Asked by: Alan Brown (Scottish National Party - Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
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 implications for his policies of the recommendations of The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons on reforming the Veterinary Surgeons Act 1966, entitled Recommendations for future veterinary legislation, published on 13 October 2021.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
Defra is grateful to the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) for their proposal to reform the Veterinary Surgeons Act 1966. Defra officials are reviewing the proposals. I recognise the potential benefits associated with changes to the Act and my officials have been engaging with the RCVS and the sector more widely on how the Act could best be updated.
Asked by: Alan Brown (Scottish National Party - Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
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 21 September 2021 to Question 51897, whether the Government has agreed terms of reference for the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons review of the disciplinary framework and fitness to practice regime.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) recently carried out a root-and-branch review of the Veterinary Surgeons Act 1966 (last reviewed in 2008) and the role of the RCVS as the veterinary regulator, with the aim of ensuring public protection, animal health and welfare and regulatory best practice. The terms of reference were not set by or agreed with the Government. The review aimed to design a modern, fit for purpose framework comparable to other professional regulators, including a modern fitness to practice regime. The RCVS provided its recommendations to Defra Ministers in September 2021. Defra Ministers are considering these recommendations and welcome the content and consideration provided by the RCVS.
Asked by: Alan Brown (Scottish National Party - Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when the Government last reviewed the Veterinary Surgeons Act 1966.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) recently carried out a root-and-branch review of the Veterinary Surgeons Act 1966 (last reviewed in 2008) and the role of the RCVS as the veterinary regulator, with the aim of ensuring public protection, animal health and welfare and regulatory best practice. The terms of reference were not set by or agreed with the Government. The review aimed to design a modern, fit for purpose framework comparable to other professional regulators, including a modern fitness to practice regime. The RCVS provided its recommendations to Defra Ministers in September 2021. Defra Ministers are considering these recommendations and welcome the content and consideration provided by the RCVS.
Asked by: Alan Brown (Scottish National Party - Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, for what reason the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons is undertaking a review of the disciplinary framework and fitness to practice regime.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) recently carried out a root-and-branch review of the Veterinary Surgeons Act 1966 (last reviewed in 2008) and the role of the RCVS as the veterinary regulator, with the aim of ensuring public protection, animal health and welfare and regulatory best practice. The terms of reference were not set by or agreed with the Government. The review aimed to design a modern, fit for purpose framework comparable to other professional regulators, including a modern fitness to practice regime. The RCVS provided its recommendations to Defra Ministers in September 2021. Defra Ministers are considering these recommendations and welcome the content and consideration provided by the RCVS.
Asked by: Alan Brown (Scottish National Party - Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
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 21 September 2021 to Question 51897, what the timescale is for the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons to provide recommendations on the overhaul of the disciplinary framework and fitness to practice regime.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) recently carried out a root-and-branch review of the Veterinary Surgeons Act 1966 (last reviewed in 2008) and the role of the RCVS as the veterinary regulator, with the aim of ensuring public protection, animal health and welfare and regulatory best practice. The terms of reference were not set by or agreed with the Government. The review aimed to design a modern, fit for purpose framework comparable to other professional regulators, including a modern fitness to practice regime. The RCVS provided its recommendations to Defra Ministers in September 2021. Defra Ministers are considering these recommendations and welcome the content and consideration provided by the RCVS.
Asked by: Alan Brown (Scottish National Party - Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
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 potential merits of ending housing developers right to connect to the sewer system; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
On 26 August, the Government announced its intention to undertake a review of the case for implementing in England Schedule 3 to the Flood and Water Management Act 2010 concerning sustainable drainage. This review will look at the benefits and impacts of implementation as well as alternative methods for ensuring that sustainable drainage systems (SuDS) are incorporated in future developments. The review will engage with a range of stakeholders, and inform future policy decisions on this issue.
As well as the Schedule providing for statutory build standards for SuDS on new developments, it would also make the ‘right to connect’ surface water to foul sewer conditional on local planning approval of the developer’s proposed drainage system.
