Asked by: Lord Walney (Crossbench - Life peer)
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 publish plans to introduce a bottle return scheme in England and Wales similar to that introduced by the Scottish Government.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
The consultation on proposals to introduce a deposit return scheme in England, Wales and Northern Ireland closed on 13 May. Policy officials are currently analysing the responses; the analysis of responses and Government response will be published in due course.
Asked by: Lord Walney (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether a zoo containing more than 1,000 animals has been closed by a local authority in the last 30 years.
Answered by George Eustice
This information, on closures, would be held by local authorities and not collected centrally. Under the Zoo Licensing Act 1981, there is no requirement for local authorities to report the closure of a zoo of any size to the Department.
Asked by: Lord Walney (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many times zoos have been closed by local authorities in the last 20 years; and for what reasons those zoos were closed.
Answered by George Eustice
This information, on closures, would be held by local authorities and not collected centrally. Under the Zoo Licensing Act 1981, there is no requirement for local authorities to report the closure of a zoo of any size to the Department.
Asked by: Lord Walney (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent representations her Department has received from local authorities on the effectiveness and scope of current zoo regulations.
Answered by George Eustice
The Zoos Expert Committee (ZEC) provides independent, technical advice to the UK Governments on zoo matters. The ZEC keeps the operation and implementation of the zoo licensing system in the UK under review and advises Defra and devolved governments of any legislative or administrative changes that may be required. Membership of the ZEC includes representatives of local authorities who provide ongoing advice on the operation of the Zoo Licensing Act 1981. The ZEC will also, if necessary, seek and receive representations from any local authority with knowledge of enforcing the zoo licensing system. Defra commissioned a study in 2010 to review the effectiveness of local authorities’ implementation of the Zoo Licensing Act 1981. The report was published in 2011 and found no strong evidence of a need for legislative change.
Following the recent case in Cumbria, Lord Gardiner will be discussing, with ZEC, whether any further steps need to be taken to ensure animal welfare.