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.

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.

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.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what progress his Department has made on including an ambitious intellectual property protection framework in the UK-Swiss free trade deal.

Answered by Douglas Alexander - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The fifth round of negotiations on an enhanced free trade agreement with Switzerland took place in London in October 2024. As part of that, negotiations on intellectual property continued to advance across a number of rights areas. The UK aims to agree a comprehensive IP chapter which builds on the UK and Switzerland’s existing high mutual standards, balances interests across all UK industries and sectors, and reaches an outcome that delivers for the whole of the UK.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many representations her Department has received from (a) organisations, (b) hon. Members and (c) individuals on the future of the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme.

Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

Between the beginning of September 2024 and Friday 13th December, the department has received 323 items of correspondence on the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme: 119 from organisations; 119 from hon. and rt. hon. Members; and, 85 from individual members of the public.

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.

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.

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.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many (a) Buddhist, (b) Jewish, (c) Muslim, (d) Sikh and (e) other non-Christian places of worship are listed in (i) England, (ii) Wales, (iii) Scotland and (iv) Northern Ireland for their architecture or historic interest.

Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

Each devolved nation is responsible for its own listings regime. Details on listed buildings can be found on the public lists maintained by Historic England, Cadw, Historic Environment Scotland and the Department for Communities in Northern Ireland respectively. The list maintained by Historic England is searchable by key words which can include denomination.

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. 

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.

England men's cricket team's upcoming fixture against Afghanistan

Found: Yours sincerely, Ruth Jones MP Chair of the Welsh Affairs Committee Ein Cyf / Our Ref:

Found: Insurers One America Square, 17 Crosswall, London EC3N 2LB T +44 (0) 207 600 3333 I abi.org.uk Ruth Jones

Found: Yours sincerely, Ruth Jones MP Chair of the Welsh Affairs Committee

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Ruth Jones (Chair); Aphra Brandreth; David Chadwick; Ann Davies;

Found: Restricted: For Committee use only Wednesday 30 October 2024 Members present1 Ruth Jones, in the Chair2

Found: Our ref: GS/013/24/SG 26th November 2024 Dear Ruth Jones MP HMP PARC

Found: Ruth Jones MP Chair, Welsh Affairs Committee House of Commons London

Found: Watch the meeting Welsh Affairs Committee members present: Ruth Jones (Chair); David Chadwick; Ann Davies

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Wales has a proud industrial heritage based on activities such as coal mining, slate quarrying, copper smelting, steelmaking and manufacturing among others.