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Written Question
Food Supply
Monday 18th March 2024

Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how he plans to take information about expected future climatic conditions affecting (a) UK food production and (b) food imports into account in constructing the new Food Security Index.

Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

We are in the process of developing the content of the new Food Security Index (FSI). We expect it will include a selection of indicators giving an assessment of food security across the five themes identified in the UK Food Security Report (UKFSR), including domestic food supply and imports.

We expect the annual FSI will focus on a selection of indicators that typically show variation on an annual basis. The updated UKFSR, which will be published later this year, will include analysis of longer-term trends, such as the impact of changing climatic conditions on food security.

Defra officials are considering what would be most useful to monitor on an annual basis. It will likely draw on key statistics in the UK Food Security Report.


Written Question
Dogs: Electronic Training Aids
Wednesday 13th July 2022

Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)

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 estimate of the number of people who have trained their dog with an e-collar since his Department first announced a ban on those collars.

Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General

The Government assessed the number of people who have reported using a remotely activated electronic training device in 2018. Based on peer reviewed evidence, we estimate that 3% of owners use such devices. As our proposed ban will only prohibit those collars which deliver an electric shock controlled by hand-held devices, and not those which deliver stimuli such as vibration or sound, the number of affected users will be significantly lower.

The proposed ban on the use of electric shock collars controlled by hand-held devices was developed after considering a broad range of factors, including the impact of banning them. When considered alongside the academic research, the public consultation responses, and direct engagement with the sector, the Government concluded that these collars present a risk to the welfare of dogs and cats and that their use should be prohibited. The same conclusion was reached by other nations that have already banned the use of collars which deliver a shock, including Wales, Austria and Germany.

We appreciate that the right approach for pet owners to take in managing and controlling their dog’s behaviour differs from both person to person and from pet to pet. Defra would advise all owners who are concerned about controlling their dog’s behaviour, for whatever reason, to take advice from their vet or a suitably qualified dog behaviourist or trainer. Such specialists would be best positioned to advise on the best approach for their specific case. The Animal Behaviour and Training Council maintains national registers of appropriately qualified trainers and behaviourists which can be found at the link below: https://abtc.org.uk/practitioners/.


Written Question
Dogs: Romania
Wednesday 22nd June 2022

Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, for what reason the Government's extended ban on the commercial import of dogs also includes the ban of rescue dogs from countries such as Romania.

Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General

The UK, Scottish and Welsh Governments have temporarily suspended the commercial import of dogs, cats and ferrets into Great Britain if they originate from or have been dispatched from Belarus, Poland, Romania or Ukraine, until 9 July 2022.

We appreciate the impact that the temporary suspension will have on rescue organisations that operate in these countries. However, this measure is important to protect our biosecurity and the health of pets in this country.

This decision has been taken because of the serious health risk to humans and animals in Great Britain from commercial cats, dogs and ferrets from Belarus, Poland, Romania or Ukraine that do not comply with UK health and documentation requirements.

We understand the fluid situation at present due to the crisis and are aware that Romania, Belarus and Poland are currently experiencing high volumes of animal movements from Ukraine. Movements from these countries into Great Britain therefore present a higher risk at the current time due to the flow of animals from Ukraine.

In particular, there is evidence to suggest that commercial consignments of pet animals from Ukraine are being moved into Poland, Romania and Belarus, including strays, rescue and abandoned animals.

Unlike non-commercial pets accompanying Ukrainian refugees, these animals often have unknown history and disease status which increases the risk of disease spread.

Our standards of biosecurity are among the highest in the world. The Government takes the importation of pets seriously and is committed to preserving our high standards of biosecurity. The movement of commercial pets from Belarus, Poland, Romania and Ukraine represents a clear and serious enough biosecurity risk at the current time that we therefore consider the suspension of these movements necessary to protect the health of people and pets in Great Britain.

This risk has been exacerbated further by serious cases of non-compliance. There is a history of non-compliant movements of rescue animals into Great Britain from this region, which further increases the biosecurity risk.

The Government appreciates the work of genuine rescue and rehoming organisations who work to ensure that unwanted and abandoned animals are given the opportunity to find a forever home while importantly complying with our animal health and welfare legislation. It is important to note that this is a temporary measure which will be reviewed in due course. We would encourage organisations which are temporarily unable to import rescue dogs, cats, and ferrets into Great Britain to provide help and assistance to animals in situ.


Written Question
Dogs: Electronic Training Aids
Wednesday 1st June 2022

Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)

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 9 March 2020 to Question 24232 on Dogs: Electronic Training Aids, what the merits for animal welfare are of (a) not banning electronic collars used to stop dogs barking of (b) banning electronic collars used to stop dogs chasing livestock.

Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General

Following a consultation in 2018, and as set out in our Action Plan for Animal Welfare, the Government decided to ban electric shock collars controlled by hand-held devices in England, under new legislation which should be introduced this year, given their scope to harm cats and dogs.

We have listened carefully to a range of views from pet owners and respondents, as well as consulting key stakeholders including animal welfare charities, e-collar manufacturers, and trainers who use e-collars.

The proposed ban on the use of electric shock collars controlled by hand-held devices was developed after considering a broad range of factors, including the impact of a ban. When considered alongside the academic research, the public consultation responses, and direct engagement with the sector, the Government concluded that these types of electric shock collars present an unacceptable risk to the welfare of dogs and cats and that their use should not be permitted.

The research revealed that many e-collar users were not using them properly and in compliance with the manufacturers’ instructions. As well as being misused to inflict unnecessary harm, there is also concern that e-collars can redirect aggression or generate anxiety-based behaviour in pets, making underlying behavioural and health problems worse.

We appreciate that the right approach for pet owners to take in managing and controlling their dog’s behaviour differs from both person to person and from pet to pet. Defra would advise all owners who are concerned about controlling their dog’s behaviour, for whatever reason, to take advice from their vet or a suitably qualified dog behaviourist or trainer. Such specialists would be best positioned to advise on the best approach for their specific case. The Animal Behaviour and Training Council maintains national registers of appropriately qualified trainers and behaviourists.

The statutory Code of Practice for the Welfare of Dogs includes guidance and reminders for owners about their responsibilities to provide for the welfare needs of their animal, but also to keep their dogs safe and under control.

The Code of Practice applies to handling dogs in the vicinity of livestock and taking action to prevent dogs from escaping to reduce the occurrence of attacks or chasing. The best proven method of preventing a dog from attacking livestock is to keep the dog on a lead when exercising around other animals, as advised by farmers and other keepers of livestock.

Natural England has also published a refreshed version of the Countryside Code, which makes specific reference to keeping dogs in sight and under control to make sure they stay away from livestock, wildlife, horses and other people unless invited. Moreover, the Countryside Code helpfully sets out certain legal requirements, encouraging visitors to always check local signs as there are locations where you must keep your dog on a lead around livestock for all or part of the year.


Written Question
Poultry: Animal Welfare
Wednesday 23rd March 2022

Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much funding he will allocate through the Animal Health and Welfare Pathway to support poultry farmers to transition to cage–free systems.

Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The UK Government is delivering a series of ambitious reforms, as outlined in the Action Plan for Animal Welfare. We are actively exploring options to phase out the use of cages in farming, including the use of cages for laying hens. In coming to an assessment of the potential merits of banning cages for laying hens we will wish to consult all interested organisations.

Animal welfare is a devolved issue and we continue to work closely with our devolved counterparts when considering future policy.

The EU Commission announced its intention to bring forward legislative proposals by 2023 to prohibit the use of cages for all farmed livestock, including colony cages for laying hens. The Commission’s stated aim is to introduce legislation in 2027, but under pressure from some Member States we anticipate the phase in period for banning enriched cages may be several years. The EU’s programme of work will address many issues which we are already looking at, for example, cages for farmed animals and long journeys.

The UK Government has made a clear manifesto commitment that in all of our trade negotiations we will not compromise on our high environmental protection, animal welfare and food standards. We will need to consider trade aspects of any ban to avoid the risk of exporting production of eggs for catering/processing to third countries which continue to allow enriched cages.

We are establishing an Animal Health and Welfare Pathway as an all-encompassing approach to the health and welfare of farmed animals in England. Establishing a new partnership between Government and farmers, the Pathway maps out how farmers and Government will work together to continually improve the health and welfare of farmed animals now and in the future. Farmers will be able to choose whether to take part in Pathway and may take flexible routes through the schemes available depending on what is most relevant to them and their system. As set out in the 22 nd February publication on the Animal Health and Welfare Pathway, one of the Pathway's priorities will be to support a transition away from enriched cages for laying hens. At this stage, there has been no decision on allocation of funding.


Written Question
Livestock: Animal Welfare
Wednesday 23rd March 2022

Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)

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 implications for his policies of the EU’s decision to ban the use of cages for farm animals in the EU by 2027.

Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The UK Government is delivering a series of ambitious reforms, as outlined in the Action Plan for Animal Welfare. We are actively exploring options to phase out the use of cages in farming, including the use of cages for laying hens. In coming to an assessment of the potential merits of banning cages for laying hens we will wish to consult all interested organisations.

Animal welfare is a devolved issue and we continue to work closely with our devolved counterparts when considering future policy.

