Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what percentage of seasonal agricultural workers come from Ukraine; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The Home Office managed migration datasets indicate that in 2021, visas issued to Ukrainian nationals accounted for 67% (19,920) of all visas issued under the seasonal worker route, including those issued under the temporary visa schemes for poultry, food sector HGVs, and pork butchers.
Defra is engaging with the operators of the seasonal worker visa route to prepare and advance contingency plans in response to the situation in Ukraine. Operators can recruit from any country they choose for the seasonal workers visa route and operators recruited seasonal workers from almost 50 countries in 2021.
Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many healthy pigs were slaughtered in (a) 2020, (b) 2021 and (c) since January 1 2022 due to (i) problems in supply chains and (ii) availability of veterinary and slaughterhouse staff.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
Defra does not collect data on the number of pigs culled on farms. Producers, who are responsible for the welfare of animals on farm, are also not required to submit such data to us. We therefore have no data on the culling of pigs in 2020. However, from our engagement with the pig sector, we understand that around 29,800 pigs were culled on farms between 1 September and 31 December 2021 and around 6,200 pigs have been culled on farm since 1 January 2022. We are very aware of the impact the culling of pigs is having on the individual farmers involved.
We continue to monitor the evolving situation and to work closely with the pig industry. On 10 February I chaired a roundtable with pig industry representatives from across the UK to discuss the challenges that the sector has been facing in recent months caused by the pandemic, including the loss of exports to the Chinese market for certain pig processors, disruption to CO2 supplies, and a temporary shortage of labour in the processing sector. We have provided a package of measures to help address these unique circumstances, which includes temporary work visas for up to 800 pork butchers, and Private Storage Aid and Slaughter Incentive Payment schemes to facilitate an increase in the throughput of pigs through abattoirs.
Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with the sugar industry since his decision to authorise the use of neonicotinoid pesticides for sugar beet crop.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The Government announced on 14 January that it would issue, with strict conditions, an emergency authorisation to use a neonicotinoid seed treatment for sugar beet crops in England. Since then, Defra Ministers have met with representatives of the sugar industry at a Parliamentary reception and at the NFU conference. Discussions included work to end the sector’s reliance on neonicotinoids.
Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether those fishers who invested in the now withdrawn IVMS product will face enforcement action if they put to sea without any other IVMS product on board.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) will not be taking any enforcement action with respect to IVMS until a Statutory Instrument is laid and comes into force. That SI is scheduled to be laid in November 2022. Any enforcement after that date will be in line with the MMO’s Compliance and Enforcement Strategy.
Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans he has to move more civil servants out of London.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
Defra group is proud of our already dispersed workforce with 85% of our staff based outside London. Defra has three of its four core “hubs” outside London (Bristol, York and Newcastle). In December 2021 Defra had 9,383 civil servants outside London, including 2,886 from the core department. Our Bristol hub, Horizon House, is our largest office outside London with 8% of Defra group and 15% of the core department’s staff based there.
Defra is committed to continuing to build vibrant staff communities across the country, with a talented, diverse and inclusive workforce with a genuine connection to the local community and area. The publication of the Levelling Up White Paper provides a major step towards the transformation of the UK, spreading opportunity and prosperity for all.
It also reinforces this Government’s, and Defra’s, commitment to increasing significantly the geographic spread of civil servants across the UK. Defra will move 550 roles in the core department out of London by 2025 and a further 550 by 2030. We will also increase the proportion of our senior civil servants who are based outside London from one-third to one-half by 2030.
As we relocate more staff out of London we will make use of our existing properties. Initially we are focused on building our policy presence in our Newcastle hub (announced in November), opening small office spaces in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and working to expand other, non-London policy hubs. Moving forward, increasing the opportunities for staff in the South West remains one of our priorities, with our large group office in Exeter housing around 350 Rural Payments Agency staff.
Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the extent of trail hunting on privately-owned land; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra has made no assessment of trail hunting on private land. Giving permission for trail hunting is a matter for the landowner.
