Animal Welfare

Debate between Rebecca Pow and Oliver Colvile

Thursday 30th March 2017 Commons Chamber

[Rebecca Pow]

It is not cheating; I try to do a useful education job. We have talked so much about education—[Interruption.] There is a lot of mithering going on behind me, but it is not cheating; it is all about education and getting the right messages to people about animal ownership.

I will touch on a couple of the report’s themes, namely sentencing and licensing, which have been addressed by many other colleagues. Puppy farming is a massive business in the UK. It is worth an estimated £300 million, so it is not small. To put it simply, demand outstrips supply, as we have heard, which leaves space for unscrupulous breeders to come in and operate. The report aims to address that.

Members on both sides of the House agree that the UK has very high animal welfare standards. We pride ourselves on that, which is why it is strange and puzzling that our sentences for offenders are so low. The maximum sentence, as we have heard, is six months’ imprisonment and an unlimited fine. To put that in context, Northern Ireland, Latvia and Montenegro have maximum prison sentences of five years, which makes me think that we need to look at the issue.

We have the lowest sentences for animal abuse crimes in the developed world. As has been said—I am sure that the Minister knows this, but I want to highlight it again—there is a very strong link between animal cruelty and domestic violence. One study found that in 88% of homes where child abuse had been discovered, there had also been incidents of animal abuse. Another study found that up to 83% of women who enter domestic violence shelters report that their abusers have also been abusing the family pet. That very worrying and strong link shows why we should take the issue so seriously.

People can get five years for fly-tipping—that is a serious offence, so we should not backtrack on such sentences—but if someone burns their pet or carries out gross abuse such as that described by Opposition Members, they might get only six months. That is absolutely unbelievable. Clearly we do not want to overload our prisons, but we need to have another look at the issue and not be coy about very serious cases.

An example that recently arose in my constituency involved not a dog or a cat, but a dairy farm. The dairy farmer is in the top group for animal welfare standards among dairy farmers, but unbeknown to him, a lad he had taken on as an apprentice—this was secretly filmed by Animal Equality—was going in and kicking the nursing cows in the face, kicking the calves, pressing them up against metal gates, and slamming the gates on them and abusing them verbally. It was absolutely horrific. The dairy farmer had no idea that that was happening until he was shown the video, which hon. Members can see online. The lad’s sentence is being considered at the moment, but it will probably not fit the crime.

I will quickly touch on internet sales, about which my hon. Friend the Member for Southend West (Sir David Amess) spoke eloquently. Many illegal puppy sales take place on the internet, and I am pleased that the Government are looking at the matter. I welcome the fact that breeders now require a numbered licence to sell puppies online. Many people want the Government to introduce a centralised register, as has been touched on. My daughter is always sending me pictures of cutesy little puppies in handbags or in chocolate boxes that she has seen online. She says, “Mummy, why don’t we get one of these?” but I know for a fact that lots of those puppies have been illegally bred and imported, and they have probably been subject to some of the horrible things that we heard about in detail from my hon. Friend the Member for Brecon and Radnorshire (Chris Davies).

[Oliver Colvile]

We will, I hope, have a nice long, hot summer. Does my hon. Friend agree that we will face the problem of people leaving their dogs in cars without taking steps to protect them, such as opening windows or leaving water in the car?

[Rebecca Pow]

My hon. Friend makes a pertinent point. Many colleagues will often see dogs locked in homes for hours on end when we are out canvassing. Many of those dogs now suffer psychological problems, and I gather that vets are giving some of them Valium to calm them down. There are loads of welfare issues that we have to deal with.

The Committee’s report called for the breeders of puppies to be required to apply for a formal licence if they breed three litters a year—that is definitely a step in the right direction. There are calls for the number to be reduced to two litters, to take account of any accidental litters, which often occur. And please do not forget cats—as a lover of Mr Tips and Raffa, my family’s two cats at home, I know that we must not forget cats. I applaud our Committee’s recommendation that the breeders of cats who have two litters or more a year should also be licensed and subject to the relevant welfare conditions.