The EU Commission announced its intention to bring forward legislative proposals by 2023 to prohibit the use of cages for all farmed livestock, including colony cages for laying hens. The Commission’s stated aim is to introduce legislation in 2027, but under pressure from some Member States we anticipate the phase in period for banning enriched cages may be several years. The EU’s programme of work will address many issues which we are already looking at, for example, cages for farmed animals and long journeys.

The UK Government has made a clear manifesto commitment that in all of our trade negotiations we will not compromise on our high environmental protection, animal welfare and food standards. We will need to consider trade aspects of any ban to avoid the risk of exporting production of eggs for catering/processing to third countries which continue to allow enriched cages.

We are establishing an Animal Health and Welfare Pathway as an all-encompassing approach to the health and welfare of farmed animals in England. Establishing a new partnership between Government and farmers, the Pathway maps out how farmers and Government will work together to continually improve the health and welfare of farmed animals now and in the future. Farmers will be able to choose whether to take part in Pathway and may take flexible routes through the schemes available depending on what is most relevant to them and their system. As set out in the 22 nd February publication on the Animal Health and Welfare Pathway, one of the Pathway's priorities will be to support a transition away from enriched cages for laying hens. At this stage, there has been no decision on allocation of funding.


Written Question
Poultry: Animal Welfare
Wednesday 23rd March 2022

Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what representations he has made to the (a) Welsh Government, (b) Scottish Government and (c) Northern Ireland Executive on banning the use of cages for laying hens.

Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The UK Government is delivering a series of ambitious reforms, as outlined in the Action Plan for Animal Welfare. We are actively exploring options to phase out the use of cages in farming, including the use of cages for laying hens. In coming to an assessment of the potential merits of banning cages for laying hens we will wish to consult all interested organisations.

Animal welfare is a devolved issue and we continue to work closely with our devolved counterparts when considering future policy.

The EU Commission announced its intention to bring forward legislative proposals by 2023 to prohibit the use of cages for all farmed livestock, including colony cages for laying hens. The Commission’s stated aim is to introduce legislation in 2027, but under pressure from some Member States we anticipate the phase in period for banning enriched cages may be several years. The EU’s programme of work will address many issues which we are already looking at, for example, cages for farmed animals and long journeys.

The UK Government has made a clear manifesto commitment that in all of our trade negotiations we will not compromise on our high environmental protection, animal welfare and food standards. We will need to consider trade aspects of any ban to avoid the risk of exporting production of eggs for catering/processing to third countries which continue to allow enriched cages.

We are establishing an Animal Health and Welfare Pathway as an all-encompassing approach to the health and welfare of farmed animals in England. Establishing a new partnership between Government and farmers, the Pathway maps out how farmers and Government will work together to continually improve the health and welfare of farmed animals now and in the future. Farmers will be able to choose whether to take part in Pathway and may take flexible routes through the schemes available depending on what is most relevant to them and their system. As set out in the 22 nd February publication on the Animal Health and Welfare Pathway, one of the Pathway's priorities will be to support a transition away from enriched cages for laying hens. At this stage, there has been no decision on allocation of funding.


Written Question
Poultry: Animal Welfare
Wednesday 23rd March 2022

Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Rural and Food Affairs, with reference to his Department's Action Plan for Animal Welfare published on 12 May 2021, what his timescale is for examining the use of cages for laying hens.

Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The UK Government is delivering a series of ambitious reforms, as outlined in the Action Plan for Animal Welfare. We are actively exploring options to phase out the use of cages in farming, including the use of cages for laying hens. In coming to an assessment of the potential merits of banning cages for laying hens we will wish to consult all interested organisations.

Animal welfare is a devolved issue and we continue to work closely with our devolved counterparts when considering future policy.

The EU Commission announced its intention to bring forward legislative proposals by 2023 to prohibit the use of cages for all farmed livestock, including colony cages for laying hens. The Commission’s stated aim is to introduce legislation in 2027, but under pressure from some Member States we anticipate the phase in period for banning enriched cages may be several years. The EU’s programme of work will address many issues which we are already looking at, for example, cages for farmed animals and long journeys.

The UK Government has made a clear manifesto commitment that in all of our trade negotiations we will not compromise on our high environmental protection, animal welfare and food standards. We will need to consider trade aspects of any ban to avoid the risk of exporting production of eggs for catering/processing to third countries which continue to allow enriched cages.

We are establishing an Animal Health and Welfare Pathway as an all-encompassing approach to the health and welfare of farmed animals in England. Establishing a new partnership between Government and farmers, the Pathway maps out how farmers and Government will work together to continually improve the health and welfare of farmed animals now and in the future. Farmers will be able to choose whether to take part in Pathway and may take flexible routes through the schemes available depending on what is most relevant to them and their system. As set out in the 22 nd February publication on the Animal Health and Welfare Pathway, one of the Pathway's priorities will be to support a transition away from enriched cages for laying hens. At this stage, there has been no decision on allocation of funding.


