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Written Question
Animal Welfare: Charities
Tuesday 11th January 2022

Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what impact the proposed Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill will have on the work of animal rescue charities.

Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General

The Kept Animals Bill allows us to protect the welfare of pets by introducing restrictions to crack down on the low welfare movements of pets into Great Britain and includes powers to introduce new restrictions on pet travel and the commercial import of pets on welfare grounds, via secondary legislation. The Bill also brings in measures establish a licensing regime for the private keeping of primates in England and Wales, to ensure that in the future all primates are kept at high levels of welfare.

In August 2021, the Government launched an eight-week consultation on our proposed restrictions to the commercial and non-commercial movement of pets, including rescue pets, into Great Britain. This included proposals to ban the commercial and non-commercial movement into Great Britain of puppies under the age of six months, heavily pregnant dogs and dogs which have been subjected to low welfare practices such as ear cropping or tail docking. We are currently analysing the responses to the consultation and will publish a summary response in due course. This will allow us to take on board the views of the public and interested groups on puppy smuggling and low welfare imports in order to shape our future policy.

During the implementation phase following Royal Assent of the Bill, we will continue to work with the local authority, zoo, and rescue sectors to identify suitable rehoming facilities for primates, and to foster network-building amongst these groups. Our proposals put forward a transitional measure, by means of the Registration scheme, which would ensure rescue centres are not overwhelmed by a sudden surge in primates needing to be rescued.


Written Question
Animal Welfare: Charities
Tuesday 11th January 2022

Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent)

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 potential merits of introducing exemptions for animal rescue charities to the prohibitions listed in the Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill on importations of animals which (a) are below a specified age, (b) have been mutilated and (c) are more than a specified number of days pregnant.

Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General

The Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill was introduced in Parliament on 8 June 2021 and completed committee on 18 November 2021. The Bill allows us to protect the welfare of pets by introducing restrictions to crack down on the low welfare movements of pets into Great Britain and includes powers to introduce new restrictions on pet travel and the commercial import of pets on welfare grounds, via secondary legislation.

In August 2021, the Government launched an eight-week consultation on our proposed restrictions to the commercial and non-commercial movement of pets, including rescue pets, into Great Britain. This included proposals to ban the commercial and non-commercial movement into Great Britain of puppies under the age of six months, heavily pregnant dogs and dogs which have been subjected to low welfare practices such as ear cropping or tail docking. We are currently analysing the responses to the consultation and will publish a summary response in due course. This will allow us to take on board the views of the public and interested groups on puppy smuggling and low welfare imports in order to shape our future policy.


Written Question
Hydrogen: Air Pollution
Tuesday 8th September 2020

Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent)

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 effect of hydrogen technology on improving air quality.

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

Improving air quality is a top priority for this Government. Our Clean Air Strategy sets out an ambitious programme of action to reduce air pollution from a wide range of sources. Defra’s Air Quality Expert Group considered hydrogen in its recent report Impacts of Net Zero pathways on future air quality in the UK. Furthermore, the Department for Transport published in 2018 the outputs of the Transport Energy Model, which provides a clear assessment for the period to 2050 of the relative environmental impacts, including air quality, of a range of fuel and powertrain options for cars, vans, buses and heavy good vehicles, including hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.


Written Question
Agriculture: Seasonal Workers
Friday 10th July 2020

Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent)

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 June 2020 to Question 61707 on Agriculture: Seasonal Workers, if his Department will publish the estimates made of demand for seasonal workers for (a) July, (b) August and (c) September 2020.

Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General

We are working closely with industry to monitor labour needs over the remainder of the 2020 harvest season. This is difficult to pin down in exact numbers, since employers are making their own commercial decisions on the number of workers they need, depending on their individual circumstances. We understand from industry feedback that labour needs are currently being met and that the majority of businesses have sourced sufficient workers for the remainder of the season.


Written Question
Agriculture: Seasonal Workers
Friday 10th July 2020

Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent)

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 June 2020 to Question 61710 on Agriculture: Seasonal Workers, if his Department will publish details of (a) the Government’s co-investment partners and (b) the amount they have invested.

Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General

In addition to Defra, the partners for the Pick for Britain website are the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB), the National Farmers Union (NFU), the Association of Labour Providers (ALP), The British Growers Association (BGA) and Greater Lincolnshire Local Enterprise Partnership. Links to the websites of all of these organisations are shown on the Pick for Britain website.

The AHDB provides the digital infrastructure for the Pick for Britain website using existing in-house resources and at minimal additional cost, all other partners have contributed their time and knowledge.


Written Question
Agriculture: Seasonal Workers
Friday 10th July 2020

Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent)

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 June 2020 to Question 61707 on Agriculture: Seasonal Workers, what form the evaluation of Pick For Britain is taking; and when the results of that evaluation will be published.

Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General

We understand that the demand for labour has been fully met for the earlier harvest months and that growers are increasingly confident that they will be able to access the labour they need as the season progresses. We are working with industry on an ongoing basis to review this year's seasonal labour provision, including the Pick for Britain campaign which has been just one of a variety of routes through which growers have sourced labour successfully. As explained in my response to Question 61707, we are carrying out ongoing evaluation; this is part of our normal internal process in which evidence specialists will assess supply and demand issues over this year based on intelligence from a range of industry partners. As such there will be no formal publication. We will, however, share the key findings with our stakeholders as part of our ongoing development of labour supply policy.


Written Question
Agriculture: Seasonal Workers
Monday 29th June 2020

Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many people have been recruited to the Pick For Britain scheme as of 19 June 2020; and whether that number has been sufficient to meet demand.

Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General

The Pick for Britain website was launched in April as a joint Defra and industry initiative to bring together people who are looking for work on UK farms with recruiters who have roles to fill. As well as the website, we have worked across industry and with commercial partners and others to widely promote the Pick for Britain campaign. At its busiest point 27 businesses, including recruiters who worked for multiple individual horticulture businesses, were listed on the ‘Jobs’ page. The website has had over 1.5 million unique page views since its launch, and several recruiters and growers have now filled their vacancies for the season and have asked to be removed from the website. The campaign’s benefits have been felt beyond the website, and industry have confirmed that many more businesses have benefited from the wider campaign.

We know that there is a lot of interest from domestic workers, but we are not able to share any information about specific vacancies, interviews or people in jobs as that information is commercially sensitive and held by individual companies. Defra has therefore not set a target for the total number of workers the Pick for Britain campaign aims to have directly or indirectly recruited.

We are closely monitoring the situation, and although labour supplies can change quickly industry is indicating that the demand for seasonal workers is currently being met.


Written Question
Agriculture: Seasonal Workers
Monday 29th June 2020

Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many agricultural settings have benefited from the Pick For Britain scheme to date.

Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General

The Pick for Britain website was launched in April as a joint Defra and industry initiative to bring together people who are looking for work on UK farms with recruiters who have roles to fill. As well as the website, we have worked across industry and with commercial partners and others to widely promote the Pick for Britain campaign. At its busiest point 27 businesses, including recruiters who worked for multiple individual horticulture businesses, were listed on the ‘Jobs’ page. The website has had over 1.5 million unique page views since its launch, and several recruiters and growers have now filled their vacancies for the season and have asked to be removed from the website. The campaign’s benefits have been felt beyond the website, and industry have confirmed that many more businesses have benefited from the wider campaign.

We know that there is a lot of interest from domestic workers, but we are not able to share any information about specific vacancies, interviews or people in jobs as that information is commercially sensitive and held by individual companies. Defra has therefore not set a target for the total number of workers the Pick for Britain campaign aims to have directly or indirectly recruited.

We are closely monitoring the situation, and although labour supplies can change quickly industry is indicating that the demand for seasonal workers is currently being met.


Written Question
Agriculture: Seasonal Workers
Monday 29th June 2020

Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when his Department plans to review the effectiveness of the Pick For Britain scheme; and whether that review will include analysis of the effect of (a) the UK leaving the EU and (b) the covid-19 outbreak on that scheme.

Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General

The Pick for Britain website was launched in April as a joint Defra and industry initiative to bring together people who are looking for work on UK farms with recruiters who have roles to fill.

We are evaluating the impact of the Pick for Britain website on an ongoing basis through engagement with the recruiters and businesses who use it. Industry feedback indicates the demand for seasonal workers is currently being met, but we know this may change in the coming months and we will continue to closely monitor the situation. Although Pick for Britain was launched in direct response to the Covid-19 outbreak we will, as part of our evaluation, consider how positive lessons from the campaign might be applied beyond the end of the Transition Period.


Written Question
Agriculture: Seasonal Workers
Monday 29th June 2020

Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what targets he has set for the Pick For Britain scheme; and what assessment he has made of whether those targets have been met.

Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General

The Pick for Britain website was launched in April as a joint Defra and industry initiative to bring together people who are looking for work on UK farms with recruiters who have roles to fill. As well as the website, we have worked across industry and with commercial partners and others to widely promote the Pick for Britain campaign. At its busiest point 27 businesses, including recruiters who worked for multiple individual horticulture businesses, were listed on the ‘Jobs’ page. The website has had over 1.5 million unique page views since its launch, and several recruiters and growers have now filled their vacancies for the season and have asked to be removed from the website. The campaign’s benefits have been felt beyond the website, and industry have confirmed that many more businesses have benefited from the wider campaign.

We know that there is a lot of interest from domestic workers, but we are not able to share any information about specific vacancies, interviews or people in jobs as that information is commercially sensitive and held by individual companies. Defra has therefore not set a target for the total number of workers the Pick for Britain campaign aims to have directly or indirectly recruited.

We are closely monitoring the situation, and although labour supplies can change quickly industry is indicating that the demand for seasonal workers is currently being met.