Bovine TB

Debate between Owen Paterson and Philip Hollobone

Thursday 3rd April 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Paterson]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right to point out the 13 wasted years that let this disease rip. Her local farmers are very close to mine, and they are getting desperate, as this disease costs such a lot. It is not just about the cattle; we must consider the human cost of farmers being devastated and of lifetimes’ of work being destroyed, while they know perfectly well that in Australia, New Zealand and the Republic of Ireland, where the disease is addressed in cattle and in wildlife, the disease can be got rid of.

[Mr Philip Hollobone (Kettering) (Con)]

I welcome the Secretary of State’s innovative idea of the vaccination buffer zones. How wide are they? How many cattle were slaughtered as a result of bovine TB last year? What is the total number of badgers killed in the pilot culls?

[Mr Paterson]

The idea is to establish a buffer zone on the edge, and I am delighted by the positive response from Members in the House. We will look to consult on how we bring in various groups. I am delighted that there might be volunteers, as the hon. Member for Mid Dorset and North Poole (Annette Brooke) mentioned. The extent of this will be the number of people we can actually get involved. The number of cattle slaughtered in Britain last year was 32,620 perfectly healthy cattle, which is more than 90 a day. The numbers for badgers killed in the culls was 955 in west Somerset and 924 in Gloucestershire.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Owen Paterson and Philip Hollobone

Thursday 27th March 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Paterson]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his kind comments.

We are continuing the policy left by the previous Government that this should be voluntary—that is how they legislated as recently as 2010. We are clear that this is an issue that should be decided locally, because if there is a reduction for some customers, it has to be paid for by the remaining customers in that area. We are very pleased that we are seeing progress. We now have a robust Ofwat, unlike under the previous Government, and we are going to see significant changes in prices. We must also remember that we have to keep investment coming in from domestic and foreign sources, because every 1% increase in interest adds £20 to a water bill—there is a balance here.

[Mr Philip Hollobone (Kettering) (Con)]

One of my rural constituents in Kettering has just received a £7,000 water bill, owing to Travellers and Gypsies illegally tapping into the water supply. Anglian Water says that it can do nothing; the police are um-ing and ah-ing; and there have been threats of intimidation against the constituent concerned. Will the Secretary of State or the Minister with responsibility for water kindly agree to meet me and my constituent so that we can resolve this dreadful situation?

[Mr Paterson]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising that local issue. He should immediately get in touch with the water Minister, the Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for North Cornwall (Dan Rogerson). We will take it up and see how we can help.

Flooding

Debate between Owen Paterson and Philip Hollobone

Monday 6th January 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Paterson]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. We should get this in perspective by saying that there was good co-operation across the country, with enormous work put in by the Environment Agency, councils and those in the fire brigade and transport organisations. However, we can do better. He is right that there were a number of cases on the ground in which a few organisations could have been better informed, reacted quicker and done more. That is what we want to examine. We need to get the system sorted out so that it is much more homogeneous and uniform, but let us get it in perspective—I think there were only a few cases in which things went really badly wrong.

[Mr Philip Hollobone (Kettering) (Con)]

Across the country, water and power engineers, local authority and emergency service workers, volunteers and others have done their level best. They are ordinary men and women doing extraordinary things in exceptionally difficult circumstances.

As the Secretary of State said in his statement, the performance of some utilities and local authorities left room for improvement. Where those few councils and utilities have performed badly, almost by definition it will have been because of bad decisions made, usually, by highly paid chief executives. Will the Secretary of State host a meeting, together with other Government Departments, and invite the 10 worst-performing and the 10 best-performing utilities and local authorities, so that one group might mentor the other?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Owen Paterson and Philip Hollobone

Thursday 10th October 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Philip Hollobone (Kettering) (Con)]

To better understand the spread of TB in wildlife, why are the badgers that are being culled not being tested to see whether they are infected or not?

[Mr Paterson]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for that question. Let me clarify in simple terms: carcases that have been shot would not give an accurate reading following post-mortem.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Owen Paterson and Philip Hollobone

Thursday 16th May 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Paterson]

The hon. Gentleman is wrong. We called a meeting with senior members of the equine sector before we had discussions with the Commission, and we all agreed that the system we inherited from his Government is a mess and badly needs to be improved. He exaggerates the importance of the national equine database as he left it, because it did not contain food chain information. We will work closely with the industry. We have seen success with the dog industry contributing to the microchipping programme, and we will work with the equine industry to see how it can help to build the new database.

