Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Penrith and The Border)
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 extend the neutering deadline for exempted XL bully dogs that are under seven months on 31st January 2024 to 30 June 2025.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Owners of XL Bully type dogs who want to keep their dogs after the end of the transition period should apply to Defra for a Certificate of Exemption before the 31 January. Owners must arrange for their dogs to be neutered by set deadlines for this Certificate to remain valid. We took the health and welfare implications of neutering at a young age into account and therefore set a neutering deadline of 31 December 2024 for dogs that are aged less than one year old on the 31 January 2024.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Penrith and The Border)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the prevalence of swine influenza A viruses in pigs.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Swine influenza is endemic in the UK pig population, generally causing mild disease.
Defra and the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) are providing specialist veterinary and scientific support to the UK Health Security Agency incident response.
APHA provides free testing for swine influenza in pigs to detect new and emerging strains.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Penrith and The Border)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of cases of feline infectious peritonitis in Cyprus on (a) biosecurity and (b) feline health in the UK.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
A single nine-month-old kitten imported from Cyprus in August has been diagnosed with Feline Infectious Peritonitis as a result of being infected with a strain of Feline Coronavirus contracted in Cyprus. While this virus is estimated to have killed 8,500 cats in Cyprus (in the first half of this year, mostly in the large feral cat population) the risk to UK cats is very low.
We will continue to use our established systems to monitor feline coronavirus through our Veterinary Risk Group and Animal Disease Policy Group, and review our domestic or import policies should risks change.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Penrith and The Border)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the case of bluetongue virus in a cow in Kent on (a) biosecurity and (b) animal health.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Bluetongue is an exotic notifiable disease of ruminants (cattle, sheep, deer and goats) and camelids (llamas and alpacas). It is caused by a virus that is spread by biting midges. It does not affect people or food safety and cannot be spread in meat or milk. Defra's approach to bluetongue disease is based on the latest scientific evidence and veterinary advice and is set out in the GB Bluetongue Virus Disease Control Strategy, supported by the Contingency plan for exotic notifiable diseases of animals in England. These plans are in line with international standards of best practice for disease control.
Defra and Animal and Plant Health Agency officials took immediate action to safeguard animal health and prevent potential spread from the single infected cow: the animal which tested positive for Bluetongue serotype 3 (BTV3) was humanely culled and a 10km Temporary Control Zone (TCZ) has been put in place around the affected premises. Within the TCZ, a range of controls are in place to prevent potential spread of disease, including restrictions on the movement of susceptible animals, except under licence. A veterinary investigation and surveillance are underway to consider the origin of the disease and check for potential spread. There is no authorised vaccine for BTV3 so good biosecurity practices are essential - we are working with industry representatives to provide keepers with advice on how they can protect their animals from bluetongue.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Penrith and The Border)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she is taking steps with Cabinet colleagues to help support victims of flooding (a) by remedying flood damage and (b) with their mental health.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Penrith and The Border)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much funding her Department has provided to help protect communities at risk of flooding in the last 12 months.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Penrith and The Border)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to help prepare communities for future flooding events.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Penrith and The Border)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to tackle fly tipping.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The PM’s Anti-social Behaviour Action Plan sets out how we will help councils take tougher action against those who fly-tip. We significantly raised the upper limit of on-the-spot fines in July, to £1,000 for fly-tipping and £600 for householders who give their waste to an unauthorised waste carrier. We have also increased transparency on the use of these fines by publishing league tables on fly-tipping enforcement and consulted stakeholders on ringfencing the money raised from fines for enforcement and clean up activity.
This builds on the £1.2m Defra has provided in grant funding to help more than 30 councils implement projects cracking down on fly-tipping. We intend to launch another grant opportunity for councils later this year.
With the National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group, we are developing a toolkit to help councils and others tackle fly-tipping. So far, the group has published a guide on how to present robust cases to court and a new framework which sets out how to set up and run effective local partnerships. The toolkit, and other resources, are available online at https://www.keepbritaintidy.org/national-fly-tipping-prevention-group.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Penrith and The Border)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 28 July 2023 to Question 192229 on Horses: Exports, how many Equidae were recorded leaving the UK via (a) Dover and (b) other ports in each year from 2016 to 2023.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We do not hold data on horse exports by place of departure.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Penrith and The Border)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many horses were recorded leaving the UK via (a) Dover and (b) other ports in each year from 2016 to 2023.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The export management system does not record whether the animal is a horse or other breed of Equidae (e.g. donkey).