Education has been mentioned, and I wonder whether there is any way we can give our local authorities—they are often the ones who have to police these things, and they are often under pressure—a bit more education in this area. I am not necessarily saying that we should throw money at them, but education and additional support might help councils to clamp down on offenders.

I am coming to the end of my speech, Mr Deputy Speaker, but I want to make a final point about our animal welfare standards in general as we exit the EU. My right hon. Friend the Member for Chipping Barnet (Mrs Villiers) touched on this. If the UK is to set itself up as an animal welfare exemplar for domestic pets and livestock—I believe that the Minister has that very much in mind—it is crucial that our regulatory framework is fit for purpose, and that framework should cover the use of antibiotics, which has been referred to, as well as how animals are kept and managed. That is essential if we are to build a British brand on this platform. We know what countries in the EU do, but we also need to know exactly what our global partners do, because we have to trade with them on equal welfare terms. I urge the Minister to consider that; it is something that the all-party group on animal welfare, which I chair, could have a look at.

I applaud the Select Committee report. There is still much to do on welfare, but we have taken many steps in the right direction and I know that the Minister is listening. The overall aim of all the work that is being done is to give our pets the happy, healthy and lovely life that they all deserve.

Broadcasting (Radio Multiplex Services) Bill

Debate between Rebecca Pow and Oliver Colvile

2nd reading: House of Commons
Friday 13th January 2017 Commons Chamber

[Rebecca Pow (Taunton Deane) (Con)]

I am delighted to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Morecambe and Lunesdale (David Morris). It is amazing what we discover about our colleagues during such debates. I am intrigued to find out some of the songs he wrote. Perhaps he could share that with us later.

Having spent very much of my life as a broadcaster and journalist, with many years’ involvement in radio stations of every kind, from community to local, commercial and BBC national radio, I am delighted to support my hon. Friend the Member for Torbay (Kevin Foster) in introducing the Bill. I congratulate him on all his work in introducing the Bill, in particular on the very clear case he has made today. He has made it very clear even for those of us who do not understand very much about the technicalities.

I reiterate the comments made by my hon. Friend the Member for Mid Derbyshire (Pauline Latham). It is disappointing that the Opposition Benches are so empty, particularly the Scottish National party Benches, because the Bill will help the very remote areas where it is difficult to receive a signal. [Interruption.] There are two Welsh MPs on the Labour Front Bench. The Welsh are well-represented, but the House gets my point.

I am a very keen supporter of local media, including our local newspapers. I am particularly keen to support local radio stations, which are targeted by the Bill. Anything that can be done to facilitate them must be applauded. Like my hon. Friends the Members for South Ribble (Seema Kennedy) and for Bury North (Mr Nuttall), I am a fanatical radio nut. I literally go everywhere with my radio. In our house in Taunton Deane, we have a radio in almost every room and we go from one room to the other switching them on. Members might think that that is a bit sad, but we cannot live without them.

[Oliver Colvile]

I confess that I drive to and from my constituency for two reasons: I want to listen to the cricket over the course of the summer; and, more importantly, I want to listen to “The Archers”.

[Rebecca Pow]

I welcome that intervention, because I am a complete Radio 4 addict. I listen to the World Service when I wake up in the middle of the night and I could not be without my radio because of “The Archers”. Sometimes I listen to the same episode three times: at lunchtime, the repeat in the evening and the long episode on Sunday. That is quite sad, but I am never quite sure what episodes I have missed! I am also a very big local radio fan. I do exactly as my hon. Friend does: as soon as I get back to my constituency in my car, I switch on the local radio so I can catch up instantly with the local news.

