Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many cases of Brucella Canis were reported between February 2022 and March 2023.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
From 1st February 2022 to 31st March 2023 (inclusive) there have been a total of 75 cases (comprising a total of 104 positive dogs). We consider a case to be a single epidemiological event. Each event may involve 1 or more dogs. For example, many cases are just 1 dog (imported rescue dog) while another case may involve a breeder with a number of dogs where more than 1 dog is infected.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department plans to launch a public consultation on the introduction of the regulation of rehoming activities for (a) animal sanctuaries and (b) rehoming organisations in 2023.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Action Plan for Animal Welfare includes commitments to pursuing the licensing of animal sanctuaries, rescue and rehoming centres including for cats, dogs and horses. Defra has been engaging with relevant organisations to understand their views and the possible impacts of regulating the sector. Any proposals to bring forward licensing regulations will be subject to a consultation.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
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 make an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to improve animal welfare standards in (a) animal sanctuaries and (b) rehoming organisations.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Action Plan for Animal Welfare includes commitments to pursuing the licensing of animal sanctuaries, rescue and rehoming centres including for cats, dogs and horses. Defra has been engaging with relevant organisations to understand their views and the possible impacts of regulating the sector. Any proposals to bring forward licensing regulations will be subject to a consultation.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many cats were commercially imported into Great Britain in each month in 2022.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Month | Total number of cats commercially imported |
January | 645 |
February | 797 |
March | 789 |
April | 635 |
May | 512 |
June | 453 |
July | 584 |
August | 488 |
September | 613 |
October | 595 |
November | 591 |
December | 610 |
This information is drawn from external TRACES and IPAFF systems, which are not directly controlled by the department.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many cats were commercially imported into Great Britain in each year since 2018.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Year | Total number of commercially imported cats |
2018 | 3,809 |
2019 | 5,286 |
2020 | 6,768 |
2021 | 11,134 |
2022 | 7,312 |
This information is drawn from external TRACES and IPAFF systems, which are not directly controlled by the department.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many cats were imported into the UK through the Pet Travel Scheme in each month in 2022.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
2022 | Total number of Non-Commercial Cats |
January | 2587 |
February | 1886 |
March | 1707 |
April | 2310 |
May | 1903 |
June | 2161 |
July | 2354 |
August | 3915 |
September | 7855 |
October | 3059 |
November | 2222 |
December | 2332 |
The data regarding the Pet Travel Scheme covers pets entering Great Britain and is based on information provided by checkers employed by approved carriers of pet animals.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many dogs were commercially imported into Great Britain in each month of 2022.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 12 January to PQ 119251.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment her Department has made of the (a) current and (b) future (i) prevalence and (ii) impact of ash dieback.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
Ash dieback is a fungal disease of ash trees that was first detected in Great Britain in 2012. It can be spread by infected planting material but is also capable of spreading naturally up to 75km through airborne spores. The disease is now present in all counties, but levels of infection differ at a local level. The impact of the disease varies by tree age, provenance, climate and site factors such as soil type and the presence of secondary pathogens like honey fungus. The disease progresses more quickly in young or stressed trees in ash dominated woodlands, and mortality rates of up to 85% have been recorded in some plantations. Fewer symptoms are observed on ash trees growing in open spaces.
There are an estimated 125 million ash trees in UK woodlands and up to 60 million ash trees outside of woodlands. 1-5% of these trees will be naturally tolerant to the disease and the Government planted the UK’s first archive of 3000 tolerant ash trees in 2020, raising the possibility of a future breeding programme for tolerant ash. Local effects on landscapes will be gradual, and tolerant trees and other tree species are expected to naturally repopulate sites and replace susceptible trees over time. The total cost of ash dieback to the UK has been estimated at £14.6 billion over the next 100 years, based on the cost of dealing with the immediate impacts of the disease, replanting and the future loss of ecosystem services.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what financial support her Department plans to provide to (a) local authorities and (b) other agencies to help tackle ash dieback.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Occupiers’ Liability Act imposes a duty of care on landowners to manage their tree stock. Council budgets for the care and management of trees on their land are determined by individual Local Authorities, but Defra provides grants such as the Local Authority Treescapes Fund, to support the restoration of landscapes degraded by ash dieback. Since 2021, this scheme has provided nearly £8m to 153 Local Authorities to plant trees outside of woodlands across 77 projects in England, and the scheme will be reopening for new applications imminently. For private landowners, grants are routinely available under the Countryside Stewardship Scheme and the tree health pilot to help manage dangerous ash alongside roads, carry out ecological surveys and restock with other species.
Government has produced a range of guidance to help landowners manage their ash, including an Ash Dieback Toolkit for Local Authorities which has been downloaded nearly 20,000 times.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many dogs were imported into the UK through the Pet Travel Scheme in each month in 2022.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Month | Total number of dogs |
January | 18,840 |
February | 13,479 |
March | 10,020 |
April | 24,315 |
May | 20,678 |
June | 26,092 |
July | 27,579 |
August | 49,565 |
September | 30,903 |
October | 24,395 |
November | 13,434 |
December | 20,102 |
This is a summary of animals entering Great Britain under the Pet Travel Scheme via an approved route. It does not include pet animals that enter other parts of the UK (such as Northern Ireland or the Channel Islands) or pet animals that enter Great Britain from other parts of the UK. It does not include any animals that enter Great Britain under the Pet Travel Scheme from the Republic of Ireland (as these movements do not need to follow an approved route). Additionally, this data is based upon reports supplied by pet checkers operating approved routes, and not all pet checkers have submitted their final reports for 2022; the month of December in particular has a number of gaps in the data thus far provided. We are continuing to chase pet checkers for these missing figures but have yet to receive definitive responses.