Asked by: Roger Gale (Conservative - North Thanet)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of the number of (a) EU and (b) overseas nationals employed as (i) semi-skilled and (ii) unskilled workers in horticulture.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The information requested at this level of detail on employment numbers is not held by Defra. Defra is considering the latest data and working closely with industry to understand labour demand and supply, including both permanent and seasonal workforce requirements.
The information requested on estimates of additional costs incurred as a result of the new points-based immigration system is not held by Defra.
Asked by: Roger Gale (Conservative - North Thanet)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of the additional costs incurred by the (a) agricultural and (b) horticultural sectors as a result of the proposed immigration controls on (i) semi-skilled and (ii) unskilled workers.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The information requested at this level of detail on employment numbers is not held by Defra. Defra is considering the latest data and working closely with industry to understand labour demand and supply, including both permanent and seasonal workforce requirements.
The information requested on estimates of additional costs incurred as a result of the new points-based immigration system is not held by Defra.
Asked by: Roger Gale (Conservative - North Thanet)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of the value of top fruit left unpicked as a result of labour shortages during the 2018-2019 season.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The information requested is not held by Defra.
Asked by: Roger Gale (Conservative - North Thanet)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural affairs, following the granting of Royal Assent to Finns Law, when he plans to bring forward the legislative proposals necessary to introduce five-year sentences for cruelty to animals.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Rt. hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Romford, Andrew Rosindell, on 28 March 2019, PQ 236361.
Asked by: Roger Gale (Conservative - North Thanet)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to (a) prevent the spread of the outbreak of canine babesiosis and (b) deter the impact from mainland Europe of infected animals carrying tick-borne viruses.
Answered by George Eustice
Experts at the Animal & Plant Health Agency (APHA) and Public Health England (PHE) are working together to investigate the locally acquired cases of canine babesiosis in Essex. Environmental tick control through vegetation management can be difficult to achieve and the use of acaricides in the environment is prohibited. The most effective control is for owners to treat dogs promptly for ticks.
Ticks are associated with a range of vertebrate hosts, including livestock, wildlife and wild birds, so we cannot prevent all these routes of entry. In addition, several UK species of tick are capable of transmitting various diseases which like Babesia canis are also not notifiable.
Livestock and horses imported from mainland Europe are certified to be healthy and should therefore be free of ticks and we recommend that people treat pet dogs with an appropriate treatment that kills ticks as soon as they attach, prior to bringing them from Europe.
Asked by: Roger Gale (Conservative - North Thanet)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of potential benefits of re-introduction of tick treatment as a requirement for the importation of dogs from mainland Europe into the UK under the Pet Passport scheme.
Answered by George Eustice
The requirement for tick treatment was dropped as part of the harmonisation of the EU pet travel rules for movement and import of non-commercial dogs following a qualitative risk assessment and economic impact assessment for the introduction of Mediterranean Spotted fever (MSF) and the Brown Dog tick, Rhipicephalus sanguineus.
Asked by: Roger Gale (Conservative - North Thanet)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the European Commission's study on information to consumers on the stunning of animals, published in May 2015, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the findings of that report; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by George Eustice
The Government welcomes the findings of the Commission’s report into the labelling of meat and religious slaughter, which is a serious contribution to the debate. We are studying the findings and look forward to any proposals that come forward from the EU Commission.