The way we listen to radio is changing. Television, which I spent many years working in, has already undergone a big transformation. Radio is now going through a similar change. Almost half of all radio listeners use a digital platform and approximately 60% of UK homes have at least one DAB radio. For Christmas a few years ago, my husband gave me a DAB radio for the bedroom. This year’s Christmas present from my husband was a DAB system for the kitchen to replace the old system—I am not sure whether the new system was for him or for me. It has taken me quite a long time to work it properly, not because it is not a good radio, but because I now have to put my glasses on to be able to see the touch-button thing—it is terribly sophisticated, and black and beautiful.

As we have heard today, DAB systems are becoming increasingly important as features in cars, which is where I listen to my local radio. For the uninitiated, I must clarify that when I talk about DABs I am not talking about fish. As a mum with three children, we eat a lot of dabs. They are terrific fish to feed children with and they are very, very cheap, but we are not talking about dabs today; we are definitely talking about radio. I will come on to explain why, as has been mentioned by many colleagues, small radio stations are so vital and why the Bill will really help them to have a better future, particularly the under-resourced and underfunded stations.

Local stations offer highly localised news that we do not receive from national stations, or from regional stations now that they are covering bigger and bigger areas. The Government have made the welcome announcement that Taunton will be granted garden town status. Local radio has provided a terrific place for the public to discuss what they think about that. What better place to carry out a poll on which day we should choose for Somerset Day? There was a lot of audience interaction across all the stations on that issue. They are also well placed to promote the local initiative Art Taunton, of which I am a patron, which encourages culture and art in Taunton. There are many great things about Taunton, but we need to up our offer of art and culture. Perhaps the Minister could pay a visit to talk about Art Taunton and maybe even do an interview on local radio.

Local radio is important for all those things, but it is very important, as my hon. Friend the Member for Morecambe and Lunesdale said, in times of crisis. The local and community radio stations were absolutely invaluable in 2013-14, when huge areas of Somerset were flooded. Local radio was the linchpin in transmitting the news, with people phoning in and volunteering to help. Local radio played a key role in co-ordinating where people should go and what they should do. Local radio is also very important in transferring information when it snows. All the local schools use local radio to tell people whether they will be open or closed, and everybody turns on their radio to find out. It is an invaluable service.

If we think of local radio, we cannot help but think of travel reports. Local radio is where all hon. Members get their travel information. It is where I find out what is happening on East Reach in Taunton during rush hour and whether to use the busiest road in Somerset, the A358, which goes right through my constituency. If one hears that that road is log-jammed, one avoids it, so it is a marvellous service. I hope we will soon never have to hear such messages on our local radios again, because this week the Secretary of State for Transport reiterated his commitment to upgrading the A358.

I would like to mention a couple of the excellent community radio stations in my constituency. Tone FM, based in Taunton, is very good for traffic news. It has an audience of 22,000 people, which is incredible for a town community station. It has great live broadcasts, despite operating on a shoestring. I used to do a regular gardening slot. We had a lot of fun, but I hope we also managed to impart a lot of knowledge. I would take something in and invite the audience to guess what we were talking about. One time I took in a giant elephant garlic, a terrific thing to see and to use in cooking. Similarly, much guesswork went on over my Jerusalem artichokes. I now regularly go in to provide updates on what is going on in Parliament. We have an awful lot of interaction and many people listen to the podcasts. It is a great way to disseminate information. I applaud all the people who work for Tone FM, in particular Darren Cullum who gives up hours of his time. The station could not run without them.

Another excellent community station is 10Radio, based in Wiveliscombe on the far western outreaches of my constituency.

Reducing Health Inequality

Debate between Rebecca Pow and Oliver Colvile

Thursday 24th November 2016 Commons Chamber

[Oliver Colvile (Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport) (Con)]

I follow previous speakers in this debate with a certain trepidation. I hope that I can live up to their mark. I congratulate the shadow spokesperson, the hon. Member for Washington and Sunderland West (Mrs Hodgson), with whom I have worked closely on issues around basketball. I should also draw the House’s attention to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. I also congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Totnes (Dr Wollaston) on securing this debate. As a fellow Devon MP, she might know something about the issues I want to talk about—it would be helpful to have a conversation with her afterwards.

