Asked by: Rebecca Smith (Conservative - South West Devon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she plans to meet farmers, veterinary professionals, scientists and livestock industry representatives to discuss a national strategy to tackle the spread of bluetongue virus serotype 3, and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra engages regularly with farmers, veterinary professionals, scientists, devolved governments and livestock industry representatives on bluetongue virus (BTV-3). Baroness Hayman met industry leaders and veterinary representatives on 8 September to discuss the outbreak. The Secretary of State is also engaging directly with the farming sector, including at the NFU’s Back British Farming Day event on 9 September. Defra is supporting the industry-led Battle Bluetongue campaign to encourage vaccination, and signposting support through the Animal Health and Welfare Pathway. Defra will continue to work closely with industry and scientific experts to inform its response.
Asked by: Rebecca Smith (Conservative - South West Devon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what work is being done by her Department to establish how epidemiological, genetic, meteorological and geographical evidence explain the pattern and speed of bluetongue virus serotype 3 transmission during the current outbreak.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra and the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) work closely with scientific partners to monitor and assess the spread of bluetongue virus serotype 3 (BTV-3). Epidemiological, meteorological, virus characteristics and geographical evidence is used to support disease surveillance and disease-control decisions, including improving understanding of disease patterns and vector activity. APHA is operationally supporting The Pirbright Institute in delivering enhanced bluetongue testing capacity, and accredited molecular diagnostic tests used by APHA support the detection and monitoring of virus circulation. This evidence-based approach helps inform the Government's response and ensures control measures remain under review as new information becomes available.
Asked by: Rebecca Smith (Conservative - South West Devon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what her Department's long-term education, vaccination and disease-control strategy is to prevent bluetongue virus serotype 3 becoming an annual cycle of infection, reproductive losses and reduced livestock production.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Bluetongue will likely recur in 2027. The best way to protect against reproductive and production losses is to vaccinate early. Defra supports the industry-led Battle Bluetongue campaign and continues to encourage animal keepers to speak to their vet about vaccination. The department take part in industry led webinars and provide other communications. During her recent roundtable with industry representatives affected by bluetongue on 8 September, Baroness Hayman heard first-hand the challenges faced by the sector, the importance of partnership working, and the need to strengthen long-term preparedness and resilience across the sector.
Asked by: Rebecca Smith (Conservative - South West Devon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will consider a coordinated programme combining large-scale vaccination, Culicoides surveillance and systematic genetic monitoring, similar to measures adopted in France, to tackle the spread of bluetongue virus serotype 3.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government keeps its approach to bluetongue under continual review and considers scientific evidence and international experience when developing control policies. While the decision to vaccinate remains one for animal keepers, in consultation with their private vets, we have worked closely with sector representatives to encourage take-up, including supporting the Battle Bluetongue campaign to advocate for vaccination. The Animal and Plant Health Agency publishes a heat map of suspected and confirmed cases. The bluetongue virus genome is not prone to variation and recent genetic sequencing shows the virus in 2026 is very similar to the virus first detected in the Netherlands and later England in 2023.
Asked by: Rebecca Smith (Conservative - South West Devon)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to her Oral Statement of 7 September 2026 on Local Government Reorganisation, Official Report, columns 667-669, if she will set out the process to review the Government's plans for local government reorganisation in Devon, including whether hon. Members will be able to contribute to the review.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
As set out by the Secretary of State in her oral statement of 7 September, the Government has withdrawn the March 2026 decisions for Essex, Hampshire, Norfolk and Suffolk, and paused decisions for the other 14 areas while a full review of the local government reorganisation programme is conducted.
We are working at pace and will report back to Parliament at the earliest opportunity.
Asked by: Rebecca Smith (Conservative - South West Devon)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to her answer of 7 September 2026 to the Honourable Member for Exmouth and Exeter East, when a decision will be made as to whether elections to the existing local authorities will go ahead in May 2027.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Secretary of State confirmed in her oral statement on 7 September 2026 that the plan is for elections scheduled for May 2027 to go ahead on existing boundaries, and this was also set out in a letter to councils on the same date.
Asked by: Rebecca Smith (Conservative - South West Devon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 15 July 2026 to Question 17399 on Railways: Trespass, how many of the 65,540 trespass incidents recorded by the British Transport Police occurred in each financial year from 2021-22 to 2025-26.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The British Transport Police have provided the following data with the yearly breakdown of the number of trespass incidents recorded for the period requested.
Year | Trespass incidents |
2021/22 | 12,101 |
2022/23 | 12,033 |
2023/24 | 13,046 |
2024/25 | 14,067 |
2025/26 | 14,293 |
Total | 65,540 |
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