Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
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 it his policy to prohibit the use of bottom-towed fishing gear in Marine Protected Areas.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for North Devon, on 22 January 2024, PQ UIN 9706.
A byelaw restricting the use of bottom-towed fishing gear in 13 Marine Protected Areas mentioned in that answer came into force on 22 March 2024.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
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 the findings of the post-implementation review of the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra has undertaken a post-implementation review (PIR) of the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018 (the 2018 Regulations) as mandated by the regulations’ review clause. This evaluation assesses the extent to which the regulations have achieved their intended goals and identifies areas for potential improvement.
The PIR will be published soon.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
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 bring forward legislative proposals to ensure that the UK requires imports of (a) meat, (b) milk, (c) eggs and (d) fish to meet UK animal welfare standards.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is proud of the high food standards that underpin our high-quality Great British produce. We will never compromise on these.
All agri-food products, including those from countries we have trade agreements with, must comply with our import requirements in order to be placed on the UK market. This includes ensuring imported meat products have been slaughtered to animal welfare standards equivalent to our domestic standards.
The Government will use our expertise and influence to drive enhanced animal welfare and food safety standards globally.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
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 plans to introduce a ban on the (a) display and (b) importation of (i) dolphins, (ii) whales, (iii) porpoises and (iv) other cetaceans.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK Government considers cetaceans (whales, dolphins, and porpoises) to be highly intelligent, social animals, with complex needs that are unlikely to be met when removed from their natural marine habitat and kept in captivity.
The Zoo Licensing Act 1981 and the Animal Welfare Act 2006 require high standards for the welfare of kept animals. We consider these protections sufficient to ensure cetaceans are not displayed or otherwise kept in captivity in this country.
We are not aware of any cetaceans being kept in captivity or being displayed but if there was any indication that cetaceans were to be displayed or kept in captivity here again then we would of course consider further actions.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
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 respond to the e-petition entitled Ban imports of hunting trophies of endangered animals; and whether the Government plans to introduce legislation on that matter in the 2023-24 parliamentary Session.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government response to this e-petition was given on 9 January 2024. The Government made a manifesto commitment to ban imports of hunting trophies from endangered animals. We are aware of the Rt Hon. Member for Warley’s Private Member’s Bill on this topic. At this time, we have no further plans to introduce primary legislation on this matter.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Animals (Low-Welfare Activities Abroad) Act 2023, when he plans to launch the consultation to determine which activities fall within the regulations.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Animals (Low-Welfare Activities Abroad) Act 2023 provides a framework for the introduction of a ban on the advertising and offering for sale of specific low-welfare animal activities abroad. It is an important step in protecting animals from considerable suffering and unacceptable practices.
This Government continues to make animal welfare a priority and we are currently exploring a number of options to progress this issue as soon as is practicable.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if his Department will review the position of sustainable aviation fuel within the waste hierarchy.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The best environmental outcome for waste that cannot be either prevented or prepared for reuse is for material to be recycled. However, we know that that is not always possible. Where waste cannot be reused or recycled, the Government supports maximising the value of residual waste through recovering energy, including supplying electricity or heat, or through use as a fuel.
The process of converting waste into fuels is an energy recovery operation for the purposes of the waste hierarchy. We do not consider it the role of the waste hierarchy to determine the priority of recovery processes through which residual waste should be managed. There is nothing preventing the production of fuel from residual waste if this is determined to be the best overall value for money and environmental outcome for non-recyclable wastes. We therefore have no plans to change the position of sustainable aviation fuel within the waste hierarchy.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
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 take steps to include method of slaughter as an option in his recent consultation on consumer products food labelling.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In 2021, Defra ran a call for evidence to gather data on the impacts of different types of labelling reform for animal welfare, including considerations around imports, production systems and method of slaughter. We received over 1,600 responses and a summary of these responses is available on GOV.UK.
As recently announced by the Secretary of State, we will soon be launching a consultation on clearer labelling. This will explore options for labels and the animal welfare standards behind them, including the period of life which should be covered by these standards.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
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 undertake a post-implementation review of the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra has been working on a post-implementation review (PIR) of the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018 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 for further improvements.
Defra values the engagement of sector partners, local authorities, animal welfare groups, and licensed and unlicensed businesses working in the sector. We will continue a close dialogue with these stakeholders as we work to implement the review’s recommendations.
We recognise the importance of this PIR, and thus want to ensure that we have had sufficient time to properly consider the findings. The PIR will be published soon.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
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 help reduce the threat of antimicrobial resistance to human health from overuse of antibiotics on industrial farms.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government takes a ‘One-Health’ approach to antimicrobial resistance (AMR) as set out in the ‘UK 5-year action plan for antimicrobial resistance 2019 to 2024’, which is underpinned by the UK’s 20-year Vision to Contain and Control AMR by 2040 . Defra is a co-signatory with the Department of Health and Social Care on the 5-year National Acton Plan and 20-year vision on AMR, and Defra leads on delivering the animal, plant and environment elements.
The UK is committed to reducing unnecessary use of antibiotics in animals to reduce the risk of development and spread of AMR in animals and humans. In the UK, we have a well-established antimicrobial use and resistance surveillance programme, which includes monitoring of sales and use of antibiotics in animals as well as routine monitoring of AMR in major food-producing species, healthy pigs and poultry. These surveillance programmes allow us to monitor progress and results are published every year in the UK Veterinary Antibiotic Resistance Sales and Surveillance (UK-VARSS) report.
The recently published UK-VARSS report shows that sales of antibiotics in food producing animals are at their lowest ever level, with a 59% reduction since 2014. This highlights the success of the UK’s voluntary and collaborative approach between Government and the farming and veterinary sectors to make sustainable reductions in antibiotic use whilst ensuring high animal health and welfare. The report also highlights that sales of highest priority, critically important antibiotics (HP-CIAs) have reduced by 82% since 2014 and account for less than half a percent of total sales. This is to ensure that these medically important antibiotics are protected for use in humans.
The newly published third edition of The UK’s One Health report, a joint report from Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) and UK Health and Security Agency (UKHSA), brings together antibiotic use and resistance data for people and animals and sales of antibiotics in 2019 show that approximately two thirds of antibiotics are used in people whilst one third are used in animals. This report demonstrates the UK Government’s One Health approach to tackling AMR to keep antibiotics working in both people and animals.