In my constituency, there is an 11-year life expectancy difference between the north-east of my patch, where the professionals live, and the south-west, in Devonport, which is best known for its dockyard. Last week, I chaired a supper in Plymouth with health practitioners and academics on the subject of iron-deficiency anaemia in Devon. I will not pretend to be a medical expert—as hon. Members can probably tell, that is something that rather bypassed me—but it is a condition where the body has a low red blood cell count, resulting in less oxygen getting to organs and tissues. It can have serious consequences and often leads to more admissions to hospital or a deterioration in health.

The condition is a result of poverty—especially, but not exclusively, among the over-75s. I was horrified to learn that Plymouth is top of the national list of iron deficiency. The rates of iron-deficiency anaemia are four times the national average. In the Northern, Eastern and Western Devon area, which includes Plymouth, there were 1,530 in-patients with IDA in 2014, a 19% increase on 2013, following a steady rise over the previous few years. I understand that in 2014 this amounted to an avoidable cost to the local health economy of just over £1 million.

I want to focus on NHS England’s desire to close three GP surgeries in my constituency by next March. I fear that this action will serve to put greater pressure on the principal acute hospital at Derriford, in the constituency of my hon. and gallant Friend the Member for Plymouth, Moor View (Johnny Mercer). I am told that the reason why NHS England is considering the closures is the size of the GP practices. I understand there is a Nuffield report that says that that should not be the only thing taken into account. The Cumberland GP practice has 1,800 patients, Hyde Park has 2,800 and St Barnabas 1,700. They are considered by NHS England to be unsustainable and too small, despite the fact that they are growing practices. I have mentioned some of these issues before, but I have no problem repeating them. I was told that closing the practices is not down to saving money, but is about delivering better value for money. However, before I speak about those issues, let me put my constituency in some context.

Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport runs from the A38 down to sea, and from the River Plym to the River Tamar. It is home to one of the largest universities in the country, with more than 27,000 students, thousands of whom live in the city centre. It is a naval and Royal Marines Commando garrison city, as the Minister of State, my hon. Friend the Member for Ludlow (Mr Dunne), for whom I was previously a Parliamentary Secretary, knows only too well. Before the November recess, the Ministry of Defence sadly confirmed that it would be releasing Stonehouse Royal Marines barracks and announced that the Citadel, which is where 29 Commando is based, would be released back to the Crown Estate. Fortunately for Plymouth, the MOD also announced that the Royal Marines and their families would be transferred from Chivenor, in the north of Devon; Arbroath, up in Scotland; and Taunton, just up the M5. While the city’s population is growing, this announcement will almost certainly put even greater pressure on our schools, our hospitals at Derriford and Mount Gould, and our GP practices.

Although Plymouth has a global reputation for marine science and engineering research, it is a low-wage, low-skills economy. It is an inner city—something pretty unique for a Conservative to represent, if I might say so. Indeed, I do not have a single piece of countryside in my constituency, unless we include the Ponderosa pony sanctuary, which is a rather muddy field. In the run-up to the 2010 general election, when I won the seat on the third attempt, the Conservative party pledged to do something about healthcare in deprived inner cities. We have started to make good our word, and in 2014 my hon. Friend the Member for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich (Dr Poulter)—one of the Minister’s predecessors —came to Devonport to open the Cumberland GP practice, which is now very much under threat. Other facilities on the Cumberland campus include a minor injuries unit, the Devonport health centre and a pharmacy.

The Cumberland GP practice was set up by Plymouth Community Healthcare—now Livewell Southwest—and the Peninsula medical school. There was, and is, a desperate need to provide a tailor-made alternative service to the existing GP practice—then the Marlborough Street practice, now the Devonport health centre—for this deprived Devonport community and a need to look after drug users and the city’s homeless in hostels such as the neighbouring Salvation Army hostel. The practice also offers practical placements to students at the Plymouth medical school. Until earlier this year, it was funded by Livewell Southwest, a social enterprise, which found it too expensive to maintain.

