Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether it remains her policy to ban the non-commercial import of pregnant dogs in the last 30 per cent of their gestation period.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
In August 2021, the Government launched a consultation on proposed changes to the rules governing the commercial and non-commercial movement of pets, including a ban on the movement of dogs which are more than 42 days pregnant into Great Britain.
We are carefully reviewing the feedback gathered from our consultation and wider engagement with stakeholders, and a response to the consultation will be published in due course.
Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions her Department has had with the Leader of the House on the progression of single-issue Bills to take forward the measures previously contained in the Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We will be taking forward measures in the Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill individually through other means during the remainder of this Parliament. These measures include three manifesto commitments, which we remain fully committed to delivering. The Secretary of State has regular discussions with the Leader of the House about our legislative programme and other matters. The Leader of the House will set out parliamentary business in the usual way.
Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had with the Leader of the House of Commons on the timescales for introducing legislative proposals to end live exports of animals for slaughter and fattening.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We remain committed to ending the export of live animals for fattening and slaughter. The Secretary of State has regular discussions with the Leader of the House about our legislative programme and other matters. The Leader of the House will set out parliamentary business in the usual way.
Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the Windsor Framework will allow gene editing of crops to take place in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Windsor Framework secures an outcome that works for GB businesses moving a range of agri-food to Northern Ireland and NI producers who wish to access the UK and EU markets. Northern Irish producers and manufacturers have been clear that they value access to the UK and EU markets and many operate on an integrated island of Ireland basis, such as the agricultural sector. We have listened to industry and protected their vital supply chains that also rely on North-South trade.
Any research trials involving gene editing of crops or cultivation of gene edited crops in Northern Ireland will continue to be regulated under the Genetically Modified Organisms (Deliberate Release) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003 (as amended), and by the GMO (Northern Ireland) Order 1991.
Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
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 extend the ban on bottom trawling to cover more Highly Protected Marine Areas.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra has consulted on five candidate pilot Highly Protected Marine Areas (HPMAs). The responses and further evidence we received are still being analysed and we aim to publish a summary of responses in early 2023. Any HPMAs designated would have the highest levels of protection in our seas, banning extractive, destructive and depositional uses, including bottom trawling, to help the protection and recovery of marine ecosystems. Activities of this nature are not compatible with the aims of HPMAs. Any pilot HPMAs would be designated through the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009 by 6 July 2023. This would be a year from the start of the consultation as required by the Act.
Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has had recent discussions with the Environment Agency on taking steps to prevent developers from misconnecting pipes in new homes and causing the leakage of sewage into waterways.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Government is working with the Environment Agency and other regulators to hold the water industry to account. Ministers meet with Environment Agency to discuss a range of issues including sewage pollution on a regular basis.
In August 2022 the most ambitious plan to reduce sewage discharges from storm overflows in water company history was launched. There should be no doubt about the Government’s ambition and determination to prioritise storm overflows and sewage discharges.
The review for making sustainable drainage systems mandatory in new developments was published on 10 January 2023. Government will now look at how best to implement it, through Schedule 3 to the Flood and Water Management Act 2010. This will make the right to connect surface water to public sewers conditional on the drainage system being approved.
Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether it remains the Government's policy to prohibit the live export of animals for slaughter or fattening.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Yes. We are delivering on our Manifesto commitment through the Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill, by banning exports of cattle, sheep, pigs, goats, and equines for slaughter and fattening on journeys that begin in or transit through Great Britain to a third country. This will be done as soon as Parliamentary time allows.
Exports of cattle, sheep, pigs and goats by sea to mainland Europe have not been viable since 1st January 2021, due to the lack of Border Control Post facilities designated to accept this trade in receiving EU Member States. Exports of equines have continued for the purpose of leisure, competition or breeding as there are Border Control Posts that are designated for equines.
Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
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 implications for its policies of Cats Protection’s Cats and Their Stats report finding, that around 70,000 cats were imported into the UK between March 2020 and March 2021.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The estimate of 70,000 cats detailed in the Cats Protection’s ‘Cats and Their Stats’ report appears to be based on an estimate of the number of cats obtained between March 2020 and March 2021 and the proportion of individuals that reported in a survey that they had sourced a pet from abroad during the same period. The official Government statistics show that between March 2020 and March 2021 27,601 cats entered the UK under the non-commercial rules and 8,511 cats entered under the commercial rules.
The official statistics are based on data submitted by pet checkers and carriers for non-commercial movements. Data for commercial movements in 2020 is taken from the Trade Control and Expert System (TRACES), and data for commercial movements in 2021 is taken from the Import of Products, Animals, Food and Feed System (IPAFFS). We are working with the Cats Protection to understand the difference between the reported figures.
The Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill was introduced in Parliament on 8 June 2021 and completed committee on 18 November 2021. The Bill allows us to protect the welfare of pets by introducing restrictions to crack down on the low welfare movements of pets into Great Britain and includes powers to introduce new restrictions on pet travel and the commercial import of pets on welfare grounds, via secondary legislation.
In August 2021, the Government launched an 8-week consultation on our proposed restrictions to the commercial and non-commercial movement of pets into Great Britain. We are currently analysing the responses to the consultation and will publish a summary in due course. This will allow us to take onboard the views of the public and interested groups in order to shape our future policy.
We will continue to work closely with stakeholders, including the Cats Protection, prior to the introduction of the legislation to ensure that our final measures are well considered and led by the latest evidence.
Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
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 implications for its policies of the difference between official figures which report around 30,000 cats entering the UK legally commercially and non-commercially between March 2020 and March 2021 and the findings of Cats Protection’s Cats and Their Stats report that 70,000 cats entered the UK in the same period.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The estimate of 70,000 cats detailed in the Cats Protection’s ‘Cats and Their Stats’ report appears to be based on an estimate of the number of cats obtained between March 2020 and March 2021 and the proportion of individuals that reported in a survey that they had sourced a pet from abroad during the same period. The official Government statistics show that between March 2020 and March 2021 27,601 cats entered the UK under the non-commercial rules and 8,511 cats entered under the commercial rules.
The official statistics are based on data submitted by pet checkers and carriers for non-commercial movements. Data for commercial movements in 2020 is taken from the Trade Control and Expert System (TRACES), and data for commercial movements in 2021 is taken from the Import of Products, Animals, Food and Feed System (IPAFFS). We are working with the Cats Protection to understand the difference between the reported figures.
The Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill was introduced in Parliament on 8 June 2021 and completed committee on 18 November 2021. The Bill allows us to protect the welfare of pets by introducing restrictions to crack down on the low welfare movements of pets into Great Britain and includes powers to introduce new restrictions on pet travel and the commercial import of pets on welfare grounds, via secondary legislation.
In August 2021, the Government launched an 8-week consultation on our proposed restrictions to the commercial and non-commercial movement of pets into Great Britain. We are currently analysing the responses to the consultation and will publish a summary in due course. This will allow us to take onboard the views of the public and interested groups in order to shape our future policy.
We will continue to work closely with stakeholders, including the Cats Protection, prior to the introduction of the legislation to ensure that our final measures are well considered and led by the latest evidence.
Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to publish his consultation on banning the use of peat in amateur horticulture.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We intend to publish this consultation in December 2021.