standards in 2018; and how many of those visits resulted in an animal welfare prosecution.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
a) The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) does not undertake routine inspections of game bird establishments, however inspections will be carried out if specific welfare issues are reported.
During the year 2018 APHA completed 23 welfare inspections on game bird farms in England, Scotland and Wales.
The breakdown is as follows:
England 8
Scotland 13
Wales 2
Total 23
b) APHA is unable to provide a response on behalf of local authorities. Local authority trading standards services do not have a statutory duty to undertake inspections of game bird facilities, although they may undertake some based on their internal risk analysis and local decision making. In order to ascertain the number of inspections carried out, it would be necessary to approach each individual local authority in England and request this information.
Prosecutions made under the Animal Health Act 1981 and incidences of disease are published in Section 80 of the Act. These also include all prosecutions made by local authorities under farmed animal welfare legislation. The report for 2018 can be found here:
Brief details of successful prosecutions are contained in Annex 1, but they do not detail any prosecutions against game bird farms specifically.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which organisation or Department holds data on the mortality rates for game bird farms.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), on behalf of Defra, carry out work in relation to the import/export of game birds; as well as carrying out statutory animal health inspections, as required, for game bird farms. However, APHA do not collect data on game bird mortality rates and are not aware of any other Defra agencies that hold this information.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what information the Animal and Plant Health Agency holds on the estimated number of game birds on game farm premises as supplied by owners of those game farms to that agency.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) does not hold accurate or reliable figures on the number of birds on game farm premises.
At the time of registration the owner/keeper of the game birds will normally supply APHA with an estimate of the stock numbers likely to be held on the game bird farm premises.
The figures below are based upon information supplied to APHA at the time of registration by the owner/keeper of the game bird farm premises which date from 2008 to 2018.
Number of game birds (estimated usual stock numbers) | Registered game farm premises |
0 – 20,000 | 4 |
20,000 – 50,000 | 300 |
50,000 + | 143 |
APHA does not maintain year on year statistics for game bird farms.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the (a) potential effect of increased water rates on people with (i) Chrones and (ii) similar conditions who use more water than the average household and (b) requirement to put in place plans for those people in the event of such an increase; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
The Government-mandated tariff, WaterSure, is in place to support customers on low incomes who have unavoidably high water usage, due to either a qualifying medical condition or having three or more children under 19. Eligible customers must be on a water meter and in receipt of a means tested benefit, and they or someone living in the household must have the qualifying medical condition. This includes Crohn’s. All water companies must offer the tariff.
Water bills are rigorously safeguarded by Ofwat, the industry’s independent economic regulator, through five-yearly price reviews, which set an overall cap on the total amount that each water company may recover from their customers. Ofwat expects the average real water and sewerage bill to fall 5% from 2015 - 2020, and potentially up to 10% by 2025.
The Government’s 2017 strategic policy statement to Ofwat challenged the water industry to do more for vulnerable customers.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he is planning for an increase in water rates; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
The Government-mandated tariff, WaterSure, is in place to support customers on low incomes who have unavoidably high water usage, due to either a qualifying medical condition or having three or more children under 19. Eligible customers must be on a water meter and in receipt of a means tested benefit, and they or someone living in the household must have the qualifying medical condition. This includes Crohn’s. All water companies must offer the tariff.
Water bills are rigorously safeguarded by Ofwat, the industry’s independent economic regulator, through five-yearly price reviews, which set an overall cap on the total amount that each water company may recover from their customers. Ofwat expects the average real water and sewerage bill to fall 5% from 2015 - 2020, and potentially up to 10% by 2025.
The Government’s 2017 strategic policy statement to Ofwat challenged the water industry to do more for vulnerable customers.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the National Flood Resilience Review will assess the (a) maintenance requirements of flood assets and (b) capacity of the Environment Agency to maintain flood defences.
Answered by Rory Stewart
The National Flood Resilience Review is not assessing the maintenance requirements of flood assets or the capacity of the Environment Agency to maintain flood defences. The terms of reference for the Review were published on 26 January 2016. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/national-flood-resilience-review-government-action-to-tackle-floods.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress the National Flood Resilience Review team has made on assessing the damage that extreme rainfall could cause across England.
Answered by Rory Stewart
The National Flood Resilience Review led by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster is making good progress with gathering evidence and stress-testing our resilience to flood risk. Our call for evidence closed on 4 March and we are now reviewing the 66 responses received.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
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 has taken to limit the damage to local communities and economies from flooding.
Answered by Rory Stewart
We are investing an unprecedented £2.3 billion in 1,500 flood defence improvement schemes over the next six years. This will provide better protection to at least 300,000 households, up to 420,000 acres of agricultural land, over 200 miles of railway and 340 miles of roads.
In addition, flood maintenance spending will be protected in real terms over this Parliament.
Over the five years of the last Parliament, our flood defences schemes have better protected over 255,000 households.
This is on top of the £1.7 billion invested in the last Parliament and the £1.5 billion spent between 2006 and 2010.