Asked by: Angela Smith (Liberal Democrat - Penistone and Stocksbridge)
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 (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018, what the (a) average fee and (b) lowest and highest charges for licences issued in England in 2019 to date across all local authorities was for (i) breeding dogs, (ii) providing or arranging for the provision of boarding for cats, (iii) providing or arranging for the provision of boarding for dogs in kennels, (iv) providing or arranging for the provision of day care for dogs, (v) hiring out horses, (vi) selling animals as pets and (vii) keeping or training animals for exhibition.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
Under regulation 29 of The Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018 it is a requirement for local authorities in England to submit specified information relating to licensable activities in their respective areas. Such information should be submitted to the Secretary of State by 31 May for each preceding year 1 April to 31 March. Local authorities have submitted information to the Secretary of State for this year and Defra is analysing the data. We aim to publish the information later this year.
Asked by: Angela Smith (Liberal Democrat - Penistone and Stocksbridge)
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 (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018, how many licences have been issued under those regulations in 2019 for (a) breeding dogs, (b) providing or arranging for the provision of boarding for cats, (c) providing or arranging for the provision of boarding for dogs in kennels, (d) providing or arranging for the provision of day care for dogs, (e) hiring out horses, (f) selling animals as pets and (g) keeping or training animals for exhibition.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
Under regulation 29 of The Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018 it is a requirement for local authorities in England to submit specified information relating to licensable activities in their respective areas. Such information should be submitted to the Secretary of State by 31 May for each preceding year 1 April to 31 March. Local authorities have submitted information to the Secretary of State for this year and Defra is analysing the data. We aim to publish the information later this year.
Asked by: Angela Smith (Liberal Democrat - Penistone and Stocksbridge)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many local authorities in England have submitted data for 2019 on the number of licences they have issued under the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
Under regulation 29 of The Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018 it is a requirement for local authorities in England to submit specified information relating to licensable activities in their respective areas. Such information should be submitted to the Secretary of State by 31 May for each preceding year 1 April to 31 March. Local authorities have submitted information to the Secretary of State for this year and Defra is analysing the data. We aim to publish the information later this year.
Asked by: Angela Smith (Liberal Democrat - Penistone and Stocksbridge)
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 3 June 2019 to Question 259124 on Livestock: Animal Welfare, what plans his Department has to introduce benchmark incentives for farmers to maintain and enhance animal health standards.
Answered by George Eustice
We are working in partnership with representatives of industry and the veterinary profession to establish a range of interventions to reduce the impacts of endemic disease on farm productivity and animal welfare. By working closely with industry we will ensure that actions are effective and will improve the health of livestock nationally. Our discussions are at an early stage. At present, we have no plans to introduce benchmark standards.
Asked by: Angela Smith (Liberal Democrat - Penistone and Stocksbridge)
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 7 May 2019 to Question 251249, what assessment his Department has made of the (a) reach and (b) effectiveness of its work to communicate with people vulnerable to the effects of air pollution during episodes of high pollution.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
The Government does not assess the reach and effectiveness of its communication for each air pollution episode. However, we work closely with Public Health England and a network of health charities to ensure that key health messages reach those who are vulnerable to the effects of air pollution, during episodes of high pollution.
The Government has committed in the 2019 Clean Air Strategy to develop and deliver a personal air quality messaging system to inform the public, particularly those who are vulnerable to air pollution, about the air quality forecast and provide clearer information on air pollution episodes and health advice. This builds on the air quality forecasts and information already published on the Government’s UK-AIR website.
Asked by: Angela Smith (Liberal Democrat - Penistone and Stocksbridge)
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 National Audit Office report Ensuring food safety and standards published 12 June 2019, what steps is he taking to bring forward new regulations on imported products in preparation for the UK leaving the EU on 31st October 2019; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by David Rutley
The Food Standards Agency has welcomed the NAO report ‘Ensuring food safety and standards’. The FSA is already taking steps to address the proposals and is committed to working closely with other parts of government to ensure that a high level of food safety standards is maintained.
When we leave the European Union, we will maintain our current standards. We will keep our existing UK legislation, and the EU Withdrawal Act will convert EU law into UK law as it applies at the moment of departure.
We are committed to maintaining our rigorous standards on animal welfare and food safety after the UK’s withdrawal from the EU - high standards and high quality are what our domestic and global customers demand, and that is what we will provide.
Asked by: Angela Smith (Liberal Democrat - Penistone and Stocksbridge)
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 Special Areas of Conservation in England and pursuant to the Answer of 22 February 2019 to Question 221626, how many consents or permissions to burn blanket bog Natural England has successfully (a) revoked and (b) modified.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
To date, Natural England has revoked or modified 180 consents or permissions to rotationally burn on protected sites, by developing Long Term Plans or equivalent remedies (Higher Level Stewardship (HLS) Revisions, HLS Extensions or voluntary surrender).
Asked by: Angela Smith (Liberal Democrat - Penistone and Stocksbridge)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Environment Agency will take to ensure the control of water borne disease and infestations within farmed salmon populations.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
The Fish Health Inspectorate (FHI) is the organisation responsible for the control of serious diseases of fish and shellfish in aquaculture establishments, including salmon farms and wild populations in England and Wales.
It acts under the Aquatic Animal Health (England and Wales) Regulations 2009 to prevent the introduction and spread of serious fish and shellfish disease. The FHI undertakes its responsibilities through compliance inspections of aquaculture establishments and advice to the industry. It also imposes trade controls on imports of fish and shellfish, investigates disease problems and when a serious disease is detected, implementations of movement controls and other preventative measures.
Asked by: Angela Smith (Liberal Democrat - Penistone and Stocksbridge)
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 (a) take steps through the Agriculture Bill to increase animal health standards and (b) make an assessment of the merits of a resilient approach to disease management to reduce productivity losses and subsequent food shortages.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
The Government is highly supportive of a resilient and preventative approach to livestock disease which supports higher productivity in farming and enables wider benefits. The approach was endorsed in responses to our consultation paper Health and Harmony: the future for food, farming and the environment in a Green Brexit. The potential was set out, for example, in ‘Study to Model the Impact of Controlling Endemic Cattle Diseases and Conditions on National Cattle Productivity, Agricultural Performance and Greenhouse Gas Emissions’.
We are now working with industry and veterinary representatives to develop practical plans to further this approach and the Agriculture Bill is drafted to give the Secretary of State powers to make payments to protect and improve the health of livestock and to collect and share data relating to livestock health and traceability.
Asked by: Angela Smith (Liberal Democrat - Penistone and Stocksbridge)
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 merits of a preventative approach to animal health in improving the productivity of agriculture; and what steps he will take to reward farmers that take such an approach.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
The Government is highly supportive of a resilient and preventative approach to livestock disease which supports higher productivity in farming and enables wider benefits. The approach was endorsed in responses to our consultation paper Health and Harmony: the future for food, farming and the environment in a Green Brexit. The potential was set out, for example, in ‘Study to Model the Impact of Controlling Endemic Cattle Diseases and Conditions on National Cattle Productivity, Agricultural Performance and Greenhouse Gas Emissions’.
We are now working with industry and veterinary representatives to develop practical plans to further this approach and the Agriculture Bill is drafted to give the Secretary of State powers to make payments to protect and improve the health of livestock and to collect and share data relating to livestock health and traceability.