Despite Devonport’s real deprivation, NHS England did not want to get involved in providing a contract to the Cumberland GP practice, which has consequently been operating without a formal contract and is managed by Access Health Care. I understand that in the past the neighbouring Devonport health practice has not been interested in offering facilities to homeless people and drug users—it may change its mind, though. Indeed, I understand that some of the Cumberland practice’s patients were not keen to transfer back to the Devonport centre, which is where they came from in the first place.

NHS England’s reason for putting the Cumberland GP practice under threat is because it considers it to be too small and to be operating in unsuitable, cramped premises. Unless we are careful, we could put more pressure on Derriford’s acute emergency unit, which is already under enormous pressure.

I became aware of NHS England’s proposals for these three GP practices in August, during the summer recess, when NHS England no doubt expected me and other MPs to be away on parliamentary trips or taking a holiday—hard luck; I was there! I immediately put together a series of meetings with the city councillor director of public health, the leader of the council, the cabinet member for adult social care, people from NHS England, the dean of the medical school and Dr Richard Ayres, who runs the Cumberland GP practice. At that meeting, I suggested that the Cumberland GP practice should share the Devonport health centre’s brand-new building, which has space and operates as a federation, sharing the receptionists and backroom staff. This was supported by everybody present. Indeed, the city council’s health and wellbeing board also supported it, following an inquiry that recommended measures to allow the Cumberland GP practice to continue.

However, I understand that Devonport health care might not be willing to do that, so it appears that the Devonport community might be deprived of a second GP practice and patients will have no choice over which doctor they go to. The Northern, Eastern and Western Devon CCG is looking at ways to try to keep the Cumberland GP practice open, but it needs space in the short term while it considers alternative locations. I have also received representations from patients at both the Hyde Park and St Barnabas surgeries.

At Hyde Park, although Dr Stephen Warren is keen to continue as a GP, following a heart attack, he has transferred the ownership of his practice to Access Health Care because he no longer wishes to deal with the backroom tasks of administration, which is part of running a practice. He argues that his and his partner’s growing 2,800-patient practice—the Cumberland is growing as well—has attracted outstanding reviews, and that he would not be able to inform his patients where he was going if he relocated to another practice. He also thinks that some patients like to have a relationship with an individual doctor whom they can see speedily rather than having to wait weeks. It is rather like having one’s own personal bank manager, which I feel is quite important.

The St Barnabas surgery, which is also run by Access Health Care, was set up in a new development next to a residential care home for the elderly where patients do not have to walk very far to get to it. In all three cases, NHS England, for supposedly technical reasons, gave patients only 24 hours’ notice of its initial engagement. I must say, frankly, that I found the public consultation process utterly appalling. I wrote to NHS England asking it to give more time to engage with local communities, and I am grateful that it bothered to listen.

Recently, at my weekly constituency surgery, I was asked to write to NHS England to ask whether it had engaged with other GP surgeries and with Derriford hospital, and whether it had consulted them, because some GPs will have to accommodate more patients. That is a very big issue.

There are wider issues in all of this, too. At the moment, the commissioners in Northern, Eastern and Western Devon spend a higher amount of money in eastern Devon than in the more deprived western locality. The Government’s success regime is keen to correct that, so that resources are focused on deprived communities such as Devonport.

[Rebecca Pow]

I wish to make an observation. Given the detail that my hon. Friend has gone into and how he seems to be representing his community in these deprived areas, I wish to observe how very fortunate they are to have this Conservative MP in that inner-city area.

[Oliver Colvile]

It is generous of my hon. Friend to say that, and I shall try to intervene on similar lines later! [Interruption.] I also observe that there have been no mentions of hedgehogs in this debate.