The Hunting Act 2004 makes it an offence to hunt a wild mammal with dogs except where it is carried out in accordance with the exemptions in the Act. Those found guilty under the Act are subject to the full force of the law.
Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport)
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 Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill, whether he plans to undertake a further consultation on potential merits of a ban on e-collars.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
One of the key reforms in the Action Plan for Animal Welfare is to ban hand-held remote-controlled electronic training collars (“e-collars”), given their scope to harm the welfare of dogs, including those deemed reactive. We continue to work closely with the animal welfare sector, enforcement agencies and Governments across the four nations on this ban.
We have listened carefully to a range of views from pet owners and respondents, as well as consulting key stakeholders including animal welfare charities, e-collar manufacturers, and trainers who use e-collars. Defra ran a public consultation in 2018 on the proposed ban on e-collars for cats and dogs in England. A summary of the responses received can be found here; Animal welfare: banning the use of electronic training collars for cats and dogs - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
With reference to the Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill there are currently no plans to undertake a further consultation on a ban on e-collars.
Powers already exist to ban e-collars under the Animal Welfare Act 2006. The secondary legislation needed to ban remote controlled electronic training collars will be laid before Parliament as soon as Parliamentary time allows.
Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the levels of toxic air pollutants in Plymouth.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
An annual assessment based on both monitoring and supplementary modelling is undertaken annually. Plymouth is covered by the South West zone and the latest assessment can be found here:
https://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/library/annualreport/viewonline?year=2020_issue_1#report_pdf
Defra's national network, the Automatic Urban and Rural Network (AURN) provides measurements of air pollutant concentrations throughout the UK for a range of pollutants, which includes 3 monitoring sites in Plymouth. These sites form part of a network of 171 sites across the UK, used to monitor compliance with the Air Quality Standards Regulations (2010). An interactive map showing the location of monitoring sites forming part of the AURN in Plymouth can be found at the following URL: https://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/interactive-map
The AURN network provides high resolution hourly information, communicated rapidly to the public, using a wide range of electronic, media and web platforms. Data from monitoring sites in Plymouth is accessible through the following URL: https://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/data/
Defra's Pollution Climate Mapping model estimates concentrations of air pollutants at 1km2 grid squares across the UK. An interactive map to display these concentrations can be found through the following URL:
https://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/data/gis-mapping/
Plymouth City Council also carries out air quality monitoring as part of the Local Air Quality Management process and provides Defra with annual reports on the status of air quality within its Local Authority boundary. These reports detail strategies employed to improve air quality and any progress that has been made. Plymouth has a single city-wide Air Quality Management Area, which is due to levels of nitrogen dioxide exceeding national objectives. Summary statistics for all its Air Quality measurements can be found in its annual status reports, available through the following URL: https://www.plymouth.gov.uk/environmentandpollution/airquality
Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with fox hunts about fallen stock in the last five years.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Local authorities have the statutory duty to prosecute for offences under the Animal Health Act 1981 and provide information of any successful prosecutions annually. It is presented in a parliamentary report which is available on gov.uk.
A summary of that data shows that the following number of prosecutions were made under the Animal By-Products (Enforcement) (England) Regulations 2013, although the data does not specify whether the prosecutions relate to fallen stock; such information would have to be sought from the local authorities themselves.
2016 – 22
2017 – 18
2018 – 30
2019 – 38
2020 – 15
2020 – Data not yet available
The Secretary of State has not recently met any organisations running hunts to discuss this issue.
Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many prosecutions there have been for breach of regulations in relation to fallen stock in each of the last five years.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Local authorities have the statutory duty to prosecute for offences under the Animal Health Act 1981 and provide information of any successful prosecutions annually. It is presented in a parliamentary report which is available on gov.uk.
A summary of that data shows that the following number of prosecutions were made under the Animal By-Products (Enforcement) (England) Regulations 2013, although the data does not specify whether the prosecutions relate to fallen stock; such information would have to be sought from the local authorities themselves.
2016 – 22
2017 – 18
2018 – 30
2019 – 38
2020 – 15
2020 – Data not yet available
The Secretary of State has not recently met any organisations running hunts to discuss this issue.