Asked by: Alan Brown (Scottish National Party - Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
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 was allocated to the seafood industry after the UK's departure from the EU; and how much of that funding has been allocated to companies based in (a) Scotland, (b) Wales, (c) Northern Ireland and (d) England.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The Government is committed to supporting the fisheries and seafood sector and has delivered on its manifesto commitment to maintain fisheries funding across the UK by allocating £32.7 million for the 2021/22 financial year. The allocations for each administration are based on the relative size of the fleets, aquaculture, and processing industries. This funding will enable each nation of the UK to run their own funding schemes, tailored to the needs and make up of their sectors.
The Government has also announced that £100 million will be made available across the UK for the best transformative seafood projects that will rejuvenate the industry and our coastal communities. Options for the funding are currently being explored and more detail on this funding will be made available in due course.
In addition, up to £23 million of emergency funding was utilised across the UK to address the challenges faced as a result of Covid-19 and EU exit during the early months of 2021. Over 2250 eligible businesses benefitted from this financial assistance across the UK and more details on the distribution of funding delivered will be available once all payments have made been and any appeals have been resolved. We expect this information to be available in early July.
Asked by: Alan Brown (Scottish National Party - Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what tree planting targets were in place in each year since 2010; and how many hectares of tree planting took place in each of those years.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Between 2010 and 2015 there was no specific target for woodland creation. The 2015-17 Government committed to plant eleven million trees over the course of that Parliament, then assumed to run to 2020. The subsequent Government (2017-19) made the same commitment, together with another to plant one million trees in our towns and cities. The 2018 25 Year Environment Plan included an aspiration to increase woodland cover in England to 12% by 2060, through planting 180,000 hectares of new woodland by 2042. We have now committed to accelerate planting rates to 30,000 hectares per year across the UK by the end of this Parliament.
The Forestry Commission produces statistics on new planting of woodland for the UK. These are Official Statistics produced to meet the standards of the Code of Practice for Statistics, and can be found on the Forest Research web site together with background information at: https://www.forestresearch.gov.uk/tools-and-resources/statistics/forestry-statistics/
The area of new planting (woodland creation) for the UK and England in each year since 2010, taken from the published statistics is shown below.
New planting of woodland (thousands of hectares)
Year (ending 31 March) | New planting in England | New planting in the UK |
2010-11 | 2.53 | 9.10 |
2011-12 | 2.67 | 12.76 |
2012-13 | 2.59 | 10.79 |
2013-14 | 3.34 | 12.89 |
2014-15 | 2.43 | 10.30 |
2015-16 | 0.82 | 5.61 |
2016-17 | 1.15 | 6.52 |
2017-18 | 1.50 | 9.05 |
2018-19 | 1.42 | 13.54 |
2019-20 | 2.34 | 13.66 |
Source: Forestry Commission, Forestry England, Scottish Forestry, Forestry and Land Scotland, Natural Resources Wales, Forest Service, Welsh Government, grant schemes with estimates for areas newly planted without grant aid.
Asked by: Alan Brown (Scottish National Party - Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many UK flagged fishing vessels are authorised to fish for stocks in the area governed by the Agreement for the Establishment of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC); whether any of those vessels or their owner companies are foreign controlled; and what the actual or anticipated costs are of the UK’s membership of the IOTC under the Instrument of Acceptance it deposited with the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation on 14 December 2020.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
No UK-flagged fishing vessels have applied for a licence to fish in Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) waters in 2021, although licences can be applied for at any point during the year. The vessels that fish in the area are owned by UK-registered companies.
The UK’s role in the IOTC is to represent UK vessels that fish in IOTC waters; to represent the interests of the British Indian Ocean Territory; and to pursue the UK’s international marine and fisheries policy aims. The UK’s membership fee for 2021 is $157,340 (£113,002 at the time of writing).
Asked by: Alan Brown (Scottish National Party - Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of a dedicated MP helpline to submit inquiries on exports and customs processes overseen by the Animal Plant Health Agency; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) provides a range of support on Export Health Certification and Phytosanitary Certification including a helpline and GOV.UK content for interested stakeholders. Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) provides a similar service for customs related queries.
A step-by-step guide for exporting from the UK can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/export-goods. For matters overseen by APHA, members of the public can contact exports@apha.gov.uk or 03000 200 301. There is a dedicated line for the Movement Assistance Scheme for all exports of live animals, products of animal origin, plants and plant products (agrifood goods) from Great Britain to Northern Ireland, which is 0330 0416 580.
Defra has a dedicated process for MPs to raise queries and APHA follows this system.