Asked by: Lord Trees (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to expedite (1) the decision-making process, and (2) the processing of applications for the UK Research and Innovation Strength in Places initiative.
Answered by Lord Henley
During 2018, UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) invited ‘expression of interest’ bids into Wave 1 of the Strength in Places Fund. All eligible bids were considered by an independent assessment panel, which made recommendations to UKRI. UKRI is currently in the process of finalising the assessment process, and will notify those bids proceeding to the full stage in due course.
Asked by: Lord Trees (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress they have made on the mutual recognition of professional qualifications in the Brexit negotiations.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
As part of the Withdrawal Agreement, we have agreed the continued recognition of qualifications for residents and frontier workers, where recognition decisions were received or where recognition procedures were ongoing, before the end of the implementation period. This will cover qualifications recognised under the MRPQ directive, lawyers practising under host title and approved statutory auditors.
There are a number of issues which the Commission deemed to be outside the scope of withdrawal negotiations, including important rights such as home title practise for lawyers and the status of licenses and certificates. We will seek to reach an agreement with the EU that will cover these outstanding issues in the negotiations on the future economic partnership.
The Prime Minister has been clear that we want UK professional qualifications to continue to be recognised across the EU in the future, and vice versa. This makes sense, given that they are already recognised. The March European Council agreed guidelines for negotiations on our future relationship, which reference the desire of the EU27 to include ambitious provisions on the recognition of qualifications. This is a useful starting point for our negotiations on the future economic partnership.
Asked by: Lord Trees (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what (1) currents, (2) frequencies, (3) waveforms, and (4) current type, AC or DC, are used in the electrical waterbath stunning of chickens; and whether they are satisfied that the parameters used cause loss of consciousness without pain and that this loss of consciousness is maintained until death.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The parameters, such as the currents and frequencies to be used for the electrical waterbath stunning of chickens, are set down in Annex I of European Council Regulation (EC) No 1099/2009 on the protection of animals at the time of killing. These parameters are based on a Scientific Opinion from the Animal Health and Welfare Panel of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).
It is a requirement of domestic and European law that stunning must be effective in rendering the animal unconscious and insensible to pain and that the animal must remain unconscious until death.
Asked by: Lord Trees (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the efficacy of community protection notices in reducing dog attacks on humans since the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 came into force.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The Anti-social Behaviour Crime and Policing Act 2014 introduced new and more flexible powers to make it quicker and easier for police forces and local authorities to protect victims and communities from anti-social and nuisance behaviour.
This includes the Community Protection Notice. The Home Office does not collect or hold information on the use of these powers by local agencies.
Asked by: Lord Trees (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many community protection notices relating to dog behaviour have been issued under the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 since it came into force.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The Anti-social Behaviour Crime and Policing Act 2014 introduced new and more flexible powers to make it quicker and easier for police forces and local authorities to protect victims and communities from anti-social and nuisance behaviour.
This includes the Community Protection Notice. The Home Office does not collect or hold information on the use of these powers by local agencies.
Asked by: Lord Trees (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, for each year since 2012, what is the number of (1) carcases, and (2) diagnostic samples, submitted to each of the Veterinary Investigation Centres and contractor post-mortem examination facilities.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The number of carcases submitted to each of the Veterinary Investigation Centres and contractor post-mortem examination facilities for each year from 2012 to 27 October 2016 is shown in Table 1 attached.
The number of diagnostic samples submitted to each of the Veterinary Investigation Centres and contractor post-mortem examination facilities for each year from 2012 to 27 October 2016 is shown in Table 2 attached.
It should also be noted that since 2012 the number of Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) and non-APHA facilities has changed as a result of ‘Surveillance 2014’, the public consultation, Ministerial agreements and subsequent APHA project that made changes to the way veterinary scanning surveillance is delivered in England and Wales. As part of this some of the former Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency Regional Laboratory sites closed and the non-APHA facilities began operations from late 2014 to provide post-mortem examination (PME) services only. However, in addition to carcase submissions to the non-APHA contractor PME facilities, a small number of non-carcase diagnostic samples have also been received at these facilities.
Asked by: Lord Trees (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the number of carcases and diagnostic samples submitted to each of the Veterinary Investigation Centres and contractor post-mortem examination facilities in each year since 2012 is representative of the animal populations in the areas they cover.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The main aim of scanning surveillance activities performed by the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) and the five non-APHA post-mortem examination partners in England and Wales is the timely detection and investigation of animal-related new and re-emerging diseases and threats in livestock and wildlife species. The representativeness of these surveillance activities with regard to the animal populations in the areas that they cover varies, and this is subject to a number of factors. Furthermore, scanning surveillance activities performed to achieve the main aim comprise more than just the throughputs and examination of carcases and diagnostic samples.
The Surveillance Intelligence Unit of the APHA, which was established in 2014, now monitors engagement with the surveillance network and maps this by species as a ratio of each livestock population. The engagement across England and Wales is not uniform. Areas of higher livestock density for a particular species tend to have higher engagement ratios. The Quarterly Emerging Threats reports are available on the Government’s website on the APHA animal disease surveillance reports page.
Asked by: Lord Trees (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the result of the referendum on the UK’s membership of the EU and the possible consequences of that result for research funding in the UK, what priority they intend to give to research funding in the forthcoming negotiations.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The UK economy is fundamentally strong and UK research and innovation are world leading. The Government will continue working with the research community to make the strongest possible case for higher education, research and innovation in the coming negotiation.
Asked by: Lord Trees (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to require all abattoirs to have CCTV recordings of the slaughter process in the interests of animal welfare, and to require storage of such recordings and access to them by third parties.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The primary responsibility for protecting animal welfare in slaughterhouses rests with business operators, who must have operating procedures in place to prevent animals suffering avoidable pain, suffering and distress. Business operators must also have appropriate monitoring procedures in place.
The vast majority of animals are slaughtered in slaughterhouses which have CCTV present, so the Government is not currently persuaded of the case for introducing regulation which would require all abattoirs to have CCTV, but we are keeping the issue under review.
In their report last year, the Farm Animal Welfare Committee recommended that CCTV should be retained, by the slaughterhouse, for a period of at least three months and the Government supports that recommendation. Official Veterinarians of the Food Standards Agency are present in all approved slaughterhouses to monitor and ensure operators comply with strict animal welfare regulations and have the power to seize CCTV footage if they suspect a breach of welfare standards.
Asked by: Lord Trees (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many prosecutions were made under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 in the last year for which complete records are available; and who instigated those prosecutions.
Answered by Lord De Mauley
1,894 defendants were proceeded against at magistrates’ courts in England and Wales for offences under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 in 2013 (latest available).
The Ministry of Justice court proceedings database cannot separately identify whether or not a prosecution is brought by the Crown Prosecution Service, or by a private authority. This information may be held by the relevant courts in England and Wales, and can only be discerned at disproportionate cost.