Finally, as the Minister may know, I am the Government’s pharmacy champion, and the Government are reviewing the role of pharmacy to take pressure off our GPs and major acute hospitals such as the Derriford. Much has been made of the 6% cut, but there has been very little publicity of the £19 million that will be made available through the Government’s pharmacy access fund. My hon. Friend might like to use her winding-up speech to give us a little more information about all this, and to explain how the Department of Health will provide the resources for pharmacies to take pressure off GPs by delivering flu jabs, opticians, mental health services, anti-smoking measures and a nationwide minor ailment facility. If she cannot do that now, perhaps she would like to write to me about it.

Plymouth’s health service is under real pressure. Like the rest of the country, the town does not have enough GPs. Parts of my constituency are very deprived and we need to do something about the 11-year life expectancy difference. The Government must ensure that resources follow health needs. We also need to make much more use of pharmacies. As my hon. Friend the Minister knows, I am the Government’s pharmacy champion, so may I ask how we will ensure that pharmacies have funding, and how they will be able to operate?

--- Later in debate ---

[Rebecca Pow (Taunton Deane) (Con)]

I am very pleased to follow the hon. Member for Bradford South (Judith Cummins), who gave such a shocking account of oral and dental health. I am also delighted to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Totnes (Dr Wollaston). I commend her for raising this important issue and for so ably highlighting the impacts and causes of health inequality.

I want to focus on an area my hon. Friend did not mention, and to bring it to the Minister’s attention: natural and green solutions to help to reduce and prevent the disparity and inequality in health outcomes. I am not suggesting that the things I am going to mention are the only solutions, but I really believe that our natural environment has an important and often underestimated role to play in our health and wellbeing. Health inequality can cost up to £70 billion a year, with those below the wealthiest levels in society suffering the greatest degrees of inequality. Many of my colleagues have expanded on that point today. I have a particularly deprived area in my constituency called Halcon, which is among the 4% most deprived parts of the country. Many of the factors being described today apply to that part of Taunton Deane.

Interestingly, people living in deprived areas are 10 times less likely to live in the greenest areas. That seems more than a coincidence. There must be a link. In fact, I can tell the Minister that research shows that disadvantaged people who have greater access to green spaces are likely to have better health outcomes. A good-quality natural and built environment can have a significant positive impact on mental and physical health. Not only that, but some of the solutions that I am going to mention can be cost-effective. I know that the idea of cost savings will always make a Minister’s eyes light up. Many people are beginning to realise the important link between health and wellbeing and the natural environment, and I am heartened that many service providers are already thinking about that and putting people in place to deal with it. For example, the Somerset Wildlife Trust, of which I am very proud to be a vice-president, has appointed Jolyon Chesworth as its first health and wellbeing manager. That is heartening, and I shall watch with interest to see how that role develops and what the trust will do to highlight this issue.

The natural world can have a really positive impact on mental health. I am a firm believer in the therapeutic power of a brisk walk in the beautiful Somerset countryside. Maybe we can stretch that to include Devon.

[Oliver Colvile]

Does my hon. Friend agree that one of the great problems is that mental health care has been a Cinderella service in the NHS for far too long? Does she also agree that the Government are trying to do something about that?

[Rebecca Pow]

My hon. Friend is right; it has been a Cinderella service.

The solutions that I am outlining are free. I am giving the House ideas for free therapy, because nature is free. It is a beautiful thing, and it really does have power. What could be more relaxing than a walk up to the Wellington monument on the Blackdown hills in my constituency? Hundreds of thousands of people go up there, including lots of people with disabilities, because it is easy to get to and it is all flat. Those walks to the monument are really beneficial. I know that it is not quite relevant to the debate, Mr Deputy Speaker, but the Government raised my spirits yesterday by announcing that they were giving £1 million to the Wellington monument’s restoration project from the LIBOR fund. That will have loads of spin-offs for the public, and health and wellbeing will be part of that. We are going to build a big community project to encourage more people to go up there.

