Asked by: Kevan Jones (Labour - North Durham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what environmental enforcement his Department has taken against Niramax since the establishment of that company.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency has taken 19 actions against Niramax Group, including providing advice and guidance once, issuing six warning letters, five enforcement notices, one caution and three court proceedings. Fines totalling £26,000 and costs of £10,500 have been awarded.
Asked by: Kevan Jones (Labour - North Durham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many investigations were conducted by the Environment Agency as part of HMRC's investigation into the suspected systematic abuse of the landfill tax system, referred to as Operation Nosedive.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency did not conduct any investigations as part of Operation Nosedive. The Operation was led by HMRC and the Environment Agency acted in a supporting role only.
Asked by: Kevan Jones (Labour - North Durham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the cost to the public purse was of the Environment Agency's involvement in HMRC's investigation into the suspected systematic abuse of the landfill tax system, referred to as Operation Nosedive.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency recorded 109 hours against Operation Nosedive between May 2016- July 2018 for relevant Proceed of Crimes Act related activities. There is no related cost schedule.
Asked by: Kevan Jones (Labour - North Durham)
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 20 January 2021 to Question 136454, on Dogs: Imports, when her Department expects to have the figures for 2020.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
Further to Question 136454, the number of commercial dogs from Russia into the United Kingdom for 2018 to 2020 are as follows;
Year | Number of commercial dogs |
2018 | 60 |
2019 | 70 |
2020 | 713 |
Asked by: Kevan Jones (Labour - North Durham)
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 trends in the number of dogs entering the UK from Russia.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The Animal and Plant Health Agency does not hold data on the country of origin for non-commercial pets moving into the United Kingdom, and therefore this answer relates solely to dogs imported from Russia commercially. The commercial importation requirements apply to dogs, cats and ferrets who:
In 2018, 60 dogs were imported commercially into the United Kingdom from Russia and in 2019, 70 dogs were moved in this way. We do not currently have figures for the number of dogs commercially imported from Russia to the United Kingdom in 2020.
Asked by: Kevan Jones (Labour - North Durham)
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 the preservation of bridleways and equestrian rights of way.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Local authorities are responsible for the management and maintenance of public rights of way. They are required to keep a Rights of Way Improvement Plan to plan improvements to the rights of way network in their area, which is usually available on the authority’s website. This must include an assessment of the local rights of way including the condition of the network.
Asked by: Kevan Jones (Labour - North Durham)
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 ease restrictions on dog grooming parlours in the next three weeks.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The Government's message to the public is clear: stay alert, control the virus and save lives. Dog grooming businesses play a key role in ensuring the welfare of the nation's pets and have been allowed to operate since advice to businesses was first published, within the strict advice on social distancing and hygiene.
The Canine and Feline Sector Group, which advises both the Animal Health and Welfare Board for England and Defra Ministers, has issued its own guidance to pet businesses, including dog groomers, on how they can continue to operate under current restrictions and in line with guidance around social distancing and hygiene:
Asked by: Kevan Jones (Labour - North Durham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help mitigate the risk of wildfire.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We are working across Government with a wide range of stakeholders including land managers, conservation bodies and wildfire management groups to ensure that we promote better planning for wildfire locally and take measures to mitigate against the risk of wildfire.
We undertook a review of the impact of wildfire and upland environments in 2019 and will publish the findings in due course. We will also, through the forthcoming England Peat Strategy, set out measures to protect our peatlands, which includes making them more resilient to and mitigating the risk of wildfire.
Asked by: Kevan Jones (Labour - North Durham)
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 29 April 2020 to Question 39481 on Food Supply: Coronavirus, whether the Government has plans to enable members of the public to receive a priority supermarket slot, without the need to register for free food packages, in cases where free food packages are not necessary.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
Members of the public who have received a letter advising that they are clinically extremely vulnerable (CEV) can register to say that they are unable to get essential supplies delivered, and those individuals’ details are shared with supermarkets to match them with priority delivery slots.
This system was designed with safety in mind to ensure that CEV individuals, who have been advised to stay at home at all times, could get essential supplies delivered to their homes if they had no alternative means of obtaining food. If an individual who is shielding obtains a priority supermarket slot, they can easily de-register from the system through the GOV.UK platform or by rejecting a box when delivery is attempted. The food package will be re-delivered to the next person in need.
Asked by: Kevan Jones (Labour - North Durham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether (a) professional dog walkers and (b) kennels are able to walk their dogs more than once a day under the social distancing measures announced by the Government on 23 March 2020.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The Government has issued guidance which sets out which businesses must close, and clarifies that “Other businesses can remain open, their employees can travel for work purposes if they cannot work from home”, and “it is important for other businesses to carry on”. Dog walking businesses and kennels are not required to close by the Government. These businesses should make every effort to comply with social distancing and hygiene guidelines; otherwise they should carry on with their normal day to day routines.
The Canine and Feline Sector Group, which advises both the Animal Health and Welfare Board for England and Defra Ministers, has issued its own guidance to pet businesses, including professional dog walkers and boarding kennels, on how they can continue to operate under current restrictions, including how to exercise dogs, and in line with guidance around social distancing and hygiene. http://www.cfsg.org.uk/coronavirus/SiteAssets/SitePages/Home/CFSG%20Animal%20Business%20Guidance%2007.0