Asked by: Lord Black of Brentwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Animal Welfare (Electronic Collars) (England) Regulations 2023 to ban the use of electronic shock collars on cats and dogs in England are still due to come into force from 1 February.
Answered by Lord Douglas-Miller - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Animal Welfare (Electronic Collars) (England) Regulations 2023 were considered in Grand Committee on 19 June and must be considered in the Other Place before they can come into force. The Government remains committed to banning the use of electronic shock collars in England. Parliamentary business will be announced in the usual way.
Asked by: Lord Black of Brentwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have made any studies about the impact of domestic firework use on domestic animals, including cats and dogs; and, if not, whether they will commission one.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
It is an offence under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 to cause unnecessary suffering to an animal, and this includes through the misuse of fireworks. Users of fireworks need to use them responsibly and be aware of animals close by, and those found guilty of causing animals unnecessary suffering can face up to five years’ imprisonment. We have no current plans to commission any studies on the impact of domestic firework use on domestic animals.
Asked by: Lord Black of Brentwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they intend to introduce legislation to ban the use of electric shock collars on cats and dogs in England.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Animal Welfare (Electronic Collars) (England) Regulations will make it an offence to attach an electronic shock collar to a cat or dog, or to be in possession of a remote-control device capable of activating such a collar when attached to a cat or dog. The regulations have been considered in this House and will be considered in the Other Place in due course. Parliamentary business will be announced in the usual way.
Asked by: Lord Black of Brentwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to regulate the breeding of cats to protect cats and their kittens.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Under the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018 (the Regulations), anyone in the business of breeding and selling cats as pets 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 of the Regulations in line with the requirements of the Regulations’ review clause. This review considers whether the Regulations have met their objectives, and where there could be scope to further improve the protections they provide to breeding cats and their offspring. The review will be published soon.
Asked by: Lord Black of Brentwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Benyon on 13 July (HL9238), what is the makeup of the Veterinary Medicines Directorate’s internal scientific review committee; what process and criteria the scientific review committee follows to develop its assessment report; and what documents are provided to the scientific review committee by Veterinary Medicines Directorate assessors.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The scientific review committee for pharmaceutical products is chaired by the Head of Pharmaceuticals. Membership includes all pharmaceutical assessors (quality, safety and efficacy), representatives from Regulatory Affairs, Pharmacovigilance, and other government bodies including the UK Health Security Agency, Health and Safety Executive, Food Standards Agency, Environment Agency, and the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs of Northern Ireland. Other agencies may also be invited on an ad hoc basis.
The documents for the formal review meeting include the assessment report, list of questions to be addressed by the applicant and an executive summary which highlights the main issues and the benefit-risk conclusion.
The scientific review committee provides a formal peer -review forum, where each application is summarised, and key issues raised and discussed. The operation of the committee is described in internal operating procedures. Formal minutes are produced. The committee output is to endorse the list of questions for the applicant, decide whether these are likely to be resolvable, agree the benefit-risk conclusion and decide whether or not further scientific advice from the Veterinary Products Committee should be sought.
Similar scientific committee and processes are in place for non-pharmaceutical products (immunological and biological products).
Asked by: Lord Black of Brentwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Lord Benyon on 13 July (HL Deb col 1885), whether they intend to include cats at the outset of any proposed pet abduction offence.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We have listened carefully to views expressed on pet abduction during the passage of the Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill and we will take this feedback into consideration when delivering this measure.
Asked by: Lord Black of Brentwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Benyon on 13 July (HL9237), what is the process for members of the Veterinary Products Committee to question the Veterinary Medicines Directorate’s assessors following receipt of the assessment report; what criteria the Veterinary Medicines Directorate uses to determine whether any potential increased risks to (1) animal health, (2) public health, or (3) the environment, can be suitability mitigated; and what criteria the Veterinary Medicines Directorate uses to assess the potential benefits of allowing over-the-counter sale, especially when the non-prescription category is already established.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
If a product is referred to the Veterinary Products Committee (VPC) for advice, the VPC will be provided with a briefing document. Relevant scientific assessors will attend the VPC meeting and respond to questions by VPC members as directed by the VPC Chair.
Legislation and published guidance set out the information (including data, scientific studies and risk assessments) that applicants must provide for a new marketing authorisation or change to an existing marketing authorisation. Each part of the dossier is supplemented by a critical overall summary prepared by an appropriate scientific expert commissioned by the applicant. The VMD assess the data package against the same guidance. Every year a sample of VMD assessment reports is reviewed by the VPC to score the VMD’s assessment of the application against criteria in the areas of: quality, efficacy and target species safety, safety to the user and consumers, environmental safety and overall benefit risk.
If a non-prescription category is already established, another product will normally be allowed to have the same distribution category provided it contains the same active substance, is the same pharmaceutical presentation, and for the same species. Should information become available at any stage post-authorisation that potentially impacts the benefit-risk balance, the VMD can review the marketing authorisation(s) and require changes and/or suspend a product (or group of products) to protect animal health, public health and the environment.
Asked by: Lord Black of Brentwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what criteria the Veterinary Products Committee uses to recommend whether an application to vary the marketing authorisation of a prescription-only veterinary medicine to allow over-the-counter sale be granted.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The VPC review VMD’s assessment and conclusion (they may question the assessors if necessary) and provide an opinion as to whether they agree (or not) with the VMD’s conclusion to grant (or not) the lower distribution category.
The VMD consider the VPC’s advice and make a final decision as to whether an application to vary the marketing authorisation of a prescription-only veterinary medicine to allow over-the-counter sale is granted.
The criteria for the VMD’s decision are that:
Asked by: Lord Black of Brentwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what documents are provided by the Veterinary Medicines Directorate to the Veterinary Products Committee to enable them to assess whether an application to vary the marketing authorisation of a prescription-only veterinary medicine to allow over-the-counter sale can be granted.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The VMD provides the VPC with the assessment report (as peer-reviewed and agreed by the internal scientific review committee). The assessment report includes a benefit-risk assessment and conclusion as to whether the VMD consider that the variation to lower the distribution category should be granted.
Asked by: Lord Black of Brentwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what process the Veterinary Medicines Directorate uses to determine whether to grant an application to vary the marketing authorisation of a prescription-only veterinary medicine to allow over-the-counter sale.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Veterinary medicine approvals are assessed against statutory criteria for safety, quality and efficacy, as set down in the Veterinary Medicines Regulation. We assess the risks of providing products over-the-counter against the benefits and this is taken to the VPC for independent consideration.