When I was looking for somewhere to live in London—obviously, I have to stay up here during the week—one of my criteria for the flat was that I had to be able to see a tree from my window, and I can. I could not live without one.

--- Later in debate ---

[Rebecca Pow]

That is absolutely true, and I shall give the House a few more statistics as I go on. I am not making this up. This is not wishy-washy; it is actually coming into our psyche.

[Oliver Colvile]

May I encourage my hon. Friend, when she is in London, to take a boat from Chelsea Harbour down to Greenwich? She will see the magnificent layout of trees that occurs beautifully in the west, although there seem to be fewer of them in east London.

[Rebecca Pow]

rose—

Neighbourhood Planning Bill (First sitting)

Debate between Rebecca Pow and Oliver Colvile

Committee Debate: 1st sitting: House of Commons
Tuesday 18th October 2016 Public Bill Committees

[Rebecca Pow]

Yes; making it simpler, rather than have to go through everything.

Andrew Dixon: It could be a useful addition to the system. By and large, and perhaps we are being too optimistic, we do not think it is very likely that there will be protracted negotiations about the use of pre-commencement conditions. The aim should be for some of those conversations to be conducted fairly simply and fairly quickly. We are perhaps a bit more optimistic, particularly around smaller applications, about the scope for huge controversy in those conversations. We think the most important thing is that that conversation takes place at an early point in the process.

Roy Pinnock: Just to be clear, the BPF’s perspective is that the clause, as it stands, will not achieve anything—that is to be somewhat bleak. It will leave applicants in the position they are already in, which is that, if they do not like their consent, they can appeal and have a de novo consideration by the Planning Inspectorate, which will take some time. That is very weak as a dialogue and as a negotiating position.

[Oliver Colvile]

Q Thank you for allowing me to have a second go, Mr Bone.

I have always thought very seriously that we should make sure we have master planning taking place at a very early stage as well, which would mean the local community could get very involved in it. I am also not going to miss an opportunity to talk about ecology and about making sure that we include hedgehog superhighways in the development, too. That is important, because it is something that does not often necessarily feature in the discussion that takes place with developers. It would be a really good thing if we could encourage that, in my view, because hedgehog numbers have declined by 50% over the past 15 years.

Roy Pinnock: Planning application resources have also declined by 50%, which I think was recently noted in the Communities and Local Government Committee’s evidence session on the local plans expert group. That is perhaps unrelated.

Hedgehog Conservation

Debate between Rebecca Pow and Oliver Colvile

Tuesday 10th November 2015 Commons Chamber

[Oliver Colvile]

I will be making a similar point in a moment.

Hedgehogs seem to thrive in urban and suburban areas, but the move to tidy, sterile gardens—I am sure the garden of my right hon. Friend the Member for South Staffordshire (Gavin Williamson) is not sterile—has also contributed to their demise. However, these suburban habitats are broken up by fences and roads, pushing hedgehogs into unsuitably small areas.

[Rebecca Pow (Taunton Deane) (Con)]

Another fascinating fact about hedgehogs, which my hon. Friend might be aware of, is that they run up to 1.2 km a night, but they have to find a mate. Thinking about wildlife gardening, I wonder if he might make a hole in his garden fence so that the hedgehogs can run through to find a mate? This is essential.

[Oliver Colvile]

My hon. Friend has been reading my speech or has had prior notice of it.

Hedgehogs need to move a surprising distance to search for food, mates and nesting sites, so we need to make it easier for them to move between gardens, perhaps by making holes in fences. During a visit to Plymouth’s hedgehog rehabilitation and care centre this autumn, in the constituency of my hon. Friend the Member for Plymouth, Moor View (Johnny Mercer), I learned that the way to tackle this problem is to stop habitat loss. I was also rather surprised to learn that we should not leave milk and bread out for hedgehogs. Additionally, slug pellets are a great danger that can be fatally harmful to them.