[Mr Philip Hollobone (Kettering) (Con)]

Is there any scope in these proposals to help to combat the growing problem of fly grazing? Farmers and landowners in my constituency are intimidated by Gypsy and Traveller groups who let their horses graze on their land, when the only route open to them is civil prosecution.

[Mr Paterson]

My hon. Friend makes an important point, which I discussed with senior representatives of the horse industry at the Royal Windsor horse show on Saturday. There is a real problem with fly grazing, but we are taking measures forward in the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Bill which I hope will lead to a reduction of the problem.

Horsemeat (Food Fraud)

Debate between Owen Paterson and Philip Hollobone

Monday 11th February 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Paterson]

Perhaps my hon. Friend would like to address that question directly to the Commissioner. All I can say is that the Commissioner could not have been more co-operative when I rang him today. I look forward to meeting him soon this week—certainly before the end of the week—and I shall certainly raise with him that issue of urgency.

[Mr Philip Hollobone (Kettering) (Con)]

Through the extensive use of their loyalty card schemes, the big supermarkets have a very good idea about which individual consumers are buying which beef—horse—products. At the recent summit that he held, did my right hon. Friend get any indication from the big supermarkets that they would use direct promotion to contact individual consumers, first to say sorry, secondly to restore confidence, and thirdly to offer compensation to those who have brought these products in the recent past?

[Mr Paterson]

My hon. Friend makes a good point. As I have said in my replies to Opposition Members, it is for the retailers to get their message across and take the necessary steps to ensure the validity and integrity of their product. It is for the retailers to communicate with their consumers to ensure that they come back.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Owen Paterson and Philip Hollobone

Wednesday 4th July 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Paterson]

I think the right hon. Gentleman underestimates the fact that the issue is devolved, and we are working closely with the devolved Minister with responsibility in this area and other Ministers in the Executive on the arrangements which will be debated shortly as the Bill is taken through the Assembly. It is very important that local circumstances are taken into account so that the Bill that emerges from the Assembly suits the circumstances in Northern Ireland.

[Mr Philip Hollobone (Kettering) (Con)]

When does my right hon. Friend expect the Welfare Reform Bill to be introduced by the Executive?

[Mr Paterson]

I am in regular contact with Nelson McCausland, the relevant Minister, and he is optimistic that he will stick to the schedule, which will enable Northern Ireland to come on stream, as planned, with the Department for Work and Pensions here.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Owen Paterson and Philip Hollobone

Wednesday 16th May 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Paterson]

I entirely agree that the arrangements between the new agency and the devolved police in Northern Ireland must be absolutely clear. There has been an exchange of letters between me, the Justice Minister in Northern Ireland and the Home Secretary here, with an absolutely clear statement that there can be no direction from the NCA, only co-operation with the approval of the Chief Constable.

[Mr Philip Hollobone (Kettering) (Con)]

Will the National Crime Agency have more resources than its predecessor to tackle cross-border criminal activity?

[Mr Paterson]

That question should be addressed to my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Owen Paterson and Philip Hollobone

Wednesday 30th November 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

We have a lot of questions to get through and we must get on.

[Mr Philip Hollobone (Kettering) (Con)]

Given the importance of the Republic of Ireland to the Northern Irish economy, and the likelihood of a break-up of the eurozone, what discussions has my right hon. Friend had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Northern Ireland Executive about how the Northern Ireland economy could best cope with such a crisis?

[Mr Paterson]

I thank my hon. Friend. As he knows, the Chancellor and the Treasury are looking at all contingencies, because reports yesterday showed that the crisis in the eurozone is having a real impact on our economy. I am in regular contact with the Government in Dublin and will continue discussions.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Owen Paterson and Philip Hollobone

Wednesday 15th December 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Paterson]

I am delighted to see the hon. Gentleman back in his place following his illness, as always asking pertinent questions. He will know that police levels in Northern Ireland are the highest in the United Kingdom at 4.2 per 1,000. The numbers of police are for the Chief Constable to decide—it is an operational matter—but as I have said on several occasions already in this Session, we will stand by Northern Ireland and if the Chief Constable and the Justice Minister make a good security case, we will consider access to the contingency fund.

[Mr Philip Hollobone (Kettering) (Con)]

9. What recent assessment he has made of the effects on the Northern Ireland economy of recent financial developments in the Republic of Ireland.