Written Question
Chemicals: Regulation
Tuesday 1st September 2020

Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)

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 Health and Safety Executive is taking to ensure it has the capacity to (a) implement legally enforceable (i) restrictions on and (ii) authorisations for chemicals after the transition period and (b) access chemicals regulation information in the period before a replacement for the European Chemicals Agency database is created.

Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

At the end of the transition period, EU REACH will be transposed into UK law. Defra has been working closely with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), the Environment Agency and the Devolved Administrations to develop the processes for restriction and authorisation and we are confident that the processes will be operational when the domestic regime comes into force.

Under the domestic legislation, the Secretary of State will make a decision on a restriction on the basis of a proposal dossier and an opinion prepared by the HSE. To give this restriction legal effect, the Secretary of State will make and lay a statutory instrument to amend annex XVII of the domestic regime. If the restriction relates to a matter of devolved competency, the Secretary of State will seek the consent of the Devolved Administrations when making the decision.

A company must apply for and be granted an authorisation if it wishes to place on the market or use any substance that is on the authorisation list. Under domestic legislation, the Secretary of State will make the decision on whether an authorisation will be granted. Again, if the authorisation relates to a matter of devolved competency, the Secretary of State will seek the consent of the Devolved Administrations when making the decision. This decision and the reasons for it will be sent to the applicant and the HSE and the decision will be published. The Secretary of State’s decision will be made on the basis of the HSE’s opinion on the application for authorisation.

Our REACH legislation also provides transitional provisions for UK-based companies that hold (EU) REACH authorisations or are registered downstream users of authorisations at the end of the transition period or where the authorisation application has reached the stage where the European Chemicals Agency has adopted an opinion, but the Commission has not yet granted a decision.

The aim of the transitional provisions we have put in place is to strike a balance which provides for a database to underpin robust, evidence-based regulation while placing achievable duties on business. Existing UK registrations and the duties on registrants will remain unbroken from Day 1. These duties include the duty to identify, transmit and apply appropriate risk management measures for chemicals, and the duty to hold all information relevant to their registration and to provide it to the UK regulator.

Our transitional provisions provide grace periods within which registrants must submit the data required to underpin their registration to the regulator. We have listened to concerns raised by stakeholders about the current timelines to supply that data and as a result, we intend to extend the existing registration deadlines set in legislation (subject to parliamentary and devolved administration scrutiny). This will allow industry more time to reach agreement with commercial partners to access the chemical substance registration data that they need and therefore reduce the risks of disruption to supply chains.

UK companies that have already registered a chemical with ECHA will be “grandfathered” into the UK system with no break in their legal access to the market. Those registrants would then have 120 days from UK REACH coming into force to provide UK authorities with some initial information on their substance.

The initial notification stage for UK downstream users of EU based registrations has been extended from 180 to 300 days from 1 January 2021. This is to allow UK downstream users the opportunity to assess how existing UK based registrants meet the 120-day deadline before starting their own 180-day process. We have also extended the deadline for completing a full registration supported by full data packages to 2, 4 and 6 years from the end of the initial 300-day period. The deadline for final submission of data underpinning the full registration is dependent on tonnage bands and hazard profile, with the highest tonnage and most hazardous chemicals first.


Written Question
Per- and Polyfluorinated Alkyl Substances
Tuesday 1st September 2020

Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)

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 26 February 2020 to Question 18441 on Per- and Polyfluorinated Alkyl Substances and with reference to the delay in publishing the Government’s Chemicals Strategy, if he will take steps to introduce a restriction on those chemicals as a group in line with the EU REACH restriction proposal ahead of that strategy.

Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) constitute a group of thousands of chemicals that are widely used in consumer and industrial products.

A number of PFAS are already banned or highly restricted. There are existing restrictions on the use of certain PFAS under the Stockholm Convention, to which the UK is a signatory, and under the REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals) regulations.

At the end of the Transition Period the UK will put in place its own independent chemicals regulatory framework, UK REACH. Existing restrictions under REACH will be brought into UK law and therefore will continue to apply in the UK. Our commitments as a signatory to the Stockholm Convention will also continue to apply.

Future UK decisions to control the environmental and human health impacts of substances will be taken under our independent regime and will be based on rigorous assessment of the scientific evidence, including looking at approaches taken by chemical regimes across the world.

Defra continues to work with regulators to improve the understanding of the emissions and risks of PFAS in the UK.