Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has consulted (a) canine and feline behaviourists, (b) manufacturers of electronic shock collars and (c) farming bodies on the use of electronic shock collars on dogs and cats in England.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra has previously engaged with a wide range of stakeholders in relation to electric shock collars, including via a public consultation in 2018, direct engagement across the sector, and consideration of relevant academic research.
We will be considering available evidence around the use of hand-controlled e-collars and their effects on the welfare of animals.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
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 effectiveness of the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018 in regulating the welfare of cats in England.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Under the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018, anyone in the business of breeding and selling cats as pets, boarding cats or using cats for exhibition purposes needs to have a valid licence issued by their local authority. Licensees must meet strict statutory minimum welfare standards which are enforced by local authorities who have powers to issue, refuse, vary or revoke licences.
Defra has been working on a post-implementation review (PIR) of the Regulations. This review considers whether the Regulations have met their objectives, and where there could be scope to further improve the protections they provide. The PIR will be published shortly.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an estimate of the amount of electronic waste generated by the UK by (a) product type and (b) region in each year since 2013.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Currently we do not collect data on the amount of electronic waste generated by product type or by region.
The Environment Agency publish data on waste electricals and electronic equipment (WEEE) collected by registered Producer Compliance Schemes (PCS) and treated by Approved Authorised Treatment Facilities (AATF)
Independent research on mapping waste electrical flows in the UK carried out by Material Focus estimates waste electrical and electronic equipment arising across all potential collection routes across the UK.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the findings in the report by Which? entitled How to make big savings on a second-hand phone, published in October 2023.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We have not made an assessment of the report by Which entitled 'How to make big savings on a second-hand phone', published in October 2023. In our manifesto, the government committed to reducing waste by moving to a circular economy. The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has set this as one of Defra’s top five priorities.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of launching a (a) comprehensive and (b) holistic review of the causes of dog attacks.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra is working with the police, local authorities and animal welfare groups to help prevent attacks by encouraging responsible dog ownership, to ensure dog control issues are addressed before they escalate and to make sure the full force of the law is applied. As part of this work, we will continue to consider how we can improve data collection and recording on dog attacks so that we are in a better position to take action.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what his planned timetable is to introduce legislation to end (a) puppy and (b) kitten smuggling.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
As outlined in our manifesto, we are committed to ending puppy smuggling. The Government recently announced its support for the Animal Welfare (Import of Dogs, Cats and Ferrets) Bill, a Private Members’ Bill sponsored by Dr Danny Chambers MP. The Bill will close loopholes in the non-commercial pet travel rules that are abused by unscrupulous traders and give the Government powers to prevent the supply of low-welfare pets to the United Kingdom.
We are fully supportive of this Bill and would like to see it pass through both Houses as soon as Parliamentary time allows.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to review the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra is finalising its post-implementation review of the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018. The report into the review will be published shortly.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of recycling precious metals found in (a) smartphones, (b) laptops and (c) other devices on the economy.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra has not made the assessment requested. However, the industry group Material Focus, a not-for-profit organisation funded through industry compliance fee monies raised under the UK Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Regulations has undertaken two related studies. Contributing towards a circular economy utilising Critical Raw Materials from waste electricals and Copper Crunch Report – Future challenges of copper consumption.
The Secretary of State has convened a Small Ministerial Group on Circular Economy and asked his Department to work with experts from industry, academia, civil society, and the civil service to develop a Circular Economy Strategy for England and a series of roadmaps detailing the interventions that the Government will make on a sector-by-sector basis. We will consider the evidence for action right across the economy and evaluate what further interventions may be needed in the electricals sector as we develop the Circular Economy Strategy.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of tech manufacturers building barriers into their device systems to stop repairing by independent technicians on recent trends in the volume of electronic waste.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We have not made this assessment. Further policy development around promoting greater circularity for electricals, including right-to-repair, will be guided by the government’s work to transition to a circular economy.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to encourage people to (a) repair and (b) refurbish more (i) household appliances and (ii) electronic waste.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
There is currently an existing right-to-repair scheme for a range of industrial and domestic energy-related products.
Further policy development for waste electricals including on right-to-repair and ecodesign will be guided by the Government’s work to transition to a circular economy.